PPR427: Politics and Policy-making in the UK

Objectives

The objective of this course is to promote a sophisticated understanding of the policy-making process in Britain. It examines the roles of various institutions and actors in this process, including parliament, parties and pressure groups. It evaluates their relative importance, in order to draw conclusions about the nature of democracy in the UK. Where relevant, the situation in Britain will be compared to the policy process in other democratic states.

Although the main focus of the module is on contemporary developments, full account is taken of changes in the policy process in the period since 1979.

Structure

The module is taught by weekly two-hour workshops. Workshops will commence in Week 1 and will run for nine weeks, including the topics listed below. In Week 10 the content and conclusions will be summarised.

• Introduction: approaches to British policy-making.
• Parliament
• Parties
• Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Civil service
• Transnational influences
• Policy networks and pressure groups
• Media and public opinion
• Case study of specific policy

Select Bibliography

Peter Dorey, Policy Making in Britain, an introduction, Sage, 2005 (Course textbook)

Mark Garnett and Philip Lynch, Exploring British Politics, Pearson Longman, 2006.

John Greenaway et al, Deciding Factors in British Politics: a case studies approach, Routledge, 1992.

Grant Jordan and Jeremy Richardson, British Politics and the Policy Process, Allen & Unwin, 1987.

Steve Ludlam and Martin Smith, Governing as New Labour: policy and politics under Blair, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

David Richards and Martin Smith, Governance and Public Policy in the UK, Oxford University Press, 2002.

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