Rationality versus Politics

The Tension in Practice

Do governments emphasize a «rational» orientation in making their choices on economic matters? Or is a «political» orientation preferred? This is a well-recognized dilemma (duality) for all governments.

The rational orientation engages and emphasizes:

■ Logic and facts around social, financial and commercial issues, &
■ Objective reality and accepted economic theory.

A political orientation engages and emphasizes:

■ Social values, traditions and populist pressures, &
■ Subjective factors and socio-emotional states.

As this is a dynamic duality, governmental interaction with economic activities can take three forms:

  • Rational (shown via subscript R)
  • Political (shown via subscript P)

  • Balanced (shown via subscript B)

    Balanced applies where it is impossible (or at least foolish) to consider rational factors and political factors in isolation from each other.

This dynamic duality allows us to perform a Level-by-Level analysis that focuses more precisely on the requirements at each Level and define Centres representing situations and choices. Following that, it is possible to appreciate politico-social forces represented by interaction amongst the various Centres.

Originally posted: Q3-2009