Mixed Scanning Model And Systems Theory

Mixed Scanning Model

Though the incremental model appears to be closer to reality yet one cannot overlook the fact that the problems faced by the government are often so critical that incremental changes are not sufficient and innovations are required. The right model perhaps would be a combination of incrementalism and rationalism. Amital Etzioni’s mixed scanning model combines incrementalism and rationalism. Etzioni accepts that the rational model is not practically feasible. At the same time, he believes that incrementalism is not without flaws. He opines that incrementalism discourages social innovations and is partisan in approach which in reality means innovations and is partisan in approach which in reality means that the interests of the most powerful and organized get the maximum attention from policymakers. Moreover, he feels that incrementalism cannot be applied to fundamental decisions such as a declaration of war. Hence Etzioni suggests a mixed scanning approach combining elements of the rational method with the incremental.

He explains his mixed scanning approach by a simple illustration. Assume we are about loc up a worldwide weather-observation system using weather satellites. The rationalistic approach would seek an exhaustive survey of weather conditions by using cameras capable of petanque observations and by scheduling reviews of the entire sky as often as possible. This would yield an avalanche of details, costly to analyse and likely to overwhelm our action capacities. Incrementalism would focus on those areas in which similar pattern’s developed in the recent past and, perhaps, on a few nearby regions, it would thus ignore all formations which might deserve attention if they arose in unexpected areas. A mixed scanning strategy would include elements of both approaches by employing two cameras; a broad-angle camera that would cover all parts of the sky but not in great detail, and a second one that would zero in on those to require a more in-depth examination. While mixed scanning might miss areas in which only a detailed camera could reveal trouble, it is less likely than incrementalism to miss obvious trouble spots in unfamiliar areas.

Application of Etzioni’s model to social problems would lead to a broad social survey in which general information is gathered, such as indices of employment levels. If this reveals trouble spots, the focus should be shifted to an in-depth analysis of troubled sectors of the economy. In this way, comprehensive action with respect to the areas studied in detail would be possible encouraging innovation while at the same time recognizing the impracticability of ” comprehensive reviews of all community sectors and the stability and predictability of incrementalism would be preserved.

Systems Theory

The systems model relies on concepts of information theory (especially feedback, input, and output ) and conceives of the process as being essentially cyclical. The policy is originated, implemented, adjusted re-implemented, and readjusted, ad infinitum. The systems model is concerned with such questions as What are the significant variables and patterns in the public policy-making system.? What constitutes the black box of the actual policymaking process? What are the inputs, “within-puts”, outputs, and feedback of the process? A representative author of this literary stream is David Easton, and his work The Political System is particularly relevant in this context.

Systems approach Policy Making

The above models are not competitive in the sense that any one of them could be judged as the best. Each one provided a separate focus on political life and each one help us to under different things about public policy. Although some policies appear rough some policies appear at first glance to lend themselves to explanation by one particular model. most policies are a combination of Jordan planning, incrementalism, interest group activity, elite preferences, systematic forces, compounding and institutional influences.

In the final analysis, it is necessary to note that a model is merely an abstraction o representation of political life. When we think of political “system”, or “elites, or groups “rational decision making”, or ” incrementalism”, or ” mixed scanning system”, we are abstracts from the real world in an attempt to simplify, clarify and understand what is important about policies.

Check out these notes on Implementation Of Public Policy.

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