The Art of Judgment (Policy Making Research)

Author: [UK] Vince
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: This book is a classic academic work in the field of public administration and public management. It is a result of the reflection on the thoughts in the field of public management in the mid-20th century. It offers an insightful and profound analysis of the formulation of public policy, particularly the formation of judgments. Vince argues that forming judgments is a behavior of everyone, an individual mental skill. The process of policy-making and judgment formation is also the process of applying mental skills such as evaluation, prediction, innovation, and establishing evaluation systems. Judgments are not only about recognizing facts but also about assessing the ethical and political values implied by those facts. Therefore, judgments are categorized into factual judgments, value judgments, and instrumental judgments. Judgments and decision-making are institutional processes, reflected in the growth, development, and policy-making behavior of institutions. The activities of mental skills and social processes are indivisible and merge within a social network platform that shares common information, values, and expectations. Different types of institutions and systems have varying impacts on policy-making, and different contexts also impose different requirements on judgments and policy-making. Describing, analyzing, and understanding the processes of judgments and decision-making in different institutions, contexts, and systems is the field this book aims to explore.