Economics is often described as the most politically influential social science and yet economic advice is often largely irrelevant to prominent policy debates. We draw on literatures in political science, sociology and science and technology studies to explain this apparent contradiction. Existing research suggests that the influence of economics is mediated by local circumstances and meso-level social structures, and that much of it flows through indirect channels. We elaborate three sites of analysis useful for unpacking these influences: the broad professional authority of economics, the institutional position of economists in government, and the role of economics in the cognitive infrastructure of policymaking, including the diffusion of economic styles of reasoning and the establishment of economic policy devices for seeing and deciding.

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members of the Comparative and Historical Methods and the Economic Sociology Workshops at the University of Michigan, and audiences at the American Sociological Association (Las Vegas, Nevada) and Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (Madrid) annual meetings for helpful feedback on previous drafts. Max Milstein provided excellent legal research assistance. All errors are our own.

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