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Cited by 51Public Policy and Administration ResearchManagement and Organizational StudiesEconomic Theory and Institutions

Problem Solving and Institutional Design

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Donald Chisholm·1995·Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
DOI 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a037259
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Abstract

The most prominent contemporary approach to institutions asserts that they result from self-interested, maximizing choice from among some array of alternative forms that biases outcomes in certain directions. But institutions such as large-scale formal organizations also are powerful instruments for solving difficult problems. From this perspective, founded in the institutionalism of the late nineteenth century and grounded in cognitive psychology and procedural rationality, choices about institutional forms are principally a function of identifying and representing problems and generating alternatives for their solution. Contemporary public policy problems are characterized by organized complexity and are largely illstructured. Consequently, the most difficult task for decision makers is to comprehend the problems they confront and, because alternatives are rarely given, to devise institutional forms that can effectively redress those problems. This article proposes and elaborates an empirically based problem-solving theory of institutions.

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  • Problems-as-processed by authoritative policymakers frequently entail path-dependent, pre-structured problem definitions that exclude newly emerging and promising alternative solutions seriously considered by other actors.

    “Frequently, problems-as-processed by authoritative policymakers entail path-dependent, pre-structured problem definitions (Chisholm, 1995) that exclude newly emerging and promising alternative solutions seriously considered by other actors.”

    From Problematizing ‘wickedness’: a critique of the wicked problems concept, from philosophy to practice (2019) · cites this paper as Chisholm, 1995

    The Implications for Research section says earlier decisions structure future choices, while section 1A says more developed problem representations make fewer alternatives acceptable. These passages support path-dependent definitions that constrain alternatives, but they do not establish that authoritative policymakers frequently exclude newly emerging, promising solutions seriously considered by other actors. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Authors
Chisholm, D.
Affiliations
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author
Donald Chisholm
Venue
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
1995-10
ISSN
  • 1053-1858 (ISSN-L)
  • 1477-9803
DOI
10.1093/oxfordjournals.jpart.a037259
OpenAlex
W2339180095
Cited by
51
References
24
Citations by year
2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 2
FWCI
1.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Public Administration › Public Policy and Administration Research
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic Theory and Institutions
Keywords
institutional design, problem solving, institutionalism, procedural rationality, cognitive psychology, ill-structured problems, problem representation, formal organizations, decision-making

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