Following agencies are involved in the formulation of Foreign Policy of a country. Some of them are the following.
The head of the state or government is the foremost leader who formulates the guidelines of the foreign policy of his government. In United States, it is the President who is responsible for the formulation of foreign policy of the state. In Great Britain the cabinet is supposed to be responsible for the formulation of the foreign policy but practically it is the Prime Minister who does so. In U.S.S.R it is the responsibility of the communist party that performs these functions. In developing countries, individuals like heads of the states and government are responsible for formulation the guide lines of the foreign policy of Their countries.
Legislature of different countries has different roles in influencing and formulation their foreign policy. In the Autocratic system, the legislature are less influential where as in democratic system like those in United States and United Kingdom their Indirect influence is significant. In democratic countries legislatures exert their influence by rejecting funds allocated by the government for defence or as aid to foreign countries. They can approve or reject treaties/ pact signe,1 by the executive with the foreign states. Legislature discusses various issues and tries to influence the executive to adopt a particular line of thought and action. In countries like USA there are foreign relations committee that provide feedback to their governments by touring different countries.
The Civil Services
In theory, policies are formulated by the political executive and implemented by Civil Services. but in actual practice it is bureaucracy that has a say in the formulation of foreign policy. The reason is that they are civil servants with security of service whereas Presidents, Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers may come and go with no security of jobs. 'the civil servants are supposed to be experts in their field while politicians are immature. So, the former exert tremendous influence in formulation the foreign policy of their countries.
Unofficial Agencies like chamber of commerce various pressure groups and Mass Media also play a part in formulating the foreign policy in their respective countries by adopting various pressure tactics.