Deck 10: Explaining the Politics and Processes of Foreign Policymaking

Question 1

The initial stage of policymaking is ______.

A) implementation
B) formulation
C) evaluation
D) agenda setting

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In which of the following stages of the policymaking process are problems or issues defined?

A) agenda setting
B) evaluation
C) implementation
D) formulation

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The process of identifying and weighing goals and options takes place during which of the following stages of the policymaking process?

A) agenda setting
B) formulation
C) evaluation
D) implementation

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Once a policy is identified and selected, it enters which stage?

A) agenda setting
B) evaluation
C) implementation
D) formulation

Question 5

In the ______ stage, the decision is carried out by members or agents of the government.

A) formulation
B) implementation
C) evaluation
D) agenda setting

Question 6

Which of the following models involves the most simplistic version and "ideal" process that most people assume when they think of foreign policymaking?

A) rational actor
B) organizational process
C) interbranch politics
D) groupthink

Question 7

Which of the following models is considered to be the most centralized?

A) organizational process
B) interbranch politics
C) groupthink
D) governmental politics

Question 8

Which of the following models is considered to be the most decentralized?

A) organizational process
B) interbranch politics
C) groupthink
D) governmental politics

Question 9

______ portrays a centralized policymaking process under presidential control.

A) Groupthink
B) Organizational process
C) Interbranch politics
D) Governmental politics

Question 10

Many scholars have concluded that President Kennedy's decisions during the Cuban Missile Crisis are an example of which of the following models?

A) governmental politics
B) organizational process
C) rational actor
D) groupthink

Question 11

In the ______ model, the decision-maker moves through a clear process.

A) rational actor
B) groupthink
C) organizational process
D) governmental politics

Question 12

Which of the following perspectives assumes that the president is ultimately in charge and that the policymaking process proceeds in accordance with an open process responsive to presidential beliefs and wishes?

A) groupthink
B) organizational process
C) governmental politics
D) rational actor

Question 13

The Vietnam War policymaking process under President Johnson reflected which of the following models?

A) rational actor
B) governmental politics
C) organizational process
D) groupthink

Question 14

Cohesiveness and esprit de corps is often associated with which model?

A) groupthink
B) rational actor
C) organizational process
D) governmental politics

Question 15

Which of the following was identified as a symptom of groupthink?

A) deliberating the relevant goals
B) searching for information
C) tendency to pressure members toward uniformity
D) selecting the policy option that maximizes goals

Question 16

The ______ model provides the illusion of unanimity.

A) rational actor
B) organizational process
C) groupthink
D) governmental politics

Question 17

The Iranian element of the Iran-Contra affair appeared to have been a function of the ______ process.

A) governmental politics
B) groupthink
C) organizational process
D) rational actor

Question 18

______ describes a policymaking process that is based on a pluralistic policymaking environment where power is diffused, and the process revolves around political competition and compromise among the policymakers.

A) Governmental politics
B) Groupthink
C) Organizational process
D) Rational actor

Question 19

Under which of the following models is an issue likely to trigger involvement of individuals from a variety of bureaucratic organizations, each differing in goals and objectives?

A) groupthink
B) organizational process
C) governmental politics
D) rational actor

Question 20

Which of the following processes is useful for understanding the interagency process?

A) groupthink
B) interbranch politics
C) governmental politics
D) organizational process

Question 21

The ______ model describes the president as not ultimately controlling the policymaking process.

A) interbranch politics
B) organizational process
C) groupthink
D) governmental process

Question 22

The Challenger tragedy was used as an example for the ______ model.

A) groupthink
B) organizational process
C) interbranch politics
D) rational actor

Question 23

The ______ model depicts a decentralized government in which the key actors are bureaucratic organizations rather than the president or a group of policymakers.

A) groupthink
B) rational model
C) interbranch politics
D) organizational process

Question 24

In the ______ model, policymaking tends to be feudal.

A) organizational process
B) rational actor
C) groupthink
D) interbranch politics

Question 25

Which of the following models is most helpful in understanding policy formulation for agenda issues that are not important enough to gain presidential attention?

