Are wicked problems really so wicked? Perceptions of policy problems
The concept of wicked problems has become widely used in policy analysis. The popularity of the concept has led to its overuse, and has produced significant conceptual stretching. This paper investigates the extent to which this stretching has led to the application of the concept to issues which ar...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2019-04-01
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| Series: | Policy & Society |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2019.1626595 |
| _version_ | 1818120349410131968 |
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| author | B. Guy Peters Matthew Tarpey |
| author_facet | B. Guy Peters Matthew Tarpey |
| author_sort | B. Guy Peters |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The concept of wicked problems has become widely used in policy analysis. The popularity of the concept has led to its overuse, and has produced significant conceptual stretching. This paper investigates the extent to which this stretching has led to the application of the concept to issues which are not ‘wicked’ in any meaningful sense. Based on a survey of policy experts, we find that few, if any, policy problems are perceived to have all the attributes of wicked problems. Although the concept does not appear useful in categorizing problems in a strict manner, the presence or absence of certain attributes can still be used in understanding the problems and in designing solutions for them. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T05:24:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d3a3fea53709400f8d9273ed0ba7bba3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1449-4035 1839-3373 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T05:24:41Z |
| publishDate | 2019-04-01 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Policy & Society |
| spelling | doaj.art-d3a3fea53709400f8d9273ed0ba7bba32022-12-22T01:19:36ZengOxford University PressPolicy & Society1449-40351839-33732019-04-0138221823610.1080/14494035.2019.16265951626595Are wicked problems really so wicked? Perceptions of policy problemsB. Guy Peters0Matthew Tarpey1University of PittsburghUniversity of PittsburghThe concept of wicked problems has become widely used in policy analysis. The popularity of the concept has led to its overuse, and has produced significant conceptual stretching. This paper investigates the extent to which this stretching has led to the application of the concept to issues which are not ‘wicked’ in any meaningful sense. Based on a survey of policy experts, we find that few, if any, policy problems are perceived to have all the attributes of wicked problems. Although the concept does not appear useful in categorizing problems in a strict manner, the presence or absence of certain attributes can still be used in understanding the problems and in designing solutions for them.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2019.1626595Public policywicked problemselite surveyintractable policy |
| spellingShingle | B. Guy Peters Matthew Tarpey Are wicked problems really so wicked? Perceptions of policy problems Policy & Society Public policy wicked problems elite survey intractable policy |
| title | Are wicked problems really so wicked? Perceptions of policy problems |
| title_full | Are wicked problems really so wicked? Perceptions of policy problems |
| title_fullStr | Are wicked problems really so wicked? Perceptions of policy problems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are wicked problems really so wicked? Perceptions of policy problems |
| title_short | Are wicked problems really so wicked? Perceptions of policy problems |
| title_sort | are wicked problems really so wicked perceptions of policy problems |
| topic | Public policy wicked problems elite survey intractable policy |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2019.1626595 |
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