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Chapter 14 — Decision Making in Politics Study Chapter Summary This chapter explores the science of
decision making in politics. What values, what understanding of political
phenomena, and what grasp of public policy alternatives actually influence
decision making? How adequate is the machinery available to decision makers?
What are the consequences of our public policy decisions? How is power wielded,
and how are political conflicts resolved? To answer these questions we present the
following models: (1) the rational actor, (2) the political actor,
(3) the organizational actor, (4) the elitist actor, and (5) the idiosyncratic
actor. While these models are not mutually exclusive, they emphasize different
factors in, and different approaches to, decision making. In the rational actor model of decision
making, decision makers seek to accomplish four tasks: accurately identify the
problem that confronts them; take into account the key factors that bear on the
problem; critically examine alternative courses of action; and make a choice
that will wisely maximize benefits and minimize costs. In the political actor model, decision
making is not essentially rational deliberation. Rather, it is characterized by
decision makers involved in a struggle for power, and decisions emerge from
that struggle. This kind of decision making necessitates bargaining,
accommodation, and consensus, as well as controversy, conflict, bluff, threat,
and even deceit. The bottom line is that key decisions are most often the
result of bargaining among diverse political interests. The organizational actor model affirms
the organization’s crucial role in decision making, and it stresses the
importance of the organization’s vital interests, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and capabilities. It emphasizes how the organization
sees problems, obtains information, shapes alternatives, assesses costs and
benefits, and makes choices. The elitist actor model of decision
making asserts that very powerful individuals or limited groups of influential
people, known as elites, make the really significant decisions in politics,
and they do so to protect their own self-interest and power. Finally, the idiosyncratic actor model of
decision making recognizes the role of personality in politics. Factors such as
the personal intuition, communication skills, charisma, compassion,
demagoguery, ruthlessness, or dogmatism of a leader become important to
understanding his or her decisions. A decision maker’s role may be destructive,
as in the case of leaders like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, and Saddam Hussein,
or it may be creative, as in the case of Winston Churchill, Mohandas Gandhi,
and Martin Luther King Jr. Chapter 14 examines decision making at
various levels in American politics, looking at the roles of the voter, the
legislative representative, the president, and the Supreme Court justice--and
how these decision makers make the choices they do. Chapter Objectives After reading this chapter, you should
understand...
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