Introduction: Theories and Issues

The aim of this chapter is to identify the key themes that run throughout the public policy literature, and the book as a whole. We consider: From the old to the new? How contemporary theories draw on, or reject, the classic focus on policy cycles and ‘bounded rationality’.Power, agenda setting and public policy. The role of policymakers and the actors that seek to influence how policy is made.Governance and the power of the centre. The extent to which power is concentrated within central government or dispersed to other types of governmental and non-governmental actors.Individuals, institutions and environments. The individuals that make decisions, the institutions in which they operate and the socio-economic pressures that they face.Bureaucratic politics, policy networks and group–government relations. The importance of ‘sub-systems’ or ‘policy networks’ in which relationships form between policymakers, civil servants and other policy participants such as interest groups.The role of ideas. The pursuit of policy goals may depend as much on the strength oif the argument, and the beliefs of the participants, as the strength of the participants.Stability and instability; continuity and change. Why policymaking involves stable relationships and policy continuity at one point, but instability and policy change at another.