The Evolution of Saudi Foreign Policy and the Role of Decision-making Processes and Actors

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-88
Author(s):  
Umer Karim
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Feminist Perspectives on Foreign Policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Marie D'Aoust
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Foreign Policies ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
The Impact

Foreign policy analysis (FPA) deals with the decision-making processes involved in foreign policy-making. As a field of study, FPA overlaps international relations (IR) theory and comparative politics. Studies that take into account either sex, women, or gender contribute to the development of knowledge on and about women in IR, which is in itself one of the goals of feminist scholarship. There are two main spheres of feminist inquiries when it comes to foreign policy: the role of women as sexed power holders involved in decision-making processes and power-sharing in the realm of foreign policy-making, and the role of gendered norms in the conduct and adoption of foreign policies. Many observers insist that feminism and foreign policy are linked only by a marriage of convenience, designed to either acknowledge the political accomplishments of women in the sphere of foreign policy such as Margaret Thatcher and Indira Ghandi, or bring attention to so-called “women’s issues,” such as reproduction rights and population control. Scholarship on women and/or gender in relation to foreign policy covers a wide range of themes, such as the role of women as political actors in decision-making processes and organizational structures; women’s human rights and gender mainstreaming; the impact of various foreign policies on women’s lives; and the concept of human security and the idea of women’s rights as a valid foreign policy objective. Three paradigms that have been explored as part of the study of women in comparative politics and IR are behavioralism, functionalism, and rational choice theory.

Emotions and Foreign Policy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Foreign Policy Analysis ◽  
Collective Emotions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Policy Decision Making ◽  
And Behavior

Increasingly, scholars are recognizing the influences of emotion on foreign policy decision-making processes. Not merely feelings, emotions are sets of sentimental, physiological, and cognitive processes that typically arise in response to situational stimuli. They play a central role in psychological and social processes that shape foreign policy decision-making and behavior. In recent years, three important areas of research on emotion in foreign policy have developed: one examining the effects of emotion on how foreign policy decision makers understand and think-through problems, another focused on the role of emotion in diplomacy, and a third that investigates how mass emotion develops and shapes the context in which foreign policy decisions are made. These literatures have benefitted greatly from developments in the study of emotion by psychologists, neuroscientists, and others. Effectively using emotion to study foreign policy, however, requires some understanding of how these scholars approach the study of emotion and other affective phenomena. In addition to surveying the literatures in foreign policy analysis that use emotion, then, this article also addresses definitional issues and the different theories of emotion common among psychologists and neuroscientists. Some of the challenges scholars of emotion in foreign policy face: the interplay of the psychological and the social in modelling collective emotions, the issues involved in observing emotions in the foreign policy context, the theoretical challenge of emotion regulation, and the challenge of winning broader acceptance of the importance of emotion in foreign policy by the broader scholarly community.

The Role of Analogical Reasoning in Novel Foreign-Policy Situations

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Patrick Houghton
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
Policy Decision ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Hostage Crisis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Policy Decision Making

A number of scholars have argued that historical analogizing plays an important role in foreign-policy decision making; the extent of that importance, however, remains largely a mystery to us. This article proposes that analogical reasoning is probably even more commonplace than previously thought, since it may play a crucial role even in ‘novel foreign policy situations’ (scenarios which appear largely unprecedented to the decision makers confronting them).One notable example of a novel foreign-policy situation is provided by the Iranian hostage crisis. Examining the Carter administration's decision-making processes during that crisis, the article concludes that even though many saw the hostage crisis as a unique occurrence, the participants drew upon a wide range of historical analogies in order to make sense of what was occuring and to propose suggested ‘solutions’ to the crisis.

scholarly journals Heart and Mind: Essential Components in Sound Decision-Making

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 364-364
Author(s):  
Michaela Clark ◽  
Julie Hicks Patrick ◽  
Michaela Reardon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Quality ◽  
Cluster Solution ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Cluster Membership ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Affective Components ◽  
Heart And Mind

