Contextual orientation in policy analysis: The contribution of Harold D. Lasswell

Abstract

Criticized for its generally positivist and technocratic orientation, the literature of public policy analysis has begun to generate proposalsthat would create a convergence between the field and the wider movement for a post-positivist restructuring of social inquiry. Ironically, critics have often focused on "policy science" as the epitomy of positivism and technocracy, giving little attention to the actual position of the figure responsible for the term -Harold D. Lasswell. Centering on Lasswell's key concept of contextual orientation, this article argues that, despite positivist influences, he developed an approach to inquiry and a proposal for a policy science profession which together clearly transcend positivism and technocracy -which, indeed, anticipate recent post-positivist proposals. Implications for policy analysis of a project of contextual orientation are also considered, along with problems in Lasswell's focus on professionalization. I. Policy Analysis and Post-Positivism: The Significance of LasswellIn the context of advanced industrial society, there is a distinct and widely noted tendency for public policy analysis to become virtually absorbed in narrow, technical issues. This tendency has been especially noted in the case of efforts to rationalize the operations of the administrative state, rendering them more fully calculable, controllable, and efficient through the application of modern management techniques [1], Under the sway of a positivist logic of inquiry, analysis tends to be guided by an interest in calculating solutions for specific policy problems -ones which pertain, moreover, to strictly delimited frameworks within a particular socio-political configuration. Analysis becomes Central to a mode of policy formulation and implemen-0032-2687/85/$03.30 9 1985 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

Policy Design and Non-Design: Towards a Spectrum of Policy Formulation Types

“…This highly contextual orientation in early policy studies (Torgerson, 1985(Torgerson, , 1990) led some policy scholars in the 1970s to argue policy decisions were by nature the result of processes so highly contingent and fraught with uncertainty that decision-making would invariably be informed more by the opportunistic behaviour of decision-makers within fluid policy-making contexts than by careful deliberation and "design" thinking about the logical or functional merits and demerits of specific alternative arrangements of policy goals and means (Cohen et al, 1979;Dryzek, 1983;Kingdon, 1984;Lindblom, 1959).…”

Policy sciences and democracy: a reexamination

“…The point was not to abandon inquiry, or expertise, but to appreciate limits and to suggest, as a remedy, an emphasis on deliberation, participation, and the significance of disputes among experts. Although points of convergence with the critical and democratic features of Lasswell's approach were recognized (e.g., Torgerson 1985;Bobrow and Dryzek 1987: 172-174;Dryzek 1990: ch. 6), critical policy studies proceeded with a stronger, direct critique of conventional approaches (yet, cf.…”

“…At the same time, he stressed the image of a common identity among policy scientists, not fully addressing the conflicts among experts that animate the politics of expertise (cf. Torgerson 1985Torgerson : 254-256, 1986. It was when he came to confront the problem of clear disagreements among social scientists that he recognized the need to present the public with a plurality of perspectives, not a single account or orienting map.…”

Extreme Events: A Research and Policy Framework for Disasters in Context

“…Torgerson, 1985). Under the pressure of an extreme event, decisions will be influenced by social, professional, socioeconomic, and political relations; organizational structures; and prior experiences.…”