ABSTRACT
For our purposes the everyday sense of the term ‘health’ can be employed, although in fact important debates have taken place over the meaning that should be accorded to it for policy purposes. The term ‘policy’ is more problematic. In one understanding of policy it is used to refer to state intervention which takes place in the pursuit of clearly defined objectives using dedicated modes of implementation. In this approach the study of policy often begins with the examination of explicit policy statements and discussions. This can cause problems. It defines policy in the terms used by the authorities. It prevents any consideration of the notion that policy might not be what it is avowed to be. It neglects the fact that policy may be claimed to have certain objectives largely because these will be seen as socially acceptable and will therefore provoke less opposition than the objectives actually being pursued. Put this way, statements of policy objectives can sometimes usefully be looked at in terms of the legitimating function they perform. This is particularly likely to occur in the case of health since good health care is something that everyone will favour.
