PPB and the Public Policy-Making System

THE VERY RICHNESS OF IDEAS presented in the papers by Bertram M. Gross and Allen Schick, which makes it so difficult to identify in them any clear image of PPB, is a reflection of the characteristics of the subject matter itself. It just is not clear what is, and no single-dimensional and simple description can do adequate justice to the heterogenous phenomena and ideas using that name. Indeed, this is clearly recognized by the two authors who, in an illuminating way, try to bring out some of the main elements of the mix called alternatively PPB or PPBS. Granted this difficulty in circumscribing the boundaries of and its contents, I am, nevertheless, troubled by the question of whether Schick might not have provided a more focused view of and its problems if he had withstood the temptation to use as a looking glass for examining the American political scenery. True, is closely related to politics, being strictly constrained by politics, trying a little to change politics, and serving as one of the symptoms of the state of politics. But, after all, not every symptom is a useful starting point for analyzing a complex series of developments and I, for one, doubt whether is a necessary or useful jumping board into the faster-moving streams of politics. These doubts are much reinforced by the central parts of Schick's paper. However interesting and important by themselves, they beg the ques

Political science · Sociology · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research

• The Dilemma of Premature Bureaucratization in the New States of Africa

  F C Okoli•African Studies Review•1980

  Add to list