Excerpt from Approaches to the Study of Politics: Twenty-Two Contemporary Essays Exploring the Nature of Politics and Methods by Which It Can Be Studied

Shall OM IT the usual disclaimers concerning the tenta tiveness and crudeness of the focus for political analysis suggested in this paper. At this stage in the development of political science those who take a flying leap toward more ambitious targets are bound to leave portions of their intellectual anatomy exposed or awkwardly posed. Nor should it be necessary to deny any intention to argue that the decision-making approach is the white hope of a more systematic political science. I believe this ap proach has never been fully explored and I am convinced that its rigorous development will substantially aid the search for unifying concepts.

My own feeling - indeed it is one Of the assumptions upon which my in terest in decision-making rests - is that the major areas of future growth in political science will be: community political analysis (not local govern ment in the usual sense), the formulation and execution of public policy, the description and comparison of political systems on a high level of gener alization, and the theory Of complex administrative organizations. Even if we only agree that these are some of the directions of potential intellectual progress in our discipline, the question arises: What kinds of analytical tools and skills will be required? That the Northwestern experiment should lead ultimately to an inquiry into the nature of political science and to the quest for unifying concepts illustrates the depth and breadth of our needs provided one is courageous and skillful enough to face up to the $64 questions.

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