Applying theory to policy and practice: Methodological problems and issues

My main assertion is that without moral analysis, any debates concerning the promotion or justification of welfare and other forms of public provision are likely rendered incoherent. This is because the making of policy and its application in practice is in part legitimated by ethical justifications. For example, politicians appeal to what ought to happen, as well as to what is happening, which then demands moral analysis. Quite how this moral analysis can be applied to policy-making is open to question (and reflects some of the issues outlined above). Despite this, some kind of moral analysis is clearly needed particularly within the field of normative and political philosophy, being centrally concerned with ethical arguments relating to the distribution of economic and political resources.