The Bureaucracy ñ The Major Policy Actor of the Implementation Process

As is the case with all of the stages of the policy process there are a number of institutions and actors who are involved with policy implementation. Some of these participants are directly engaged in the actual administration and implementation of policy while others attempt to influence the direction that public policy will take as a result of how it is administered and implemented. Administrative agencies represent the former while the president, the Congress, the courts, and whole host of interest groups represent the later. The bureaucracy is delegated a significant degree of power during the implementation stage of the policy process because of its ìdiscretion in interpreting the actual intent, method, and scope of a policy decision. This means that the bureaucracy can, to some extent, redefine the intent of a policy action ñ thereby becoming de facto policy-makers in the process (Theodoulou and Kofinis, 2004, p. 171).î Since many of the specific details of public policy are defined through bureaucratic discretion, decision-making, rule making, regulation, and adjudication it is no wonder that many interest groups persevere in their efforts to mold the ultimate impact that public policy can achieve as a result of how policy is actually implemented.