The decisionist imagination : sovereignty, social science, and democracy in the 20th century

In the decades following World War II, the science of decision-making moved from the periphery to the center of transatlantic thought. __The Decisionist Imagination__ explores how “decisionism” emerged from its origins in prewar political theory to become an object of intense social scientific inquiry in the new intellectual and institutional landscapes of the postwar era. By bringing together scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, this volume illuminates how theories of decision shaped numerous techno-scientific aspects of modern governance—helping to explain, in short, how we arrived at where we are today. "In the decades following World War II, the science of decision-making moved from the periphery to the center of transatlantic political theory, as part of the broader mobilization of social science during the Cold War. The Decisionist Imagination explores how "decisionism" emerged from its origins in prewar political science to become an object of intense scientific inquiry in the new intellectual and institutional landscape of the postwar era. By bringing together scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, this volume illuminates the connection between early twentieth-century conservative political theory and techno-scientific aspects of modern governance--helping to explain, in short, how we arrived at where we are today"-- Provided by publisher "In the decades following World War II, the science of decision-making moved from the periphery to the center of transatlantic political theory, as part of the broader mobilization of social science during the Cold War. The Decisionist Imagination explores how "decisionism" emerged from its origins in prewar political science to become an object of intense scientific inquiry in the new intellectual and institutional landscape of the postwar era. By bringing together scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, this volume illuminates the connection between early twentieth-century conservative political theory and techno-scientific aspects of modern governance--helping to explain, in short, how we arrived at where we are today"-- Site de l'éditeur The Decisionist Imagination Copyright Page Contents List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Introduction. Who Decides? Chapter 1. Reading the International Mind Chapter 2. Militant Democracy as Decisionist Liberalism Chapter 3. Parliamentary and Electoral Decisions as Political Acts Chapter 4. Decision and Decisionism Chapter 5. How Having Reasons Became Making a Decision Chapter 6. Computable Rationality, NUTS, and the Nuclear Leviathan Chapter 7. The Unlikely Revolutionaries Chapter 8. Prediction and Social Choice Chapter 9. Predictive Algorithms and Criminal Sentencing Conclusion. The Myth of the Decision Index Explores the relationship between the key concept of "decisionism," as it emerged from 1920s political theory, and the postwar development of formal decision theory when sovereign decision-making became an object of scientific inquiry in a new cultural, institutional, and international landscape.