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. |
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Page 92
Admiral Stark , the chief of naval operations and a member of the President's War
Council , personally regarded the danger of a full - scale attack against Pearl
Harbor as extremely small . In both the formal directives and the informal letters
he ...
Admiral Stark , the chief of naval operations and a member of the President's War
Council , personally regarded the danger of a full - scale attack against Pearl
Harbor as extremely small . In both the formal directives and the informal letters
he ...
Page 122
The military advantage of striking the proposed target . 2. The risk of American
aircraft and pilots in a raid . 3. The danger that the strike might widen the war by
forcing other countries into the fighting . 4. The danger of heavy civilian casualties
.
The military advantage of striking the proposed target . 2. The risk of American
aircraft and pilots in a raid . 3. The danger that the strike might widen the war by
forcing other countries into the fighting . 4. The danger of heavy civilian casualties
.
Page 228
Nixon must have been at least vaguely aware of the potential danger because he
once suggested to Haldeman , about three months before the existence of the
tapes was revealed at the Senate Watergate Committee hearings in July 1973 ...
Nixon must have been at least vaguely aware of the potential danger because he
once suggested to Haldeman , about three months before the existence of the
tapes was revealed at the Senate Watergate Committee hearings in July 1973 ...
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Contents
The Wrong | 3 |
The Making of the Marshall Plan | 159 |
How Clever | 198 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
accepted according action administration Admiral advisers alternative American appears asked assumptions attack avoid Bay of Pigs become called Chiefs cohesive Committee concerning consensus consequences continued course cover-up crisis critical Cuba Cuban danger Dean decision decision-making Defense deliberations Department direct discussion effect errors evidence example Executive expected fact factors feel fiasco forces give going groupthink Haldeman invasion involved issues Japanese Johnson judgment Kennedy leader leading major March meetings military missile moral Nixon norms North objections officers operation participants Pearl Harbor policy-making political position possible present President pressures probably problem procedures proposed questions responsible result risks role says Secretary seems Senator shared social Soviet staff stress strong suggested thinking threat tion transcripts Truman United UNIVERSITY Vietnam warning Watergate White House
References to this book
Bibliographic information
| Title | Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes |
| Author | Irving Lester Janis |
| Edition | 2, illustrated, revised |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin, 1982 |
| Original from | the University of California |
| Digitized | 30 Jan 2007 |
| ISBN | 0395317045, 9780395317044 |
| Length | 349 pages |
| Subjects | › Psychology / Social Psychology |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |