Narrative Policy Framework Research Articles

The devil‐angel shift in times of crisis: How Swiss scientists used policy narratives during the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractThis paper studies how scientists participated in policy debates during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Switzerland not only by telling facts but also by telling stories. It combines insights from Narrative Policy Framework and science communication literature with a conceptualization of scientific advice to study how scientists used narratives and the devil‐angel shift narrative strategy to communicate about policies and problems. Quantitative content analysis of Swiss newspaper articles shows that in statements with problem advice scientists use more narratives than in statements with policy advice and that the devil‐angel shift score for problem advice is significantly lower for narratives with problem advice. Overall, the research shows that problem advice is a good predictor for the use of the devil shift. However, when scientists used narratives with policy advice, they often followed a negative narrative strategy that also highlights problems.

Downscaling EU bioeconomy policy for national implementation

This paper examines how EU bioeconomy strategies are adapted and implemented at the national level, using Ireland as a case study. Through the application of a Narrative Policy Framework, this study analyses how national bioeconomy policy aligns with EU objectives and how such policy addresses institutional capacity, policy coherence, and sustainable development. The findings reveal a significant misalignment between the EU's ambitious bioeconomy targets and the realities of implementation at the national level. It highlights how primary industries are often underrepresented in policy-making processes, yet are expected to meet high innovation standards without evidence of adequate support. The paper highlights gaps in governance mechanisms, partnership models, and sustainability approaches, particularly in addressing the socio-economic dimensions of sustainability. These gaps risk perpetuating existing inequalities and failing to meet sustainability targets. The research provides a critical analysis of the disconnect between EU bioeconomy policy aspirations and national-level implementation, offering insights into the structural barriers that hinder effective policy transposition. The study calls for more tailored policy support, clearer governance frameworks, and deeper engagement with local stakeholders to ensure the bioeconomy transition is both inclusive and sustainable. Future research is recommended to explore cross-national comparisons to improve the adaptability and implementation of bioeconomy policies across the EU.

Between institutions and narratives: Understanding collective action in innovation policy processes

AbstractExplanations for collective action focus on both institutions and narratives. On the one hand, institutional approaches emphasize the role of rules that guide human behavior. On the other hand, accounting for the narratives through which policy actors make sense of their actions helps in understanding strategic behavior. However, applying institutional and narrative perspectives together is daunting, in part because there has not been a common way to integrate the two approaches. In this article, we draw from Actor‐Network Theory (ANT) to elaborate a novel analytical approach that combines ANT with the Institutional Grammar Tool (IGT) and the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF). We use IGT's and NPF's analytical categories in a processual perspective to examine how policy‐makers strategically use institutions and narratives to create and stabilize a network of actors in innovation policy processes. We illustrate our approach through an in‐depth analysis of the development of a smart city.

정책담화모형(NPF)을 활용한 A지방중소도시 고교평준화 정책 추진 과정 분석

This study analyzes the process of implementing the high school equalization policy in a local small city, city A, using the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF). The research examines how the discourse surrounding the equalization policy is formed and developed through press releases and related materials published from March 1, 2017 to December 31, 2023. The results show that proponents emphasized the elimination of high school rankings and the equality of educational opportunities, while opponents raised concerns about the potential decline in academic standards and the outflow of talented students. Additionally, political events, such as the replacement of the superintendent of education, significantly influenced the direction of the discourse. This analysis is expected to contribute to identifying potential challenges and issues in advance when introducing equalization policies and to developing effective response strategies through the case of City A.

Of heroes and villains – How coalitions shape their narratives and what the public conservation debate is actually about?

Policy narrative analyses provide important insight to understand mechanisms and dynamic of policy change but also to explore how narratives shape or bind coalitions in a policy subsystem. The overall aim of our analysis was to check what are the dominant narratives about nature conservation manifested in public debate and who generates them. We applied a Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) that allowed for a systematic analysis of narratives generated in public debate on conservation in Poland. We collected and analyzed over 1200 sources of policy narratives published in the most popular nationwide newspapers in Poland between 2004 and 2020.Our results illustrate that the public discussion on conservation is focused on policy actors and their actions and beliefs rather than on scientific evidence. While wild nature itself is barely discussed, it is often positioned as an important, active actor in generated narratives. We identified two main coalitions that present different beliefs on nature and human role in natural systems maintenance. Both mutualists coalition and the coalition of traditionalists describe themselves as heroes, knowing the right solutions for conservation challenges, and their opponents as villains - impeding the effective conservation actions.The study illustrates the applicability of the NPF to explore beliefs and values expressed in policy narratives. The results highlight a polarization of conservation debate in a country in transition.

“Un país para volver”: análisis narrativo del Plan de retorno a España

A growing number of governments are introducing initiatives explicitly aimed at stimulating the returnof their emigrants. In Spain, the state launched its first policy for return, the “Plan of Return to Spain”, in 2019. Taking this plan as a case study, the article examines the Spanish policy for return and places it in a broader context, both political and historical, in order to understand the limits and biases of this measure in the face of the diverse profiles of Spanish emigrants. Adopting the narrative policy framework as a theoretical-analytical perspective and content analysis as a methodological tool, the authors of this paper identify that, through the new narrative strategy, a paradigmatic change has been produced in Spain in the way of understanding, from the public sphere, the return of Spanish citizens living abroad.Instead of an assistance-based approach, a neoliberal (instrumental and utilitarian) perspective has been adopted, maintaining, however, a conception of “the return to the country of origin” that is closerto the predominant migratory theories of the 20th century rather than to contemporary social-scientific notions. A tension between the policy narratives of Spain and the European Union in relation to Intra-European mobility, and a gap between the state view and the current migratory realities concerning return in contexts of great economic and labor uncertainty, have also been recognized.

