Ill-Structured Problems
The more typical and potentially dangerous problems are ill structured, mean ing that they involve "many different decision-makers whose utilities (values) are either unknown or impossible to rank in a consistent fashion" (Dunn 2008, 80). Many of the most important policy problems are ill structured. This means that unfortunately for policy analysis, the right tools and methods can not be taken off the shelf and neatly applied to good data sets. A good example of an ill-structured problem is tobacco smoking. Should it be regulated? How should it be regulated? This is a multidimensional problem involving major health consequences, producer needs, restaurant interests, potential links to more dangerous drugs, and attendant social effects. The problem can also be broken down functionally into overlapping and potentially contradictory organizational responsibilities for each of the component parts of the problem.