Three Problem Types
Type 1 Problems (Technical Problems)
Agreement on definition of problem, agreement of potential available solutions
Type 2 Problems (Value Problems)
Agreement on definition of problem, no agreement on potential options
Type 3 Problems (“Wicked” or Intractable Problems)
No agreement on definition of problem or options
Type 1
- “How” questions
- Experts can solve
- Limited consideration of values
- Usually limited or no participation/collaboration required
Ex: Fastest route to Pittsburgh, how to solve differential equation, how to fix a broken arm, how to best get stain out of a rug, how to create a more efficient light bulb
Type 2
- Value dimensions make “reasonable solution” less apparent
- Usually agreement on the definition of the problem, but not on available solutions
- Expertise/information is insufficient
- Value hierarchies mean that people must live with or implement the solutions
- Evoke emotions and sometimes stubbornness
Ex: Gen ed reform,
Challenges with Type 2 Problems
- Many are both technical and value driven, but…
- People tend to dismiss or not recognize value problems or value components
Ex: Reducing teen pregnancy
Ex: Keystone XL pipeline
Ex: “Combat” drugs: enforcement is “out there” rather than in families, neighborhoods, schools, etc. Someone else’s problem. (It’s a Type 3 problem, but it illustrates the pt)
Type 3
- Multiple Stakeholders
- Overlapping jurisdictions
- Powerful moral dimensions
- Deep histories
- People come up with different solutions (from their worldview) instead of defining the problem (like eisegesis vs. exegesis)
Ex: Poverty, Climate Change, Abortion, Gun Policy
Ex: School Shootings (regulation, mental health, or on-site defense/responses, but not: responsibility training, resources for those in distress)
- No one (alone) actually has sufficient power to address/solve
- No discipline or mental model can fully explain
- Often contested technical information (ex: value of higher ed degree, climate change)
Features of Public Issues (Jeffrey Luke)
(Type 2 and Type 3)
They are systemic (multiple causation, systemic constraints, nonsummative)
- Public Issues Cross Traditional Boundaries
- Organizations/jurisdictions
- Functions
- Time periods/generational perspectives
2. Public Issues are Socially Constructed
- Differing values, beliefs, cultural traditions, worldviews
- Strategies based on person’s perception about cause(s) and effect(s)
- Scientific/technical data necessary but not sufficient
3. No Optimal Solution
- Intractable; never entirely solved
- Merely technical remedy is ineffective; requires deeper systemic change