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The question: “Who governs public policies?” is central to the analysis of those power elites who can be characterized by their capacity to bring about change in public policy. Analysis of these transformative elites, which we label “programmatic,” requires us to articulate the sociology of elites with the analysis of public policy. On an empirical level, a combination of methods derived from the sociology of elites (positional, reputational, relational, and decisional approaches) as well as those developed by analysts of public policy (cognitive approaches) allows us to identify programmatic groups, to analyze their degree of cohesion, and to assess their power. Analysis of these programmatic actors leads us to propose an endogenous explanatory framework for policy change centered on the interactions among actors. More broadly, it allows us to explore the dynamic of the increasingly autonomous state based on the characteristics of the actors within it and of the policies these put forward.