ABSTRACT
An analysis of the policy process requires investigations into it from the viewpoints of the various actors themselves. The regularity and consistency of the variables identified in each study would give more credence to the generalizations noted in the more academic, traditional methodological texts. The key is to analyze the actual workings of the policy process in order to understand some of the major features of the bureaucratic political game. Assistant secretaries perform not just one but many roles, from administration, to management, to political advisor, to implementor, to policymaker. Conspicuous elected figures in the political system accept the fact that policymaking is a legitimate battleground for spirited political debate. The pracademic model is not only useful in terms of research on the policy process; it is also a useful operational model for carrying out government at the assistant secretary, under secretary, and even the secretary level.
