Abstract
Intractable controversies and other types of policy disagreements correspond to policy problems with a different structure. The more structured a problem is, the more consensus there is about which values and information are at stake in the process of problem solving. Policymakers like to treat problems in as structured a way as possible. Three policy strategies are described to move away from the unstructured to the more structured problem type. However, policymakers run the risk of oversimplifying an ill-structured problem, which means that elements of the problem situation relevant to other actors are overlooked or denied. Hence, policy controversies may become intractable. The remedy is a fourth strategy, characterised by problem structuring. This strategy requires political participation of actors with different views on the problem, and an argued political problem choice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ackoff, R.L. (1974).Redesigning the future. New York: Wiley.
Anderson, Ch.W. (1987). Political philosophy, practical reason, and policy analysis. In: F. Fischer and J. Forester (Eds.),Confronting values in policy analysis: The politics of criteria. Newbury Park: Sage.
Arendt, H. (1968).Between past and future: Eight exercises in political thought. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Bachrach, P. and M.S. Baratz (1970).Power and poverty: Theory and practice. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bacon, L.S. and Milkey, J.R. (1982). Overcoming local opposition to hazardous waste facilities; the Massachusetts approach.Harvard Environmental Law Review 6: 265–305.
Beck, U. (1992).Risk society: Towards a new modernity. London: Sage.
Caplan, N., A. Morrison, and Stambaugh, R.J. (1975).The use of social science knowledge in policy decisions at the national level: A report to respondents. Ann Arbor: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
Cobb, R.W. and Elder, C.D. (1983).Participation in American politics: The dynamics of agenda building. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Dahl, R.A. (1985).Nuclear weapons: Democracy versus guardianship. Syracuse: SUNY Press.
Dery, D. (1984).Problem definition in policy analysis. Lawrence: Kansas University Press.
Diesing, P. (1962).Reason in society: Five types of decisions and their social conditions. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Douglas, M., and Wildavsky, A. (1982).Risk and culture. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Dryzek, J.S. (1990).Discursive democracy: Politics, policy, and political science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dunn, W.N. (1981).Public policy analysis. An introduction. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall
Dunn, W.N. (1988). Methods of the second type: Coping with the wilderness of conventional policy analysis.Policy Studies Review 7: 720–737.
Fischer, F. (1980).Politics, values, and public policy. The problem of methodology. Boulder: Westview Press.
Fischer, F. (1990).Technocracy and the politics of expertise. Newbury Park: Sage.
Fischer, F. (1995).Evaluating public policy. Chicago: Nelson Hall.
Hawkesworth, M.E. (1988).Theoretical issues in policy analysis. Albany: SUNY Press.
Hisschemöller, M. and Midden, C.J.H. (1989). Technological risk, policy theories and public perception in connection with the siting of hazardous facilities. In: C. Vlek and G. Cvetkovich (Eds.),Social decision methodology for technological projects. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Hisschemöller, M. (1993).De Democratie van Problemen. De Relatie Tusen de Inhoud van Beleidsproblemen en Methoden van Politieke Besluitvorming. Amsterdam: Free University Press.
Hodgkinson, C. (1978).Towards a philosophy of administration. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Hogwood B.W. and Gunn, L.A. (1986).Policy analysis for the real world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hoppe, R. (1989).Het Beleidsprobleem Geproblematiseerd: Over Beleid Ontwerpen en Probleemvorming. Muiderberg: Coutinho.
Hoppe, R. and A. Peterse (1993).Handling frozen fire: Political culture and risk management. Boulder: Westview Press.
Kimball, A.W. (1957). Errors of the third kind in statistical consulting.Journal of the American Statistical Association 52: 133–142.
Lasswell, H.D. (1951). The policy orientation. In: D. Lerner and H.D. Lasswell (Eds.),The policy sciences. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lijphart, A. (1968).The politics of accommodation. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lindblom, C.E. and D.K. Cohen (1979).Usable knowledge: Social science and social problem solving. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lowi, Th. (1972). Four systems of policy, politics and choice.Public Administration Review 32: 298–310.
MacRae, D. (1976).The social function of social science. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Mason, R.O. and I.I. Mitroff (1981).Challenging strategic planning assumptions. Theory, cases, and techniques. New York: Wiley.
Meer, M, van der (1995). Mest, Natuur en het Ministerie van Landbouw. Een Politicologische Analyse van het Beleid met Behulp van de Theorie van M. Hisschemöller. Unpublished master’s thesis. University of Amsterdam.
Mitroff, I.I., R.O. Mason and V.P. Barabba (1983).The 1980 census: Policy-making amid turbulence. Lexington: Heath
Myrdal, G. (1944).An American dilemma. The negro problem and modern democracy. New York: Harper and Row.
Olson, M. (1971).The logic of collective action: Public goods and the theory of groups. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
Paris, D.C., and J.F. Reynolds (1983).The logic of policy inquiry. New York: Longman.
Piller, C. (1991).The fail-safe society: Community defiance and the end of American technological optimism. New York: Basic Books.
Portney, K.E. (1985). The potential of the theory of compensation for mitigating public opposition to hazardous waste treatment facility siting: Some evidence from five Massachusetts’ communities.Policy Studies Journal 14: 81–89.
Raiffa, H. (1968).Decision analysis: Introductory lectures on choices under uncertainty. Reading: Addison Wesley.
Rittel, H.W.J. and M.M. Webber (1973). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning.Policy Sciences 4: 155–169.
Roe, E. (1990).Narrative policy analysis. Theory and procedure. Durham: Duke University Press.
Sabatier, P. and H.C. Jenkins-Smith (Eds.) (1993).Policy change and learning: An advocacy coalition approach. Boulder: Westview Press.
Schattschneider, E.E. (1960).The semisovereign people: A realist’s view of democracy in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Schmitter, P.C. (1979). Still the century of corporatism? In: P.C. Schmitter and G. Lehmbruch (Eds.),Trends Towards Corporatist Intermediation. London: Sage.
Schön, D. and M. Rein (1994).Frame reflection: Toward the resolution of intractable policy controversies. New York: Basic Books.
Simon, H.A. (1973). The structure of ill-structured problems.Artificial Intelligence 4: 181–201.
Stone, D.A. (1988).Policy paradox and political reason. Chicago: Scott, Foresman.
Thompson, J.D. and A. Tuden (1959). Strategies, structures and processes of organizational decision. In: J.D. Thompson et al. (Eds.),Comparative Studies in Administration. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Weiss, C.H. (1980). Knowledge creep and decision accretion.Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, Utilization 1: 381–404.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
His main research areas are problem structuring in public policy, knowledge use, environmental risk, technology and democracy. He is currently working on knowledge-based policy strategies for addressing the issue of climate change.
His research interest is to develop and apply discursive and/or argumentative approaches to the policy process.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hisschemöller, M., Hoppe, R. Coping with intractable controversies: The case for problem structuring in policy design and analysis. Knowledge and Policy 8, 40–60 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02832229
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02832229