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In contrast to science and technology, public policymaking systems lack knowledge about the design and operation of overall social control. Policy sciences contribute to the understanding and improvement of large-scale control systems, especially in their attempt to give rationality to policymaking and decisionmaking activities. The most important implication of policy sciences is that they provide man with the ability to direct and control his future. (RA)

Public policymaking institutions and their operations should be viewed as complex systems, to be analyzed and improved with the help of basic general systems theory ideas and concepts. Possibilities of and needs for changes in the policymaking system can be illustrated by eleven improvement proposals: explicit strategy decisions, explicit learning feedback, better consideration of the future, much analysis, encouragement of creativity and inventions, improvement of one-person-centered decisionmaking, development of policy professionals, development of politicians, establishment of policy sciences as an academic discipline, radical changes in school teaching of civic and current affairs subjects, and explicit and systematic metapolicymaking. (Author)

The main thesis of this paper is that innovative changes in both urban metapolicy and in urban education are needed to meet present and future urban problems. Metapolicy deals with policies on policymaking, including the characteristics of the policymaking system and basic policy frameworks and postures. Unless urban metapolicy is improved, no meaningful improvements are possible in concrete policies on specific issues. Required changes in urban metapolicy include: (1) development of urban policy sciences knowledge; (2) invention of new urban policy tools; (3) explicit strategy determination; (4) new policy-contributing institutions and/or policy research organizations; (5) improvement of urban policymaking personnel; and, (6) advancement of citizen participation. This analysis has important implications for urban educators. On one hand, similar improvements in the urban education policymaking subsystems are needed for better urban educational policies. On the other hand, some radical changes in urban education are needed to meet the needs of better urban metapolicies. These include: (1) education of adults for more active roles in urban policymaking; (2) preparation of children for even more active future roles in urban policymaking; (3) training and retraining of urban policy practitioners for new patterns of urban policymaking; (4) training of new types of urban policy professionals; and (5) development of policy scientists. (Author)

A basic design for a post-graduate university program in policy sciences is presented in this paper which aims at raising issues and bringing out the main dimensions of policy sciences teaching rather than supplying definite solutions or a detailed "model program." The suggested approach is interdisciplinary, with two years residence and the writing of a dissertation; the main objective is the preparation of researchers, scholars, and university teachers in policy sciences; the prospective clientele the top 1% of post-graduate students. Attention is also given to: (1) learning dimensions: contents, curriculum, and methods; (2) faculty and faculty-student relations; (3) external requirements and activities. (nl)

Suggests changes that are needed in order to successfully face urban problems including the formulation of policies on policy-making" and the need to improve education on policy-making approaches. (AA)

A policy-oriented approach to law based on: law as one of many policy instruments, and, policy analysis (extension of systems analysis) as the methodology for identifying combinations of instruments to direct change. Behavioral study is discussed as essential part of the broad policy-making framework. (SE)

Development of policy sciences constitutes a main effort to reconstruct the role of intellectualism and rationality in human affairs. (Author)