ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the context for policymaking from the government sector to the other three sectors in American society: market, civil, and private. Most studies of American public policymaking assume that the market or commercial sector and the government sector are separate and autonomous entities. Federalism provided regional states with relative autonomy over economic activity within their geographic boundaries. Joint production takes two forms: contracting and hybrid organizations. Contracting involves the government in procurement, whether as a purchaser of goods and services for its own use directly, or indirectly, through projects and contracts. Government also participates, whether actively or passively, in numerous forms of hybrid organizations established to accomplish publicly identified purposes. Contracting is an activity mostly hidden from public view. Privatization is a buzzword used by many interested in designing better policy production systems. The United States has a long history of combining the four sectors of society creatively to serve public policy needs.
