Making political decisions is one of the most important social functions of politics. This process involves the selection of one, the most optimal of several alternatives.
Instructions
Step 1
In general terms, the political decision-making process is divided into two parts - the search for alternatives and the selection of the most effective option. Of course, in practice, this process is more complicated and detailed. There are several developed schemes of the decision making process. One of them belongs to G. Lasswell. He identified 6 stages in this process. This is the formulation of a problem, the development of recommendations, the selection of alternatives, a preliminary conviction in the correctness of the solution, the assessment of the effectiveness of the solution, the revision of the solution or its cancellation.
Step 2
The disadvantage of this scheme is the absence of the stage of forecasting and analyzing the situation. This defect is eliminated in the schemes of D. Weimer and A. Weining. Their model includes seven stages in the decision-making process: understanding the problem; choice of goals and methods of its solution; selection of criteria; identification of alternative options; predicting the consequences of a decision; development of recommendations regarding the algorithm of actions.
Step 3
An important omission of these approaches is the absence of the feedback principle, which is one of the key ones for democratic societies. This principle is very fully described in the writings of the supporters of the systems approach. It is based on the fact that the political system receives signals of two types from the social environment - demands or support. If the system makes the best decisions, then its support grows. If the solutions are not perceived by the environment as optimal, then the requirements increase. On the basis of incoming signals, political decisions must be corrected.
Step 4
The decision-making process depends on the type of political regime. The ideal model of a democratic society assumes that political decisions are made in response to the demands of society. Such a situation is possible only in the presence of a strong civil society and in the presence of working mechanisms of interaction between the authorities and the people.
Step 5
In authoritarian and democratic societies, the authorities are distanced from the people, and the latter has practically no leverage over the decisions of the authorities. This does not mean that the authorities are guided only by their own selfish interests in their decisions. It's just that the population has difficult access to the political kitchen.
Step 6
Monarchical societies, which were based on the idea of the divine origin of power, also did not assume any influence of the people on the decisions of the monarch. He had to accept them alone with the support of a limited number of advisers.
Step 7
The influence of external forces and factors on political decision-making cannot be ruled out. These include corruption and lobbying. Lobbying is not always negative in nature, while corruption always has an extremely negative impact on the state of the economy and inhibits industrial growth and social development.
Step 8
The concept of an administrative resource is closely related to the procedure for making political decisions. This term means the use of their position by the ruling elite to achieve private goals. For example, to eliminate competitors during the election campaign.
Avoiding conflicts of interest is an important challenge in democratic societies. For example, when an official who heads a certain industrial sector has business assets in it (or his relatives or friends). In this case, he will be highly tempted to use his position in his own interests, which is a direct manifestation of corruption.
