Classical liberalism and the unrestrained individualism that is of its essence are inappropriate for current ever-increasing interdependence. Recent communitarian thinking in the United States suggests that the exclusive pursuit of private interest is, in fact, inimical in the long run to individual liberty. Sustained policy change depends, however, on a fundamental rethinking of ethics and epistemology; Vickers's concept of appreciation is an important contribution to this task. The authors conclude that there is a need both for more government and for more democracy; greater intrusions on autonomy are inevitable if Western culture in its present form is to survive.
The sanest like the maddest of us cling like spiders to a self-spun web, obscurely moored in vacancy and fiercely shaken by the winds of change. Yet this frail web, through which many see only the void, is the one enduring artifact, the one authentic signature of humankind, and its weaving is our prime responsibility.
—Geoffrey Vickers
“The Psychology of Policymaking and Social Change”
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, G. B. , Bowerman, P. V., Dolbeare, K. M., & Stivers, C. (1990). Joining purpose to practice: A democratic identity for the public service. In H. D. Kass & B. L. Catron (Eds.), Images and identities in public administration. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
2.
Adams, G. B. , Catron, B. L., & Forester, J. (Eds.). (1987). Policy making, communication and social learning: Essays of Sir Geoffrey Vickers. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
3.
Ashby, W. R. (1956). Introduction to cybernetics. New York: Wiley.
4.
Barber, B. R. (1994). An aristocracy of everyone: The politics of education and the future of America. New York: Oxford University Press.
5.
Barrett, W. (1979). The illusion of technique. Garden City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday.
6.
Bateson, G. (1979). Mind and nature: A necessary unity. New York: Dutton.
7.
Belenky, M. F. , Clinchy, B. M., Goldberger, N. R., & Tarule, J. M. (1986). Women's ways of knowing. New York: Basic Books.
8.
Bellah, R. N. , Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1986). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life. New York: Harper & Row.
9.
Bellah, R. N. , Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1992). The good society. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
10.
Bendix, R. (1956). Work and authority in industry. New York: Harper & Row.
11.
Berger, P. , & Luckmann, T. (1967). The social construction of reality. Garden City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday.
12.
Bohm, D. (1980). Wholeness and the implicate order. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
13.
Box, R. C. (in press). Critical theory and the paradox of discourse. American Review of Public Administration.
14.
Catron, B. L. , & Hammond, B. R. (1990). Epilogue: Reflecting on practical wisdom—enacting images and developing identity. In H. D. Kass & B. L. Catron (Eds.), Images and identities in public administration. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
15.
Chapman, J. W. , & Galston, W. A. (Eds.). (1992). Virtue. New York: New York University Press.
16.
Cooper, T. L. (1991). An ethic of citizenship for public administration. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
17.
Ellul, J. (1954). The technological society. New York: Vintage.
18.
Elshtain, J. B. (1990). Power trips and other journeys. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
19.
Etzioni, A. (1991). A responsive society. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
20.
Etzioni, A. (1993). The spirit of community: Rights, responsibilities, and the communitarian agenda. New York: Crown.
21.
Fishkin, J. S. (1991). Democracy and deliberation. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
22.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
23.
Guerreiro-Ramos, A. (1981). The new science of organization. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
24.
Hegel, G.W.F. (1965). Preface to the phenomenology of mind. In W. Kaufmann (Ed. and Trans.), Hegel: Texts and commentary. Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press. (Original work published 1807)
25.
Heidegger, M. (1977). Basic writings (D. Krell, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row. (Original work published 1926)
26.
Heller, T. C. , Sosna, M., & Wellbery, D. E. (Eds.). (1986). Reconstructing individualism: Autonomy, individuality and the self in Western thought. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
27.
Horkheimer, M. (1947). The eclipse of reason. New York: Oxford University Press.
28.
Husserl, E. (1962). Ideas: General introduction to pure phenomenology. New York: Collier. (Original work published 1913)
29.
Husserl, E. (1964). The phenomenology of internal time-consciousness. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
30.
Larson, M. L. (1977). The rise of professionalism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
31.
MacIntyre, A. (1984). After virtue (2nd ed.). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
32.
Mannheim, K. (1940). Man and society in an age of reconstruction. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
33.
McCollough, T. E. (1991). The moral imagination and public life. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.
34.
Nietzsche, F. (1956). The birth of tragedy and genealogy of morals (F. Golffing, Trans.). Garden City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday. (Original work published 1872)
35.
Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
36.
Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension. Garden City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday.
37.
Prigogine, I. , & Stengers, I. (1984). Order out of chaos: Man's new dialogue with nature. New York: Bantam.
38.
Rabinbach, A. (1990). The human motor: Energy, fatigue and the origins of modernity. New York: Basic Books.
39.
Skowronek, S. (1982). Building a new American state: The expansion of national administrative capacities, 1877-1920. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
40.
Smircich, L. , & Calas, M. B. (1987). Organizational culture: A critical assessment. In F. M. Jablin, L. L. Putnam, K. H. Roberts, & L. W. Porter (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41.
Spragens, T. A., Jr. (1990). Reason and democracy. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
42.
Stivers, C. (1990). Active citizenship and public administration. In G. L. Wamsley, R. N. Bacher, C. T. Goodsell, P. S. Kronenberg, J. A. Rohr, C. Stivers, O. F. White, & J. F. Wolf (Eds.), Refounding public administration. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
43.
Stivers, C. (1993). Gender images in public administration. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
44.
Taylor, C. (1985). Philosophical papers (2 vols.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
45.
Turner, B. S. (Ed.). (1990). Theories of modernity and postmodernity. London: Sage.
46.
Vanderburg, W. H. (1985). The growth of minds and cultures: A unified theory of the structure of human experience. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
47.
Vickers, G. (1965). The art of judgment. New York: Basic Books.
48.
Vickers, G. (1970). Freedom in a rocking boat. London: Penguin Books.
49.
Vickers, G. (1973). Making institutions work. New York: Wiley.
50.
Vickers, G. (1977). Some implications of systems thinking: Presidential address. In A. Rapoport (Ed.), General systems: Yearbook of the Society for General Systems Research (Vol. 22). Louisville, KY: Society for General Systems Research.
51.
Vickers, G. (1980). Responsibility: Its sources and limits. Seaside, CA: Intersystems.
52.
Vickers, G. (1983). Human systems are different. London: Harper & Row.
53.
Vickers, G. (1987a). Communication and ethical judgement. In G. B. Adams, B. L. Catron, & J. Forester (Eds.), Policy making, communication and social learning: Essays of Sir Geoffrey Vickers. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. (Original work published 1973)
54.
Vickers, G. (1987b). The psychology of policymaking and social change. In G. B. Adams, B. L. Catron, & J. Forester (Eds.), Policy making, communication and social learning: Essays of Sir Geoffrey Vickers. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. (Original work published 1964)
55.
von Bertalanffy, L. (1955). General systems theory. In A. Rapoport (Ed.), General systems: Yearbook of the Society for General Systems Research (Vol. 1). Louisville, KY: Society for General Systems Research.
56.
Whitehead, A. N. , & Russell, B. (1910). Principia mathematica. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
57.
Wiebe, R. (1967). The search for order. New York: Hill and Wang.
58.
Wiener, N. (1967). The human use of human beings. New York: Avon.
59.
Wittgenstein, L. (1922). Tractatus logico-philosophicus. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
60.
Yankelovich, D. (1991). Coming to public judgment: Making democracy work in a complex world. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
