Policy Formulation: Where Ignorant Armies Clash by Night

Peter DeLeon

Review of Policy Research, 1992, vol. 11, issue 3‐4, 389-405

Abstract: This article argues that many of the shortcomings generally ascribed to policy analysis can be attributed to the intractable nature of the problems being addressed. That is, public policy issues are inherently difficult, resistant to resolution and fully loaded with significant costs. Those costs can easily render a potential policy solution helpless or perhaps even counterproductive, despite the best‐conceived and best‐intended plans of its proponents. A policy design perspective can help identify some of the downstream dilemmas and possible help alleviate them. However, like most policy approaches, policy design must be used with careful circumspection, else its pitfalls overwhelm its promises.

Date: 1992
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