Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-nr592 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-31T01:19:03.717Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Experimentation and Persuasion in Political Organizations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2016

ALEXANDER V. HIRSCH
ALEXANDER V. HIRSCH*
Affiliation:
California Institute of Technology
*
Alexander V. Hirsch is Associate Professor, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, MC 228-77, Pasadena, CA 91125 (avhirsch@hss.caltech.edu).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Different beliefs about how to achieve shared goals are common in political organizations such as government agencies, campaigns, and NGOs. However, the consequences of such conflicts have not yet been explored. We develop a formal model in which a principal and an agent disagree about the right policy for achieving their shared goals. Disagreement creates a motivational problem, but we show how both observing policy outcomes and experimenting with policies can ameliorate it. We also show that the principal often defers to the agent in order to motivate him, thereby generating more informative policy outcomes and building future consensus. Most surprisingly, she sometimes allows the agent to implement his desired policy even when she is sure it is wrong, to persuade him through failure that he is mistaken. Using the model, we generate empirical implications about performance measurement and Presidential appointments in U.S. federal agencies.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 110 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 68 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Aberbach, Joel D. 2000. In the Web of Politics. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Abramowitz, Alan I., and Saunders, Kyle L.. 2008. “Is Polarization a Myth?” The Journal of Politics 70 (02): 542–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldrich, John H., Gelpi, Christopher, Feaver, Peter, Reifler, Jason, and Sharp, Kristin Thompson. 2006. “Foreign Policy and the Electoral Connection.” Annual Review of Political Science 9 (1): 477–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arrow, K. J. 1964. “The Role of Securities in the Optimal Allocation of Risk-bearing.” The Review of Economic Studies 31 (4): 91–6.Google Scholar
Ashworth, Scott. 2012. “Electoral Accountability: Recent Theoretical and Empirical Work.” Annual Review of Political Science 15 (1): 183–201.Google Scholar
Ashworth, Scott, and de Mesquita, Ethan Bueno. 2006. “Monotone Comparative Statics for Models of Politics.” American Journal of Political Science 50 (1): 214–31.Google Scholar
Aumann, Robert J. 1976. “Agreeing to Disagree.” The Annals of Statistics 4 (11): 1236–9.Google Scholar
Bartels, Larry M. 2008. Unequal Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bergemann, Dirk, and Hege, Ulrich. 2005. “The Financing of Innovation: Learning and Stopping.” The RAND Journal of Economics 36 (12): 719–52.Google Scholar
Bertelli, Anthony, and Feldmann, Sven E.. 2007. “Strategic Appointments.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 17 (1): 19–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertelli, Anthony M., and Grose, Christian R.. 2011. “The Lengthened Shadow of Another Institution?” American Journal of Political Science 55 (4): 767–81.Google Scholar
Besley, Timothy, and Ghatak, Maitreesh. 2006. “Sorting with Motivated Agents.” Journal of the European Economic Association 4 (2-3): 404–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevan, Gwyn, and Hood, Christopher. 2006. “Whats Measured Is What Matters: Targets and Gaming in the English Public Health Care System.” Public Administration 84 (3): 517–38.Google Scholar
Boardman, Craig, and Sundquist, Eric. 2008. “Toward Understanding Work Motivation: Worker Attitudes and the Perception of Effective Public Service.” The American Review of Public Administration 39 (5): 519–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bratton, William. 1998. Turnaround. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Brehm, John, and Gates, Scott. 1999. Working, Shirking, and Sabotage. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Brehm, John, and Gates, Scott. 2008. Teaching, Tasks, and Trust: Functions of the Public Executive. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Bueno de Mesquita, Ethan. 2008. “Terrorist Factions.” Quarterly Journal of Political Science 3 (12): 399–418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bueno De Mesquita, Ethan, and Stephenson, Matthew C.. 2007. “Regulatory Quality Under Imperfect Oversight.” American Political Science Review 101 (03): 605–20.Google Scholar
Callander, Steven. 2011. “Searching for Good Policies.” American Political Science Review 105 (4): 643–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callander, Steven, and Hummel, Patrick. 2014. “Preemptive Policy Experimentation.” Econometrica 82 (4): 1509–28.Google Scholar
Campbell, Donald T. 1969. “Reforms as Experiments.” American Psychologist 24 (4): 409–29.Google Scholar
