POLICY PARADOX

1
POLICY PARADOX FACTS

• JESSICA ELIAZAR
• JESSICA ELLIOTT
• ASHLEY ECKES
• JASON DRENNING

2
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but
not their own facts. - Sen. Daniel Patrick
Moynihan (Dem NY)
3
Lecture Outline

• Two Faces of Persuasion
• Rational Democratic Model
• Totalitarian Model
• Polis Model

4
Rational Ideal Face 1

• Persuasion
• Coordinates/Controls Human Behavior
• Rational Decisions
• Frowns Upon Raw Emotion/Passion

5
SQUISH MCCAIN ??
"I DON'T KNOW WHICH PART OF THE PARTY IS GOING TO
BE MORE INFLUENTIAL OR NOT," MCCAIN SAID. "I'VE
TRIED ALWAYS IN MY POLITICAL CAREER TO HAVE A BIG
TENT PARTY WHERE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE WELCOME WITH
DIFFERING VIEWS."
6
Government The Rational Ideal

• Reason as Basis for Government
• Education Creates Equality
• Conflict Resolution
• Policy Ideas

7
Persuasion or Propaganda?

• "WE SEE AL QAEDA GAINING STRENGTH,"
• "WE SEE AFGHANISTAN SLIDING BACK INTO CHAOS."

8
Propaganda Face 2

• Intentionally Manipulative
• Robs People from Independent Thinking
• Where Should the Line be Drawn?
• When Does Information Cross the Line?

9
Rational Democratic Model

• Persuasion evokes images of reasoned and informed
  decision (the rational ideal)
• Individuals formulate goals, gather information,
  and evaluate alternatives before making a choice
• Emphasis is placed on argument by fact and logic,
  as well as the use of the scientific method of
  discovery

10
Rational Democratic Model

• Reason is the basis for personal and government
  decisions.
• Democracy is government by discussion.
• This form of persuasion is related to
  voluntarism.
• The facts will speak for themselves.

11
Rational Democratic Model

• Under this model, facts, data, and information
  are neutral, and can settle conflicts.
• The pen is mightier than the sword.
• Conflict derives from ignorance, not from
  differences in interest or character

12
Rational Democratic Model

• The government uses information and education to
  bring individual actions into harmony with the
  public interest.
• The rational ideal has brought about several
  policy ideas based on behavior change and
  persuasion.
• Educational campaigns for littering, smoking,
  safe driving, energy conservation, forest fires,
  recycling, etc

13
Rational Democratic Model

• The rational model represents a society where
• Conflict is unnecessary and only temporary
• Force is replaced by discussion
• Persuasion and logic are used to bring individual
  actions into harmony
• The capacity to deliberate is very important

14
Totalitarian Model

• People accept government propaganda instead of
  making decisions on their own
• Information is limited, highly controlled, and
  slanted
• It is mainly used for social control
• The government indoctrinates its citizens by
  controlling a central communications apparatus

15
Polis Model

• Two idealized versions
• Neither can exist in pure form
• How they meet in the middle
• Facts are the product of social processes
• Direct observation vs. social knowledge
• Naming
• Interpretive
• Facts are always under dispute
• Information is created from a point of view
• Loyalties, cultural, and social backgrounds
• Used to manipulate and influence

16
Fact?

• We're now in the 41st month of uninterrupted job
  growth, in a recovery that has created 7.2
  million new jobs -- so far.
• - President Bush (2007 State of the Union)
• The figure is correct. However, as in the past,
  Bush concentrated only on the period since August
  2003, which was the low point of the prolonged
  job slump that plagued the first 2-1/2 years of
  his presidency. Since 2.7 million jobs were lost
  that time, the  net gain from the time he
  took office has been  4.6 million jobs, a
  respectable number but still not so large as
  the one Bush highlighted.

17
Indoctrination Polis Model

• Totalitarianism not a necessary condition
• Happens in three ways
• Indoctrination outside the framework of a
  centralized bureaucracy
• Dominant groups instill values and attitudes that
  preserve their position without centralized
  control
• Indoctrination through normal government
  citizen interaction
• Media Communications
• Street-level bureaucrats

18
Indoctrination Polis Model

• Indoctrination through the withholding of
  information
• Fundamental part of strategy for government and
  markets
• Occurs without formal censorship or
  classification
• Blocks the formation of truly rational decisions
• The more resources the more dominant the group to
  influence others

19
The Concept of Unilateralness

• Assumes that indoctrination requires the efforts
  of a single central government authority
• Some believe the concept of unilateralness
  protects people from indoctrination
• If manipulative messages are given to a
  population by two or more competing interests the
  effect is neutralized

20
Conclusion

• The shaping of information is an inevitable part
  of communication and is integral to strategic
  behavior
• The rational idea is false in its assumption that
  information is neutral and that people are
  rational and independent
• The totalitarian model is false in its assumption
  that indoctrination only occurs when there is a
  single governmental authority dispensing
  propaganda
• Indoctrination occurs everyday between citizens
  and between citizens of the state.