THE POWER LIES IN THE STRUCTURE - ECONOMIC-POLICY FORUM NETWORKS IN ISRAEL

This paper explores the relationships between state organizations, big business corporations, non-governmental interest groups and instituti onal elites in a relatively unexamined site: the Israeli political-eco nomic system. Relationships between the numerous participants in state policy-making are examined through research on policy forums in the e conomic domain. Policy forums are defined as institutional settings fo r encounters between state and non-state organizations, through their elites; importantly, these encounters establish exchange relationships among the participants in economic policy-making processes. This arti cle homes in on one important dimension of these relationships: the ne twork structure of ties within and among policy forums. Interlocking d ata serve as indicators of the ties among the participants in policy f orums. As the research presented here illustrates, the significance of policy forum networks rests not in their formal functions, but rather in their structure and with the elite persons who sit on their boards .