The theory of policy alignment: an ideational explanation for change - a case study into Australia's foreign direct investment policy during the Howard governments
Theorising policy change and stasis is one of the central research questions in political science. Within the ideational scholarship, a full explanation of causality in policy dynamics has eluded definition. This thesis seeks to contribute to the debate by providing an ideational theory for comprehending the primary causation behind any policy change in democratic systems. A generic ideational framework for analysing policy is constructed that enables constitutive analysis. Here, I assign the key conceptual categories based on a micro-level understanding of the policy structure. Upon these foundations, I set out my theory of alignment, which explains the chief dynamic at play in policymaking discourses. The basic premise of the theory holds that actors in the primary discourse will, in the fullness of time, promote changes to policy to enhance its alignment internally and with real world factors. At the crux of the issue is the identification of the policy misalignment by policy subsystem actors, which is the primary cause behind all the changes to policy that follow. To demonstrate the utility of this framework and theory, I apply it to a study of Australia s foreign investment policy since Settlement, emphasising the period of the Howard governments. Two main parts comprise the thesis. The first part delivers the theoretical argument. It presents the foundational ideational framework and theory of alignment, and clarifies the assumptions upon which they are based. This foundation supplies the tool-set with which to scrutinise policy changes with consistency and rigour. I examine several known policy patterns and explain how they arise. The efficiency of policy, which relates to how well-aligned it is to the real world , is defined; and with these tools the researcher may appraise the efficiency of any formal policy within a democratic system. The second part offers an analysis of the changes made to Australia s FDI policy, revealing the primary causation behind each formal policy change during the Howard ...