The ‘Policy Cycle’: A Ball by Ball Account

This article originates from our reading of Stephen Ball's theoretical and empirical contribution to contemporary ‘education policy sociology’. It interrogates the efficacy of his theoretical eclecticism, highlighting the incompatibility in his readings, and application, of certain social and political theorists, and reappraising some of his own research findings. It follows from Stephen Ball's call for papers in Journal of Education Policy (Vol. 7, No. 5) ‘on policy and theory, and dialogue and debate’ which contribute to understandings of ‘education policy analysis’.