Lecture 6 - Jan 28th, 2019
Bureaucratic Politics
Graham T. Allison, “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis” (1969)
Lecture Notes
Policymaking inside the Government - this level of analysis is referred to as bureaucratic
politics.
*Organizational process is distinct but is under the theory of bureaucratic politics.
The Origins of Bureaucratic Politics
Does the state act rationally?
- A counter to the structural realism assumptions that emerged in the 1960’s
- Is the assumption about states being rational unitary actors true?
- States actions often do not appear rational, because:
- A state pursues a mix of policies simultaneously
- Example: U.S. on tobacco - U.S. Dept. of Agriculture subsidizes farmers - U.S.
Surgeon General tells people not to buy it
- This is an inefficient way to implement policy: why pay for the production of a
product only to pay for advertising that discourages its use?
- If the assumption about rational unitary action is applied, this should not happen.
- Each parts of government pursues its own goal
- Bureaucratic policy emphasizes this
- U.S. tobacco example: the Dept. of Agriculture is acting rationally in
terms of its particular job (i.e. supporting American farmers), as is the
Surgeon General by advertising against the use of tobacco.
- Do these sum into a rational action?
Graham Allison on the Cuban Missile Crisis
Model I: System-level
- Makes an assumption about each state (i.e. the U.S., Soviet Union) being a single rational
unitary actor
- All policies carried out are a result of this actor
- Graham uses this model as a foil, in order to illustrate its ineffectiveness.
Model II: Organizational Process
- Highlights the disconnect that can occur between the policy-makers and what happens in
practice.
, - Bureaucracies tend to be unyielding
Model III: Bureaucratic Politics
- The decision making process, (i.e. when the policy is formulated), is a fight between the
different agencies, or bureaucracies, within the government. Each representative will
fight for their agency.
- This shapes the outcome of the policy → Examples from the Cuban Missile Crisis show
how this can happen and what the consequences look like.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
- Occured in 1962
- Why did it occur? Look at the 1950’s
- US had the upper hand in the Cold War (more advanced weaponry than the Soviet
Union)
- Soviet Union had nuclear bombs in Europe
- Soviet Union launched Sputnik - this indicates that a) they are perhaps more
technologically advanced than the US b) if a satellite can be put into space, so can a
weapon. The realization was that the Soviet Union had the capacity to launch a nuclear
bomb at the U.S.
- Term “missile gap” - why is the Soviet Union ahead of the US?
- Revolution led by Castro in Cuba
- Castro declared himself a communist, nationalized industries
- Aligned himself/Cuba with the Soviet Union
- Since Sputnik, the Soviet Union acted as though it had been producing nuclear weaponry
at a much faster rate than it actually was - in reality, they did not have the ability to
counter the U.S. effectively
- Soviet Union had 20-30 missiles
- Needed more/supplies equipment
- Cuba gave the Soviet Union the opportunity to launch missiles they could make: ones
that were short/mid range, which they could position for launch at the U.S.
- Missiles would only have to go 500-600 miles, rather than from one continent to
another.
- The Soviet Union knew the U.S. would not like this, so Kurshev hides this from Kennedy
- Ships/missiles are sent to Cuba discreetly (unloaded at night, etc)
- This activity was photographed by American U-2 spy plane
- American analysts recognized what the Soviets were doing
Organizational Process: policy decisions vs. policy implementation
Bureaucratic Politics
Graham T. Allison, “Conceptual Models and the Cuban Missile Crisis” (1969)
Lecture Notes
Policymaking inside the Government - this level of analysis is referred to as bureaucratic
politics.
*Organizational process is distinct but is under the theory of bureaucratic politics.
The Origins of Bureaucratic Politics
Does the state act rationally?
- A counter to the structural realism assumptions that emerged in the 1960’s
- Is the assumption about states being rational unitary actors true?
- States actions often do not appear rational, because:
- A state pursues a mix of policies simultaneously
- Example: U.S. on tobacco - U.S. Dept. of Agriculture subsidizes farmers - U.S.
Surgeon General tells people not to buy it
- This is an inefficient way to implement policy: why pay for the production of a
product only to pay for advertising that discourages its use?
- If the assumption about rational unitary action is applied, this should not happen.
- Each parts of government pursues its own goal
- Bureaucratic policy emphasizes this
- U.S. tobacco example: the Dept. of Agriculture is acting rationally in
terms of its particular job (i.e. supporting American farmers), as is the
Surgeon General by advertising against the use of tobacco.
- Do these sum into a rational action?
Graham Allison on the Cuban Missile Crisis
Model I: System-level
- Makes an assumption about each state (i.e. the U.S., Soviet Union) being a single rational
unitary actor
- All policies carried out are a result of this actor
- Graham uses this model as a foil, in order to illustrate its ineffectiveness.
Model II: Organizational Process
- Highlights the disconnect that can occur between the policy-makers and what happens in
practice.
, - Bureaucracies tend to be unyielding
Model III: Bureaucratic Politics
- The decision making process, (i.e. when the policy is formulated), is a fight between the
different agencies, or bureaucracies, within the government. Each representative will
fight for their agency.
- This shapes the outcome of the policy → Examples from the Cuban Missile Crisis show
how this can happen and what the consequences look like.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
- Occured in 1962
- Why did it occur? Look at the 1950’s
- US had the upper hand in the Cold War (more advanced weaponry than the Soviet
Union)
- Soviet Union had nuclear bombs in Europe
- Soviet Union launched Sputnik - this indicates that a) they are perhaps more
technologically advanced than the US b) if a satellite can be put into space, so can a
weapon. The realization was that the Soviet Union had the capacity to launch a nuclear
bomb at the U.S.
- Term “missile gap” - why is the Soviet Union ahead of the US?
- Revolution led by Castro in Cuba
- Castro declared himself a communist, nationalized industries
- Aligned himself/Cuba with the Soviet Union
- Since Sputnik, the Soviet Union acted as though it had been producing nuclear weaponry
at a much faster rate than it actually was - in reality, they did not have the ability to
counter the U.S. effectively
- Soviet Union had 20-30 missiles
- Needed more/supplies equipment
- Cuba gave the Soviet Union the opportunity to launch missiles they could make: ones
that were short/mid range, which they could position for launch at the U.S.
- Missiles would only have to go 500-600 miles, rather than from one continent to
another.
- The Soviet Union knew the U.S. would not like this, so Kurshev hides this from Kennedy
- Ships/missiles are sent to Cuba discreetly (unloaded at night, etc)
- This activity was photographed by American U-2 spy plane
- American analysts recognized what the Soviets were doing
Organizational Process: policy decisions vs. policy implementation
