Politics and Policymaking: In Search of Simplicity

Social scientists have constructed elaborate theories involving policymakers as rational actors and purporting to predict and explain policy outcomes. In contrast, this provocative book paints a picture of policymakers who - coping with the uncertainty of constantly changing constraints - must simplify, taking shortcuts rather than surveying all of their options and pursuing carefully thought-out plans. Sharkansky draws on wide-ranging examples to illustrate the conditions that make simplification the necessary constituent of political life, as well as the various ways in which policymakers navigate the maze of possibilities they confront. While acknowledging the shortcomings of the approach, he demonstrates that, considered in context, simplifications may in fact be more rational and effective than traditional rational models of decisionmaking.