Assessing the theoretical approach

Abstract

Although only the BWB case was analysed, the approach employed here was not specifically oriented to water governance, privatisation processes or to the context of Berlin in the 1990s. Rather the aim was to develop a general, constructivist approach to policy-making, one which addressed the interdependencies between discourse, political agency and political institutions in the making of policy. In doing so, the hope was that the approach would add to the growing post-positivist policy studies literature. This final chapter offers an assessment of this approach, considering in particular the benefits gained from this synthesis, the questions that remained unanswered and its potential for development in the future.