Learning about policies behind the scenes : policy advice circulation and use by ministerial advisers in two Belgian francophone governments

Ministerial advisers are the specially appointed individuals working for ministers. As such they are an integral part of political-partisan and governmental elites, although they mostly stay hidden from view. As a distinct category of actors, they do not receive a lot of scholarly attention and there are still many blind spots as to their contributions to policymaking processes. However, in Belgium, it was demonstrated that ministerial advisers were key players in the formulation of policies at the level of governments. In some ways, approaching them is tantamount to focusing on the main venue... Mehr ...