Problems of Cognition as a Challenge to Policy Analysts and Democratic Societies

Abstract

Tocqueville offers an analysis of how cognitive limits and distortions are likely to place democracies at risk. Similar problems exist in policy analysis. Theoretical discourse, which increasingly distances itself from social reality, yields a large gap between theory and practice. A language which specifies elements and relationships for addressing multiple levels and units of analysis in analysing problematical situations and exploring alternative possibilities offers the prospect of being a better, though imperfect, tool for reckoning.