ABSTRACT
Early studies of the policy process, as initiated for example by Luther Gulick (1937) or Harold Lasswell (1951) may have hoped that such analysis might lead to a policy science. This could create a template for sound rational policy making that would obviate many of the serious blunders that have littered political disasters of previous centuries. As the preceding chapters have demonstrated, few policy theorists would now think a predictive science of policy is a realistic proposition given the complexity of human relationships and the unpredictability of the natural environment. Moreover, the central issue behind most policy instruments is what they are attempting to achieve. It must also be realised that many policies are constantly evolving through either human agency or environmental circumstances and hence it is unwise to condemn or praise policy outcomes based on a snapshot of its performance at one particular moment. Policy aims are, however, based on subjective motives such as policy advocates’ ethical values, their ideological views and the extent to which their self-interest may overmaster their concern for more universalised values. Basically one observer’s view concerning the overall success or failure of a policy may differ greatly from another’s.
