Policy and decision making

Abstract

In this chapter we are concerned with the policy- and decision-making process of British national politics, but only with the two main parties since none of the other parties has held the reins of office since the Second World War. We may define policy as a deliberate course of action or inaction worked out by the leading figures of the two main political parties with the help of others in order to define their political purposes and, to some extent, the methods by which they intend to achieve them. We may define decision making as an act by a Minister or Ministers collectively (and occasionally by civil servants in the name of Ministers) to select a particular course of action or inaction on a matter of public policy. Such definitions may seem rather abstract and general, but, if they are to reflect the varied realities of modern British politics, this is bound to be the case.