A) rational actor
B) interbranch politics
C) organizational process
D) groupthink

Question 26

The organizational process model describes the ______ stage of policymaking most powerfully.

A) agenda setting
B) formulation
C) evaluation
D) implementation

Question 27

The central premise of the ______ model stems from its emphasis on the members of Congress, their multiple avenues of influences, and the political factors that prompt their engagement or compliance.

A) interbranch politics
B) governmental politics
C) rational actor
D) groupthink

Question 28

Which of the following strains of the interbranch politics model posits that policymakers from both branches work together to make policy?

A) constructive compromise
B) cooperation
C) institutional competition
D) confrontation and stalemate

Question 29

______ takes place when policymakers from the two branches devise solutions that garner enough support from each side for policy to proceed.

A) Constructive compromise
B) Cooperation
C) Institutional competition
D) Confrontation and stalemate

Question 30

______ involves legislative-executive or interagency contention.

A) Constructive compromise
B) Cooperation
C) Institutional competition
D) Confrontation and stalemate

Question 31

Which of the following occurs when each circle, endowed with some negative power, blocks the preferences of the others?

A) constructive compromise
B) cooperation
C) institutional competition
D) confrontation and stalemate

Question 32

______ operates when the president becomes interested and active in an issue, through direct personal involvement or indirectly when his staff and advisors act in his name.

A) Governmental politics
B) Presidential politics
C) Bureaucratic politics
D) Interbranch politics

Question 33

According to the authors, presidential politics may result in a relatively closed process more akin to ______.

A) the rational actor model
B) groupthink
C) the organizational process
D) interbranch politics

Question 34

Mental constructs that represent different clumps of knowledge about various facets of the environment are referred to as ______.

A) cognitions
B) schemas
C) thoughts
D) beliefs

Question 35

Which of the following types of politics prevails when the president and his closet advisors remain relatively uninvolved or are unable to dominate the policymaking process.

A) governmental
B) interbranch
C) bureaucratic
D) presidential

Question 36

Bureaucratic politics may reflect the bargaining, coalition building, and compromise described by which of the following models?

A) interbranch
B) rational actor
C) governmental politics
D) groupthink

Question 37

Which of the following stages of the policymaking process is usually dominated by the bureaucracy?

A) agenda setting
B) implementation
C) formulation
D) evaluation

Question 38

Which of the following statements pertaining to interbranch politics is true?

A) Congress members are not typically attentive to broad public opinion regarding the president.
B) Members of Congress are motivated by the preferences of their president and not by their own preferences.
C) Foreign policy is an increasingly partisan process.
D) The foreign policy process is not cyclical.

Question 39

Policies relying on the use of force, diplomacy, and intelligence activities are usually initiated by the ______.

A) states
B) executive branch
C) judicial branch
D) legislative branch

Question 40

Which of the following models of congressional foreign policy behavior refers to a Congress whose combination of less activity but greater assertiveness suggest a Congress that selects its battles carefully but is willing to challenge the president when it is interested?

A) competitive
B) disengaged
C) strategic
D) supportive

Question 41

The implementation of policy ends the policymaking process for any one issue.

Question 42

In the groupthink process, no policymaker or organization is preponderant.

Question 43

Organizational behavior tends to be incremental.

Question 44

The stages of the policymaking process (i.e., agenda setting, policy formation, and policy implementation) are all clearly separated.

Question 45

Most presidential decisions that require implementation are dependent on the bureaucracy.

Question 46

In what ways do problems or issues get on the government's agenda?

Question 47

Why is the distinction between agenda setting, policy formulation, and policy implementation not as clear-cut as described?

Question 48

Explain how all five of the models highlight different concepts to explain the policymaking process in US foreign policy.

Question 49

Identify and discuss some of the criticism of the five models discussed in the text.

Question 50

According to Holsti (1990), there are a number of patterns associated with high stress and its impact on both individual and group decision-making. Identify three to five of those patterns.