Abstract
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 governments. I also qualitatively assess the efficiency of FDI policy overall by
drawing attention to the significance of key elements of policy that were deficient,
namely, poorly defined objectives, measures, guidelines, and key performance
indicators.