Wildavsky

Aaron Wildavsky

Presented by:Julie RadaPUB623PR

June 10, 2010

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Biography - Personal

Born May 31, 1930 – Brooklyn, NY

Parents – Sender Wildavsky and Eva Brudnow, Ukrainian immigrants

Married Carol Shirk (1955 - 1970) Adam Ben Dan Sara Wild

Married Mary Cadman (1973)

Died September 4, 1993

Biography - Education

Brooklyn College Service in U.S. Army (1950 – 1952) Graduated Phi Beta Kappa

Fulbright scholar – University of Sydney, Australia (1954 – 1955)

Yale M.A. (1957) PhD (1959)

Biography - Professional

Oberlin College (1959 – 1962)

University of California, Berkeley (1962 – 1993) Chairman, Department of Political Science

(1966 - 1969) Dean, Graduate School of Public Policy (1969 –

1977) President, Russell Sage Foundation (1977 – 1978)

Class of 1940 Professor of Political Science and Public Policy

Biography – Professional

Guggenheim Fellow (1971)

National Academy of Public Administration Fellow (1971)

American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow (1973)

President, American Political Science Association (1985 – 1986)

Served on editorial and governing boards of several institutions

Multiple prizes and awards within the fields of political science and public administration

Biography – Professional

Wrote or co-authored more than forty books

Published more than 200 journal articles Federalism Foreign policy Community power Policy analysis and implementation Cultural theory The collapse of communism Leadership roles of biblical figures Academic administration Risk analysis Natural resource policy The craft of scholarship

Biography - Focus

1964 – Presidential Elections: Strategies of American Electoral Politics (Nelson W. Polsby) Fresh and influential perspective on election processes

1964 – The Politics of the Budgetary Process Included the human factor in national government’s budgeting

process Incremental process

1974 – The Private Government of Public Money (Hugh Heclo) Anthropological perspective on Great Britain’s Treasury Department

1966 – “The Two Presidencies” Presidential-congressional behavior

Congress more willing to support President’s efforts in foreign affairs than in domestic issues

“Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions:

A Cultural Theory of Preference Formation”

The American Political Science Review, Mar., 1987Number and Variety Strength of Group Boundaries

of Prescriptions

Numerous and varied Weak StrongApathy Hierarchy

(Fatalism) (Collectivism)Few and similar Competition Equality

(Individualism) (Egalitarianism)Note: Adapted from Douglas 1970; 11962.

“The strength or weakness of group boundaries and the numerous or few, varied or similar, prescriptions binding or freeing individuals are the components of their culture.” (Wildavsky, 1987)



The American Political Science Review, Mar., 1987

Hierarchical Strong groups; numerous prescriptions that vary with social roles Institutionalized authority Inequality justified by sacrifice for the greater good Manipulation: Orders come down; obedience flows up

Egalitarian Strong groups; few prescriptions Voluntary consent No coercion or inequality Reject authority Reduction of differences Manipulation: criticism and coercion by attributing inequalities to

corruption and duplicity



The American Political Science Review, Mar., 1987

Individualistic Weak group boundaries; few prescriptions Encourages new combinations Manipulation: Testing constraints; reinforcing, modifying or

rejecting, as needed

Fatalistic Weak groups; strong prescriptions Preference for self-regulation; reduce the need for authority Live by rules imposed by others Feeling of lack of control leads to apathy

“Necessity theorem: conflict among cultures is a precondition of cultural identity.” (Wildavsky, 1987)

“A Theory of the Budgetary Process”The American Political Science Review,

Sep., 1966

Complexity of calculations is a major clue toward understanding budgeting Little or no theory to predict consequences of

alternative moves, or probability of occurrence. Inter-personal comparison of utilities is difficult to

assess – fragmented process No agreed upon method for comparing and

evaluating merits of different programs for different people whose preferences vary in kind and intensity

Incremental method is the most important aid to budget calculation

Proceeding from existing base provides stability


Sep., 1966

American national government: Administrative agencies act as advocates of increased

expenditure Request should neither be too high or too low

Bureau of the Budget acts as Presidential servant (The Office of Management and Budget) Cutting bias

House Appropriations Committee functions as a guardian of the Treasury Percentage cuts

Senate Appropriations Committee as an appeals court to which agencies carry their disagreements with house action Whether or not percentage cuts should be restored


