ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to establish a framework for understanding and participating in policy making processes. It argues for reclaiming the ‘social’ in policy making theory and practice. Contemporary analyses recognise that public legislation and policies about social life are interdependent and influence personal and family life, community experience and labour, urban planning, transport and recreation, as well as the distribution of wealth and other resources. A contribution of this tradition is its emphasis on the economic base as intercepted with social policy, and on the production, as well as the consumption and allocation of goods, as significant. Postmodern critiques of grand social narratives and ‘universalising’ theories have challenged the possibility of obtaining an accurate, long-lasting analysis of social truths. In Australian social policy, social movements have been influential in naming policy issues and in seeking policies, including social wage provision and regulation of wages, that respond to the needs of ‘ordinary people’.
