ABSTRACT
The previous chapter highlighted the role that politics and ideology have in policy making. It is important that you recognise this as from here onwards it will be a taken-for-granted assumption that at least some aspects of all policy reflect the ideology of the policy makers. However, as we also noted, their motivating ideological beliefs – a key ingredient – may not be shared by the policy implementers – the people that actually ‘do’ policy on the ground. This is important and it will be covered in detail in a later chapter. However, in this chapter we begin to move farther away from abstract concepts and begin to address some of the more tangible problems that face policy makers. Specifically, having discussed the role of the state, the nature of policy and the importance of ideology in policy making, this chapter examines the manner in which choices are made about which aspects of social life become worthy of policy. However, that seemingly simple task is in fact a complex one that involves the underlying political and philosophical ideologies and values of the policy makers.
