- The Oxford Handbook of Classics In Public Policy and Administration
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- What Makes a Classic?: Identifying and Revisiting the Classics of Public Policy and Administration
- Herbert A. Simon, <i>Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization</i>
- David B. Truman, <i>The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion</i>
- Robert K. Merton et al., <i>A Reader in Bureaucracy</i>
- Harold D. Lasswell, <i>The Decision Process: Seven Categories of Functional Analysis</i>
- C. Wright Mills, <i>The Power Elite</i>
- Charles E. Lindblom, “The Science of Muddling Through”
- Thomas R. Dye, <i>Politics, Economics and the Public: Policy Outcomes in the American States</i>
- Herbert Kaufman, <i>The Forest Ranger: A Study in Administrative Behavior</i>
- E. E. Schattschneider, <i>The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America</i>
- V. O. Key, Jr., <i>Public Opinion and American Democracy</i>
- Michel Crozier, <i>The Bureaucratic Phenomenon</i>
- Theodore J. Lowi, “American Business, Public Policy, Case Studies and Political Theory”
- Aaron Wildavsky, <i>The Politics of the Budgetary Process</i>
- Mancur Olson, <i>The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups</i>
- Theodore J. Lowi, <i>The End of Liberalism: The Second Republic of the United States</i>
- Jack L. Walker, “The Diffusion of Innovations among the American States”
- Albert O. Hirschman, <i>Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States</i>
- Graham T. Allison, <i>The Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis</i>
- George J. Stigler, “The Theory of Economic Regulation”
- Michael D. Cohen, James G. March, and Johan P. Olsen, “A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice”
- Anthony Downs, “Up and Down with Ecology: The ‘Issue-Attention’ Cycle”
- Carol H. Weiss, <i>Evaluation Research: Methods for Studying Programs and Policies</i>
- Jeffrey L. Pressman and Aaron B. Wildavsky, <i>Implementation</i>
- Oliver E. Williamson, <i>Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications</i>
- Hugh Heclo, “Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment”
- Michael Lipsky, <i>Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Service</i>
- Richard Rose, <i>Do Parties Make a Difference?</i>
- John W. Kingdon, <i>Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies</i>
- Mathew D. McCubbins and Thomas Schwartz, “Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols versus Fire Alarms”
- Terry M. Moe, “The New Economics of Organization”
- Mathew D. McCubbins, Roger G. Noll, and Barry R. Weingast, “Administrative Procedures as Instruments of Political Control”
- Paul A. Sabatier, “An Advocacy Coalition Framework of Policy Change and the Role of Policy-Oriented Learning Therein”
- Fritz W. Scharpf, “The Joint-Decision Trap: Lessons from German Federalism and European Integration”
- James Q. Wilson, <i>Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why they Do it</i>
- Elinor Ostrom, <i>Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action</i>
- Christopher Hood, “A Public Management for All Seasons?”
- Ian Ayres and John Braithwaite, <i>Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate</i>
- Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones, <i>Agendas and Instability in American Politics</i>
- Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community: Empirical Foundations, Causal Mechanisms, and Policy Implications
- Peter A. Hall and David Soskice, <i>Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage</i>
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter comments on Graham Allison’s 1971 book, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, a classic that occupies an important place in disciplines ranging from political science and public administration to international relations and business studies. Allison offers a critical analysis of governmental decision-making during the Cuban missile crisis, one of the most challenging crises of the Cold War, through three conceptual lenses: rational actor, organizational behavior, and governmental politics. After a brief introduction on Allison and the broader context in which his work took shape, the chapter considers the continuing relevance of Essence of Decision for scholars in foreign policy and public administration. More specifically, it discusses Allison’s rational actor, organizational behavior, and governmental behavior models and how each of them identifies different explanatory factors for the decisions that were taken regarding the crisis.
Keywords: Graham Allison, Essence of Decision, public administration, governmental decision-making, Cuban missile crisis, rational actor, organizational behavior, governmental politics, foreign policy, governmental behavior
Sophie Vanhoonacker is Jean Monnet Professor and Chair in Administrative Governance, Department of Politics, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; Head of the Department of Political Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Patrice Wangen studied history and political science at the University of Greifswald and holds a Master of Science degree in European Studies from Maastricht University. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the European University Institute with a special interest in the European Union’s foreign policy in moments of international crisis.
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- The Oxford Handbook of Classics In Public Policy and Administration
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- What Makes a Classic?: Identifying and Revisiting the Classics of Public Policy and Administration
- Herbert A. Simon, <i>Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization</i>
- David B. Truman, <i>The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion</i>
- Robert K. Merton et al., <i>A Reader in Bureaucracy</i>
- Harold D. Lasswell, <i>The Decision Process: Seven Categories of Functional Analysis</i>
- C. Wright Mills, <i>The Power Elite</i>
- Charles E. Lindblom, “The Science of Muddling Through”
- Thomas R. Dye, <i>Politics, Economics and the Public: Policy Outcomes in the American States</i>
- Herbert Kaufman, <i>The Forest Ranger: A Study in Administrative Behavior</i>
- E. E. Schattschneider, <i>The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America</i>
- V. O. Key, Jr., <i>Public Opinion and American Democracy</i>
- Michel Crozier, <i>The Bureaucratic Phenomenon</i>
- Theodore J. Lowi, “American Business, Public Policy, Case Studies and Political Theory”
- Aaron Wildavsky, <i>The Politics of the Budgetary Process</i>
- Mancur Olson, <i>The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups</i>
- Theodore J. Lowi, <i>The End of Liberalism: The Second Republic of the United States</i>
- Jack L. Walker, “The Diffusion of Innovations among the American States”
- Albert O. Hirschman, <i>Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States</i>
- Graham T. Allison, <i>The Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis</i>
- George J. Stigler, “The Theory of Economic Regulation”
- Michael D. Cohen, James G. March, and Johan P. Olsen, “A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice”
- Anthony Downs, “Up and Down with Ecology: The ‘Issue-Attention’ Cycle”
- Carol H. Weiss, <i>Evaluation Research: Methods for Studying Programs and Policies</i>
- Jeffrey L. Pressman and Aaron B. Wildavsky, <i>Implementation</i>
- Oliver E. Williamson, <i>Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications</i>
- Hugh Heclo, “Issue Networks and the Executive Establishment”
- Michael Lipsky, <i>Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Service</i>
- Richard Rose, <i>Do Parties Make a Difference?</i>
- John W. Kingdon, <i>Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies</i>
- Mathew D. McCubbins and Thomas Schwartz, “Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols versus Fire Alarms”
- Terry M. Moe, “The New Economics of Organization”
- Mathew D. McCubbins, Roger G. Noll, and Barry R. Weingast, “Administrative Procedures as Instruments of Political Control”
- Paul A. Sabatier, “An Advocacy Coalition Framework of Policy Change and the Role of Policy-Oriented Learning Therein”
- Fritz W. Scharpf, “The Joint-Decision Trap: Lessons from German Federalism and European Integration”
- James Q. Wilson, <i>Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why they Do it</i>
- Elinor Ostrom, <i>Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action</i>
- Christopher Hood, “A Public Management for All Seasons?”
- Ian Ayres and John Braithwaite, <i>Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate</i>
- Frank R. Baumgartner and Bryan D. Jones, <i>Agendas and Instability in American Politics</i>
- Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community: Empirical Foundations, Causal Mechanisms, and Policy Implications
- Peter A. Hall and David Soskice, <i>Varieties of Capitalism: The Institutional Foundations of Comparative Advantage</i>
- Index
