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From security challenges posed by other nations to international trade, the Department of State plays an increasingly prominent role in U.S. foreign policy decision-making. Day to day, the Department of State carries out its functions, which seem rather formulated. When you speak of formulas, science or math comes to mind. Both require a step-by-step thinking process towards the solution; however the scientific method as used in experimental science is more organized in guiding you to a solution or conclusion. In his work, The Flow of Policy-Making in the Department of State, Charleton Ogburn the daily routine of the Department of State as one which utilizes the science method. However, Ogburn’s writing demonstrates otherwise, for his text resembles the wisdom method to describe the actions of the State. In order to understand why Ogburn feels the State Department uses science rather than wisdom, both should be defined. The science method begins with constructing a hypothesis, which is a general statement about groups of cases that is comparative and testable. Once a hypothesis is made then one can go further to collect data which supports or refutes the hypothesis. The important element in science method is that the h
Charleton Ogburn, nonetheless, uses wisdom in writing his work. First of all, there were no footnotes throughout the entire essay. He also writes about the State Department in such intimate detail that there is no choice on the reader’s part, but to believe him. This is what one can legitimately call a highly specialized area of study on Ogburn’s part. With out finite knowledge of the State Department and its operations, we must bank our confidence in the hopes that Ogburn is a qualified individual to be informing us about the State Department. Furthermore, there were too many variables that Ogburn incorporated in his essay, such as the different directors and different advisors, but there were few cases. One such case is when Ogburn states, “There is revolution is A. The top leadership has been either murdered or banished.” (76) Therefore, the way Ogburn went about his research in writing the essay cannot be replicated, for there are no tracks of his research anywhere in the text. Even more, Ogburn is not talking about generalizations or patterns, but specific situations and events. Therefore there are no hypothesis to test or compare when taking Ogburn’s assertions. Science and wisdom both play important roles in policy making, for it is required that the appointed leaders are well responsive to any situation. This part of policy-making requires wisdom to be at the root of all leaders who then apply a structural method in carrying out their own solution to the situation and/or problems. Although Ogburn does not fully explore this aspect of policy-making, it
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Approximate Word count = 1073
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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