Strategic planning in economy as a political phenomenon

The paper identifies both the strengths and weaknesses of the organizational-structural approach to the study of the system of economic development strategic planning (EDSP) predominant in the relevant academic literature. Although this approach has demonstrated its potential for resolving many practical issues, it has significant limitations, which result from the fact that the subjects of the system are viewed as a personification of their functions and overlooks individual agency. This approach also is not conducive to addressing how the EDSP system manages to balances the competing interests of different social groups. The article shows that in order to overcome these difficulties, we should cross the boundaries of the “plane” delineated by the organizational-structural approach and enter the interdisciplinary “space,” especially the part that corresponds to political problems. At the same time, it is noted that moving beyond the organizational-structural perspective should, as a rule, be followed by a return to it with an adaptation of the extrinsic material. This may pose some difficulties. The expediency of considering specific EDSP specific problems within political contexts is substantiated. This statement is illustrated by examples of issues discussed in the literature and relating to the composition of EDSP top-level documents and a potential separation of economic development administration from current activities dealing with the regulation of economic processes. The paper makes a case for involving political scientists and experts from other social sciences to collaborate with specialists in economic strategic planning. This would require an appropriate fine-tuning of the system of EDSP research and methodological support.