ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at what is 'public policy' and explore the different approaches and concepts political scientists use to make sense of the policy process. A common way in which social scientists try to make sense of the complex interactions that take place in the development of public policy is to simplify the process into a number of discrete stages, called the 'policy cycle'. The government and the public service consequently implement this policy choice, the results of which are monitored and evaluated by various policy actors before being fed back into the cycle. The dynamic of Australian federalism is perhaps the key element structuring the development of a national curriculum policy. The manipulation of short-term interest rates is the main way in which the government implements its economic policy strategy and has a strong economic and employment impact by affecting the cost of credit, exchange rates, property and asset prices and the future prospect of inflation.
