ABSTRACT
While the ways in which public opinion and public interest are constituted have attracted extensive sociological analysis, there is little empirical evidence about how these concepts operate in policy and practice. As we have seen in the restricted patient system, the centrality of public protection to the executive’s mandate was rarely contested. However, there was an implied consensus about how ‘the public’ was constructed that was by no means self-evident. Interviews and observation presented the opportunity to examine how the public was conceptualized by decision-makers and how those conceptions affected their decision-making. The research also enabled me to investigate different constructions of the public across the system, from government officials to practitioners, nongovernment organizations and individuals personally involved in restricted patient matters.
