The Roles of Policy Entrepreneurs in the Policy Marketing Process
Bing-Yan Lu*
Abstract
Based on theoretical concepts and literature review of public policy marketing and policy entrepreneurs, the policy entrepreneurs in this study acknowledge their limits in the complex policy contexts. Beginning with the discussion of whether policy entrepreneurs come from the public sector only, the author defines policy entrepreneurs of the public sector, including political, executive, and bureaucratic entrepreneurs, as those with particular personality characteristics and public entrepreneurship who initiate and facilitate innovative thinking and behavior. While surrounded by a network of policy actors involved in the innovation process, they are good at coordination and communications. More important, they are able to allocate scare resources and capable of continual learning, which enables them to turn vision into reality. The study puts forth suggestions for policy entrepreneurs to improve their innovative behavior and emphasizes the pivotal importance of the mass media to policy marketing. In the final part, the author presents skills of integrated marketing communications for policy entrepreneurs, on behalf of public interests, such as parliamentary surveillance, policy marketing, interagency coordination, and inter-governmental communications.
Keywords: innovation, integrated marketing communications, public policy marketing, policy entrepreneur
*Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Public Administration, National Dong Hwa University.