His article is almost entirely biased against the Root method and constantly praises the Branch method. He appears to lead the reader down the primrose path towards the Branch method and away from the Root method. As I reflected back upon the many policy changes that I have been a part of, it dawned on me that we did use the Root method successfully on occasion. Some complex problems of the past may be relatively simple ones now with advances in technology and the ability to gather and transmit data around the world. This article was almost certainly in the required readings for this course because it demonstrates very important decision making criteria needed by the policy maker.
All professions require some basic tools to do their jobs and policy makers are no different.
Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of the Root and Branch methods will be very important to anyone involved in deciding policy. Stella Z. Theodoulou and Matthew A. Cahn. Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1995. 113-127 Lindblom, Charles E. Politics and Markets . Lindblom, Charles E. The Policy-Making Process .