• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

CHAPTER TEN: Decision Making

Study

Chapter Summary

Chapter 10 emphasizes different theories of decision making that can be applied to government. Each approach must address the information that decision makers use in reaching their judgments and how political values affect decisions. The rational decision-making approach seeks efficiency and the desire to maximize investment. The bargaining approach argues that it is most rational to conduct some analysis and then to bargain out a decision that can attract political support. The participative approach calls for participation by those who will be affected by the decisions. The public-choice approach argues that government decisions should be made more like in the private sector because, if left alone, government workers will promote only their own interests.

None of these approaches offer a complete solution to the problem of making decisions. Although all are helpful, they all face the following problems: enormous uncertainty, problems with information flow, and crises that condense the time available for making decisions.