PARADIGMS AND POLICYMAKING: A TWOFOLD RELATION

Abstract

Thomas S. Kuhn’s original idea of paradigm and paradigm shift provides the scientist with theory, methods, and standards, and, through the paradigm shift, indicates the significant change in the criteria through which the legitimacy of problems and proposed solutions is determined. It can be said that the paradigm regulates not only scientific, but also policymaking criteria. In this regard, the aim of this paper is twofold: first, to examine the influence of a paradigm on the policymaking process; second, to examine the reverse influence of policymaking process on paradigms through the case of procedures. The final goal is to see whether it is possible to optimize the application of a paradigm in the policymaking process.