Abstract

ALVAREZ HUWILER, Laura  and  BONNET, Alberto. Trial and Error. A Marxist Analysis of Public Policies. Rev. mex. cienc. polít. soc [online]. 2018, vol.63, n.233, pp.169-192. ISSN 0185-1918.  https://doi.org/10.22201/fcpys.2448492xe.2018.233.59461.

This article addresses the problem of the rationality of the public policy making process aimed at outlining guidelines from a different perspective to the rationalist approach. The hypothesis advanced is that the public policy process is one of trial and error marked by a bounded rationality. Although these concepts come from the “rationalist/incrementalist” debate, they are redefined here based on an analysis of the capitalist state and the limits it imposes on its ability to intervene according to the requirements of capitalist reproduction framed in the derivationist version of the Marxist state theory. The article constitutes a theoretical-methodological work, although it is based on conclusions drawn from specific empirical research on specific public policy processes.

Keywords : State; public policies; capitalist reproduction; trial and error; bounded rationality.

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