Behavioral Public Choice, U.S. National Security Interests, and Transnational Executive Decision Making

Abstract

This article considers how behavioral public choice theory can evolve and apply to U.S. national security, transnational security, and human rights fields. It draws upon the processes by which CIA, Defense Department, and other the Bush-Cheney administration officials implemented a new global detention-interrogation program during the Global War on Terror using techniques that violated the transnational law of torture and longstanding U.S. policy. With a focus on recent scholarly work by Paul Slovic and Cass Sunstein, the article recommends opportunities to study and improve decision making processes and the roles that attorneys play in U.S. national security communities. Leadership and ethics are identified as fields for future interdisciplinary work and attention by government organizations.