Spea v185 Study guides, Class notes & Summaries

consequences of groupthink 1. fail to adequately determine objectives and alternatives 2. don't adequately access the risks associated with group decisions 3. fail to cycle through discarded alternatives to reexamine their worth after a majority of the group discarded the alternative 4. select and use only information that supports their position and conclusion 5. don't make contingency plans in case decision and resulting actions fail how our government works - citizens elect rep...

Rational Choice/Public Choice - The application of economic assumptions about rationality and self-interest to the study of political behavior What does it mean to be a rational actor - -based on the expected utility of each option. -These rank-ordered preferences are stable and transitive -You analyze all the possible alternatives and know which alternatives will work the best the rational comprehensive model - -Requires them to have complete information and the capacity to process this i...

SPEA V185 Exam 2 With Complete Solutions.

What is prospect theory and loss aversion? - Models built on assumptions of rational behavior assumes that actors make decisions based on maximizing wealth or utility - In reality, however, people approach outcomes relative to some reference point (or current state) - Most importantly, people respond differently to perceived losses than to perceived gains o Losses are often weighted between 2 and 3 times as heavily as logically equivalent gains o Losing $10 hurts about as much as winning $2...

System I Thinking is fast, emotional, and heuristic-based System II thinking is slow, rational, deliberate, and logical Prospect Theory/Loss Aversion avoiding losses is more important than achieving comparable gains, tend to choose the option that help to avoid losses or risks Confirmation Bias A tendency of decision-makers to disproportionately incorporate information based on their initial preferences and predispositions. In other words, they tend to only internalize t...

Public Management - the formal and informal process of guiding human interaction toward public organizational objectives. Public Policy - The action or inaction of government regarding a particular issue or set of issues. What government does or purposely doesn't do. Bureaucracy - A specific form of organization defined by complexity, division of labor, permanence, professional management, hierarchical, coordination control, strict chain of command, and legal authority. Advantages of Bur...

Scientific Method for Social Science - Usually has four basic components -Theory -Operationalization -Observation -Analysis Dependent Variable - A factor/event/outcome that we want to explain Independent Variable - Causes/explanations/factors that we think are important in driving the outcomes/dependent variables Normative Statement - Describes the way the world should or is desired to be Empirical Statement - Describes the state of the world based on observations and evidence Federal ...

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