Decisionism Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Decisionism is a concept that gained currency in political discourse shortly after World War I (1914–1918). In general terms, it is the doctrine that ultimately political choices are based only upon rationally ungrounded beliefs or political interests. It arose in response to the beginnings of the decline in faith in the Enlightenment and liberalism. Until World War I, the political thinkers and statesmen in the West generally presumed that the Enlightenment, and liberalism in particular, could provide the foundations and justification for a legitimate political and social order, one consistent with the liberal respect for popular sovereignty, representative democracy, the rule of law, political equality, and individual liberty. In this respect, Western political actors believed that social and political life could be rationally grounded.

By the 1930s, however, several developments had emerged to shake the faith that the West had in its own project. The irrationalities of the causes and the horrors of the conduct of World War I, the economic collapse of the leading national economic powers and the international monetary order, the seeming intractability of the problems facing mass society and the implications for individualism worked to undermine the Enlightenment and liberal projects. Constitutional democracies in particular seemed to be immobilized in the face of the multiplicity of problems facing mass, industrialized societies. In addition, fascist political movements began to attract increasing numbers of sympathizers and supporters, more than is often acknowledged.

In response to this crisis, several thinkers, most notably Carl Schmitt, argued that the attempt to ultimately ground social and political order in some version of rational deliberation was ultimately flawed. There being no universal reason available to establish legitimate political authority, ultimately the choice of one political alternative over another is a consequence of a nonrational, mere choice or decision that political actors make. Hence, the liberal idea that legitimate political authority could be grounded in human reason or in a social contract was a myth, Schmitt argued.

This view of the act of a nonrational decision being the basis of political order helped establish two other uses of the term decisionism. First, it ushered in the idea that a political decision was legitimate simply because it was made by those in political authority and not necessarily because it lived up to some legal, moral, ethical, or religious standard by which it could be judged.

The second subsequent meaning is the idea that what is important in politics, particularly in times of crisis, is not how political decisions are made but only that some resolute decision is made and carried out effectively. This last point is sometimes associated with the idea of a state of exception and argues that in times of emergency, there are political choices that do not neatly fall within the boundaries of a constitutional order or the rule of law. It is the decision of those exercising sovereign power who decide what constitutes such an emergency or state of exception. Such choices are extraconstitutional, that is, they go beyond legal authority and are backed by the power of the state rather than by the rule of law. The fear concerning such a view is that it can be used to justify the most repressive forms of political rule in the name of the state of exception caused by alleged crises.

Recently, some political and social theorists have been willing to acknowledge that there may be times when challenges emerge requiring political action that does not fit neatly into the procedures outlined in a specific constitutional order. The task then, as Jürgen Habermas (1990) argues, is to ensure that the decisions are made in ways that most completely reflect the values and commitments of representative democracies, political freedom, and the rule of law.

Bibliography:

Agamben, Giorgio. State of Exception, translated by Kevin Attell. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
Habermas, Jürgen. The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity: Twelve Lectures, translated by Frederick G. Lawrence. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1990.
Schmitt, Carl. The Concept of the Political, translated by George Schwab, forward by Tracy B. Strong. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty, translated by George Schwab. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1985.