Agenda Control, Organizational Structure, and Bureaucratic Politics

The literature on has not given adequate consideration to the impact of organizational structures on decision making and policy formation. This paper fills this gap by developing a way of thinking about structures. I suggest that organizational structures act in ways very similar to the agendas legislatures use to guide their decision making. Using this metaphor, I develop several propositions about the impact of organizational structures on bureaucratic policymaking. The propositions are fully compatible with the bureaucratic politics picture of policymaking as the outcome of bargaining, coalition formation, and compromise.