This chapter looks into the Poliheuristic Theory of Decision-Making. This theory seeks to explain both the processes and the outcomes of foreign policy. The chapter then explains the theory's two-stage analytical framework and its subsequent shortcomings and empirical analysis. Poliheuristic Theory integrates insights from both cognitive and rationalist perspectives on foreign policy decision-making. A number of articles that have used Poliheuristic Theory in non-Western settings have deliberately used non-Western contexts to explore and expand the theory's context-sensitivity, applicability, and explanatory scope. The chapter cites that further research is needed concerning the applicability of Poliheuristic Theory to group decision-making, which correlates to the aggregation challenge cognizant to political dynamics in a group setting.
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Chapter
12. Poliheuristic Theory
Chapter
17. China’s approach to the protection of its interests overseas
Andrea Ghiselli
This chapter shows the importance of understanding the decision-making process behind a country’s actions. This is done through the application of a key concept of Foreign Policy Analysis: the decision-making unit. The unit, which is composed by one or a group of top policymakers that have the authority and the power to make a foreign policy decision and commit the state’s resources to it, functions as an intervening variable between all the possible domestic and international forces – the independent variables – and the foreign policy of a country: the dependent variable. The concept of decision-making unit provides students of foreign policy with a powerful set of analytical tools to generate hypotheses and guide the empirical analysis. Empirically, this is shown by comparing the mainstream, power transition-based interpretation of China’s approach to the protection of its interests overseas with that produced if one looks at the same issue through the lens of the decision-making unit. To the contrary of what the mainstream transition-based interpretation, the analysis of dynamics within the decision-making units led by Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping suggests that the military will play only a limited role in protecting Chinese assets, companies and citizens overseas. Instead, the consular protection system and cooperation with other countries will remain the pillars of China’s current policy.
Chapter
14. The Groupthink Model
This chapter outlines the key concepts of the Groupthink Model, which places decision-making in small groups at the centre of analysis. As an empirical phenomenon, groupthink occurs when the striving for harmony and agreement within a decision-making group makes critical thinking take precedence over the substantive task the group has to work on. The analytical focus of the Groupthink Model primarily depends on foreign policy decision-making in small groups. The chapter presents empirical applications of the Groupthink Model, which are mostly confined to Western countries and the United States. It mentions how the weaknesses of the Groupthink Model open up several avenues for future research.
Chapter
4. Democracy
Thomas Christiano
This chapter looks at democracy. The term ‘democracy’ refers very generally to a method of group decision making that is characterized by a kind of equality among the participants at an essential stage. To evaluate the arguments of democratic theorists, we must decide on the merits of the different principles, and conceptions, of humanity and society from which they proceed. We can evaluate democracy along at least two different dimensions: instrumentally, by reference to the outcomes of using it compared with other methods of political decision making; or intrinsically, by reference to qualities that are inherent in the method — for example, whether there is something inherently fair about making democratic decisions about matters on which people disagree. A vexing problem of democracy is whether ordinary citizens are up to the task of governing a large society. The chapter then offers some solutions for the problem of democratic citizenship.
Chapter
7. Foreign policy decision making
Rational, psychological, and neurological models
Janice Gross Stein
This chapter examines the use of rational, psychological, and neurological models in foreign policy decision making. It begins with a discussion of two commonsensical models of rationality in decision making. In the first model, rational decision making refers to the process that people should use to choose. The second, more demanding, models of rational choice expect far more from decision makers. Borrowing heavily from micro-economics, they expect decision makers to generate subjective probability estimates of the consequences of the options that they consider, to update these estimates as they consider new evidence, and to maximize their subjective expected utility. The chapter proceeds by exploring psychological models and the so-called cognitive revolution, the relevance of cognitive psychology to foreign policy analysis, and the ways that the study of the neuroscience of emotion and cognition can be extended to the analysis of foreign policy and to decision making.
Chapter
17. Organized Interests
This chapter focuses on the so-called organized interests, whose interaction with the formal European Union (EU) institutions is a central component of the EU’s decision-making process. The term ‘interest group’ refers to a range of organizations outside of the formal institutions that seek to influence decision making. They provide a link between state actors and the rest of society, also known as ‘civil society’. The chapter first considers the general growth of interest group activity at the European level before discussing the types of group that try to influence EU policy making and the forms of representation open to interests. It then explores the strategies and tactics that interest groups use to try to influence the different institutions. Finally, it analyses the issue of regulating interest group access to the EU institutions.
