IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/policy/v55y2022i1d10.1007_s11077-022-09451-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A diamond in the rough: digging up and polishing Harold D. Lasswell’s decision functions

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher M. Weible

    (University of Colorado Denver)

  • Paul Cairney

    (University of Stirling)

  • Jill Yordy

    (University of Colorado Denver)

Abstract

As part of Harold D. Lasswell’s policy sciences, the decisions functions emerged to explore and understand comparative policy processes. The decision functions specified different categories of purposes, roles, and responsibilities performed, to various extents and ways, by all governments. These included intelligence, recommendation, prescription, invocation, application, appraisal, and termination. Additionally, the decision functions were not necessarily sequenced or in any government unit. Over time, the decision functions morphed in meaning and use, eventually supplanted by the policy cycle. This commentary digs up and polishes the decision functions and argues for their inclusion in contemporary policy process theories and research. We end with new questions and paths for advancing knowledge and contributing to Lasswell’s vision in realizing greater human dignity.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher M. Weible & Paul Cairney & Jill Yordy, 2022. "A diamond in the rough: digging up and polishing Harold D. Lasswell’s decision functions," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 55(1), pages 209-222, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:55:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s11077-022-09451-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11077-022-09451-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11077-022-09451-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11077-022-09451-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dunn,William N., 2019. "Pragmatism and the Origins of the Policy Sciences," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108730518, November.
    2. Andrea K. Gerlak & Tanya Heikkila & Sharon L. Smolinski & Dave Huitema & Derek Armitage, 2018. "Learning our way out of environmental policy problems: a review of the scholarship," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(3), pages 335-371, September.
    3. Michael Howlett, 2014. "From the ‘old’ to the ‘new’ policy design: design thinking beyond markets and collaborative governance," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 47(3), pages 187-207, September.
    4. David Mattson & Susan Clark, 2011. "Human dignity in concept and practice," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 44(4), pages 303-319, November.
    5. Paul Cairney & Christopher M. Weible, 2017. "The new policy sciences: combining the cognitive science of choice, multiple theories of context, and basic and applied analysis," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(4), pages 619-627, December.
    6. Cairney,Paul & Heikkila,Tanya & Wood,Matthew, 2019. "Making Policy in a Complex World," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781108729109, November.
    7. Ostrom, Vincent & Tiebout, Charles M. & Warren, Robert, 1961. "The Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas: A Theoretical Inquiry," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 831-842, December.
    8. Matthew R. Auer, 2017. "Rescuing the decision process," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 50(4), pages 519-526, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Annemieke van den Dool & Caroline Schlaufer, 2024. "Policy process theories in autocracies: Key observations, explanatory power, and research priorities," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 41(6), pages 865-891, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chisung Park & Jooha Lee, 2020. "Stakeholder framing, communicative interaction, and policy legitimacy: anti-smoking policy in South Korea," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(4), pages 637-665, December.
    2. Christos A Makridis & Andrew A Borkowski & Gil Alterovitz, 2024. "Perspectives on advancing innovation and human flourishing through a network of AI institutes," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 51(3), pages 557-562.
    3. Deller, Steven C. & Hinds, David G. & Hinman, Donald L., 2001. "Local Public Services In Wisconsin: Alternatives For Municipalities With A Focus On Privatization," Staff Papers 12658, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    4. World Bank, 2015. "Republic of Yemen," World Bank Publications - Reports 23660, The World Bank Group.
    5. Susan Clark & Toddi Steelman, 2013. "Interviewing for an interdisciplinary job: principled goals, pragmatic outcomes, and finding the right fit in academia," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 3(1), pages 21-29, March.
    6. Simon Fink & Eva Ruffing & Tobias Burst & Sara Katharina Chinnow, 2023. "Emotional citizens, detached interest groups? The use of emotional language in public policy consultations," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 56(3), pages 469-497, September.
    7. William J. Luther, 2021. "Behavioral and Policy Responses to COVID-19: Evidence from Google Mobility Data on State- Level Stay-at-Home Orders," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 36(Fall 2021), pages 67-89.
    8. Tavares Antonio F., 2018. "Municipal amalgamations and their effects: a literature review," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 22(1), pages 5-15, March.
    9. Cavalcante, Ana Helena A. P., 2015. "Barriers and opportunities for climate adaptation: The water crisis in Greater São Paulo," The Constitutional Economics Network Working Papers 04-2015, University of Freiburg, Department of Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory.
    10. Gaigné, Carl & Riou, Stéphane & Thisse, Jacques-François, 2016. "How to make the metropolitan area work? Neither big government, nor laissez-faire," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 100-113.
    11. Peter J. Boettke & Liya Palagashvili, 2015. "Taming Leviathan," Supreme Court Economic Review, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 279-303.
    12. Mark Koyama, 2012. "Prosecution Associations in Industrial Revolution England: Private Providers of Public Goods?," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 95-130.
    13. Mauricio I. Dussauge-Laguna, 2022. "The promises and perils of populism for democratic policymaking: the case of Mexico," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 55(4), pages 777-803, December.
    14. Michael Fotos, 2015. "Vincent Ostrom’s revolutionary science of association," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 67-83, April.
    15. Crabolu, Gloria & Font, Xavier & Eker, Sibel, 2023. "Evaluating policy complexity with Causal Loop Diagrams," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    16. repec:wly:soecon:v:80:4:y:2014:p:926-937 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Kenneth W. Abbott & Benjamin Faude, 2022. "Hybrid institutional complexes in global governance," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 263-291, April.
    18. Abby ShalekBriski & B. Wade Brorsen & Jon T. Biermacher, 2021. "Institutional Solutions for the Economic Problem of Feral Hogs," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 970-984, September.
    19. Biehl, J. & Köppel, J. & Grimm, M., 2021. "Creating space for wind energy in a polycentric governance setting," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    20. Dedeurwaerdere, Tom, 2005. "From bioprospecting to reflexive governance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 473-491, June.
    21. Chad M. Baum & Christian Gross, 2017. "Sustainability policy as if people mattered: developing a framework for environmentally significant behavioral change," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 53-95, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:55:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s11077-022-09451-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.