BOUNDED RATIONALITY

Simon recognises that ideal type cannot be approached but still insists that people strive to be rational within limits: BOUNDED RATIONALITY. They attempt and can achieve rationality within certain limits.

1. Psychological limits: limits of cognition and calculation ‑
effects every stage of model.
eg. of planning traffic ‑ not possible to know the total effects of
even most trivial of actions like making certain street one‑way.

eg. to solve problem rationally must know what caused it: not always easy look at riots.

2. Limitations from multiple values - society no single set of values.

eg. of this College ‑ conflicting values between lectures, students and senior management.
Now if policy analyst substitutes techniques for values, doesn't substitute science, but their own value
3. Organizational limitations ‑ in large organisations specialisations means efficiency, but then lose concept of whole problem.
Notion of Ratification
Additionally problem of information flows in organisations: either get too much or too little.
Most organisations the nature of information distribution is geared more toward the needs of depts distributing information than those receiving it.

4. Cost limitations ‑ to undertake analysis for rational decision-making would need huge budget. Decision‑making very expensive and time‑consuming. Cost wouldn't decrease over time. Important because for analysis to be rational benefits must outweigh costs.

5. Situational limitations ‑ policy‑makers constrained by previous policies, can't start afresh with each new policy.

Precisely because of these limitations Simon suggests that best we can hope for is BOUNDED RATIONALITY. This is statement of what actually takes place. Simon recognises that real decision‑making doesn't approach the ideal‑type and precisely because of this that administrative theory is necessary. Task of administration theory to design rational process within organisation to limit an individuals irrationality.

Also idea of SATISFICING.‑ what policy‑makers attempt is policies that are sufficient and that satisfy.

'The individual can be rational in terms of the organization's goals only to the extent that he is able to pursue a particular course of action, he has a correct conception of the goal of the action, he is correctly informed about the conditions surrounding his action. Within the boundaries laid down by these factors his choices are rational‑goal orientated'

"Reason taken by itself is instrumental. It can't select our final goals, nor can it mediate for us in pure conflicts over what final goal to pursue ‑ we have to settle these issues in some other way. All reason can do is help us to reach agreed on goals more effectively".

But essential point is that to be as rational as possible is the essential goal ‑ aim of individuals and organizations is to be as rational as possible. Idea is that policy‑making will be improved by adopting the approach that is based on this sort of idea and uses as much analysis and as much of a scientific approach as is possible.


On an individual level one of the main challenges has come from
the idea of incrementalism, associated in particular with the work
of the US pluralist Charles Lindblom.