ABSTRACT
The art of policy-making in the executive branch of government, then, consists largely of managing the trade-off between political and operational feasibility. This chapter considers political feasibility and the problems of getting programmes enacted. It reviews problems of operational feasibility and programme implementation and gives further consideration to the management of the crucial trade-off. Considerations of political and operational feasibility come into play not just in the context of framing specific housing measures but also in determining priorities between housing and the other goods and services which government supplies or subsidises (e.g. defence, health, education, economic growth). In Britain and the US particularly, there has been a perceived requirement to trade off desirable housing programmes against the needs of the national economy. The social administration perspective involves assessment of the gap between housing needs and housing provision and the promulgation of reform proposals intended to bridge that gap.
