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Plan of the Book

Adrienne Héritier

in Explaining Institutional Change in Europe

This chapter presents an overview of the topics discussed in this volume.

Empirical Cases

Adrienne Héritier

in Explaining Institutional Change in Europe

This chapter examines the patterns of long-term institutional change which are typical for a number of important institutional rules governing the decision-making process in the European Union. It ... More

This chapter examines the patterns of long-term institutional change which are typical for a number of important institutional rules governing the decision-making process in the European Union. It discusses five institutional rules: the European Parliament's role in legislation; the presidency of the Council; the Parliament and the Investiture of the Commission; the composition of the Commission; and controlling the implementation powers of the Commission. These rules are scrutinized in the light of the theoretical explanations outlined in Chapter 3. This is done to assess which theory offers the most plausible explanation for the institutional change in a particular period of time and to ascertain whether perhaps several factors derived from different theories interact with each other in explaining the outcome.Less

The EU After the 1990s: Explaining Continuity and Change

John Peterson and Elizabeth Bomberg

in The State of the European Union: Risks, Reform, Resistance, and Revival

This chapter explores change and continuity in the EU. Changes in decision-making norms, and embedded patterns that are likely to endure are identified. It argues that understanding change and ... More

This chapter explores change and continuity in the EU. Changes in decision-making norms, and embedded patterns that are likely to endure are identified. It argues that understanding change and continuity in EU governance means recognising that it operates in different ways at different levels of governance, and increasingly spawns new and distinct centres of power.Less

Concluding remarks

Anthony Garratt, Kevin Lee, M. Hashem Pesaran, and Yongcheol Shin

in Global and National Macroeconometric Modelling: A Long-Run Structural Approach

The final chapter provides some concluding comments, including a summary of the main contributions of the book and an invitation to others to apply the methods in new contexts using the data and code ... More

The final chapter provides some concluding comments, including a summary of the main contributions of the book and an invitation to others to apply the methods in new contexts using the data and code provided in the Appendices.Less

The institutions of a legitimate deliberative democracy

John Parkinson

in Deliberating in the Real World: Problems of Legitimacy in Deliberative Democracy

This chapter summarizes the criteria for a legitimate deliberative democracy and assesses the different deliberative democratic models against those criteria. It points out that no single process can ... More

This chapter summarizes the criteria for a legitimate deliberative democracy and assesses the different deliberative democratic models against those criteria. It points out that no single process can meet them all, thus criticizing the ‘minipublic’ approach. It suggests that a deliberative system approach is necessary, using different processes at different points of the decision making process. The outlines of such a scheme are described, linking activists in civil society and parliamentary processes with a variety of agenda-setting and decision-making tools.Less

THE MANAGEMENT OF UNCERTAINTY: ORGANIZATIONS AS DECISION-MAKING SYSTEMS

Chun Wei Choo

in The Knowing Organization: How Organizations Use Information to Construct Meaning, Create Knowledge, and Make Decisions

Depending on the degree of goal uncertainty and procedural uncertainty, organizational decision making may follow the bounded rationality model, process model, political model, or anarchic model. ... More

Depending on the degree of goal uncertainty and procedural uncertainty, organizational decision making may follow the bounded rationality model, process model, political model, or anarchic model. Individual decision making relies on heuristics that can lead to biases. Group decision making is vulnerable to the tendencies for groupthink, group polarization, and an escalation of commitment. In an attempt to reduce decision uncertainty and complexity, organizations control the creation and use of information by establishing decision premises, rules, and routines for different types of decision situations.Less

From Success to Failure? Iraq and the Organization of George W. Bush's Decision Making

John P. Burke

in The Polarized Presidency of George W. Bush

This chapter examines decision making in the Bush presidency by analyzing its formal organizational processes, including the structure of the advisory process, the access of advisers to the ... More

This chapter examines decision making in the Bush presidency by analyzing its formal organizational processes, including the structure of the advisory process, the access of advisers to the president, the coordination and management of the advisory process, and the president's penchant for delegation, his emphasis on loyalty, and his willingness to impose organizational discipline on top advisers. On each dimension, the process is found wanting. The administration's collegial deliberation is then considered, raising troubling questions about the president's failure to press critical questions (such as the reliability of evidence regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the premises on which the administration planned for postwar Iraq) and his tendency to focus on how to accomplish something rather than whether to accomplish it. The issues of diversity of whom Bush chose to engage and the imbalance of power and influence among the principals are also addressed.Less

THE KNOWING ORGANIZATION

Chun Wei Choo

in The Knowing Organization: How Organizations Use Information to Construct Meaning, Create Knowledge, and Make Decisions

This chapter introduces an information-based view of organizations — a model of how people and groups in organizations work with information to accomplish three outcomes: (1) create an identity and a ... More

This chapter introduces an information-based view of organizations — a model of how people and groups in organizations work with information to accomplish three outcomes: (1) create an identity and a shared context for action and reflection (sense-making), (2) develop new knowledge and new capabilities (knowledge creation), and (3) make decisions that commit resources and capabilities to purposeful action (decision making). The chapter illustrates the dynamic of the organizational knowledge cycle with a discussion of scenario planning at Royal Dutch Shell.Less

Janus‐faced Structure of the Security Council: Open System and Closed Shop

Jochen Prantl

in The UN Security Council and Informal Groups of States

This chapter analyzes the institutional setting of the United Nations. The underlying assumption is that the Security Council can best be described as a Janus-faced structure of both an open system ... More

This chapter analyzes the institutional setting of the United Nations. The underlying assumption is that the Security Council can best be described as a Janus-faced structure of both an open system and a closed shop. This notion reflects the Council’s sensitivity towards external change, while the restrictive provisions of the Charter constrain the possibilities of formal adaptation. The chapter examines: (1) the role of great powers in international organizations, (2) the role and function of the Security Council according to the Charter of the United Nations, and (3) the ‘constitutional practice’ of the Council, elaborating on certain variants of the collective security scheme as envisioned in the Charter.Less

