Groupthink or Deadlock: When Do Leaders Learn from Their Advisors?

Argues that too much advice can lead to policy deadlock depending on leadership style.

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.

1101500876
Groupthink or Deadlock: When Do Leaders Learn from Their Advisors?

Argues that too much advice can lead to policy deadlock depending on leadership style.

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.

34.95 In Stock
Groupthink or Deadlock: When Do Leaders Learn from Their Advisors?

Groupthink or Deadlock: When Do Leaders Learn from Their Advisors?

by Paul A. Kowert
Groupthink or Deadlock: When Do Leaders Learn from Their Advisors?

Groupthink or Deadlock: When Do Leaders Learn from Their Advisors?

by Paul A. Kowert

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Overview

Argues that too much advice can lead to policy deadlock depending on leadership style.

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.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780791489208
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Publication date: 02/01/2012
Series: SUNY series on the Presidency: Contemporary Issues
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 275
File size: 524 KB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Paul A. Kowert is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Florida International University, and coeditor of International Relations in a Constructed World.

Table of Contents

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

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