Formação de coalizão de defesa e atores chaves da política

Abstract The article discusses advocacy coalition formation and the roles of key actors in science, technology and innovation (ST&I) policies for social inclusion in a subnational context. The policy subsystem category and concept of advocacy coalition are used in the context of the advocacy coalition framework and address the need to understand the influences of key actors (policy broker and policy entrepreneur) on it. The policy subsystem was outlined using case-oriented research and the discourse was analyzed in order to understand the policy actors’ beliefs. The analysis of two cases of ST&I policy processes for social inclusion (assistive technology and social technology) highlighted policy broker and policy entrepreneur key roles in the emergence of policy subsystems, but had different effects on advocacy coalition formation. The policy entrepreneur had a closer relationship with advocacy coalition building when setting up regular mechanisms to share beliefs and policy-oriented learning, as well as taking initiatives to coordinate the collective action of members in the early advocacy coalition. Although relevant in agenda setting and maintaining a specific social inclusion agenda in the policy process, the policy broker did not achieve a positive relationship with advocacy coalition building. The article corroborates the possibility of incorporating the concept of policy entrepreneur in analyses of the advocacy coalition framework and highlights this actor’s characteristics through this analytical model. Resumen El artículo analiza la formación de coaliciones de defensa y los roles de los actores clave en las políticas de ciencia, tecnología e innovación (PCTI) para la inclusión social en un contexto subnacional. Considerando el modelo de coalición de defensa (MCD), se utilizaron como referencia las categorías analíticas del subsistema de la política y de la coalición de defensa, para comprender las influencias de los actores clave, específicamente del policy broker (intermediario) y del emprendedor de políticas. El subsistema de la política se delimitó mediante el método de investigación basado en casos y se usó el análisis del discurso para comprender las creencias de los actores en la política. El análisis de dos casos del proceso de la PCTI para la inclusión social (tecnología social y tecnología de la rehabilitación) resaltó los roles de los actores clave en la aparición de subsistemas de la política, sin embargo tuvieron diferentes efectos en