Work

Narrative strategies in a nondemocratic setting: Moscow’s urban policy debates

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: The Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) explains the role of narratives in policy processes. The NPF was developed for democratic contexts and has not been systematically applied in a nondemocratic setting. This study fills this gap with an empirical analysis of narrative strategies used by governmental and oppositional actors in urban policy debates in Moscow. Results show how governmental actors consistently use angel shifts, contain issues, and avoid using causal mechanisms, while actors opposing governmental policy use devil shifts, expand issues, and use intentional causal mechanisms. The findings suggest that narrative strategies differ depending on whether policy actors seek to promote policy reforms or draw attention to problems. We argue that policy actors’ objectives are a well‐suited predictor for narrative strategies in both democratic and nondemocratic contexts.

Source: Policy Studies Journal

DOI: 10.1111/psj.12445

Authors: Caroline Schlaufer, Dilyara Gafurova, Ekaterina Zhiryakova, Marina Shikhova, Nina Belyaeva

Institution: National Research University Higher School of Economics

Language: English

Topic: Policy Transfer and Learning

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Research University Higher School of Economics