Emotional Entrepreneurs: What We Know and the Way Forward

Scholars infer the strategic role of policy entrepreneurs from the set of strategies they employ (e.g., Meijerink and Hitman, 2010; Majone, 1989; Mintrom and Vergari, 1996); from the degrees of policy change they seek or achieve (Schneider et al., 1995), or from their relational position in the network (Ingold and Christopoulos, 2015). Emotional entrepreneurs fall under this category by their attempt to regulate expected or actual emotions generated during political and policy processes to advance their goals (Maor and Gross 2015, 4). This paper reviews the growing body of evidence regarding emotional entrepreneurs, highlights missing areas in the study of this topic and suggests avenues for future research.