Targeting, residual welfare and related concepts: modes of operation in public policy

A mode of operation defines a pattern of policy-making or approach to policy. This paper attempts to deconstruct the relationship between certain modes of operation, political ideology and specific techniques, using the main example of targeting. Targeting is commonly related to a number of other concepts, including selectivity, means-testing, conditionality, residual welfare, and rationing. The inter-connectedness of the issues is often taken for granted: residualism implies selectivity, selectivity is undertaken by means-testing, selectivity and means-testing are a form of targeting, targeting and conditionality substantially overlap, and all of them have played an important role in the development of arguments for the limitations on expenditure and the restriction of welfare provision. But the methods can be used in different systems, for different purposes. Means-testing is not the same thing as selectivity; selectivity is not the same thing as conditionality or targeting; rationing can take place in any kind of service; and none of these options is necessarily residualist. Modes of operation are often compounded with political aims, the structural context of policy, discussions of implementation and the application of specific policies. When the concepts are unravelled, it becomes possible to think of the methods and approaches involved in different ways.