Beyond consultocracy and servants of power: Explaining the role of consultants in policy formulation
研究了加拿大安大略省和澳大利亚维多利亚州医疗政策中顾问角色的差异，发现维多利亚州顾问参与核心政策制定且制度化，而安大略省顾问仅从事非核心工作并起连接作用，差异源于公共部门内部能力和政策领域复杂性。
Abstract Prior research on consultants in policymaking described their expanding policy involvement and impact. This research focuses on consultants' policy formulation roles and on how and why these roles vary across jurisdictions and contexts. It draws on comparative research on healthcare policy in Ontario, Canada, and Victoria, Australia. Based on analysis of contracts and expenditure data, and 59 semi‐structured interviews, this research finds that consultants in Victoria are partners in formulation, used routinely for a variety of tasks, including core formulation work. Their role is institutionalized through formal and informal rules. In contrast, consultants in Ontario perform non‐core formulation work and are primarily active in linking the government to other sites and pools of knowledge. The paper ties this variation to public sector internal capacity and policy sector complexity. It offers new empirical data and provides a nuanced understanding of the roles of consultants in policy formulation.