Final answer:
Decision makers use various strategies such as cognitive shortcuts, strategic decision-making, and Cost Benefit Analysis to make informed choices. States and individuals weigh risks and rewards, and often use heuristics for more efficient decision-making, taking both personal and communal interests into account.
Step-by-step explanation:
Decision makers in both politics and everyday life use a variety of strategies to make choices. While ideal decision-making involves considering all options and outcomes, often individuals rely on cognitive shortcuts like heuristics to make decisions more efficiently. In politics, for example, rational actors often focus on strategic behavior and goals, identify cross-cutting issues, and act based on cognitive skills. When states make decisions, they conduct a careful analysis of the risks and rewards, trying to achieve the greatest net benefit based on available information and strategic decision-making.
One common tool in decision-making is Cost Benefit Analysis, where decision makers weigh marginal costs against marginal benefits to evaluate the best course of action. In complex matters such as voting decisions, rather than exhausting all resources for the best possible choice, individuals frequently utilize heuristics as a practical and more accessible way to decide, like choosing a candidate from their preferred political party.
Normatively, the decision-making process involves considering the consequences of each alternative for one's personal happiness and the interests of others. This multi-faceted approach relies on both altruistic and self-interested considerations.