The process of program development : the case of TVA's power program

The increased emphasis of social scientists on "relevancy" has caused political scientists to focus more attention on the "post-Congress" stage of government activity. Emphasis, as such, has been on public policies and their effects on society. One important aspect of public policies, programs, has received virtually none of this attention. Defined as the means by which public policies are carried out, programs have been criticized for their failure to change in response to the changing needs of society.

Using both a closed- and open-system perspective, this dissertation examines a single program that has experienced rapid and extensive change throughout its forty-five year history. The Tennessee Valley Authority is the subject of a case study that relies upon personal interviews with agency officials and secondary sources including newspapers, government reports, and the Authority's files and reports for its factual information.

Programs are identified as experiencing two manners of change: pace, which may be slow or rapid, and magnitude, which may be limited or extensive. From these two manners of change, four types of program change are distinguished: slow/limited, slow/extensive, rapid/limited, and rapid/extensive. Varying levels of four variables are found to be associated with each type of change: level of environmental complexity, change, and uncertainty; level of comprehensiveness of the gathering and analyzing of information in the decision-making process; organizational goal/mission; and level of autonomy.