The influence of analysis on U.S. defense policy

Peter DeLeon

Expert InsightsPublished 1985

Many policy scholars and practitioners have questioned the influence of policy analysis in affecting policymakers' decisions. This concern has been mainly expressed regarding social programs. On the other hand, policy research in defense policy has been characterized as being extremely suited to objective--usually numerical--analysis. Furthermore, national security analyses appear to have greater influence in determining subsequent policy decisions. This paper reviews several examples of national security policy research where these conditions would appear to have been the case. Upon closer examination, however, it is concluded that these decisions were much less influenced by prior analysis than was initially thought. Finally, some suggestions for reducing the apparent gulf between defense analysis and policymaking are proposed.

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

DeLeon, Peter, The influence of analysis on U.S. defense policy. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1985. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P7136.html.
BibTeX RIS

This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.