ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses a variety of characteristic or "archetypal" actor constellations. Actor constellations differ from one another, and in empirical research it is important that each one be carefully constructed on the basis of available data. Specialized policy actors—such as the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Environmental Protection Agency—may be institutionalized precisely to look after specific societal interests. The relationship between the orientations and capabilities of policy actors and the underlying societal interests is a complex one. Decoupling implies that many of the interdependencies that could be made the object of strategic interaction will be either ignored or treated as part of a given environment for the purposes of a particular policy interaction. Public policy could intervene to correct externalities either through regulations or by imposing negative incentives on the producers of negative externalities or providing positive incentives to the producers of positive externalities.