POLS 1600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Robert D. Putnam, Cognitive Dissonance, Prospect Theory
31 Aug 2016
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Influences on the making of foreign policy decisions. Three models of decision making by transnational actors. Policy making as rational choice: problem recognition and definition, goal selection. Cognitive dissonance (ch1 the general psychology tendency to deny discrepancies between one"s pre-existing beliefs (cognitions) and new information) History-making individual model: nixon doctrine/reagan doctrine/clinton doctrine/bush doctrine. Procedural rationality: comparing all options and selecting the best one. Two-level games (robert putnam: analysis in terms of two-level games offers a promising response to this challenge. Unlike state-centric theories, the two-level approach recognizes the inevitability of domestic conflict about what the national interest requires. Image or the second image reversed, the two-level approach recognizes that central decision-makers strive to reconcile domestic and international imperatives simultaneously. As we have seen, statesmen in this predicament face distinctive strategic opportunities and strategic dilemmas. : diversionary theory of war a theory that contends leaders initiate conflict abroad as a way of increasing national cohesion at home.
