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 105
... major decisions to authorize the Rolling Thunder program . Tom Wicker , New York Times associate editor and columnist , reports that he was informed by several officials close to the President in 1964 that the same type of elated self ...
... major decisions to authorize the Rolling Thunder program . Tom Wicker , New York Times associate editor and columnist , reports that he was informed by several officials close to the President in 1964 that the same type of elated self ...
Page 106
... major part of Ellsberg's argument about the lack of a sizable gap be- tween expectations and reality hinges on the fact that when the major escala- tion decisions were made , reports from intelligence experts in the CIA , the State ...
... major part of Ellsberg's argument about the lack of a sizable gap be- tween expectations and reality hinges on the fact that when the major escala- tion decisions were made , reports from intelligence experts in the CIA , the State ...
Page 107
... major escalation decisions made by the Johnson administration still leaves open the possibility that the President's advisory group made serious miscalculations and that the errors arose from group pressures of the type postulated by ...
... major escalation decisions made by the Johnson administration still leaves open the possibility that the President's advisory group made serious miscalculations and that the errors arose from group pressures of the type postulated by ...
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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 CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 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 group dynamics groupthink hypothesis groupthink syndrome groupthink tendencies Haldeman Hawaii Ibid in-group inner circle invasion plan Japanese Johnson Joint Chiefs Kennan Kennedy's Korean War leader 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 shared social Sorensen Soviet Union stereotypes stress symptoms of groupthink thinking threat tion transcripts Truman UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Vietnam Vietnam War warning Watergate cover-up White House group