Keith Jackson

The New Zealand general election of 1984

alternative tar voters dissatisfied with the Liberal government. Indeed. with a strong and dedicated caucus. there is some truth to the NDP’s claim that it will provide the ‘real opposition’ to the PCs in Parliament. However. with serious regional weaknesses and the inhospitabilitv of the North American environment to social&m. it remains unlikely that the NDP will become a serious contender for national political power. Nevertheless. despite Mulroney‘s conciliatory and moderate appeal. the PCs face a difficult task in establishing themselves as the dominant governing party. Mulroney’s right wing supporters who acquiesced in the move to the centre in the hope of gaining office may be difficult to control. The regional demands of provincial governments, particularly those that strongly supported the PC campaign. may be difficult to reconcile. Finally. with the election only providing a vague mandate for change, Mulroney may find it difficult to hold together his broad electoral coalition if the new government proceeds with its plans to ‘postpone’ the

Book Review: G. A. Wood and Chris Rudd, The Politics and Government of New Zealand: robust, innovative and challenged (Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2004), pp. 260, paper

Part two introduces institutions in the policy process (New Zealand’s constitutional framework, parliament, cabinet, the public service and the judiciary). Part three identifies influences in policy environment (including a discussion of the power and influence of political parties and interest groups and officials). Part four concludes with four case studies focusing on the recent development of economic, employment, tertiary education and income support policies. The economic policy case study provides a helpful review of the evolution of economic ideology in a New Zealand context. Similarly, the detailed discussion on the public service and the Labour Party’s Working for Families policy provides useful firsthand insights from the authors’ experience and research interests. Political scientists and policy analysts may notice some omissions from the book. For example, despite useful descriptions of recent policy events, there is little discussion about the way the wider history of ideas within the policy sciences has influenced what public policy analysts study and what they do not. Discussion does introduce Bridgman and Davis’ (2004) argument that policy processes may be better described as a dance than an orderly policy cycle, but students would benefit from more discussion about competing models and methods in the policy sciences (Cohen, M. March, J. and Olsen, J. (1972) ‘A Garbage Can Model of Organisational Choice’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 17; Campbell, J. (2002) ‘Ideas, Politics and Public Policy’, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 28). A more general concern for teachers of policy studies is that the graphics and production values of the book (a ‘sprint print’ text book) do not support the text. This is a problem shared by many New Zealand textbooks where production values are compromised by limited print runs. Given that the authors’ key arguments are structured around a ‘policy cycle’ it is disappointing that a lively text is not supported by equally engaging graphic models relying instead on somewhat cumbersome table summaries of chapters. Publishing constraints also appear to have restricted the scope of the book. As a result there is an opportunity for future texts to consider the way demographic changes in New Zealand, and Maori calls for self-determination, have influenced the New Zealand policy environment. Despite the publishing constraints, however, this book is a very useful introduction to public policy and one I particularly commend for its discussion on the public service and its detailed policy case studies. While designed for students, these in-depth case studies should also appeal to a wider audience of academics and policy professionals. Bronwyn Hayward University of Canterbury (P. 29).