Policy Sciences Fundamentals
Curator:
William Ascher & Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek
Harold D. Lasswell "The Theory of Political Propaganda" 1927
Commentary: This early work clarified how Lasswell analyzed symbols and propaganda, based on his work on the use of propaganda in World War I. Many other studies by Lasswell and other policy scientists assessed the importance and manipulations of symbols. W.A.
Harold D. Lasswell, "The Emerging Conception of the Policy Sciences" 1970
Commentary: This article, to inaugurate the journal Policy Sciences, provides the rationale for the broad, inter-disciplinary, problem-oriented basis for the field. Of course, the framework was established in the landmark Power and Society, co-authored with Abraham Kaplan, but its use and definition of a practitioner discipline is outlined in this article. More elaboration on the challenges facing the policy scientists can be found in Lasswell's Pre-View of Policy Sciences. W.A.