Beyond Incrementalism, williams reading

Introduction

• Analysis of bureaucratic organizations' role in public policy formulation and implementation.

• Focus on the evolution of bureaucratic structures and their impact on policy outputs.

Historical Context

• Increasing responsibility of bureaucratic organizations in industrialized nations for public policy.

• Heclo and Schmitter's argument: bureaucratic structure differences lead to cross-national policy output differences.

Limitations of Incrementalism

• Organizational theory primarily supports the incrementalist view, suggesting policy change is marginal under bureaucratic dominance.

• Political actors appear to have limited control compared to bureaucratic specialists.

• Misleading implications of organizational theory regarding bureaucratic versus political behavior.

The Dual Nature of Organizations

Artificial Systems

• Defined as goal-directed entities, created by organization founders.

• Designed to efficiently achieve specified goals based on rational principles.

• Parallels to Weberian bureaucratic ideals.

Natural Systems

• Organizations often deviate from prescribed roles due to unforeseen environmental factors.

• These deviations lead to unanticipated, incremental changes—forming a natural system.

• Ongoing bureaucracies consist of a blend of artificial and natural system elements.

Thompson's Framework

• Importance of distinguishing between artificial and natural systems for policy analysis.

• Critiques on public policy studies focusing solely on incremental changes without understanding organizational origins.

• Historical perspectives enhance the understanding of policy genesis.

Two Types of Policy-Making

Diachronic Policy-Making

• Entails the design or significant modification of artificial systems.

• Designers possess significant influence over goals and structures.

• Example: Robert Moses’s creation of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.

Synchronic Policy-Making

• Reflects incremental changes within natural systems, often in response to minor environmental shifts.

• Political actors have limited capacity for non-incremental changes.

• Example: The evolving policies of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority centered around automobile use.

Interplay of Policy-Making Types

• Distinction suggests that rational and incremental models can coexist in bureaucratic contexts.

• Diachronic phases allow for rational actor behavior; synchronic phases depict more bounded, incremental changes.

Crisis and Policy-Making

• Environmental fluctuations can trigger perceptions of crisis, prompting diachronic policy-making.

• Crisis perception assessed through cost/benefit analysis of maintaining versus changing existing patterns.

• Strategic elites play a crucial role in initiating diachronic changes, driven by decisional frameworks.

Characteristics of Strategic Elites

• Not necessarily high-ranking but crucial in decision-making roles.

• Variation in educational backgrounds impacts policy directions.

• Fluctuations between synchronic and diachronic phases lead to a layered organizational policy landscape.

Conclusion

• The discussed approach integrates organizational theory with public policy studies, resolving the rationalist-incrementalist debate.

• Identification of factors influencing policy-making paradigms aids in understanding complex bureaucratic systems.