Abstract Consumer tasks permit an ecologically-valid context in which to examine the contributions of affective and cognitive resources to decision-making processes and outcomes. Although previous work shows that cognitive factors are important when individuals make decisions (Patrick et al., 2013; Queen et al.), the role of affective components is less clear. We examine these issues in two studies. Study 1 used data from 1000+ adults to inform a cluster analysis examining affective aspects (importance, meaningfulness) of making different types of decisions. A 4-cluster solution resulted. In Study 2, we used affective cluster membership and cognitive performance as predictors of experimental decision-making outcomes among a subset of participants (N = 60). Results of the regression (F(2, 40) = 6.51, p < .01, R2 = .25.) revealed that both the affective clusters (b = .37, p = .01) and cognitive ability (b = -.30, p = .04) uniquely contributed to the variance explained in decision quality. Age did not uniquely contribute. Results are discussed in the context of developing measures that enable us to move the field forward.

‘My mother thought upper secondary school was OK, but then my sibling said no’ - Young People's Perceptions of the Involvement of Parents and Siblings in their Future Choices

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanna Aaltonen
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Young People ◽  
Vocational Education ◽  
Future Expectations ◽  
Older Brothers ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Support Programmes ◽  
People’S Perceptions

This paper seeks to contribute to the research on the role of the family in the educational decision-making of young people by highlighting two overlooked areas of study: vocational education and the role of siblings. It explores young, mainly working-class Finnish 15- to 17-year-olds’ future expectations and decision-making processes concerning the choice between the academic and vocational tracks by drawing on interviews with the young participants of targeted support programmes and their parents. The aim of the paper is to shed light both on how parents try to influence their children's post-school choices and on young people's perceptions of the influence that parents and older brothers and sisters had on their aspirations towards vocational education. The paper demonstrates how horizons for action and educational choices are influenced by family traditions and advice, but that the pieces of advice dispensed by parents and siblings are not necessarily in congruence with each other. The familial suggestions work as a point of reference which is acknowledged and reflected on in the young people's process of mapping and recognising their own preferences. The paper suggests that while the goals of parents and older siblings would not necessarily be upward mobility, but rather to help young people to make a decent choice within a sector corresponding to their own, it is important to acknowledge their influence as a resource valued by many young people.

scholarly journals The voice of dwellers – developing a place brand by listening to its residents

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Hakala
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Place Branding ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
E Mail

Purpose Listening to the customers has long been a key phrase and success element in product branding. This paper aims to highlight the importance of listening to residents during the branding of a place. The study explores ways of listening to residents to ensure they are heard and also discusses the challenges and benefits related to place branding flowing from having residents participate in decision-making processes. Design/methodology/approach Listening to residents and offering opportunities to participate requires place branders to fully attend to, comprehend and respond to residents’ comments, requests, ideas and feedback. This study reports on how two Nordic cities – Turku and Helsinki – listen to their residents. The data used comprise face-to-face interviews, telephone and e-mail conversations and documentary material. Findings Residents should not be considered as one homogeneous target; participation options and channels should be adapted to the demographics and geographic issues of the different regions and resident groups. Research limitations/implications The role of residents and the importance of listening are crucial features in the emerging concept of inclusive place branding (Kavaratzis et al., 2017); its future conceptual development could benefit from the case examples at hand. Practical implications City authorities should listen to residents and provide them with opportunities to actively contribute to decision-making. Other cities could learn from the examples introduced in the paper. Originality/value This paper documents two Nordic examples of cities putting into practice a policy of listening to the residents, a previously neglected research area.

scholarly journals Rational and irrational processes in decision making: An economic perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-57
Author(s):  
Maria Liana Lacatus
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Imperfect Information ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Economic Understanding

The paper presents important issues of decision making processes with an emphasis on rational and irrational components of these processes. After a short introduction outlining the need for a deeper understanding of rational and non-rational factors that affect the decisions people make, the rationality of people decisions in daily life is questioned and the role of non-rational factors such as intuition are analyzed. The economic understanding of the decision making process is presented and principles of rational decision-making are explained. Different methods used and recommended by economists in order to make decisions are presented and applied in different life situations in order to demonstrate their value in daily life. Special emphasis is put on factors such as imperfect information, illusion of control, or risk aversion that may affect the rationality of the decision making processes. In the final section of the paper the concept of bounded rationality is introduced and explained along with new theories in economics that are challenging the classic economic perspective on the decision making process

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