Economic Policy and Decision Making at the Intersection of Domestic and International Politics: The Advocacy Coalition Framework and the National Economic Council

Abstract

This article advances a theoretical model of the National Economic Council (NEC) based on a policy network approach and group decision-making theory to explain why the U.S. president's NEC represents a significant development in the rise of the intermestic policymaking and decision-making processes. It develops theoretical conceptions of interests and manipulation based on a Policy Network Approach and the Advocacy CoalitionFramework in policy studies research to illustrate the complexity of NEC group dynamics. Hopefully, such a contribution can further existing theoretical frameworks in the field of policy studies and analysis and can add to assessments of the NEC in policymaking and decision-making. Unlike much of the prevailing research, this article perceives the NEC as a political instrument used by policymakers and decision makers to protect their policy interests and engage in forms of political manipulation to increase their power over economic policy.Research demonstrates that the roles of the U.S. president's National Economic Council (NEC) and the policymaking process through which both international and domestic economic factors must pass continues to be underplayed by policy scholars. This article will examine the functions and responsibilities of the NEC in the management and coordination of economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Along the way, the study hopes to provide tentative answers to the following question regarding the formulation of economic policy in an increasingly intermestic policymaking process: To what extent have economic policy issues played a consequential role in intermestic policymaking, and how have NEC decision makers influenced them?The overall goal of this article is to develop a theoretical conception of the NEC based on a policy network approach and group decision-making theory to

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The Politics of Implementing Philippine Tourism Policy: A Policy Network and Advocacy Coalition Framework Approach

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Policy Change and Policy Stasis: Comparing Swiss Foreign Policy toward South Africa (1968-94) and Iraq (1990-91)

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