From Capitol Hill to Dupont Circle and beyond
The Influence of Policy Actors in the Federal Higher Education Rulemaking Process
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9015380 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rebecca S Natow (0000-0003-2948-1904, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 86 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 360-386 |
| Publication date | 2015-05-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-1546 • E-ISSN: 1538-4640 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00221546.2015.11777368 |
| OpenAlex | W4252093068 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 17 |
The federal higher education rulemaking process develops policies that can profoundly affect college students, higher education institutions, and other actors in the higher education policy community. But little has been researched about the influence that different types of actors have on higher education rulemaking. By analyzing interviews with 55 policy and higher education actors as well as reviewing documents, news articles, and websites, this case study examines the involvement and influence of different types of policy actors in higher education rulemaking. This research finds that federal bureaucrats, congressional officials, White House officials, and certain interest groups consistently participate in, and are often influential over, the higher education rulemaking process; however, no one category of actor consistently dominates the rulemaking process. Political actors are particularly influential in high-profile rules with easy-to-understand subject matters. In highly technical and less prominent rules, bureaucrats and certain interest groups often exercise greater power. This research illustrates the importance of understanding policy subject matter in determining which actors exercise the most power, and suggests that no single theory of bureaucratic policymaking is consistently correct about the types of actors that tend to control regulatory outcomes
Bureaucracy · Higher education · Policy analysis · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Process (computing · Public relations · Rulemaking · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research
Regulating Business by Independent Commission
Embedded Case Study Methods
Structure and Process, Politics and Policy
The Politics of Government Decision-Making
The Theory of Economic Regulation
Madison's Managers
The Higher Education Act of 1992
Information technology and public commenting on agency regulations
Reauthorization of the Federal Higher Education Act and Accountability for Student Learning
In and Out of the Revolving Door
Interest Groups in the Rule-Making Process
Political Appointees and the Competence of Federal Program Management
The Dynamics of Political Control of the Bureaucracy
| Citations per year | 0.22 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2017 - 2022 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |