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My politics book really isn't clear, can someone help me!

At the moment I'm studying the Unit 2 topic 'Prime minister, cabinet and executive' and I've missed a few lessons so just trying to catch up by reading the text book.

1) Firstly, I don't understand what is meant by 'government policy'. The book says "The executive is, technically, responsible for executing or implementing government policy" and "it controls the policy process." I know it might sound stupid but what actually is policy? As in, is it a law or what? Because nothing can be created without the support of Parliament, so I'm confused.

2) What is the 'core executive'? The definition it gives in the book is "an informal network of bodies and actors that a play a key role in the policy process." Not very clear lol.
Government policy is essentially the things the government does. Hence, the government is currently running a budget deficit - hence, this is it's budgetary policy.

Core executive - what this is trying to get out is that it isn't simply on person who enacts government policy, it is a network of individuals and institutions. Hence, take the budget deficit mentioned above. You could say that this is all down to Alastair Darling, the chancellor. However, core executive theory would suggest that a number of people would be influencing this policy - other cabinet ministers, cabinet committees, civil servants, economic policy experts. It suggests that decision-making is more complex than a simple prime minister vs cabinet government discussion would suggest.

Hope this is helpful.

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