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The object of this article is to focus on a parameter – elections – that is too often neglected by specialists in public policy as they seek to understand the nature and origins of public action. Empirically, it takes examples from the local politics of social welfare and anti-crime policy. Two types of effects are considered: the impact of changing electoral majorities on policy making, and the way in which the protagonists in the policy process modify their focus and priorities in light of upcoming elections. Concerning the first of these effects, we consider the various ways in which a change in politics might lead to a change in policy (wearing out of past prescriptions, cleavage-producing effects of political themes). For the second, we consider the impact on actors of their looking ahead to elections on the substance as well as the timing of policy decisions. In this context, we take account of conflicts that revolve around taking credit for policy and its relationship to the election cycle.