Prominent social scientists have called attention to the independent influence that
bureaucrats within the state, functioning at levels well below the Cabinet (which was
Riggs’s focus) have on policymaking (Evans, Rueschemeyer, and Skocpol 1985; Garon
1986; Carpenter 2001). At the same time, scholars of social movements have increasingly
recognised that linkages to the state are among the most important and powerful kinds of
network ties (see Eisenstein 1996; Santoro and McGuire 1997). These theoretical insights
suggest that the elaboration of political networks that operate across multiple spheres with
organisational bases in the state may be a particularly fruitful strategy for developing a
more accurate and complete understanding of political society and policymaking. These
groups may rely on conventional units of analysis, such as political parties, to promote
their agendas, but this is not to diminish the impact they have on the policy process or the
political order as a whole (Gutierrez 2010).