ABSTRACT
It is a common hypothesis within the political science literature that changes to the nature of the opposition to a policy are often an instrumental precondition for changes to the agenda (see in particular Dudley and Richardson 1995, 1996 and 1998 for analysis with reference to the roads issue). This chapter argues that agency-based accounts such as these, while useful, are too simplistic to account fully for the political conflict surrounding the roads issue in the Major era. In fact, in order to explain the apparent impact of the direct action movement at this time, it is essential to look both at the impact of their activity (as agents) and the effect of changes to the political landscape which have enabled these groups to become more effective.
