Analytic bureaucracy and the policy process : evidence from three states

I argue that “analytic” bureaucratic agencies are essential actors in the modern policy process because of their essential role acting as information processing organizations and policy evaluation specialists. Analytic agencies can exert unique influence over lawmaking activities because legislators consider them expert information sources in a multitude of areas. Whereas previous policy process scholarship almost exclusively examines elected officials and federal agencies, I study analytic agencies in the three most populous states: California, Texas, and Florida, to test how, when, and where expert information is used in the legislative process. I utilize a mixed-methods approach that combines interviews with statistical analyses to show expert information is incorporated frequently and early in the lawmaking process and the internal governmental actors responsible for generating much of the expert content possess vastly different skills from standard street-level or civilian bureaucrats.