The National Origins of Policy Ideas

In politics, ideas matter. They provide the foundation for economic policymaking, which in turn shapes what is possible in domestic and international politics. Yet until now, little attention has been paid to how these ideas are produced and disseminated, and how this process varies between countries. The National Origins of Policy Ideas provides the first comparative analysis of how "knowledge regimes"—communities of policy research organizations like think tanks, political party foundations, ad hoc commissions, and state research offices, and the institutions that govern them—generate ideas and communicate them to policymakers.

John Campbell and Ove Pedersen examine how knowledge regimes are organized, operate, and have changed over the last thirty years in the United States, France, Germany, and Denmark. They show how there are persistent national differences in how policy ideas are produced. Some countries do so in contentious, politically partisan ways, while others are cooperative and consensus oriented. They find that while knowledge regimes have adopted some common practices since the 1970s, tendencies toward convergence have been limited and outcomes have been heavily shaped by national contexts.

Drawing on extensive interviews with top officials at leading policy research organizations, this book demonstrates why knowledge regimes are as important to capitalism as the state and the firm, and sheds new light on debates about the effects of globalization, the rise of neoliberalism, and the orientation of comparative political economy in political science and sociology.

"The historical and comparative analytical approach, further strengthened by elite interviews and archival research, reveals the following country-specific characteristics of knowledge regimes: heterogeneity of ideas, self-critical attitude, comparatively uniform and analytical sophistication, and a nonideological and inclusive approach."

"This volume is original. It surpasses other books on the subject by looking at how policy ideas are produced and broadcast, and to what effect. Campbell and Pedersen's concept of 'knowledge regimes' will reengineer our thinking about the underlying ideational mechanisms steering policy and shaping national institutions."—Diane Stone, Murdoch University

"This pathbreaking book challenges how we think about contemporary politics by illuminating the role of 'knowledge regimes' in determining the quality and diversity of policy alternatives on offer. Campbell and Pedersen draw a surprising—and troubling—picture of how policy ideas are hatched and why they vary so greatly across countries. This innovative and lucid book sets a clear agenda for future research."—Frank Dobbin, author of Inventing Equal Opportunity

"A tour de force in breadth and insight. Campbell and Pedersen provide the first empirically grounded study that compares policy-producing institutions across several countries, drawing on a wide reservoir of theoretical work that brings together perspectives from political science and sociology in invaluable ways. The book is a contribution of real significance."—J. Nicholas Ziegler, author of Governing Ideas: Strategies for Innovation in France and Germany

"Important and groundbreaking. This book moves well past the varieties of capitalism literature and the politics and ideas literature to explore the 'knowledge regimes' that produce policy ideas. The empirical contribution is extremely rich and quite distinct from anything else that has been done before. This book is a major accomplishment."—Elizabeth Popp Berman, author of Creating the Market University: How Academic Science Became an Economic Engine

"This is a highly innovative, beautifully researched investigation of a wholly neglected topic written by two major social scientists at the height of their powers. The National Origins of Policy Ideas may well become a classic."—John A. Hall, author of The Importance of Being Civil: The Struggle for Political Decency