Theoretical Integration in Foreign Policy Analysis. The Governmental Politics Model and the Poliheuristic Theory of Decision Making.

This article aims to enhance the explanatory power of the governmental politics model (GPM) and contribute to the theoretical dialogue in Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). Specifically, the article addresses the GPM's lack of clarity concerning the selection of policy options by political decision makers. It argues that the GPM's core proposition in this respect, which is neatly, albeit imperfectly, summarized in the aphorism "Where you stand depends on where you sit," can be operationalized by integrating the substantive claims of the proposition into the two-stage process of the poliheuristic theory of decision making (PH). This is accomplished through the introduction of a "noncompensatory organizational loss aversion variable" in the first stage of PH, according to which decision makers reject all options that are unacceptable for their organization irrespective of their benefits in other decision making dimensions. In the second stage, the decision makers scrutinize the remaining options more thoroughly with respect to several decision dimensions, including organizational interests. This article uses Germany's decision to participate in EUFOR RD Congo, a military operation of the European Union (EU) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to probe the plausibility of the revised GPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]