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The
Policy-Making Process.
"
. . .
[P]olicy making is
typically a never-ending process of successive steps in
which continual nibbling is a substitute for a good byte."1a
"The play
of power proceeds, for the most part, according to rule;
it is gamelike."1b
"Persuasion can take a rich
variety of forms: outright deceit and irrational and
non-rational appeals of many kinds, including, at one extreme,
organized propaganda, and at the other, exploited
ties
of kinship and friendship."c
"X has
authority over Y if Y follows the rule that he obey X.
If X controls Y by offering in each specific decision some reward
to him, threatening him, or physically constraining him, he does
not have authority over him. If Y obeys only when he sees merit in
the specific command given him, X does not have authority over
him. But if X can routinely exert power or influence over Y
because Y accepts a rule that he obey, then X has authority
over Y."1d*
"Money can hire printing
presses, propagandists, policy analysts, and door-bell ringers.
It is first, then, a prodigious influence in policy making because
people and corporations with money can organize and support
persuasion. . . interest groups disproportionately represent
people and corporations that can afford to meet the cost of
organized persuasion."1e
"Civil disobedience
appears to be an effective method of citizen participation in
the play of power in policy making. . .
When
a substantial number of citizens disavow rules and authority,
they break the habit of obedience without which orderly
democratic government is impossible."1f
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