Pathways of Power

What drives American national policymaking? Is it the mutual adjustment among contending interest groups, the agendas of unified party majorities, the ideas of policy experts, or the values and beliefs of ordinary citizens? Offering an interesting new framework that complements the classic models of Lowi and Wilson, Timothy J. Conlan, Paul L. Posner, and David R. Beam make a strong case that the answer depends in large part on the scale and method of political mobilization. Attentive to the diversity of actors who play agenda-setting roles in our contemporary political system, Pathways of Power offers a fresh, accessible overview of the policymaking process. Readers will come away with a more comprehensive and realistic view of how Washington works. -- Eric M. Patashnik, professor, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia Conlan, Posner, and Beam have written a remarkable book, one that can change how policy process scholars and students think about the field. Their fourfold categorization of 'pathways' to policy enactment offers a fresh look at how policies are made. Particularly welcome is the focus on expertise as a policy pathway, generally given little weight in current accounts. This is not surprising given the decades of practical experience as policy analysts the authors have, but it is so clearly critical that we all are indebted to them for emphasizing it. -- Bryan Jones, J.J. 'Jake' Pickle Regents' Chair in Congressional Studies, The University of Texas at Austin

Bridging the gap between textbook models of how public policy should work, and how the process actually works in contemporary Washington, this book provides a framework that integrates the roles of political interests and policy ideals in the contemporary policy process.While civics textbooks describe an idealized model of "how a bill becomes law;" journalists often emphasize special interest lobbying and generous campaign contributions to Congress; and other textbooks describe common stages through which all policies progress, these approaches fail to convey-much less explain-the tremendous diversity in political processes that shape specific policies in contemporary Washington. Bridging the gap between textbook models of how public policy should work, and how the process actually works in contemporary Washington, Pathways of Power provides a framework that integrates the roles of political interests and policy ideals in the contemporary policy process. This book argues that the policy process can be understood as a set of four distinctive pathways of policymaking-pluralist, partisan, expert, and symbolic-that draw upon different political resources, appeal to different political actors, and elicit unique strategies and styles of coalition building. Revealing the strategic behavior of policy actors who compete to shift policies onto pathways that maximize their resources and influence, the book provides a fresh approach to understanding the seeming chaos and volatility of the policy process today. The book's use of a wide universe of major policy decisions and case studies, focused on such key areas as health care, federal budgeting, and tax policy, provides a useful foundation for students of the policy process as well as for policy practitioners eager to learn more about their craft.