ABSTRACT
The core idea in the "philosophy of the automatic society" is a quest for techniques or structures that would guarantee the choice of demonstrably best alternatives of policy. This implies a will to depoliticize the confrontation of people and their interests, and to turn political argumentation to forms of calculation. The application of the new techniques and concepts adopted from the social sciences to the work of administrators caused profound changes in the ways of reasoning on public policies. The chapter examines the planning theory and planning practice. It presents a results of an analysis of the argumentative strategy in a policy-planning process in the Finnish central government. The chapter also examines the rhetoric in the yearly planning documents preparing policy and budgetary decisions on housing policy. It explains that strategies of argumentation used in the policy process do affect who gets what and the achievement of values such as justice and equality in society.
