Groupthink Versus High-Quality Decision Making in Internatio

Erscheinungsjahr 2010
ISBN: 978-0-231-14889-4
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 304 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 151 mm x 228 mm, Gewicht: 406 g

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Schafer, Mark

Crichlow, Scott

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Forschung und Information Entscheidungstheorie, Sozialwahltheorie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Tables and FiguresAcknowledgmentsPart I. Groupthink and the Quality of the Foreign-Policy Decision-Making Process 1. Introduction2. The Group and the Individual in Foreign-Policy Decision Making3. The Decision-Making Model: The Interplay of Group Processes and Psychological CharacteristicsPart II. Case Studies in American Foreign-Policy Decision Making 4. Case Studies in Low-Quality Decision Making5. Case Studies in High-Quality Decision MakingPart III. Statistical Analyses 6. The Effect of Groupthink Versus High-Quality Decision Making on Outcomes7. Individual-Level Factors Affecting the Quality of Decision MakingPart IV. Conclusions 8. The 2003 War in Iraq: How Flawed Decision Making Led to Critical Failures9. Groupthink Versus High-Quality Decision Making: Lessons and PrescriptionsAppendix A. Cases Included in the AnalysisAppendix B. Operational Definitions of Situational-Context VariablesAppendix C. Operational Definitions of Group-Structural VariablesAppendix D. Operational Definitions of Decision-Processing VariablesNotesReferencesIndex

Über Autor(innen)

Mark Schafer is professor of political science at Louisiana State University. He has published more than thirty-five articles in such publications as Journal of Politics, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and International Studies Quarterly, and, with Stephen Walker, he is the editor of Beliefs and Leadership in World Politics. Schafer is the past president of the Foreign Policy Analysis section of the International Studies Association and has received the Erik Erikson Award for Early Career Achievement from the International Society of Political Psychology.

Scott Crichlow is associate professor of political science at West Virginia University. His work concerns foreign-policy decision making, international relations, and political psychology, and has been published in International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Political Psychology.