FOREIGN POLICYMAKING: PLURALISTIC POLITICS OR UNITARY ANALYSIS,
Abstract
The substance of foreign policy is viewed as pragmatic, unitary, or pluralistic. The pragmatic view attempts to solve specific problems through a mastery of specific data, the unitary argues for comprehensive solutions on the basis of some general vision of the truth, and the pluralistic asserts the value of many approaches and denies the certainty of any one of them. This article is an attempt to deal explicitly with the relationship of the unitary and pluralistic approaches to each other in a discussion primarily of U. S. foreign policy. In particular cases, the issue between the unitary and pluralistic approaches may be drawn over whether (1) there should be reliance on development of a satisfactory set of tools for analyzing and making policy and on their skillful application, or (2) the analysis of policy making should be confined predominantly to describing the political process of policy making.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0612365
Entities
People
- Paul Y. Hammond
Organizations
- RAND Corporation