Are good and bad outcomes significantly affected by the decision-making process itself? Indeed they are, in that certain decision-making techniques and practices limit the ability of policymakers to achieve their goals and advance the national interest. The success of policy often turns on the quality of the decision-making process. Mark Schafer and Scott Crichlow identify the factors that contribute to good and bad policymaking, such as the personalities of political leaders, the structure of decision-making groups, and the nature of the exchange between participating individuals. Analyzing thirty-nine foreign-policy cases across nine administrations and incorporating both statistical analyses and case studies, including a detailed examination of the decision to invade Iraq in 2003, the authors pinpoint the factors that are likely to lead to successful or failed decision making, and they suggest ways to improve the process. Schafer and Crichlow show how the staffing of key offices and the structure of central decision-making bodies determine the path of an administration even before topics are introduced. Additionally, they link the psychological characteristics of leaders to the quality of their decision processing. There is no greater work available on understanding and improving the dynamics of contemporary decision making.
Stephen G. Walker is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University. He has edited Role Theory and Foreign Policy Analysis and co-edited Beliefs and Political Leadership in World Politics.
This book therefore scrutinizes polythink, a group decision-making dynamic whereby different members in a decision-making unit espouse a plurality of opinions and divergent policy prescriptions, resulting in a disjointed decision-making ...
More recently, Campbell Craig and Fredrik Logevall, America's Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity (Cambridge: ... Walter LaFeber, America, Russia, and the Cold War, 1945–1984, 5th Edition (New York: Knopf, 1985); Joyce Kolko and ...
This approach focuses on the decision process, dynamics, and outcome. The book includes a wealth of extended real-world case studies and examples that are woven into the text.
“George W. Bush and the Vulcans: Leader-Advisor Relations and America's Response to the 9/11 Attacks.” In Beliefs and Leadership in World Politics, ... Groupthink versus High-Quality Decision Making in International Relations.
Finkel, R., Sharp, B. and Sweeney, M. (eds) (2019) Accessibility, inclusion, and diversity in critical event studies. London: Routledge. Flach, C. (2017) How diverse is the events industry?
Praise for The Handbook of Conflict Resolution "This handbook is a classic. It helps connect the research of academia to the practical realities of peacemaking and peacebuilding like no other.
... was standing one party against leader reportedly “the Bush, said Blair that and in Balkenende axis.”323 The D66 opposition threatened to bring down the government as the cabinet met again on January 13 to resolve the issue.
Kagan, Robert. “The September 12 Paradigm.” Foreign Affairs, September/ October 2008, 25–39. Kennan, George F. Memoirs. Boston: Little, Brown, 1976. ——— (writing as “X”). “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.” Foreign Affairs, July 1947, ...
International Journal of Forecasting 25(4): 794–812. ... “The Potential for “Groupthink” in Autonomous Work Groups.” Human Relations 35(9): 773–784. ... Groupthink versus High-Quality Decision Making in International Relations.