Chapter
7. The Organizational Behaviour Approach
This chapter examines the notion of an organizational behaviour approach with respect to foreign policy. Essentially, the organizational behaviour approach explains foreign policy as the output of government organizations operating according to standard patterns of behaviour. The chapter then enumerates the main functions and characteristics of organizational decision-making processes while highlighting the central role of organizational routines. However, the approach showcases that organizational routines sometimes have unintended consequences which may lead to foreign policy failures. The chapter looks into the assumed stability of organizational routines while considering the ability of decision-makers to adapt, modify, and reproduce existing routines in line with their own political interests.
Chapter
3. The EU Policy Process in Comparative Perspective
Alasdair R. Young and Christilla Roederer-Rynning
This chapter examines the European Union’s policy-making process with a comparative perspective. It outlines the stages of the policy-making process (agenda-setting, policy formation, decision-making, implementation, and policy feedback) and considers the prevailing approaches to analysing each of these stages. It also shows how these approaches apply to studying policy-making in the EU. Themes addressed in this chapter include policy-making and the policy cycle, the players in the policy process, executive politics, legislative politics, and judicial politics. The chapter argues that theories rooted in comparative politics and international relations can help elucidate the different phases of the EU’s policy process. It concludes by explaining why policy-making varies across issue areas within the EU.
Chapter
32. Conclusion: The Future of Parliamentary Politics
David Judge, Cristina Leston-Bandeira, and Louise Thompson
This concluding chapter reflects on the future of parliamentary politics by identifying key puzzles implicit in previous discussions which raise fundamental questions about what Parliament is and why it exists. The goal is to determine the ‘predictable unknowns’ as starting points for exploring the future. Three principal puzzles that need ‘hard thinking’ in order to understand legislatures are considered: representation, collective decision-making, and their role in the political system. The chapter also examines the difficulties in reconciling ideas about popular sovereignty and direct public participation with notions of parliamentary sovereignty and indirect public participation in decision-making; the implications of the legislative task of disentangling UK law from EU law in the wake of Brexit for Parliament's recent strengthened scrutiny capacity; and how Parliament has integrated the core principles of representation, consent, and authorization into the legitimation of state policy-making processes and their outputs.
Chapter
14. The Committee of Permanent Representatives:
integrating interests and the logics of action
Jeffrey Lewis
The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) originated as a diplomatic forum to meet regularly and prepare meetings of the Council of Ministers. It quickly and quietly evolved into a locus of continuous negotiation and de facto decision-making, gaining a reputation as ‘the place to do the deal’. This reputation is based on insulation from domestic audiences and an unrivalled ability to make deals stick across a range of issue areas and policy subjects. Most importantly, Coreper spotlights the process of integrating interests in a collective decision-making system with its own organizational culture, norms, and style of discourse. In actual operation, the Committee has much to offer institutional theorizing, as multiple ‘logics’ of action are discernible and often complexly entwined.
Chapter
9. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
Stijn Smismans
This chapter discusses the extent to which decision-making in the European Union can be considered democratic and legitimate, clarifying the concepts ‘democracy’ and ‘legitimacy’. The European democratic deficit became an important issue of debate only after the Maastricht Treaty transferred considerable powers to the EU. The main solution has been inspired by the parliamentary model of democracy and involves strengthening the European Parliament (EP), while also paying attention to the role of national parliaments and regional and local authorities. The chapter considers different stages of policy-making and different modes of governance, transparency and the role of civil society, and discusses wider issues associated with the democracy and legitimacy of the Union, such as the impact of the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty. The chapter concludes by warning that three main crises—the economic, migration, and security crises—have revived nationalist and populist movements exacerbating the challenges to the EU’s legitimacy.
Chapter
Social Movements and Human Rights
Jackie Smith
This chapter
discusses the significance of the human rights movement to contemporary conflict
and local and global democracy. It recognizes how social movement challenges
state authority shaping the structure of democracies as activists develop
political repertoires designed to expand public participation in political
decision-making. Moreover, social movements resulted in the globalization of
human rights, which is supported by a growing array of international treaties
and institutions. The chapter then looks into the work of the Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) on improving mechanisms for human rights enforcement alongside the
Human Rights Council. It considers the important roles of scholars and students
in supporting human rights movements.
Chapter
10. Democratic innovations
Nicole Curato
This chapter introduces the theory and practice of democratic innovations, such as citizen-initiated referendums, participatory budgeting, and citizens’ assemblies. It characterizes what makes these approaches innovative and distinctly democratic by situating them in the traditions of direct, participatory, and deliberative democracy. The chapter critically examines the purpose and limits of democratic innovations, presents debates on how these approaches are being applied and institutionalized around the world, provides examples and case studies of democratic innovations from around the world, and concludes by putting forward provocative questions on what it means for citizens to meaningfully take part in democratic decision-making in contemporary times.
