Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and FiascoesGroupthink - the psychological drive for consensus at any cost that suppresses disagreement and prevents the appraisal of alternatives in cohesive decision-making groups. In the first edition (Victims of groupthink), Iriving L. Janis showed how this phenomenon contributed to some of the major U.S. foreign policy fiascos of recent decades: the Korean War stalemate, the escalation of the Vietnam War, the failure to be prepared for the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Bay of Pigs blunder. He also examined cases, such as the handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the formulation of the Marshall Plan, where groupthink was avoided. Here, in this revised and expanded edition, Janis applies his hypothesis to the Watergate cover-up, portraying in detail how groupthink helped to put the participants on a disastrous couurse and keep them there. In addition, he presents some fresh ideas on how and why groupthink occurs and offers suggestions for avoiding it. |
From inside the book
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Page 16
... responsible government could ever have become involved in so ill - starred an adventure . " The policy advisers who participated in the deliberations felt much the same way , if not worse . Allen Dulles , for example , was " still ...
... responsible government could ever have become involved in so ill - starred an adventure . " The policy advisers who participated in the deliberations felt much the same way , if not worse . Allen Dulles , for example , was " still ...
Page 66
... responsible leaders in the Truman administration to expect the worst from that enemy . The domestic " vilifiers " of the administration were a target close to home , a fifth column that could be seen as inflicting a " stab in the back ...
... responsible leaders in the Truman administration to expect the worst from that enemy . The domestic " vilifiers " of the administration were a target close to home , a fifth column that could be seen as inflicting a " stab in the back ...
Page 195
... responsibility for the Bay of Pigs fiasco . Nevertheless , his advisers knew that they shared the responsibility , and ... responsible for working out that policy did a poor job . A disastrous outcome can be the result of unforeseeable ...
... responsibility for the Bay of Pigs fiasco . Nevertheless , his advisers knew that they shared the responsibility , and ... responsible for working out that policy did a poor job . A disastrous outcome can be the result of unforeseeable ...
Contents
Why So Many Miscalculations? | 2 |
The Bay of Pigs | 14 |
The Wrong | 48 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Acheson administration Admiral Kimmel advisers advisory group Allen Dulles alternative American assumptions attack avoid Bay of Pigs bombing Castro Chiefs of Staff Chinese cohesive group Communist concurrence-seeking consensus course of action critical Cuba Cuban missile crisis danger Dean Defense deliberations discussion effect Ehrlichman enemy evidence Executive Committee expected fiasco forces group dynamics groupthink hypothesis groupthink syndrome groupthink tendencies Haldeman Hawaii Ibid in-group inner circle invasion plan Japanese Johnson Joint Chiefs judgment Kennan Kennedy's Korean War leader MacArthur's major Marshall Plan McNamara meetings military moral naval Nixon norms North Korea North Vietnam officers participants Pearl Harbor Pentagon Papers policy-making group political present President Kennedy President's pressures problem procedures psychological questions responsible risks Robert Kennedy role Rusk Schlesinger Secretary social Sorensen Soviet Union stereotypes stress symptoms of groupthink thinking threat tion transcripts Truman United Vietnam Vietnam War warning Watergate cover-up White House group Wohlstetter