The Victorian National Party : an investigation of the policymaking process which resulted in the National Party education policy statement released for the 1985 Victorian state election

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Melbourne, 1990This thesis is an investigation of the policymaking process of the Victorian National Party. The focus of the study is the development of the Education Policy statement released to the public during the election campaign for the 1985 Victorian state election. During the time which this study reports the National Party was the third party in the Victorian Parliament. Its policy making and activity in the legislature was that of an opposition party. It had thirteen parliamentary members and represented a large rural section of Victoria. Its existence grew out of the political coalescence of rural communities and representative associations in the 1890s. Initially its policies concentrated on addressing the trade, marketing, transport and rural industry issues faced by the farmers. Today the National Party's policies cover all policy areas parallel with Government portfolios. Data for the study were collected from a number of sources. Preliminary interviews were conducted with members of the National Party and the Parliamentary National Party to establish what 'rules' existed to govern and guide the policymaking process. These interviews were followed by an examination of the actual roles of the Annual Conference, the National Party Parliamentary Party and the Central Council Education Policy Committee, in determining changes to education policy between 1982 and 1985. Policy changes were described from a comparison of policies released during successive state election campaigns. between 1977 and 1988. To focus the study within this framework an examination was made of the relative roles of the policymaking structures identified in stage one during policy making for selected policy subject areas within education. This data is presented in three case studies. The findings of the study demonstrate that a disparity exists between the formal rules about how policy should be made, as expressed in the Victorian National Party's Constitution, and the actual activity which took place and resulted in selected policy products. It was clear from the findings that the National Party Parliamentary Party had the greatest power and responsibility for policy making, and that the Party's Education Spokesman had a lead role in education policy making. Evidence suggests that while the Central Council Education Policy Committee was formed to advise the Parliamentary Spokesman on education matters and to report to Central Council, its role was somewhat less than powerful and its output was effectively a synthesis of policy already made by the Spokesman and Parliamentary Party. There is evidence from the study to support the notion if incrementalism and elitism in policy making. It is also evident that personal biases and political expediency were at play. This range of influences draws the researcher to conclude that no one single model of policy making effectively describes the Victorian National Party's policymaking process. In fact, this study has raised a number of questions which could be explored in subsequent study. Not the least among these questions would have to be a more thorough exploration of the impact of 'being in opposition' on the policy decision process; an investigation of opposition strategy making in the political gamesmanship sense and the impact of mutual/joint opposition arrangements to 'tackle' Government, with resultant policy outcomes for the opposition parties. Studies could also be undertaken to look at group decision making and levels of participation with attendant power playing, lobbying and political bargaining and trading within the National Party, between the National Party and the Liberal Party, and between the National Party and the Labor Party. These relationships and interactions have outcomes in the policymaking process for the political parties. Personal biases and leadership styles are factors which could also be examined further as could the impact of public accountability and the pressure this imposes on policy making. One further factor which impressed the researcher was the timing factor. The appropriate timing of data and persuasion was critical to the achievement of policy outcomes and skilfully manipulated could be a powerful tool for a lobby group or a political party. It is clear from this study that policy making is a complex, multi-dimensional process and that much scope exists for its exploration and further identification