Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum, read the rational planning and prescriptive approach case from Chapter 3: Rational Planning and Prescriptive Approaches in your Comparative Approaches to Program Planning text.

The case and the chapter both are intended to get you thinking about not just rational planning, but also prescriptive approaches. In this instance, do you believe that the political context is vital, or do you believe that the political influence got in the way of problem-solving that is technically and professionally grounded? That said, how would you have approached this case from a planning perspective?