These are of course not disconnected processes. Policy within is shaped decisively by policy from without. But what is the nature of the link between the two. To what extent are those working in institutions able to shape their own policy agendas, or to what extent can institutional policy be considered to be driven by state policy? How are values manifest in state policy and how far are "state values" reflected in the organizational principles and practices of individual institutions? These questions raise fundamental issues about the nature of power at both state and institutional level. This chapter explores the respective roles of the state and institutions, and the inter-relationships between leadership and power, in the policy-development process.
Thes state and policy development.
Thes concept of a pluralist approach to policy making introduced in Chapter I can be located in a broader theoretical approach to analysing the role and purpose of the state. pluralist approaches to the state and policy development have tended to represent the dominant discourse within much policy analysis (McNay and Ozga 1985); however, the relevance of such analyses are limited by a number of factors, not least the almost exclusive focus on western liberal democratic systems. Pluralist conceptions of the modern state emphasize the role of state institutions in representing and reconciling the competing and sometimes conflicting interests in society. In modern societies where mass participation in democratic institutions is not practical, institutions need to be developed that are able to give voice to diverse interest groups. The pluralist model presents the role of government as using democratic processes to ensure that state policies reflect majority views within society. In this sense a key role of the state is to reconcile competing values positions, and to cohere these in to a consensual articulation of communal or societal values. The pluralist perspective therefore places a premium on the capacity of people participating in political processes to shape policy as "operational statement of values" (Kogan 1975). State decisions derive their legitimacy from the robustness of the democratic processes involved. In this system political parties and pressure groups are crucial to the democratic process. These organizations articulate the collective aspirations of different interest groups and represent these views in governmental institutions. These who are more effective at securing their objectives may be considered to be more powerful. Power is conceived in relatively limited terms as the capacity for one individual, or group, to compel another individual or group to take action that they otherwise would not have done (Dahl 1957). This has led some pluralists to argue that a study of policy-making processes, and more specifically the outcomes of these processes, can allow researchers to make judgements about where power lies (Polsby 1963).