Class Year
2023
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Spring 2021
Department 1
Political Science
Abstract
As “the sole organ of the federal government in the field of international relations,” Presidents have almost exclusively presided over foreign policy. Modern Presidents, spanning from Eisenhower, Kennedy, Ford, Carter, and Reagan, have readily encountered foreign policy crises, with varying degrees of success. Why do some President fail while others triumph? It comes down to an assortment of factors: organizational structure, multiple advocacy, and groupthink. Organizational structure affects how information is disseminated and decisions are made. Multiple advocacy brings out all important interests during deliberations. Groupthink paralyzes deliberations by causing conformity, cohesion, and replaces critical thinking with irrationality. These frameworks provide a reference for past and future cases of foreign policy crises. Therefore, drawing upon these frameworks, I will investigate the decision-making processes of the aforementioned five Presidents and the corresponding crises and conclude how decisions were made. Finally, I will consider contemporary Presidents–Trump and Biden–to install nuance into the discussion about their encounters with foreign policy crises.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Wilt, Ethan S., "A Study of Groupthink and Multiple Advocacy in Presidential Foreign Policy Fiascos" (2021). Student Publications. 923.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/923
Included in
American Politics Commons, Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons, International Relations Commons
Comments
Written for POL 324: Executive Policy Making