Organizational Dynamics and Energy Policy

Organization theory posits the idea of an organizational identity, a pattern of decision-making shaped by organization and management practices. The rise of the administrative state, as a function of the quest for efficiency in the production of material goods, has created an overarching organizational identity for government actions. This paper will develop a theory of the policy-making choices inherent to an administrative state and argue that the resulting organizational identity strongly encourages policy makers to consider what Lutzenhiser has identified as “the physical-technicaleconomic model (PTEM)” (Lutzenhiser 1993, 248) as the preeminent method of decision making. I will show the historical developments that lead me to conclude this, consider what these developments mean for citizens in such a society, and consider the effect of these developments on the organizational dynamics of energy policy actors.