A load of old garbage : applying garbage-can theory to contemporary housing policy

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/1955

Title: A load of old garbage : applying garbage-can theory to contemporary housing policy
Author(s): Tiernan, Anne; Burke, Terry
Abstract: This article reviews the applicability of Kingdon's garbage-can model of agenda setting and alternative specification for understanding the complexities of policy-making in the housing policy context. Garbage-can theories reject conventional 'policy cycle' models which envisage policy development processes as rational and underpinned by the logic of problem solving. They posit a loose relationship between problems and the policy solutions offered by national governments. Using an Australian housing policy case study, this article demonstrates the usefulness of Kingdon's garbage-can theory. A modified framework is used to explain how the policy agenda has become narrowed to focus on safety-net assistance for the most disadvantaged, while housing problems have continued to worsen.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Institute for Social Research
Source: Australian journal of public administration, Vol. 61, no. 3 (Sept. 2002), pp. 86-97
Publication year: 2002
Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
Format: pp. 86-97
ISSN: 0313-6647
Publisher URL: Australian journal of public administration
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.00287
Peer reviewed