In this climate of the first coalition government of MMP , with its focus on the political environment of policy making, any text on social policy would be hard pressed to hold the reader's attention. The authors of this book on social policy in contemporary New Zealand have set their sights high by attempting to integrate theory, analysis and commentary, and to meet the needs of students and a wider audience.
I do not think that they have succeeded, but they are to be highly commended for accepting the challenge.
The authors say that this is a New Zealand text on social policy which brings together theoretical and conceptual frameworks for understanding social policy in New Zealand and linking these with the activity of policy analysis. They also wish to outline indispensable components of policy analysis such as values and theoretical frameworks. The first of these is a tall order, which they partially meet, but the second they barely sketch out at all. To do so would require consideration of policy analysis as an ideal construct, something which is not satisfactorily done.