Abstract
This chapter examines theories and concepts of decision making and outlines how the context within which decisions are made affect the result. It stresses significant nonquantifiable factors which may receive little or no careful appraisal. Treatises on engineering and economics usually recognize the importance of human values, environmental concerns, community preferences and expectations, and similar socio-political and administrative factors. Systems models seek to provide for such inputs. Yet difficulties in identifying these factors and giving them appropriate weights often result in their being minimized or ignored—with possible subsequent consequences for the operation of the primary water system. This paper seeks to analyze inherent limitations of so-called “rational-comprehensive models” and outlines the more pragmatic “incremental” approach to decision making.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Anderson, R. L. and Norman Wengert, “Water systems’ 79,” Proceedings of the ASCE Water Resources Planning and Management Division Specialty Conference, New York, New York: ASCE, February 25–28, 1979.
Anderson, R. L., Wengert, N. I. and Heil, R. D. The Physical and Economic Effects on the Local Agricultural Economy of Water Transfer from Irrigation Companies to Cities in the Northern Denver Metropolitan Areas, Fort Collins, Colorado: Environmental Resources Center, Colorado State University, 1976.
Biswas, A. K. (Editor). Systems Approach to Water Management, New York, New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1976.
Burchell, R. W. and Listokin, D., The Environmental Impact Handbook, New Brunswick, New Jersey: Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University, 1975.
Cartwright, F. F., Disease and History, New York, New York, Crowell, 1922.
Collins, B. E. and Guetzkow, H. A Social Psychology of Group Processes for Decision Making, New York, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1964.
Conn, P. H., Conflict and Decision Making, New York, New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1971.
Diesing, P., Reason in Society, Five Types of Decisions and Their Social Conditions, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1962.
Dorfman, R. and Jacoby, H. D., “A model of public decisions illustrated by a water pollution policy problem,” in The Analysis and Evaluation of Public Expenditures: The PPB System; A Compendium of Papers Submitted to the Subcommittee on the Economy in Government of the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Volumes 1, The Appropriate Functions of Government in an Enterprise System, Volume 2, Institutional Factors Affecting Efficient Public Expenditure Policy. Volume 3, Some Problems of Analysis in Evaluating Public Expenditure Alternatives, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Print Office, Three Volumes, Paged Continuously; Volume 1, pp. 226-276, 1969.
Downs, A., Inside Bureaucracy. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1967.
Easton, D., The Political System, New York, New York: Alfred Knopf, 1953.
Easton, D., A Framework for Political Analysis, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1965a.
Easton, D., A Systems Analysis of Political Life, New York, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1965b.
Friedrich, C. J. (Editor), “Rational Decision: Nomos VII, Yearbook of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy”, New York, New York: Atherton Press, 1967.
Grigg, N. S. et al., Metropolitan Water Intelligence Sytems, Fort Collins, Colorado: Department of Civil Engineering, Colorado State University, 1973.
Gore, W. J., Administrative Decision Making: A Heuristic Model, New York, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1964.
Hall, W. A. and Dracup, J. A., Water Resources Systems Engineering, New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1970.
Hoos, I. R., Systems Analysis in Public Policy: A Critique, Berkley, California: University of California Press, 1972.
Hufschmidt, M. M. and Fiering, M. B., Simulation Techniques for Design of Water Resource Systems, Cambridge, Masachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1966.
Jain, R. K., Urban, L. V., and Stacey, G. S., Environmenta1 Impact Analysis: A New Dimension in Decision Making, second edition, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1981.
Kisiel, C. C. and Duckstein, L., “Operations research study of water resources, Part I and Part II,” in Water Resources Bulletin, 6:737–745 and 857-867, 1970.
Lindblom, C. E., “The science of ‘muddling through’,” in Public Administration Review 19:79–88, 1959.
Lindblom, C. E., The Intelligence of Democracy, Decision Making through Mutual Adjustment, New York, New York: The Free Press, 1965.
McKean, R. N., Efficiency in Government Through System Analysis, with Emphasis on Water Resources Development, New York, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1958.
Mowitz, R. J., The Design of Public Decision Systems, Baltimore, Maryland: University Park Press, 1980.
Novick, D. (Editor), Progran Budgeting, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1965.
Simon, H. A., Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision Making Processes in Administrative Organization, third edition, New York, New York: The Free Press, 1945, 1947, 1957, 1976.
Walker, G. M., Jr. and Wengert, N., Urban Water Policies and Decision Making in the Detroit Metropolitan Region, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan, 1970.
Wengert, N., “Politican and social accommodation: the political process and environmental preservation,” in Natural Resources Journal 11:437–446, 1971.
Wengert, N., The Political Allocation of Benefits and Burdens, Berkeley, California: Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, 1976.
Wengert, N., “Reflections of information needs and the integration of social science perspectives in resource planning,” in Proceedings, Social Scientists Conference: Social aspects of Comprehensive Planning. Three Volumes, Fort Belvoir, Virginia: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Institute for Water Resources, 1977.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1983 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wengert, N. (1983). Societal Constraints in Decision Making. In: Guggino, E., Rossi, G., Hendricks, D. (eds) Operation of Complex Water Systems. NATO ASI Series, vol 58. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6807-3_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6807-3_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-009-6809-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-6807-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive