How do you educate the decision makers?

Our governments, big business and other organisations are highly stratified.  We all know this.  The closer we are to the bottom of the ladder, the more we do.  The higher we are to the top, the more we decide what is to be done.  Again, pretty obvious.

There are many benefits to this system.  One being we don't have inexperienced, 'wet behind the ears' employees making critical decisions and running the business.  On the other hand, our decision makers get further and further away from the field. Basing decisions on increasingly outdated and obsolete ground level experience.  Funny though, that's not my point.

What is my point is that at the very highest levels, in the largest of companies / governments the decision makers are only just that.  They decide.  They rarely have time to digest information.  They rarely have time to educate themselves.  They rely on an upward trend of recommendations through reporting structures and advisors to provide for them the sound bite of information required to make the decision:  "Just give me the 50,000 foot overview (as we walk between meetings)". Maybe this is necessary.  Maybe this is the best way.  But maybe it has it's faults.

My area of focus, emergency management, often has CORPORATE WIDE IMPLICATIONS and employs a complex stream of analyses, justifications and diverse perspectives to paint a realistic view of risk to those who must responsibly treat these risks or give direction to treat these risks.  Can your executive adequately make decisions on Critical Infrastructure Assurance, Continuity of Operations or Comprehensive Terrorist Threat Assessment Programs based on a one or two page brief?  

The question is: how does one prepare the decision makers to make an informed decision, when there is little time or ability to properly educate them? 

Further, if an incorrect decision is made, who is most at fault?  Those that didn't (couldn't) supply the correct amount of information / awareness / education? Or those that didn't (couldn't) devote the time for the correct amount of  information / awareness / education?  How can we get the an increasing amount of 'face time' with the executive to ensure they the essential information required to make the informed decisions on these comprehensive programs?