Factors influencing decisionmaking process

1
Factors influencing decision-making process

• Decision-making the Quintessential Political Act

2
High Quality Political Decisions

• How can such intelligent people make such
• BAD decisions?
• What are political decisions so difficult?

3
Complex problem solving(ill-structured problems)

• LOTS of
• UNCERTAINTY
• --Outcome unknown
• --Information
• incomplete
• conflicting

4
Why political decisions are so difficult

• Multiple and competing values
• Complexity
• Value Extension
• Should US maintain troops in Balkans?
• Send troops to Sierra Leone? Help police?

5
Other factors

• Cognitive limitations
• memory
• cognitive
• complexity

• Political Power
• dispersed
• Across individuals
• organizations
• Role
• Organizational rules,norms,constrains

6
BUREAUCRATIC POLITICS

• Institutional rules Civilian control of
• 
  military
• Norms
• national interest agency interest
• where you stand on an issue depends
• upon where you sit
• Constraints

7
Importance of bureaucratic politics depends

• Who are key actors
• (how diffuse is responsibility)
• What are key issues
• (framing is a political exercise)

• Each agency
• SOP
• institutional culture(oral )
• interpersonal relationships -heads
• key managers

8
How do dm resolve value conflicts?

• Step 1 Agree on shared representation or
  framing of a problem
• .gtembedded in problem is solution

• Use of Cognitive aids
• heuristics
• analogies
• status quo
• ideology
• implicit theories
• or beliefs
• Relevant information

9
SMALL GROUP is political decision unit

• Small group interaction
• Distribution of roles, personal
• relationships, expertise
• Type of Group new (crisis) or working
• 
  group
• Physical factors group size
• seating arrangements

10
Phases of decision-making

• Group identity formsgtinterpersonal
• communications
• roles develop (leadership)
• discussion problem defined, alternative
• considered - a messy process
• choice (with or w/o conflict majority or
• 
  unanimous)

11
How individuals bureaucratic actors resolve
value conflicts?

• Compromise (inter-agency pulling
• 
  hauling)
• Accept
• Deny
• Misinterpret information, decision

12
Other important factors

• MICRO
• Individual variables (personality,cognition)
• Role formal,informal
• (Advisory system)

• MACRO
• Information
• Bureaucratic politics
• Domestic Political,
• Economic, Social
• factors
• International factors
• Remembered History