Development Projects as Policy Experiments; An adaptive approach to development administration

Rondinelli argues that most development policies are based on the assumptions that reality is manageable and that the future is predictable. This results in universal and 'technical' solutions to development 'problems', and therefore many policies are inappropriate and far removed from the reality they are trying to influence. Rondinelli suggests that a more helpful way of viewing development policies is to approach them as 'social experiments'. Experiments take into account the underlying uncertainty and the necessity of trial and error in order to learn. Experiments also take into account that the unexpected may happen, and that both problems and solutions may have to be redefined along the way. Policy-making then becomes less a matter of prediction and implementation, and more a matter of questions and discoveries. Rondinelli links this to wider concerns about the importance of continuous learning, flexibility, and opportunities for local ownership of the policy process.