In studying IR theory so far, one thing I’ve always found
lacking is that there are no reservations and assumptions made with regards to
the individuals who influence everyday policy on the ground level or organizational
level or bureaucratic level. Allison and Halperin’s article “Bureaucratic
Politics: A Paradigm and Some Policy Implications” is a step in the right
direction since it does not present such a myopic view of international
politics.
Instead of the overly simplistic view of the international
system presented in the theories of realism and idealism where interactions are
solely based on an interest or goodwill basis with the states represented as
lone individual actors, this article provides a new framework of bureaucratic
politics which looks heavily at politics and bureaucratic dealings within the
state which affect policy decisions and execution. This delves into the
execution of intra-state political dealings; a vast network of interchanging,
interlinked and intricate policies whose outward manifestation is the
international policy of the state.
This brings in the concept of ‘players’ in the international
system with varying degrees of power and varying interests based on national
security, domestic, organizational and personal needs. Different players have
different durations of power: players sometimes want executive power, sometimes
they don’t. If they’re careerists, their stance and decision making will change
with the political climate and will be interest based. If they’re careerist,
they will last longer in power. Organizations compete with each other and don’t
like to collaborate. Some systems are open to lobbying and pressure. Some
aren’t. Point being that there is a vast variety of varying interests at play.
The focus on individual actions is very important because
state policies do not take place in a vacuum and it is naïve to think so. The authors
have put a lot of work into making a rigorous empirical model with many layers
which is a step in the right direction for IR theory. We have to delve into the
roots of every significant policy to truly discover the causes for its
imposition.
I do agree that whatever models or theories we have encountered so far, this Bureaucratic Politics Model by Allison is the most comprehensive one and it is also a viable alternative to all the previous models. It not only focuses on the executive actions but also on individual actions which would be a mistake to ignore them. The reason why I would give credit to Allison is because his model attempts to target all levels of the government
ReplyDeleteGreat title and solid analysis. I agree that this is a valuable model and it is helpful to think clearly about the varying interests that influence the state and its policy making apparatus.
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