Notes on Societal Action

Abstract The classical decision theory model is contrasted with an action-planning model in which planning and action are conceived as a single operation. Two types of societal action—system-maintaining and system-transforming— are identified together with their corresponding forms of planning. Criteria for evaluating societal guidance system performance are suggested, and improvement of the guidance system is presented as one of the most important missions for planning today. Personal characteristics that will permit the action-planner to use his technical competence effectively are enumerated: self-knowledge, high learning capacity, skill in the use of symbolic abstractions, empathy, ability to work in tense, conflict-charged situations, knowledge of the dynamics and uses of power, and an ethics of responsibility.