| Type of Document |
Master's Thesis |
| Author |
Beckner, Lauren Renee
|
| Author's Email Address |
lbeckner@vt.edu |
| URN |
etd-09202012-225955 |
| Title |
Decision Making During National Security Crisis: The Case of the JFK Administration |
| Degree |
Master of Arts |
| Department |
Political Science |
| Advisory Committee |
| Advisor Name |
Title |
| Hult, Karen M. |
Committee Co-Chair |
| Pourchot, Georgeta Valentina |
Committee Co-Chair |
| Dixit, Priya |
Committee Member |
|
| Keywords |
- Decision-making
- Kennedy administration
- Crisis
- National security
- Bay of Pigs
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Vietnam
|
| Date of Defense |
2012-09-07 |
| Availability |
unrestricted |
Abstract
Decision-making during crises is an important task that many elected officials face during their time in office. This thesis seeks to identify principles that make up a sound policy decision-making process and may lead to more positive outcomes. The analysis here is a comparative case study of three national security crises that faced the John F. Kennedy administration: the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam conflict. Each case is examined for the presence of indicators of groupthink. I hypothesize that the relative absence of groupthink is related to a positive outcome. That hypothesis is examined by reviewing each case; the cases that contained higher levels of the indicators of groupthink tended to have a poorer quality process than those with less evidence of groupthink.
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| Files |
| Filename |
Size |
Approximate Download Time
(Hours:Minutes:Seconds)
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| 28.8 Modem |
56K Modem |
ISDN (64 Kb) |
ISDN (128 Kb) |
Higher-speed Access |
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Beckner_L_R_T_2012.pdf |
381.71 Kb |
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00:00:54 |
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