ABSTRAKGovernmental committees are a type of collegical organizations in the executive branch whereby policy stakeholders are incorporated into the decision-making process so that they may negotiate with each other to achieve policy outcomes under the overall executive leadership. However, as institutions designed to enlarge policy participation, the democratic effects of committees are still under debate. To uncover the political effects of committee mechanism, the aim of this study is to address the stakeholders influence over decision making in the committee mechanism and how this influence is affected by access to resources.
Theoritically, the author illustrates the factors determining stakeholders influence with three perspectives. First, the election mobilization approach emphasizes the political dimension of public policies, meaning that decision making should be legitimated by majoritarian support. Second, from the viewpoint of professional asymmetry, professional dominance over knowledge sources can lead or affect policy content; as a result, those with access to profesiional resources have the implicit capacity to control decision outcomes. Third, the administrative approach focuses on the normative legitimacy of the state, as well as its monopoly over executive functions.
