What is a policy entrepreneur in simple terms?

Someone who prepares new policy ideas and turns them into policy when an opportunity arises.

Who can be a policy entrepreneur?

Politicians, officials, researchers or activists who invest resources in policy change.

Policy Entrepreneurs

🏛️ Politics & Public Administration By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 27, 2026

Policy entrepreneurs are people who invest time, reputation and money to push the policy ideas they favour onto the government agenda and into actual policy. Politicians, civil servants, researchers and activists can all play the role.

Contents

1. Concept
2. Strategies
3. Change and diffusion
4. FAQ
5. References

Concept

Kingdon (1984), in his multiple streams framework, described policy windows opening when problem, policy and politics streams meet, and policy entrepreneurs as those who prepare alternatives and couple the streams. Roberts and King (1991) classified their activities.

Strategies

Mintrom and Norman (2009) identified social acuity, problem definition, team building and leading by example. Cairney (2018) highlighted persistence, reading the context and storytelling. The topic relates to the advocacy coalition framework.

Change and diffusion

Schneider and Teske (1992) analysed when political entrepreneurs emerge locally, and Mintrom (1997) showed entrepreneurs spread school choice among US states, contributing to policy diffusion research. They also act as change agents in punctuated equilibrium theory. Petridou and Mintrom (2021) set a research agenda.

FAQ

What is a policy entrepreneur in simple terms?: Someone who prepares new policy ideas and turns them into policy when an opportunity arises.
Who can be a policy entrepreneur?: Politicians, officials, researchers or activists who invest resources in policy change.

Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26

References

Kingdon, J. W. (1984). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies. Little, Brown. The classic that introduced policy entrepreneurs.
Roberts, N. C., & King, P. J. (1991). Policy entrepreneurs: Their activity structure and function in the policy process. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 1(2), 147–175. Classifies entrepreneurs' activities.
Schneider, M., & Teske, P. (1992). Toward a theory of the political entrepreneur: Evidence from local government. American Political Science Review, 86(3), 737–747. Political entrepreneurs in local government.
Mintrom, M. (1997). Policy entrepreneurs and the diffusion of innovation. American Journal of Political Science, 41(3), 738–770. Entrepreneurs drive policy diffusion.
Mintrom, M., & Norman, P. (2009). Policy entrepreneurship and policy change. Policy Studies Journal, 37(4), 649–667. Key strategies of policy entrepreneurs.
Petridou, E., & Mintrom, M. (2021). A research agenda for the study of policy entrepreneurs. Policy Studies Journal, 49(4), 943–967. A research agenda.
Cairney, P. (2018). Three habits of successful policy entrepreneurs. Policy & Politics, 46(2), 199–215. Habits of successful entrepreneurs.

Reports and materials that use this theory (Korean)

There are no materials dedicated to this theory yet, but you can search related reports in the CampusDown library (Korean).

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Multiple Streams FrameworkWhat the multiple streams framework is: why some issues reach the government agenda and become policy. Covers the problem, policy and politics streams, policy windows and entrepreneurs, links to the garbage can model, extensions and critiques.🏛️ Politics & Public Administration Punctuated Equilibrium TheoryWhat punctuated equilibrium theory is: why policies stay stable for long periods and then change abruptly. Covers policy monopolies, policy images and venues, incrementalism, attention and institutional friction, and budget distribution research.🏛️ Politics & Public Administration Advocacy Coalition FrameworkWhat the advocacy coalition framework is: actors sharing beliefs form coalitions that compete over policy. Covers policy subsystems, the three tiers of belief systems, policy-oriented learning, shocks and paths to policy change, evidence and critiques.🏛️ Politics & Public Administration Policy DiffusionWhat policy diffusion is: one government's adoption of a policy shapes others' adoption, so policies spread. Covers origins, methods and the mechanisms of diffusion.🏛️ Politics & Public Administration

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This article was last updated on October 27, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.