No Fixed Goals in the Polis It S All Competing Conceptions

No fixed goals in the polis—it’s all competing conceptions Vague, contradictory, protean Problem definition is equally troublesome

Symbols Stories Compelling and blinding Narrative Stories Story of decline Stymied progress Change-is-only-an-illusion Helplessness and control Conspiracy Blame-the-victim Synecdoches Focus on part of a problem rather than whole thing Welfare queen Horror stories Metaphors Living organisms Natural laws Machines Wedges and inclines Slippery slope Containers Disease War Ambiguity Mean more than one thing at once p. 162 Numbers Language of counting Politics of it Double-edge swords (savings) p. 176 p. 186 Causes Cause—Effect—Responsibility How problem comes into being We get confused…definition v. causation Natural and social p. 191 p. 204 p. 209 Interests Contests Squeaky wheel gets the grease Group/class interests—harder to see common solution than common problem p. 216 Link between healthcare and economy—MOBILIZATION Wilson p. 223 Decisions We have to assume there is a single best choice Habit, social custom, impulse, intuition, procrastination, consensus, delegation, bargaining, mediation, trial, voting, flip a coin We know rationality—maximum total welfare p. 238—reading a decision tree Hobson’s choice Issue framing—debate on p. 248-249

Suppose a serious flu epidemic is expected to kill 600 people. The government is considering two possible vaccination programs. Program A would use a conventional vaccine that can be counted on to save 200 people. Program B would use an experimental vaccine that has a 1/3 chance of saving 600 people but a 2/3 chance of being totally ineffective and saving none. You are the surgeon general of the United States? Which would you choose?

Now suppose you are considering a choice between two other programs. Program C would use a conventional vaccine that we know from past experience will result in the death of 400 people. Program D, using an experimental vaccine, would offer a 1/3 chance that no one would die but a 2/3 chance that all 500 would die. Which of these would you choose?

p. 256

No universal, scientific, or objective method of problem definition