Groupthink or Deadlock

Paul A. Kowert

Description

The danger of groupthink is now standard fare in leadership training programs and a widely accepted explanation, among political scientists, for policy-making fiascoes. Efforts to avoid groupthink, however, can lead to an even more serious problem—deadlock. Groupthink or Deadlock explores these dual problems in the Eisenhower and Reagan administrations and demonstrates how both presidents were capable of learning and consequently changing their policies, sometimes dramatically, but at the same time doing so in characteristically different ways. Kowert points to the need for leaders to organize their staff in a way that fits their learning and leadership style and allows them to negotiate a path between groupthink and deadlock.

Abbreviations

Tables and Figures

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

Matching Advisors to Leaders
Does Leadership Really Matter?
What Is Learning?
Conclusion

2. Who Learns, and When?

Learning Style
Managing Advisors
A Theory of Leader-Group Relations
Conclusion

3. Eisenhower and Reagan: Comparing Learning Styles

The Eisenhower Administration

Learning Style
Advisors

The Reagan Administration

Learning Style
Advisors

Conclusion

4. Learning

Learning In an Open Administration

The Fall of Dien Bien Phu
Alaskan Statehood

Learning In a Closed Administration

The International Debt Shock
The Withdrawal from Lebanon

Conclusion

5. Groupthink

Balance of Payments Deficits
McCarthyism
Conclusion

6. Deadlock

The Budget Deficit
The Iran-Contra Affair
Conclusion

7. Conclusion

The Politics of Advice
Why Learn?

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• USA
• United States of America
• Central government
• History of the Americas
• Central
• États-Unis
• National
• Social

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791489208
• Langue: English

Extrait

GROUPTHINK OR DEADLOCK

SUNY series on the Presidency: Contemporary Issues John Kenneth White, editor

GROUPTHINK OR DEADLOCK

When Do Leaders Learn from Their Advisors?

By Paul A. Kowert

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2002 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Christine Hamel Marketing by Jennifer Giovani

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Kowert, Paul, 1964– Groupthink or deadlock : when do leaders learn from their advisors? / by Paul A. Kowert. p. cm. — (SUNY series on the presidency) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5249-2 — ISBN 0-7914-5250-6 (pbk.) 1. Presidents—United States—Staff. 2. Presidents—United States— Decision making. 3. Political Consultants—United States. 4. Political leadership—United States. 5. United States—Politics and government— 1953–1961. 6. United States—Politics and government—1981–1989. I. Title. II. SUNY series on the presidency.

JK552.K68 2002 352.23'233'0973—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2001041148

Abbreviations

vii

Tables and Figures

Acknowledgments

Contents

ix

xi

1. Introduction 1 Matching Advisors to Leaders2 Does Leadership Really Matter?5 What Is Learning?7 Conclusion9

2. Who Learns, and When? 11 Learning Style15 Managing Advisors19 A Theory of Leader-Group Relations Conclusion28

23

3. Eisenhower and Reagan: Comparing Learning Styles The Eisenhower Administration33 Learning Style 35 Advisors 40 The Reagan Administration46 Learning Style 47 Advisors 52 Conclusion57

4. Learning 61 Learning In an Open Administration The Fall of Dien Bien Phu 64 Alaskan Statehood 73 v

62

31

vi

Contents

Learning In a Closed Administration78 The International Debt Shock 79 The Withdrawal from Lebanon 88 Conclusion94

5. Groupthink 97 Balance of Payments Deficits McCarthyism112 Conclusion122

6. Deadlock 125 The Budget Deficit127 The Iran-Contra Affair135 Conclusion147

7. Conclusion 151 The Politics of Advice Why Learn?165

Notes

169

Bibliography

Index

257

231

153

99

CEA CFEP CIA DCI DLF EDC FBI GNP HUAC IBRD

ICA IDAB IMF JCS LSG MBTI MSA NAC NATO NSC NSDD NSPG OCB OECD

OMB

Abbreviations

Council of Economic Advisors Council on Foreign Economic Policy Central Intelligence Agency Director of Central Intelligence Development Loan Fund European Defense Community Federal Bureau of Investigation Gross National Product House Committee on Un-American Activities International Bank for Reconstruction and Development International Cooperation Administration International Development Advisory Board International Monetary Fund Joint Chiefs of Staff Legislative Strategy Group Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Mutual Security Agency National Advisory Council North Atlantic Treaty Organization National Security Council National Security Decision Directive National Security Planning Group Operations Coordinating Board Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Office of Management and Budget

vii

viii

OPD PEPAB PFIAB PLO PRC SHAEF TOW

Abbreviations

Office of Policy Development President's Economic Policy Advisory Board President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board Palestine Liberation Organization People's Republic of China Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (missile)

Table 2-1

Figure 2-1

Figure 2-2

Figure 2-3

Figure 5-1

Figure 7-1

Tables and Figures

Classification of Cases by Leader and Advisory Group Structure 28

The Relationship between Stress and Decision-Making Performance for Open and Closed Decision Makers

Effects of Learning Style and Advisory Group Structure on Learning

Four Combinations of Learning Style and Advisory Group Structure

Total U.S. Liquid Liabilities and Reserve Assets 109

18

25

22

Regions of Optimum Trade-offs between Advisory Openness and Power Distribution in Policy-making Groups

ix

157