ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the four types of social institutions that play an active role in the public policymaking process. The government sector is central to the policymaking process. The state as embodied in the institutions of government is the primary sphere of action for public policymaking. Students of government spend a lot of time and energy drawing boundaries around governments because governments have special authority and obligations that nongovernmental institutions do not. The market sector is composed of institutions and organizations 'engaged in the instrumental creation of income and wealth through the production of goods and services. A policy organization can be a hybrid or mixture of two institutional forms or from a different perspective play divergent roles in different institutional contexts. The civil sector includes a diverse array of nonprofit organizations, associations, churches, and other institutions, all of which fall under the rubric of 'civil society'.