“The Decider's” Path to War in Iraq and the Importance of Personality

Thomas S. Langston

in The Polarized Presidency of George W. Bush

The purpose of this chapter is not to second-guess the president's decision to go to war with Iraq, but to inquire into the possibility that it represents an outstanding example of the influence of ... More

The purpose of this chapter is not to second-guess the president's decision to go to war with Iraq, but to inquire into the possibility that it represents an outstanding example of the influence of personality upon decision making of the highest importance. The chapter proceeds first by presenting a composite view of the personality of the president, taking into account both his major personality traits and his world-view. Next, it breaks down the decision for war in Iraq into seven discrete decisions. The first six progressively made war increasingly likely. The last was the final decision to launch the invasion. Each decision is characterized based on the major actors who influenced the president's choice, the manner in which the decision was made, and the practical consequences of each choice for the likelihood of war. There is compelling evidence that personal factors drove the decision to wage war in Iraq.Less

Constitutional Social Rights and Democracy

Cécile Fabre

in Social Rights Under the Constitution: Government and the Decent Life

I reject the claim that bills of social rights are undemocratic and therefore unacceptable. I argue that they are indeed undemocratic in some cases, but that this is not a good reason for rejecting ... More

I reject the claim that bills of social rights are undemocratic and therefore unacceptable. I argue that they are indeed undemocratic in some cases, but that this is not a good reason for rejecting them. In the course of defending this claim, I distinguish between democratic rights, namely, those rights the respect of which is necessary for a regime to count and function as a democracy, and undemocratic rights, namely, those rights the respect of which is not necessary for a regime to count and function as a democracy. I also look at different ways in which the judiciary could protect constitutional social rights; I claim that the constitutional court should tell the government when it has breached a right and should set a deadline for the provision of remedies, but should not tell the government which remedies to provide, and how it should provide them. I thus delineate the scope for democratic decision‐making when constitutional social rights are at issue.Less

Conclusions: Implications for Governance of the UN Security Council

Jochen Prantl

in The UN Security Council and Informal Groups of States

This chapter summarizes the causes of informal groups of states and their effects on Security Council governance. It argues that those informal settings are changing the role of the UN Security ... More

This chapter summarizes the causes of informal groups of states and their effects on Security Council governance. It argues that those informal settings are changing the role of the UN Security Council in the international system. The functions of diplomatic problem-solving and its collective legitimization have become separate from one another. This has implications for the understanding of power, legitimacy, and change in the theory of international relations.Less

Intelligence and Decision Making before the War with Iraq

James P. Pfiffner

in The Polarized Presidency of George W. Bush

This chapter examines the use of intelligence by George W. Bush and his administration in decision making before the war in Iraq. It is argued that as the administration moved toward war, decision ... More

This chapter examines the use of intelligence by George W. Bush and his administration in decision making before the war in Iraq. It is argued that as the administration moved toward war, decision making was neither deliberate nor deliberative, but consisted of a series of decisions that cumulatively led to war. The administration's arguments that Iraq was closely linked to al-Qaeda, and that it possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that were a threat to the United States, are analyzed. The intelligence produced by the intelligence community was sketchy and ambiguous; political officials in the administration, however, presented it with unwarranted certainty to bolster their case for war. The administration sought to shape the conclusions of intelligence agencies and downplayed or ignored contrary evidence and the reservations of intelligence professionals. As a result of flawed decision making, the administration went to war in Iraq under misperceptions that resulted in the undermining of US credibility throughout the world.Less

The Architecture of Knowledge Organization

Michael Christensen and Thorbjørn Knudsen

in Knowledge Governance: Processes and Perspectives

This chapter introduces a general framework with which individual beliefs can be aggregated into organizational level knowledge. Through examples, it illustrates how the framework lends itself to ... More

This chapter introduces a general framework with which individual beliefs can be aggregated into organizational level knowledge. Through examples, it illustrates how the framework lends itself to analysing simultaneous decision making in committees, such as the UN Security Council. More detailed examples illustrate how our framework can be used to capture sequential decision processes. The chapter considers both flexible decision structures facing a turbulent environment and fixed decision structures facing a stable, but complex task environment. These applications of the chapter's framework illustrate how it can be used to capture some of the most important problems emphasized in the literature on knowledge management.Less

Conclusion: The puzzle of compound democracy: a comparative perspective

Sergio Fabbrini

in Compound Democracies: Why the United States and Europe Are Becoming Similar

This chapter discusses the structural problems faced by a compound democracy. Topics covered include decision making patterns in compound and non-compound democracies, crisis management in America ... More

This chapter discusses the structural problems faced by a compound democracy. Topics covered include decision making patterns in compound and non-compound democracies, crisis management in America and European nation-states, and accountability in compound and non-compound democracies.Less

Costly and Bounded Rationality in Individual and Team Decision-making

Roy Radner

in Understanding Industrial and Corporate Change

The ‘Savage’ paradigm of rational decision-making under uncertainty has become the dominant model of human behaviour in mainstream economics and game theory. However, under the rubric of ‘bounded ... More

The ‘Savage’ paradigm of rational decision-making under uncertainty has become the dominant model of human behaviour in mainstream economics and game theory. However, under the rubric of ‘bounded rationality’, this model has been criticized as inadequate from both normative and descriptive viewpoints. This chapter sketches the historical roots and some current developments of this movement, distinguishing between attempts to extend the ‘Savage’ paradigm (costly rationality) and the need for more radical departures (truly bounded rationality).Less