The sociology of policy-making in the modern state

Abstract

The article asks how we can best understand policy-making processes, and how a sociology of policy-making might proceed. Specific consideration is given to policy intent and how that can be known given the collective nature of policy-making and the assumption that intent is what individuals rather than groups possess. I inquire into various sociologies of social systems and social action as well as liberal humanist ideas about the individual and rational action, asking what they offer for understanding policy intent. The contributions of the post-foundationalists and network theories are also examined in this light. Attention is given to the work of Norbert Elias, and it is argued that his `personal pronouns as figurational model' in conjunction with discourse analysis provides a basis for developing a sociology of policy-making that acknowledges human agency and the collective and social nature of policy-making.