Policy entrepreneurs, creative teamwork, and policy change

This chapter examines the actions of policy entrepreneurs who have promoted the development of knowledge economies in two Australian states: Victoria and Queensland. It explores the study policy entrepreneurs and creative teamwork to better explain how the governments of Victoria and Queensland came to view higher education and knowledge generation as central to economic development policy. Interest lies in the creativity that policy entrepreneurs exhibit as they seek to bring others on board with their advocacy efforts. Policy entrepreneurs seek policy changes that shift the status quo in given areas of public policy. The broader agenda of research on policy entrepreneurship has been pursued with the goal of better explaining the causes of significant policy change. Among contemporary theories of policymaking and policy change, three offer valuable insights into the dynamics of policy change, how conditions arise that generate change, and the structures of interest groups and other alliances that provide the social capacity for change initiatives.