Advancing the Narrative Policy Framework? The Musings of a Potentially Unreliable Narrator

Abstract

Inspired by postmodernism and the seemingly contradictory charter of science, the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) was named in a 2010 issue of the Policy Studies Journal for the purposes of understanding the role of narrative in the policy process. Since its inception we have seen a proliferation of research applications. In this issue of the PSJ you will find some of the best representatives of those applications. Studies within show a productive merging of NPF with other theories, refinement of concepts, sophisticated methodologies, and an expanding list of policy areas to which the NPF is being applied. You will also see examples of the NPF being clear enough to be wrong and—at times—being wrong. Among other observations, I argue that findings herein illuminate gaps in our understanding of narrative's role in the policy process, including a need for more refined strategy theory, a better understanding of the intersection between framing theory and the NPF, and a need to directly address the NPF's ongoing struggle to deal with varied contexts. I argue that to develop more generalizable narrative concepts that the division between interpretive and scientific approaches to the study of policy must continue to be overcome.