CHAPTER TEN: Decision Making
Review
1. Do you agree with Herbert Simon that the task of deciding should be the central element of studying public administration? Perhaps even more, as according to Simon, that doing is impossible without deciding? Why or why not?
2. Two elements are critical for decision makers: information and values. Which do you rely on most heavily when you make decisions? When you examine the decisions made by the executive branch, which element does it seem like administrators rely on the most? Why do you think this is the case?
3. Comment on the Deborah Stone quote reprinted in the text: "Because politics is driven by how people interpret information, much political activity is an effort to control interpretations". What do you think of this idea that even information is political in the way that interpretations are controlled and perpetuated? Can you give an example of how you have witnessed the politicization of how information is interpreted? How do the different approaches to decision making treat 'information," and which ones seem more political than others?
4. Now comment on Robert D. Behn and James W. Vaupel's quote on values reprinted in the text: "Decisions depend upon judgments—judgments about the nature of the dilemma, the probabilities of events, and the desirability of consequences. Decision making is inherently subjective". What do you think about this idea that decisions are "inherently subjective"? Can you give an example of how you have witnessed your government make a decision that seemed more subjective than objective? How does that make you feel that the subjectivity of administrators is at work in their decision making? How do the different approaches to decision making treat "values," and which ones seem more value driven than others?
5. Think back to the different real, historical examples used throughout the chapter to better explain the different decision-making approaches. Which one stands out as a particularly good fit of a decision-making approach to a problem area? Why? Which one stands out in your mind as a situation that could have benefited from a different approach? Why?
6. In this "Information Age," sometimes pathologies can occur from having too much information. Consider the paradoxes presented by the text:
"Improvements in incoming information may clog internal channels of information. Increasing the amount of information flow to decision makers may simply overload them, as may attempts to eliminate the fragmented features of decision making. Greater clarity and detail in the wording of decisions may overwhelm implementing officials".
What do you think about these dilemmas? Can you think of a way to resolve them?