The Politics of Change: With special reference to The Politics of Industrial Training Policy 1964–1980

British policy‐making has been characterised by a British political scientist. Jack Hayward, as ‘humdrum’. By humdrum he means a policy which is in essence ‘muddling through’. Though seen as a characteristic of liberal democracies, this style of policy‐making has taken on an acute form in Britain. Thus, in contrasting the achievements of economic planning in Britain and France, he sees the British approach as ‘toothless tripartism’. This pluralistic paralysis was the result of a belief that administrative and pressure group consensus was a prerequisite to effective planning. Business organisations and trade unions were elevated into ‘corporatist veto groups capable of frustrating public policy’.