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
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Date
2012
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Massey University
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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.
Description
Listed in 2018 Dean's List of Exceptional Theses
Keywords
Policy-making, Political decision-making, Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, Practice theory, Dean's List of Exceptional Theses