It is impossible to fit a comprehensive study of UK policy making into a book, and no one would appreciate the results if we tried. Instead, we provide two ways to introduce the subject and encourage wider reading.
First, we provide an initial way to think about policy making. We introduce a manageable number of concepts in this book, and provide further discussions in a suite of blog posts hosted by Cairney (https://paulcairney.wordpress.com/). Some focus on British policy making, as part of a university module. There is also a much larger set of resources on policy analysis, policy concepts and theories (pages called 500, 750 or 1000). Cairney consolidates the links in a dedicated page (https://paulcairney.wordpress.com/policymaking-in-the-uk/).
Second, we provide a manageable number of case studies of policy making. We asked ourselves what issues would be most relevant to people studying UK politics now. Many are impossible to ignore because they are part of daily lives, including: COVID-19, Brexit, climate change, economic crisis and ‘austerity’, race and racism, inequalities, and the role of the UK in armed conflict. We also provide two chapters to summarise the historical developments that remain central to modern developments. Overall, the case study chapters include developments from 1979.
These approaches provide a way to understand and investigate politics and policy making. The conceptual discussion examines how to relate case studies to policy analysis, to consider what policy change should look like, policy studies, to explain how policy change actually happens, and critical policy analysis, to consider who makes policy and why, and who wins and loses from their choices.