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The plethora of policy statements between 1992-1996 and the new political imperatives that drive policy directions in vocational education and training (VET) at a national level, call for some timely, theoretical analysis and framework building in order to make sense of the state's role in VET. This paper explores the theoretical frameworks in education policy theory and attempts to capture some of the diverse policy activities related to the notion of 'expanding the training market' in VET. A connection is made with Claus Offe's explanation of the state's response to crisis and ungovernability and, with reference to Stephen Ball's work in policy sociology and the rise of the new Public Sector Management Model after Osborne and Gaebler, a set of characteristics is described which may assist in clarifying policy intentions and processes in the national VET sector.