POLS 3300 Chapter 2: Week 2

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 3300
• Professor: Charmain Derferd

Document Summary

Advocacy coalition: a wide range of actors (gov"t, officials, interest organizations, research groups, journalists etc. ) who share a belief system about a policy area and demonstrate some degree of coordinated activity. *policy fields are often marked by competing advocacy coalitions. Discourse coalitions: range of policy actors, united by broad ideas (assumptions, images, rhetoric) in their policy field. *appears similar to advocacy coalitions but has stronger emphasis on language and meaning. Epistemic community: originally developed in the field of international relations, captures the influence of international groups of scientific experts on policy. *emphasis on the power of ideas and expertise expressed through organizations or individuals. Iron triangle: long term, stable relationship among congressional committees, executive agencies, and economic interest groups. *relationship is insulated from the rest of the policy process. Actors coalesce as necessary around issues, not policy sectors. Policy community: wide set of actors interested and informed about a policy issue, share some common language, but may be opponents.