Sep., 1966

Random events can upset stability of budget process Unexpected turn in world events New President takes office Major shift of power in Congress Loss of confidence in, or exceptional zeal for

agencies

“Oil and the Decline of Western Power”Political Science Quarterly, Autumn,

1975

The global implications of OPEC’s 1100 percent increase in the price of oil Mass starvation in poor countries Inflation in rich countries Huge debt for importers Large balance of payment deficits for

governments Unstable power balance

“TVA and Power Politics”The American Political Science Review,

Sep., 1961

Treatise on the transition of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) from appropriation dependent to revenue bond funding

History tracking TVA support and decline in favor Atomic Energy Commission Defense spending

Discussion of public versus private control of electrical utilities


Sep., 1966

Developed simple equations (models) to define the budgetary process Linear Stable over periods of time Stochastic (random variables) Strategic

Not valid for predicting outcomes Useful in evaluating what has occurred

“Radical Incrementalism: a Proposal to Aid Congress in Reforming the Budgetary Process” circa 1971

Embraces the fundamental incremental tendencies in the fragmented comprehensive budgetary process toward a more fluid approach Facilitates speedy adaptation to emergent

problems

“Radical Incrementalism: a Proposal to Aid Congress in Reforming the Budgetary Process” circa 1971

Expedience – awareness of problem / action Facilitates smaller, quicker, alterable changes Enables decision-makers – current reality vs.

desired goals Evaluation of changes – weighed separately

against most relevant programs in operation vs. vying for consideration against a multitude of simultaneously suggested changes

Recognized importance – a major participant in the system wants the change / every change is important

Risk Management

Trial and error vs. planning for every eventuality

“The Budget Process as Complex Civic Space: Wildavsky and Radical

Incrementalism”Administration & Society, Jul. 24, 2008

Discussion of Complexity Theory – Dennard Summary of Wildavsky’s precomplexity theories

“Certainty cannot be the primary goal of policy analysis concerned with informing effective policy that both stabilizes a democratic culture and creates the conditions by which it matures. Both tasks require the capacity for addressing the emergent nature of both problems and solutions.

Administrative efficiency is an oxymoron if it only means the efficient replication of process that seeks to control conflict rather than responsiveness to the emerging realities of society.



Public administrators, policy analysts, and budgeters must also be learners along with citizens and politicians.… the problem of citizenship is not that citizens do not participate more in the habits of politics but rather that public administrators, politicians, and analysts do not participate more in the broader system of social relationships.

Funded programs are probably addressing more than one social phenomenon at once. At a minimum, programs should consciously be designed and funded not only for tangible objectives but also for the possibility of facilitating the maturation of society through the interactions of participants.



The past must be respected as current social conditions, both good and bad, emerge from it. However, the responsibility for initiating the conditions for the organization of the future lies in addressing emerging issues and resources rather and correcting past mistakes alone.

Knowledge cannot be treated as finite without denying the dynamic nature of democracy in which individuals contribute what they know to the evolving common good. Accommodating this knowledge will make it part of the evolving structure of the society, thus stabilizing the democratic enterprise.



Policy analysis conducted for certainty rather than for excellence also destroys the potential for learning and innovation in other aspects of the policy system. Yet, excellence needs a broader definition than simply matching outcomes to program goals; it also must value and make space and funds for experimentation and the capacity to learn from changing circumstances.” (Dennard, 2008, pp 656-657)

Works Cited

Davis, O. D. (1966). A theory of the budgetary process. The American Political Science Review , 60 (3), 529-547.

Dennard, L. (2008). The budget process as complex civic space: Wildavsky and radial incrementalism. Administration & Society , 40, 645-656.

Friedland, E. S. (1976). Oil and the decline of western power. Political Science Quarterly , 90 (3), 437-450.

Pace, E. (1993, Sep 6). Aaron Wildavsky, a budgeting expert and researcher, 63. The New York Times . (http://www.lexisnexis.com.ezproxy.barry.edu/us/lnacdemic/deliver...e&docRange=Current+Document+%281%29&estPage=2&delFmt=QDS_EF_HTML, Ed.) LexisNexis Academic Delivery Status.

Wildavsky, A. (1987). Choosing preferences by constructing institutions: a cultural theory of preference formation. The American Political Science Review , 81 (1), 3-22.

Wildavsky, A. (2003). Toward a Radical Incrementalism: A proposal to aid congress in reform of the budgetary process. In A. Wildavsky, The Revolt Against the Masses & Other Essays on Politics & Public Policy (pp. 420-459). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

Wildavsky, A. (1961). TVA and power politics. The American Political Science Review , 55 (3), 576-590.

Wolf, T. (2000, Feb.). Wildavsky, Aaron Bernard. Retrieved from American National Biography Online: http://222.anb.org.ezproxy.barry.edu/articles/14/14/-01076.html

Wildavsky

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