The Cabinet Member as Policy Entrepreneur

Abstract

The role of cabinet member as policy entrepreneur has received little attention in the literature of political science and public administration. Cabinet members have no formal authority or constitutional mandate. Additionally, their identification with particular agency missions has subjected cabinet secretaries to the suspicion of "going native," thus further diminishing their capacity for policy initiation. Presidential concern with controlling the executive branch perhaps reached its peak during the Reagan administration, when virtually all political appointments and policy decisions were controlled within the office of the president. This research examines the role of Cabinet Secretary Otis R. Bowen, MD in the evolution of Medicare catastrophic coverage within the Reagan administration. It demonstrates the potential of the cabinet member as policy entrepreneur, identifying weaknesses in the ability of even an ideologically cohesive administration to control fully its legislative agenda.

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