1. Bridging Controversy and Building Consensus: The Theory of Paradox
Chapter 9
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Bridging Controversy and Building Consensus:
The Theory of Paradox

2. Chapter 9 Outline Partisanship in Public Policy The Theory of Paradox
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Chapter 9 Outline
Partisanship in Public Policy
The Theory of Paradox
Three Worldviews of Family Change
The Concerned, Satisfied, and Impatient Camps
Applying the Theory of Paradox to Family Policy
Framing of Policy Issues, Substance of Family Policy, and Source of Policy Response
The Potential of the Theory of Paradox to Bridge Controversy
For Conceptualizing Family Form and Function
For Crafting a Politically Feasible Family Policy Agenda
For Mobilizing Political Action
Summary

3. Partisanship in Public Policy
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Partisanship in Public Policy
Spirited debate over policy decisions is the engine of democracy and always has been.
In Congress, partisan polarization was at an all-time low in the 1940s and 1950s growing to the unprecedented divide that exists today.
Policymakers cannot agree on what conditions constitute social problems, which factors contribute to them, how values should drive policy decisions, and what the role of government should be.
The U.S. public is ready for compromise.

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The Theory of Paradox
A true paradox consists of two principles that seem irreconcilable but are simultaneously valid.
True paradox can be addressed in one of the following two ways:
pushing in the ignored direction
simultaneously pursuing two opposing, yet valid, policy goals.
This theory is a practical framework for overcoming polarization in policymaking by bridging conflicting ideas and fostering compromise.

5. Three Worldviews of Family Change
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Three Worldviews of Family Change
Families have changed dramatically in the last 50 years.
Dispute about the impact of this tidal wave of change has generated conflicting views about family policies.
Inherent differences exist in how each worldview describes, explains, and interprets family changes:
the concerned camp lambasts family changes as detrimental to children
the satisfied camp lauds them as beneficial for women
the impatient camp laments them as being too slow.

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The Concerned Camp

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The Satisfied Camp

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The Impatient Camp

9. Applying the Theory of Paradox to Family Policy
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Applying the Theory of Paradox to Family Policy

10. Applying the Theory to the Framing of Policy Issues
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Applying the Theory to the Framing of Policy Issues
A focus on familism in policymaking with its orientation toward caring and commitment is valid and defensible.
However, focusing exclusively on familism can interfere with hard-fought individual rights, such as women’s career opportunities, equal wages, and reproductive rights.
Focusing exclusively on individualism can interfere with the time, commitment, and self-sacrifice that solid marriages, effective parenting, and strong civil societies require.

11. Applying the Theory to the Substance of Family Policy
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Applying the Theory to the Substance of Family Policy
Balancing two important, yet contradictory, goals is at the heart of many family policy issues.
Using the example of welfare reform, the dilemma policymakers face is reducing family dependency on welfare (as the concerned advocate for) and reducing child poverty (as the impatient advocate for).
Reaching both goals at the same time has proven difficult.
Thus, the crux of welfare reform is to reduce welfare dependency by encouraging parental self-sufficiency, but to do so in a way that does not increase child poverty and harm child well-being.

12. Applying the Theory to the Source of Policy Response
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Applying the Theory to the Source of Policy Response
Sometimes the decision that polarizes policy debate is not what the policy response should be but who should make the decision: government, civil society, or the marketplace.
When considering the causes of poverty, the satisfied and impatient camps attribute poverty to the conditions in which families live.
The concerned camp attributes poverty to culture, contending the poor have different attitudes and values.
These two explanations are diametrically opposed to each other, and neither alone is adequate.
Policymakers, such as Jesse Jackson, work to balance the opposing poles of the paradox by advocating for structural solutions, but suggest they be accompanied by a moral revolution.

13. The Potential of the Theory of Paradox to Bridge Controversy
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The Potential of the Theory of Paradox to Bridge Controversy

14. For Conceptualizing Family Form and Function
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For Conceptualizing Family Form and Function
According to this theory, not everyone would belong to the same kind of family.
The theory of paradox would not support the extreme conformity of the concerned camp or the excessive relativity of the impatient camp, but would absorb and integrate the best thinking of both views.
Family life, by its nature, would revolve around commitment that would not be broken casually, especially when children are involved.

15. For Crafting a Politically Feasible Family Policy Agenda
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For Crafting a Politically Feasible Family Policy Agenda
Like many policy issues, balancing work and family requires the pursuit of structural and cultural responses.
Promoting structural supports such as parental leave or flex time provides parents opportunities to spend time with their children.
Promoting a cultural shift that prioritizes childrearing provides parents with the motivation to spend time with their children.
These seemingly antithetical policy goals would each be more effective if implemented in concert with the other.
Workplace benefits are more likely in a cultural climate that values parenting, and when the culture values parenting, parents will be more likely to take advantage of available workplace benefits.

16. For Mobilizing Political Action
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For Mobilizing Political Action
The beauty of true paradox is that it creates a sense of urgency that can breed public outrage and mobilization.
Recognizing the validity of views different from one’s own is no small feat for professionals whose training or ideology may imply there is a single view that is true, correct, and right.
Acknowledging the validity of multiple perspectives can help avert the pendulum swings from one extreme to the other that can generate cynicism about the capacity of policy to do anything right.
Even when there are feasible solutions to apparent problems, political action will not follow without citizens willing to step out of their comfort zone and into the political arena.
“There are few, if any, issues where all the truth and all the right and all the angels are on one side.”
- President John F. Kennedy

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Summary
The theory of paradox is a practical framework that can help us respond to the challenges of increasing polarization and rapidly changing family life.
The concerned, satisfied, and impatient camps illustrate the fault lines for the conflict and controversy that permeate family policy decisions.
The theory of paradox offers a creative vision for designing family policies that circumvent past debates and stalemates, but only if professionals and policymakers are willing to open their minds to the validity of views different from their own.