Perspectives on Policy Making

This chapter begins with a general discussion of policy and decision making. It then considers why it is that we use models to explain aspects of policy making, before moving on to consider the process of agenda-setting and a number of models themselves, including rational and incremental decision making and models of the influence of bureaucracies. The way in which these perspectives inform our understanding of the making and implementation of social policy are discussed. In addition, this chapter emphasises the importance of implementation in the social policy process and the impact which implementation can have on the outcomes of social policies. Theoretical perspectives such as the top-down model, the role of ‘lower level actors’ and the problems of implementation are covered, whilst the variety of factors that can affect the implementation of policies are highlighted.