Power and Policy Making: The Development of an R & D Standard

This paper addresses the question of policy‐making by such bodies as the UK Accounting Standards Committee (ASC) and suggests that an understanding of the nature of power is a necessary prerequisite to rigorous analysis of the political process. Using the example of SSAP 13, the paper investigates the applicability of political methodologies to attempt to understand and analyse ASC behaviour. The paper attempts to provide: (a) a deeper understanding of the issues which determined the outcome of the R & D standard; (b) support for the importance of the political science experience in this field; and (c) suggestions on how future research may be formulated and developed.