Policy Press

Politics and Policy Making in the UK

By Paul Cairney and Sean Kippin

Published

Nov 23, 2023

Page count

440 pages

ISBN

978-1529222357

Dimensions

244 x 170 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Nov 23, 2023

Page count

440 pages

ISBN

978-1529222340

Dimensions

244 x 170 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Nov 23, 2023

Page count

440 pages

ISBN

978-1529222364

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press

Published

Nov 23, 2023

Page count

440 pages

ISBN

978-1529222364

Dimensions

234 x 156 mm

Imprint

Bristol University Press
Politics and Policy Making in the UK

Over the past decade, the UK has experienced major policy and policy making change. This text examines this shifting political and policy landscape while also highlighting the features of UK politics that have endured.

Written by Paul Cairney and Sean Kippin, leading voices in UK public policy and politics, the book combines a focus on policy making theories and concepts with the exploration of key themes and events in UK politics, including:

• developing social policy in a post-pandemic world;

• governing post-Brexit; and

• the centrality of environmental policy.

The book equips students with a robust and up-to-date understanding of UK public policy and enables them to locate this within a broader theoretical framework.

“Through his ever-evolving website on public policy, Paul Cairney has provided an invaluable service to his academic colleagues and students alike for over a decade. This book continues that work, providing a theoretical and empirical account of policy making in the UK. He brings theoretical clarity and evocative case studies to his subject. We are his supplicants. More power to his elbow.” Rod Rhodes, University of Southampton

“Cairney and Kippin's accessible and authoritative scholarship casts fresh light on current issues, notably the Brexit process and handling of the COVID-19 crisis. All students and informed observers of the UK policy-making process need to engage with this timely and important book.” Patrick Diamond, Queen Mary University of London

“Admirable in its reach and attention to complexity, multiple-level politics, power and inequalities. Cairney and Kippin provide three models of policy analysis, interrogating the extent to which they help us understand how policy is made in practice. The hallmark of this endeavour is clarity: clarity of conceptualisation, clarity of analysis, and clarity of explanation. This text will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as anyone seeking to make sense of the messy – sometimes chaotic – nature of contemporary policy making.” Fiona Mackay, University of Edinburgh

Paul Cairney is Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the University of Stirling.

Sean Kippin is Lecturer of Public Policy at the University of Stirling.

Preface: How To Analyse UK Policy Making

1. Introducing UK Politics and Policy Making

2. Perspectives on Policy and Policy Making

3. Explaining UK Politics and Policy Making

4. The Transformation of the UK State

5. What Does State Transformation Tell Us About the UK Policy Process?

6. Crises and Policy Making: The UK Response to COVID-19

7. Constitutional Policy: Brexit

8. Environmental Policy: Climate Change and Sustainability

9. Economic Policy: Austerity

10. Social Policy: Inequalities, Racism, and Protest

11. Foreign Policy: The War on Terror

12. Conclusion

References