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Nondecisions and the Study of Local Politics

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  • Wolfinger, Raymond E.

Abstract

The widely cited concept of nondecisions is particularly prominent in criticisms of “pluralist†research on local politics. But no scholars, including those who introduced the notion of nondecisions, have done empirical research explicitly on this topic. The lack of research on nondecisions reflects the concept's weaknesses as a guide to field research: (1) It involves a number of unrealistic assumptions about political life. (2) It requires data that are difficult to gather or wholly unobtainable. (3) Even the data that can be collected do not provide a basis for sensible conclusions about the distribution of political power.The impracticability of research on nondecisions is not a serious setback for political science, however, for most of its specific component ideas, such as the policy consequences of different governmental forms or the impact of political socialization, are being studied without reference to the notion of nondecisions. Judged by its utility for empirical research, then, the idea of nondecisions appears to be superfluous. The same might be said of the notion of “power structures.â€

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  • Wolfinger, Raymond E., 1971. "Nondecisions and the Study of Local Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(4), pages 1063-1080, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:65:y:1971:i:04:p:1063-1080_13
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    Cited by:

    1. Prudence R. Brown & Alastair Stark, 2022. "Policy inaction meets policy learning: four moments of non-implementation," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 55(1), pages 47-63, March.
    2. Levin-Waldman, Oren M., 2009. "Urban path dependency theory and the living wage: Were cities that passed ordinances destined to do so?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 672-683, August.
    3. Alan Alexandroff & Richard Rosecrance & Arthur Stein, 1977. "History, Quantitative Analysis, and the Balance of Power," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 21(1), pages 35-56, March.
    4. Katie Attwell & Tauel Harper & Marco Rizzi & Jeannette Taylor & Virginia Casigliani & Filippo Quattrone & PierLuigi Lopalco, 2021. "Inaction, under-reaction action and incapacity: communication breakdown in Italy’s vaccination governance," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(3), pages 457-475, September.

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