Carpenter, Daniel P. 2001. The Forging of Bureaucratic Autonomy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Che, Yeon Koo, and Kartik, Navin. 2009. “Opinions as Incentives.” Journal of Political Economy 117 (10): 815–60.Google Scholar
Dallek, Robert. 1996. “Lyndon Johnson and Vietnam: The Making of a Tragedy.” Diplomatic History 20 (4): 147–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiIulio, John J. 1987. Governing Prisons. London: Collier Macmillan.Google Scholar
Dobel, P. J. 1992. “William D. Ruckelshaus.” In Exemplary Public Administrators, ed. Cooper, Terry L.. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 241–69.Google Scholar
Draper, Robert. 2014. “The War Within.” POLITICO Magazine (11).Google Scholar
Durant, Robert F., Kramer, Robert, Perry, James L., Mesch, Debra, and Paarlberg, Laurie. 2006. “Motivating Employees in a New Governance Era: The Performance Paradigm Revisited.” Public Administration Review 66 (4): 505–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edlin, Aaron S., and Shannon, Chris. 1998. “Strict Monotonicity in Comparative Statics.” Journal of Economic Theory 81 (7): 201–19.Google Scholar
Epstein, David, and O’Halloran, Sharyn. 1999. Delegating Powers: A Transaction Cost Politics Approach to Policy Making Under Separate Powers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gailmard, Sean, and Patty, John W.. 2007. “Slackers and Zealots.” American Journal of Political Science 51 (4): 873–89.Google Scholar
Gailmard, Sean, and Patty, John W.. 2012. “Formal Models of Bureaucracy.” Annual Review of Political Science 15 (1): 353–77.Google Scholar
Gailmard, Sean, and Patty, John W.. 2013. Learning While Governing. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gates, Robert Michael. 2014. Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.Google Scholar
Geanakoplos, John D., and Polemarchakis, Heraklis M.. 1982. “We Can’t Disagree Forever.” Journal of Economic Theory 28 (10): 192–200.Google Scholar
Georgellis, Yannis, Iossa, Elisabetta, and Tabvuma, Vurain. 2011. “Crowding Out Intrinsic Motivation in the Public Sector.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21 (7): 473–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golden, Marissa. 2000. What Motivates Bureaucrats? New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Goodsell, Charles T. 2011. Mission Mystique. Washington, DC: CQ Press.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh. 1974. Modern Social Politics in Britain and Sweden. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Heclo, Hugh. 1977. A Government of Strangers. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Heinrich, Carolyn J. 2007. “Evidence-Based Policy and Performance Management Challenges and Prospects in Two Parallel Movements.” The American Review of Public Administration 37 (9): 255–77.Google Scholar
Holmstrom, Bengt, and Milgrom, Paul. 1991. “Multitask Principal-Agent Analyses: Incentive Contracts, Asset Ownership, and Job Design.” Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization 7 (1): 24–52.Google Scholar
Huber, John D., and McCarty, Nolan. 2004. “Bureaucratic Capacity, Delegation, and Political Reform.” The American Political Science Review 98 (8): 481–94.Google Scholar
Huber, John D., and Shipan, Charles R.. 2002. Deliberate Discretion? The Institutional Foundations of Bureaucratic Autonomy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Herbert. 1967. The Forest Ranger. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Kaufman, Herbert. 1981. The Administrative Behavior of Federal Bureau Chiefs. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Keller, Godfrey, Rady, Sven, and Cripps, Martin. 2005. “Strategic Experimentation with Exponential Bandits.” Econometrica 73 (1): 39–68.Google Scholar
Kettl, Donald F. 2005. The Global Public Management Revolution. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Krier, James E. 1977. Pollution and Policy. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Kai N. 1993. Compass and Gyroscope. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, David E. 2008. The Politics of Presidential Appointments. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, David E. 2011. “Presidential Appointments and Personnel.” Annual Review of Political Science 14 (1): 47–66.Google Scholar
Long, Edward, and Franklin, Aimee L.. 2004. “The Paradox of Implementing the Government Performance and Results Act: Top-Down Direction for Bottom-Up Implementation.” Public Administration Review 64 (3): 309–19.Google Scholar
Maple, Jack. 1999. The Crime Fighter: Putting the Bad Guys Out of Business. With Chris Mitchell. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
McCarty, Nolan. 2004. “The Appointments Dilemma.” American Journal of Political Science 48 (3): 413–28.Google Scholar
Milgrom, Paul, and Roberts, John. 1988. “An Economic Approach to Influence Activities in Organizations.” American Journal of Sociology 94 (1): S154–79.Google Scholar
