Towards a Decision-Making Model in Foreign Policy
| Date | 01 February 1959 |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.1959.tb00888.x |
| Published date | 01 February 1959 |
| Author | Joseph Frankel |
| Subject Matter | Article |
TOWARDS A DECISION-MAKING
MODEL IN FOREIGN POLICY
JOSEPH
FRANKEL
King‘s College, A berdeen
THIS
paper does not attempt to present a full theory of rational decision-
making in foreign policy.1 It restricts itself to outlining the structure of a
general verbal model centring round the relations between decision-makers
and their environments. The actual operation of the model will be discussed
in a forthcoming comprehensive treatment.
The model simplifies reality by stating explicitly the major elements of
structure expected in
any
mass of data. It offers no immediate revelations
of hitherto unsuspected connexions or solutions of the major problems
involved. But by providing a convenient frame of reference it can serve
several analytical purposes:
it
can assist the collection and classification
of
relevant facts, render the study of limited aspects of any problem more
useful for the under-nding
of
the whole, open up possibilities of com-
parison between matters apparently disparate, facilitate the formulation of
significant research problems, and serve as a focus for the study of foreign
policy in conjunction with the relevant aspects of domestic policy.
DEFINITION OF SOME TERMS
The conduct of
a
state’s foreign policy consists of decisions and actions
which involve to some appreciable degree relations between that state and
other states. Although some current definitions of these terms classify
decisions as
a
subcategory of actions? according to ordinary usage and one
of
Webster’s
Dictionary
definitions, an important distinction between
decisions and actions lies in their spheres of operation: decisions take place
in
the decision-maker’s mind, while actions take place in his environment.
By decision-making, then, is understood an act of determining in one’s own
mind a course of action, following a more or less deliberate consideration
For
a discussion
of
some recent attempts
in
social sciences see Professor Bruno Leoni.
‘The Meaning
of
“Political” in Political Decisions’,
Political Studies,
Oct. 1957.
Cf.
T.
Parsons and
E.
A.
Shils, editors,
Toward a General Theory
of
Action
(Harvard,
1951); Harold and Margaret Sprout,
Man-Milieu Relationship Hypotheses in the Context
of
International Politics
(Princeton, 1956, pp. 7-9).
Political
Studies,
Vol.
VII,
No.
1
(1959, 1-11).
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