Political Decision Making

Although Malcolm Gladwell's Blink does not explicitly lead the reader to take his observations and findings in a political context, the content of the book deals entirely with decision-making, a process that could not be more relevant to politics, whether on an individual voter level or the presidential level. The fact that people often make choices that do not align with their pre-supposed inclinations throws into doubt much of what political scientists believe about how and why certain decisions are made, decisions which, in a political environment, have extremely far-reaching implications.

One concept I find interesting, especially in a political context, is habituation. The idea that humans feel more comfortable in familiar settings, whether those settings be physical, emotional, spiritual or intellectual, is not a new one. However, the idea that humans stick to the so-called "beaten path", whether it is beneficial or costly, is worth looking into when considering that this seemingly illogical resistance to change should theoretically manifest itself within any properly functioning democracy. To put this in a political context, the attitude of Pakistanis towards their military comes immediately to mind.

Given the fact that Pakistan is situated between a failed state and a rising economic superpower that has twice attempted to invade Pakistan in the last 30 years, as well as the pathetic state of the country's judicial and executive branches, it would seem understandable that the ordinary Pakistani would view her military as the only functioning branch of government that can provide safety in such unstable conditions. However, as any educated and informed Pakistani will tell you, the military has committed innumerable hu...

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...actually entirely irrelevant to what they were there to decide upon, namely the quality of the auditioner's musical performance. In the case of the political candidates and the media's presentation of them to the people, the information being emphasized admittedly may not be entirely irrelevant, but I believe it is still the less important portion of information. Whereas the auditions were corrected by entirely screening out the physical appearance of the performer, in proportion to the relevance of their appearance to their task, it seems plausible that a shift in the culture in media and politics itself might lead to a shift in the way voters assess candidates. This would create more of an intellectual connection between people and their leaders rather than solely an emotional connection, something Sarah Palin has shown can be capitalized on with alarming success.