Minozzi, William. 2013. “Endogenous Beliefs in Models of Politics.” American Journal of Political Science 57 (3): 566–81.Google Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 1985. “The Politicized Presidency.” The New Direction in American Politics 235: 269–71.Google Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 2013. “Delegation, Control, and the Study of Public Bureaucracy.” In The Handbook of Organizational Economics, eds. Gibbons, Robert, and Roberts, John. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Morris, Stephen. 1995. “The Common Prior Assumption in Economic Theory.” Economics and Philosophy 11 (02): 227–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moynihan, Donald P. 2008. The Dynamics of Performance Management. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Moynihan, Donald P., Pandey, Sanjay K., and Wright, Bradley E.. 2012. “Prosocial Values and Performance Management Theory: Linking Perceived Social Impact and Performance Information Use.” Governance 25 (3): 463–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nie, Martin A., and Schultz, Courtney A.. 2012. “Decision-Making Triggers in Adaptive Management.” Conservation Biology 26 (6): 1137–44.Google Scholar
Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance. 2008. “Adaptive Management Implementation Policy.” Department of the Interior Departmental Manual 522 (2).Google Scholar
Osborne, David. 1992. Reinventing Government. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Perry, James L., and Hondeghem, Annie. 2008. Motivation in Public Management: The Call of Public Service. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Perry, James L., Hondeghem, Annie, and Wise, Lois Recascino. 2010. “Revisiting the Motivational Bases of Public Service: Twenty Years of Research and an Agenda for the Future.” Public Administration Review 70 (5): 681–90.Google Scholar
Pollitt, Christopher. 2006. “Performance Information for Democracy.” Evaluation 12 (1): 38–55.Google Scholar
Prendergast, Canice. 2008. “Intrinsic Motivation and Incentives.” The American Economic Review 98 (5): 201–5.Google Scholar
Rogers-Dillon, Robin. 2004. The Welfare Experiments. Stanford, CA: Stanford Law and Politics.Google Scholar
Sabatier, Paul A. 1988. “An Advocacy Coalition Framework of Policy Change and the Role of Policy-oriented Learning Therein.” Policy Sciences 21 (6): 129–68.Google Scholar
Sabatier, Paul A., and Hunter, Susan. 1989. “The Incorporation of Causal Perceptions into Models of Elite Belief Systems.” Political Research Quarterly 42 (9): 229–61.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Jacob N. 2013. The Terrorist's Dilemma: Managing Violent Covert Organizations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Jacob N., and Siegel, David A.. 2007. “Underfunding in Terrorist Organizations.” International Studies Quarterly 51 (6): 405–29.Google Scholar
Simon, Herbert A. 1947. Administrative Behavior. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Smith, Alastair, and Stam, Allan C.. 2004. “Bargaining and the Nature of War.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 48 (12): 783–813.Google Scholar
Starobin, Paul. 1995. Surviving at the EPA: Gary Dietrich. (C16-84-592.0) Cambridge, MA: Kennedy School of Government Case Program.Google Scholar
Thompson, Frank J., and Riccucci, Norma M.. 1998. “Reinventing Government.” Annual Review of Political Science 1 (1): 231–57.Google Scholar
U.S. Government Accountability Office. 1996. Managing Reform: Status of Agency Reinvention Lab Efforts. (GAO/GGD-96-69) Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Van den Steen, Eric. 2009. “Authority versus Persuasion.” The American Economic Review 99 (5): 448–53.Google Scholar
Van den Steen, Eric. 2010 a. “Disagreement and the Allocation of Control.” Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 26 (8): 385–426.Google Scholar
Van den Steen, Eric. 2010 b. “Interpersonal Authority in a Theory of the Firm.” American Economic Review 100 (1): 466–90.Google Scholar
Volden, Craig, Ting, Michael M., and Carpenter, Daniel P.. 2008. “A Formal Model of Learning and Policy Diffusion.” American Political Science Review 102 (8): 319–32.Google Scholar
Weible, Christopher M., Sabatier, Paul A., and McQueen, Kelly. 2009. “Themes and Variations: Taking Stock of the Advocacy Coalition Framework.” Policy Studies Journal 37 (1): 121–40.Google Scholar
Wilson, James Q. 1989. Bureaucracy. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Wilson, James Q., and Kelling, George L.. 1982. “Broken Windows.” Atlantic Monthly 249 (3): 29–38.Google Scholar
Wood, B. Dan, and Waterman, Richard W.. 1991. “The Dynamics of Political Control of the Bureaucracy.” American Political Science Review 85 (9): 801–28.Google Scholar
Yildiz, Muhamet. 2004. “Waiting to Persuade.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 119 (2): 223–48.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Hirsch supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Hirsch supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 928.8 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.