Chapter
8. Governments and bureaucracies
Wolfgang C. Müller
This chapter examines the decision-making modes of governments and their capacities to govern, with particular emphasis on bureaucracies that support governments in their tasks of ruling and administrating the country. It first presents the relevant definitions before discussing different modes of government that reflect the internal balance of power: presidential government, cabinet government, prime ministerial government, and ministerial government. It then considers the autonomy of government, especially from political parties and the permanent bureaucracy, along with the political capacity of governments, the relevance of unified versus divided government, majority versus minority government, and single-party versus coalition government. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the technocratic capacities of government, focusing on issues such as classic bureaucracy, the politicization of bureaucracies, and New Public Management systems.
Chapter
8. Governments and Bureaucracies
Wolfgang C. Müller
This chapter examines the decision-making modes of governments and their capacities to govern, with particular emphasis on bureaucracies that support governments in their tasks of ruling and administrating the country. It first presents the relevant definitions before discussing different modes of government that reflect the internal balance of power: presidential government, cabinet government, prime ministerial government, and ministerial government. It then considers the autonomy of government, especially from political parties and the permanent bureaucracy, along with the political capacity of governments, the relevance of unified versus divided government, majority versus minority government, and single-party versus coalition government. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the bureaucratic capacities of government, focusing on issues such as classic bureaucracy, the politicization of bureaucracies, and New Public Management systems.
Book
Simon Bulmer, Owen Parker, Ian Bache, Stephen George, and Charlotte Burns
Politics in the European Union examines the theory, history, institutions, and policies of the European Union (EU). The EU is a unique, complex, and ever-changing political entity, which continues to shape both international politics and the politics of its individual member states. The text provides a clear analysis of the organization and presents a well-rounded introduction to the subject. Complete and detailed in its coverage, including coverage of the eurozone, refugee crises, and Brexit, along with the latest theoretical developments, the text provides a comprehensive assessment of EU politics and policy at the start of the 2020s. The book is divided into four parts: Part One provides the student with a strong foundation in political theory and analysis; Part Two charts European integration from 1995 through to the 2010s; Part Three addresses the distinctive character of the EU institutions; and in Part Four, key EU policy areas, both internal and external, are covered.
Chapter
11. Foreign Policymaking in the Middle East: Complex Realism
Raymond Hinnebusch and Anoushiravan Ehteshami
This chapter studies foreign policymaking by regional states in the Middle East based on a ‘complex realist’ approach. This acknowledges the weight of realist arguments but highlights other factors such as the level of dependency on the United States, processes of democratization, and the role of leadership in informing states' foreign policy choices. To illustrate this approach, the chapter examines decision-making by four leading states — Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, and Egypt — in relation to the key events and crises of the last decade: the 2003 Iraq War; the 2006 Hezbollah War; and the post-2014 War with the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS). The cases indicate that, as realists expect, states' foreign policies chiefly respond to threats and opportunities, as determined by their relative power positions.
Chapter
13. Longevity of Terrorist Groups
Leena Malkki
This chapter explores the average longevity, characteristics, and operational environment of terrorist groups. A large number of terrorist groups do not survive their first year, while the average lifespan of terrorist organizations is around 8–9 years. Large groups tend to have a longer lifespan than smaller ones, especially if they form alliances. The chapter also looks into factors motivating groups to continue with violent attacks. Such factors include specific state and group characteristics and intergroup relations. It examines the instrumental model and the organizational model and looks into the rationality behind terrorist decision-making.
Chapter
5. Voting Decisions
This chapter analyses how citizens in Europe vote across elections. Elections are an integral part of democracy as they allow citizens to shape collective decision-making. The chapter addresses the issue of trying to explain why people vote in the first place. It also looks at the inequality of turnout between citizens: why do some people just not bother to vote at all? The chapter also looks at different explanations of vote choice. This is achieved by introducing the proximity model of voting which assumes that voters and parties can be aligned on one ideological dimension. It presupposes that voters will vote for the party that most closely resembles their own ideological position. Complications can be added to this model, however, that consider the role of retrospective performance evaluations and affective attachments to social groups and political parties. The institutional context also needs to be considered, though, as this can influence voters’s decision-making.
Chapter
8. The Bureaucratic Politics Approach
This chapter provides an overview of the bureaucratic politics approach when it operates in line with foreign policy. The chapter considers an approach which looks at governments and their operations within foreign policy as the outcome of political bargaining between different government bureaucracies. The bureaucratic politics approach uses the concept of action channels to identify the bureaucratic actors who participate in government foreign policymaking. The chapter explains how different bureaucratic actors in the same government may advocate different foreign policy positions which can cause conflict in the decision-making process. The chapter finally presents the basic assumptions and key arguments of the bureaucratic politics approach while showing how it can be used in empirical Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) research.
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