Beliefs According to Goldstein and Keohane

I was going through the readings this week and was fixated on the Goldstein and Keohane reading (“Ideas and Foreign Policy: An Analytical Framework”, particularly in understanding their breakdown of the three types of beliefs. As we read, beliefs were broken down into world views, principled beliefs, and causal beliefs. Principled beliefs are right versus wrong, and can be used to justify world views; they can have significant impact on human action. Causal beliefs reflect cause and effect relationships and can be seen as strategies. The article used the example of the ideas which lead to the policy outcomes that were used to help eradicate small pox. When I was re-reading this article, I realized that I am still having some trouble really separating the three to a clear distinction in my mind and would like to look at a recent change in US policy and apply those concepts to that policy change.

Congress passed the USA Freedom Act last Thursday (May 22) to limit the NSA’s ability for mass surveillance collection. Many argue that this bill is still weak, but a good start for privacy advocates. This is a change in US policy for how an intelligence agency can conduct its behavior. According to Goldstein and Keohane, would you see this change in policy as one that stems from beliefs in world views, principled beliefs, or causal beliefs?  To me, it seems that this change in policy comes from one of causal beliefs; specifically, if you choose to limit the NSA’s ability to conduct mass surveillance, the effect will be that less freedom will be infringed upon. The reason this bill was created was to find a way to stop the mass surveillance, among other things. However, I think you could also look at this change in policy as one of principled beliefs. The House was justified in passing this bill because it is not right to infringe on the personal right to privacy. Looking at this policy change as a principled belief could also be used to justify world beliefs and cultural attitudes to how intelligence agencies can conduct their business domestically and internationally. The NSA has been conducting this type of surveillance for many years and the American public has been more fully informed since the Edward Snowden scandal. It is perhaps surprising that this bill hasn’t been passed sooner.

How would you asses this change in policy according to Goldstein and Keohane’s three sets of beliefs? Are there any other recent changes in policy that would be interesting to asses? Perhaps any policies that have not changed that are significant?