Bureaucracies At War - The Institutional Origins of Miscalculation

Why do states start conflicts they ultimately lose? Why do leaders possess inaccurate expectations of their prospects for victory? Bureaucracies at War examines how national security institutions shape the quality of bureaucratic information upon which leaders base their choice for conflict - which institutional designs provide the best counsel, why those institutions perform better, and why many leaders fail to adopt them. Jost argues that the same institutions that provide the best information also empower the bureaucracy to punish the leader. Thus, miscalculation on the road to war is often the tragic consequence of how leaders resolve the trade-off between good information and political security. Employing an original cross-national data set and detailed explorations of the origins and consequences of institutions inside China, India, Pakistan, and the United States, this book explores why bureaucracy helps to avoid disaster, how bureaucratic competition produces better information, and why institutional design is fundamentally political.

Summary

A rethinking of how bureaucracy shapes foreign policy. Through an unprecedented exploration of bureaucratic institutions inside China, India, Pakistan, and the United States, Jost shows why bureaucracy helps to avoid miscalculation. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of political science, history, sociology, and area studies.

Product details

• Authors: Tyler Jost, Tyler (Brown University Jost
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.05.2024
• EAN: 9781009307222
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0930722-2
• No. of pages: 440
• Series: Cambridge Studies in International Relations
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; USA, China, Pakistan, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Comparative Politics, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Asian, HISTORY / Military / United States, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Military Science, HISTORY / Military / Strategy, International Relations, India, Comparative Politics, United States of America, USA, Theory of warfare and military science, Theory of warfare & military science, Academic style, Academism, Academicism