A Dilemma of State Power: Brokerage and Influence in the National Health Policy Domain

Abstract

This article shows that occupancy of brokerage positions in the U.S. health policy domain's communication network is a crucial determinant of influence. However, the ability to convert structural position into power is contingent on the type of brokerage position occupied and whether the actor is a government organization. In the government sector, actors in representative positions are more influential to the extent that they take public stands on events, whereas liaison and itinerant positions only confer influence if their occupants remain impartial. The article concludess that the influence of government organizations is contingent on their capacity to link disparate actors in the communication network while remaining uncommitted to specific policy agendas.