The rationality of planning: a comparative view of the National Development Council, the Commission for the Future, and the New Zealand Planning Council

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is two-fold: (1) To examine the concepts of rationality and planning in the light of current theoretical literature on public policy-making, in particular the work of C.E. Lindblom and A. Wildavsky; and (2) To apply the theoretical framework to an examination of institutional approaches to governmental planning as manifest in the work of the National Development Council, the Commission for the Future and the New Zealand Planning Council. The thesis distinguishes between two main concepts of rationality - economic rationality and rationality as justification - and, related to these distinctions, between indicative planning and consultative planning. From this distinction, it discusses how the theoretical propositions help to explain some of the incurring problems associated with these differing institutional approaches to governmental planning.