The 1991 Child Support Act

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

   PDF

2. Approaches to Policy Analysis and the Stages Heuristic

   • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

   Pages 1-31

3. The Background: ‘Setting the Scene’

   • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

   Pages 33-44

4. Problem Definition: Multiple ‘Problems’, Different Frames, and False Representations

   • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

   Pages 45-71

5. Policy Formation: ‘Dual-Policy Transfer’ and the 1991 Child Support Act

   • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

   Pages 73-91

6. Policy Formation: The Imbalance of Power Within the Core Executive

   • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

   Pages 93-131

7. The Flawed Legislative Process

   • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

   Pages 133-171

8. Implementation and the 1991 Child Support Act

   • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

   Pages 173-190

9. An Evaluation of the Failure of the 1991 Child Support Act

   • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

   Pages 191-224

10. Conclusion

    • Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

    Pages 225-230

11. Back Matter

    Pages 231-262

    PDF

This book assesses the 1991 Child Support Act and demonstrates how its failure was ‘foreseeable’ and ‘foreseen’. It provides an understanding of the creation, and failure, of the Act, as well as providing an examination of the British policy-making process. The book re-introduces the ‘stages approach’ as an appropriate framework for examining policy-making in general, and analysing policy failure in particular. It draws on evidence gained through interviews, official documents, unpublished consultation responses, Parliamentary debates, and materials from pressure groups and think-tanks, as well as academic literature. The 1991 Child Support Act is seen as one of the most controversial and notorious policy failures in Britain. However it has received relatively little academic attention. An in-depth analysis of the policy-making process that led to the development and passage of this deeply flawed policy has largely been neglected: this book fills that gap.

• stages heuristic
• policy analysis
• framework
• policy process
• public policy
• lone parent
• single mothers
• New Right
• benefits
• social policy
• problem definition
• strategic representation
• imagery
• policy transfer
• core executive
• policy streams
• Parliament
• consultation
• policy implementation
• perfect legislation

• University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

  Leanne McCarthy-Cotter

Leanne McCarthy-Cotter is Head of Policy for a UK trade union. Dr McCarthy-Cotter’s research is in the fields of governance, policy, and legislation studies, particularly focusing on policy design.

Policies and ethics