Moral frameworks and policy-making : enacting appropriate decision-making in the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Abstract

Policy-making has become a central practice of Western society as policies themselves become a fundamental part of neoliberal governance. This thesis argues that paying attention to the moralities which generate policy-making practices is an important focus for the anthropology of policy. Using Bourdieuʼs (1980:12) Practice Theory, which argues that “the social world is made and remade through the actions of people,” I explore the ways in which the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealandʼs policy-making practices reproduce their Charter Principle of Appropriate Decision-Making. By examining the work of the Policy Committee, the Party membership, and Caucus in the policy-making process, I argue that balancing the four principles of what I have called Green decision-making – consensus, democracy, congruence, and electoral safety – are part of the moral project of enacting the Charter Principle of Appropriate Decision-Making. Making sense of the Greensʼ policy-making shows that their practices generate and are generated by the doxa of the moral Principle of Appropriate Decision-Making. Working from the level of practice and foregrounding moralities is important for the anthropology of policy because they offer additional entry points for understanding the work of policymakers, the meanings which constitute their social worlds, and their policies.