ABSTRACT
Another answer to the question of why policies towards Roma are failing comes from critical policy studies, specifically from policy design theory. To further answer this question and to prepare the ground for the analysis of policies towards Roma, I argue in this chapter why a critical approach to policy-making towards Roma is needed, describe policy design theory as a critical approach to policy studies, look into the ways policy-makers and analysts frame the Roma issue, attempt to identify policy models for Roma policy-making, and analyze the policy discourses and policy concepts that have informed policy-making towards Roma in the past three decades. Building on my analysis of antigypsyism and Romani identity in the previous chapter, this chapter highlights specific meanings and understandings of issues, and target groups and concepts within the context of policy-making towards Roma. Policy design theory as a critical theory in policy studies emphasizes the role of problem definition and the social construction of the targeted groups in policy-making (Schneider and Ingram 1993, 1997; Dryzek 2008; Schneider and Sidney 2009).
