Why Policy Issue Networks Matter

Why Policy Issue Networks Matter tells the story of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), developed in the 1980s as part of a so-called new science policy paradigm, aimed at accelerating the transfer of government-sponsored research to industry for economic benefit to the nation. These two initiatives have been at the center of an ongoing political dispute over that science policy paradigm. The book also examines the effects of policy issue networks on policymaking. It is widely argued that in many areas of policymaking over the past 30 years, the tightly bound and insular "iron triangles" that dominated policymaking for most of the twentieth century have been replaced by more open, informal, and decentralized structural arrangements, termed policy issue networks. Little is known, however, about the actual effects of policy issue networks. The book will be of interest to readers concerned about the role of science and technology in economic development, as well as public administration faculty members and students with interest in agenda setting, interest group politics, and policy issue networks. The book is ideally suited for use as an upper division undergraduate or graduate public policy text.