ABSTRACT
For G. William Domhoff, policy-planning networks are primarily clusters of think tanks, philanthropic foundations and policy discussion groups that are supported by the upper class and corporate community and that tend to generate consensus on broad policy issues that favor ruling-class interests. This chapter argues that despite its important insights there are difficulties with his analysis of these networks that stem from his treatment of institutions and institutional theory. State autonomy theory emerged in the early 1980s in response to neo-Marxism as some people began to suspect that under certain conditions policymakers in capitalist states enjoyed much autonomy from the demands of the ruling class. Historical institutionalism emphasizes how institutional change can impact policymaking. Domhoff has long been critical of historical institutionalism as a mode of political analysis. One of the major insights of historical institutionalism is that the institutional capacities of nation-states for exercising power are variable.
