Is a Citizen’s Income Policy Process Feasible?

Abstract

The feasibility test here is whether Citizen’s Income can negotiate the journey through the policy-making process from idea to implementation. The policy process is constituted by policy networks and communities; think tanks and other institutional players; the government, Parliament, the civil service, and trades unions; and such self-interested players as computer manufacturers and software writers. Whether the process is rational or chaotic is discussed, and evolutionary policy-making, path dependency, and incremental implementation are related to each other. The chapter concludes that it will be important not to compromise the characteristics of Citizen’s Income, and that we can envisage Citizen’s Income finding its way through the policy process if implemented for one age group at a time.