MATHEMATICAL-MODELS OF FOREIGN-POLICY DECISION-MAKING - COMPENSATORY VS NONCOMPENSATORY Academic Article

abstract

• There are presently two leading foreign policy decision-making paradigms in vogue. The first is based on the classical or rational model originally posited by von Neumann and Morgenstern to explain microeconomic decisions. The second is based on the cybernetic perspective whose groundwork was laid by Herbert Simon in his early research on bounded rationality. In this paper we introduce a third perspective - the poliheuristic theory of decision-making - as an alternative to the rational actor and cybernetic paradigms in international relations. This theory is drawn in large part from research on heuristics done in experimental cognitive psychology. According to the poliheuristic theory, policy makers use poly (many) heuristics while focusing on a very narrow range of options and dimensions when making decisions. Among them, the political dimension is noncompensatory. The paper also delineates the mathematical formulations of the three decision-making models. 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

authors

• Geva, Nehemia

published proceedings

• SYNTHESE

author list (cited authors)

• MINTZ, A., GEVA, N., & DEROUEN, K.

citation count

• 21

complete list of authors

• MINTZ, A||GEVA, N||DEROUEN, K

publication date

• September 1994

publisher

• Springer Nature  Publisher

published in

• Synthese: an international journal for epistemology, methodology and philosophy of science  Journal

keywords

• 50 Philosophy And Religious Studies
• 5002 History And Philosophy Of Specific Fields
• 5003 Philosophy

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1007/BF01063911

start page

• 441

end page

• 460

volume

• 100

issue

• 3

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/bf01063911