Bridgman and Davis recognised the problem and offered several putative accommodations of their own: one, that AIC was a normative ideal which practitioners could aim for but might never reach, or another, that the ‘policy cycle’ was a simple model which newcomers would find helpful in making sense of the policy process, but in time, they could discard it in the light of their experience. There are many voices in the policy conversation, and both analysts and participants need ways to ascertain which are the most significant ones. It is important to recognise that how the people discuss policy today can reinforce or challenge how they make sense of governing, as well as how governing takes place in the present, and into the future. That is not to say it is wrong, but it is important to be cognisant of its limitations and critically question its taken-for-granted status.