Politics: The Basics, 4th Edition

our limited knowledge of the social effects of policy making, but as

desirable in a democracy in which relationships between groups and

individuals are freely re-negotiable. He also stresses that incre-

mentalism is a safer way to adjust to events given the limitations of

human knowledge in relation to the complexity of the issues facing

the decision maker.

The policy process

Hogwood and Gunn (1984) offer a useful and sophisticated model of

the policy process (Box 8.5), which takes into account some of the

points we discussed above. They offer it not as a description or

prescription of what happens in every case but as a framework for

understanding what does or does not happen in each particular case.

Each of these stages is potentially of key importance in deciding the

outcome of a policy process.

BOX 8.5 HOGWOOD AND GUNN’S MODEL OF THE

POLICY PROCESS

In comparison with the rational–comprehensive model this formu-

lation has some important and desirable features: it sees policy

making as a more or less continuous process; it stresses political

issues of agenda setting, decision process and definition; and it does

not take the implementation of the decision for granted.

Items (1) and (9), in particular, in the model rightly suggest that

policy making is an extended process in which certain issues are

224 POLICIES

1 Deciding to decide (issue search or agenda setting)

2 Deciding how to decide

3 Issue definition

4 Forecasting

5 Setting objectives and priorities

6 Options analysis

7 Policy implementation, monitoring and control

8 Evaluation and review

9 Policy maintenance, succession, or termination.