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The Privatization of Public Policy: Elite Maneuvers in an Age of Institutionalized Ambiguity
Author(s) -
Witt Matthew T.,
deHavenSmith Lance
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2011.02454.x
Subject(s) - praxis , public administration , elite , administration (probate law) , politics , public policy , sociology , ambiguity , state (computer science) , political science , bureaucracy , law , algorithm , computer science , philosophy , linguistics
Anthropologist Janine R. Wedel has made an important contribution to the eff ort to conceptualize the increasingly problematic role of elites in American government and politics. Table 1 compares theories of untoward elite infl uence formulated during the Cold War to those, including Wedel’s, developed in the wake of 9/11 and the war on terror. Cold War theories warned that militaryindustrial elites were skewing congressional politics and administrative decision making to benefi t defense contractors and the armed services. In contrast, post9/11 theories point to the manipulation of events and mass perceptions by high-level government insiders with overlapping ideological and fi nancial interests.