Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction -- 2. The policy-making machinery -- 3. 'Policy' and 'social policy' -- 4. Approaches and methods -- 5. Formulating intentions: housing and education in the Conservative 1987 election manifesto -- 6. The dependence of the Prime Minister: the 'poll tax' saga -- 7. Consultation and pressure: reforming social security in the mid-1980s -- 8. The Treasury versus the spending departments: the annual spending round -- 9. European social policy and the UK: the Social Charter and the protection of women workers -- 10. Conclusions: the mechanisms of policy making.

Making Social Policy is a new and original textbook on policy making in British central government. Starting from first principles, it examines policy making through concepts drawn not from academic theories and interpretations but directly from the experiences and perceptions of the politicians, officials and others involved in the decision-making process.

Peter Levin sets out a range of techniques for doing this, and applies them to five case studies of policy making by the Thatcher and Major governments. He elegantly brings out the various mechanisms at work, including the strategies deployed by the various participants.

Making Social Policy is also about how to study policy making. It shows you how to recognize a policy when you see one, and how to make your own analysis of the mechanisms by which government produces and adopts policy proposals, and by which legislative and other measures subsequently come about. Peter Levin also demonstrates how many theoretical perspectives employed by academic writers comprehensively fail to capture the reality of what actually takes place.

Making Social Policy is essential reading for students of social policy, politics, government, and public administration.