Harold D. Lasswell,

Author(s):  
Karsten Ronit ◽  
Tony Porter

This chapter comments on Harold Lasswell’s 1956 bookThe Decision Process: Seven Categories of Functional Analysis, a controversial work that has exerted a profound influence on political science and the way political processes are perceived. The discussion begins by summarizing Lasswell’s core argument, paying particular attention to the seven stages of decision-making that he describes in this book: intelligence, promotion, prescription, invocation, application, termination, and appraisal. The chapter then situatesThe Decision Processwithin Lasswell’s general work and more specifically within his studies on decision-making, both before and after the book was published. It also assesses the reception of the book, along with its impact on the debate on political decision-making and on modern applications in domestic and international politics. The chapter concludes by suggesting some areas for future application and research.

1997 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 553-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mintz ◽  
Nehemia Geva ◽  
Steven B. Redd ◽  
Amy Carnes

Previous studies of political decision making have used only “static” choice sets, where alternatives are “fixed” and are a priori known to the decision maker. We assess the effect of a dynamic choice set (new alternatives appear during the decision process) on strategy selection and choice in international politics. We suggest that decision makers use a mixture of decision strategies when making decisions in a two-stage process consisting of an initial screening of available alternatives, and a selection of the best one from the subset of remaining alternatives. To test the effects of dynamic and static choice sets on the decision process we introduce a computer-based “process tracer” in a study of top-ranking officers in the U.S. Air Force. The results show that (1) national security decision makers use a mixture of strategies in arriving at a decision, and (2) strategy selection and choice are significantly influenced by the structure of the choice set (static versus dynamic).


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Henrik Serup Christensen

In 2012, Finland introduced the citizens’ initiative to boost political support among citizens by extending possibilities for popular involvement in political decision making. However, it is still unclear whether the introduction had the intended effects. This article examines how the first decision by the Finnish parliament on a citizens’ initiative affected political trust among users on the website Avoin Ministeriö. The data come from a quasi-experimental survey study with 421 respondents before and after the decision of the Finnish parliament on the first citizens’ initiative in Finland. In particular, it is examined whether outcome satisfaction or process satisfaction were the most important factors for shaping the developments. The results suggest that both outcome and process satisfaction matters for the developments in political trust, but satisfaction with the process is the more important predictor. The implications for the effects of the Finnish citizens’ initiative are discussed in the conclusion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 07013
Author(s):  
Margarita Cheshmedzhieva ◽  
Vesela Mircheva ◽  
Galina Pisarska ◽  
Elena Haydushka

Research background: The direct participation of citizens in political decision-making in the state is one of the ways to implement the public relations between the political state represented by the authorities of local self-government and administration. In addition to that, the civil society on behalf of the local inhabitants of the municipalities is also part of this process. Purpose of the article: This report aims to examine which forms of direct democracy are most often applied in the system of local self-government and what is the result of them in view of the economic independence of municipalities. The comparative study covers the periods before and after the signing of the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1995 by the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as the periods before and after the accession of our country to the EU in 2007. These two events play a key role in the impact of globalization processes on the direct participation of citizens in local political decision making. Methods: The methodological tools, used in the research, include the comparative analysis and the comparative-legal method. Findings & Value added: The contribution of the research is expressed in tracking the trend in the application of various forms of direct participation of citizens in local government in the Republic of Bulgaria, in outlining the main shortcomings of legal regulations and factors, favoring or hindering the implementation of these forms, and in formulating proposals de lege ferenda to improve existing legislation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-259
Author(s):  
Etienne Verhoeyen

Met dit boek levert Frank Seberechts een nagenoeg volledige studie af van een van de minder fraai kanten van de Belgische samenleving in 1940: de administratieve arrestatie en de wegvoering naar Frankrijk van enkele duizenden personen (de ‘verdachten’), Belgen of in België verblijvende vreemdelingen. De extreem-rechtse en pro-Duitse arrestanten hebben na hun vrijlating dit feit politiek in hun voordeel uitgebaat, waardoor volledig in de schaduw kwam te staan dat de overgrote meerderheid van de weggevoerden joodse mensen waren die in de jaren voor de oorlog naar België waren gevlucht. Dat het beeld van de wegvoeringen niet volledig is, is grotendeels te wijten aan het feit dat de meeste archieven die hierop betrekking hebben tijdens de meidagen van 1940 vernietigd werden. Met name de politieke besluitvorming over de wegvoeringen vertoont nog steeds schemerzones, zodat het vastleggen van verantwoordelijkheden ook vandaag nog een gewaagde onderneming is.________Deportations and the deported during the Maydays in 1940 By means of this book Frank Seberechts provides an almost complete study of one of the less admirable sides of Belgian society in 1940: the administrative arrest and the deportation to France of some thousands of people (‘the suspects’), Belgians or foreigners residing in Belgium. The extreme-right and pro-German detainees politically exploited this fact after they had been freed, but this completely overshadowed the point that the large majority of the deported people were Jews who had fled to Belgium during the years preceding the war. This incomplete portrayal of the deportations is mainly due to the fact that most of the archives relating to the events had been destroyed during the Maydays of 1940. The history of the political decision-making about the deportations in particular still shows many grey areas and it is therefore still a risky business even today to determine which people should be held accountable.


Author(s):  
Takeuchi Ayano

AbstractPublic participation has become increasingly necessary to connect a wide range of knowledge and various values to agenda setting, decision-making and policymaking. In this context, deliberative democratic concepts, especially “mini-publics,” are gaining attention. Generally, mini-publics are conducted with randomly selected lay citizens who provide sufficient information to deliberate on issues and form final recommendations. Evaluations are conducted by practitioner researchers and independent researchers, but the results are not standardized. In this study, a systematic review of existing research regarding practices and outcomes of mini-publics was conducted. To analyze 29 papers, the evaluation methodologies were divided into 4 categories of a matrix between the evaluator and evaluated data. The evaluated cases mainly focused on the following two points: (1) how to maintain deliberation quality, and (2) the feasibility of mini-publics. To create a new path to the political decision-making process through mini-publics, it must be demonstrated that mini-publics can contribute to the decision-making process and good-quality deliberations are of concern to policy-makers and experts. Mini-publics are feasible if they can contribute to the political decision-making process and practitioners can evaluate and understand the advantages of mini-publics for each case. For future research, it is important to combine practical case studies and academic research, because few studies have been evaluated by independent researchers.


1976 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Kirkpatrick ◽  
Dwight F. Davis ◽  
Roby D. Robertson

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