A systematic review of the Narrative Policy Framework: a future research agenda

The Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) has become instrumental in understanding how policy narratives impact public policy processes. This article presents a systematic analysis of the historical development of NPF research, drawing on a review of 189 NPF articles to investigate its evolution. The findings are presented across five temporal stages, examining the use of the NPF’s theoretical elements. The analysis indicates a consistent focus on the core theoretical components, demonstrating the framework’s robustness. Additionally, the article examines whether the NPF’s ambition to bridge positivist and interpretivist approaches has been achieved. The proposed future research agenda highlights areas for further exploration. First, researchers are encouraged to combine the NPF with interpretivist approaches in policy narrative research. Second, our findings show a need for more in-depth analyses of specific narrative components, such as narrative characters, to gain deeper insights into their effects on policy processes. Third, there is a clear need to investigate whether and how practitioners are using NPF research to inform their communication strategies. This systematic analysis highlights patterns and trends in the literature, identifies gaps and proposes future avenues for empirical applications and theory development. Thus, this article offers new insights into the NPF, contributing to existing knowledge in the field.

Exploring the eternal struggle: The Narrative Policy Framework and status quo versus policy change

This article proposes an integration of the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) with prospect theory to investigate how the status quo and policy change are recounted in public debates. By integrating insights from prospect theory into the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), we investigate narratives in the policy domain of farm animal welfare, which is characterized by a strong polarization of actor coalitions. We compare public debates in France and Germany between 2020 and 2021. Our analysis shows that the NPF’s analytical strength is enhanced by integrating the distinction between status quo and policy change in narrative elements. This distinction enables further empirical nuancing of actors’ narrative communication, and in combination with insights from prospect theory, it allows for new conjectures about actors’ use of narrative strategies such as the devil shift and the angel shift. In addition to the theoretical contribution, we shed light on debates surrounding farm animal welfare in Western Europe: Both animal welfare and agricultural coalitions are unsatisfied with the status quo, but they promote policy change of different kinds.

It’s a women’s thing? Narratives in ethical trade campaigns

ABSTRACT Narratives about women and girls are often used to illustrate abuses in global trade. The article begins by amending the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to include the agency of (women) characters and to take into account North–South asymmetries. The framework then serves to study NGO gender narratives in ethical trade campaigns, based on advocacy documents and semi-structured interviews on the recent campaigns for the European Union's new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The results show that the successful campaigns have focused one-sidedly on women workers in the global South, portraying them as mere victims of corporate greed. NGOs diverted attention away from women’s responsibility as consumers and citizens for grievances in transnational supply chains. The solution presented by activists was consequently to demand gender-sensitive policy interventions from outside. Campaigns missed opportunities for narratives of women as agents of change and potential for mutual solidarity.

“Heroes”, “victims”, and “villains”: policy narratives on inclusion in Norwegian and Italian educational documents

ABSTRACT This paper will investigate how specific narratives on the inclusion of minority language students (MLSs) are constructed in Norwegian and Italian educational policy documents. We will employ the Narrative Policy Framework’s (NPF) analytical categories with an interpretative narrative approach to reconstruct the two national policy narratives and compare their salient features. In response to international trends of inclusive education, Norway and Italy have developed two different educational policy models for the inclusion of MLSs. Norway operationalised inclusion through ‘adapted education’ for all students, while Italian policy defined an ‘Italian path towards the intercultural school’. The results will show that the Norwegian approach to inclusive education is sustained by what we define as a technocratic (efficiency-oriented) narrative, while the Italian intercultural education employs a normative (ideologically-based) narrative. Despite the differences, the two policy narratives share an unresolved tension between a universalistic and particularistic stance. In the policy documents, the inclusive/intercultural education for all students is ambiguously complemented by integration measures designed explicitly for MLSs. The study will illustrate the travelling nature of inclusive and intercultural education in the policy domain and show that the policy shift towards inclusion needs to be understood as an ongoing and non-linear process.

Why do individuals in democratic societies support stringent policies? A narrative policy framework analysis

Why do individuals in democratic societies voluntarily request and support stringent policies? What factors contribute to variations in support for different restrictive measures among citizens? This study examines the micro-level impact of the securitisation narrative on individuals’ voluntary support for stringent policies within a democratic context, using the narrative policy framework. Based on evidence from a conjoint experiment conducted in Taiwan, the study finds that agreeing with the narrative ‘COVID-19 is a national security threat’ does not translate into support for all types of restrictive measures. The contents of the securitisation narrative matter significantly; individuals who are more persuaded by the narratives are more likely to support border containment measures and mask mandates because of how narrative contents were structured. These findings highlight the importance for researchers and policymakers to carefully consider policy narrative contents to effectively communicate and garner support for a range of policies during times of crisis.

Membangun Silogisme Pendekatan Naratif dalam Proses Pembuatan dan Analisis Kebijakan Publik William N. Dunn

This research explains how to build a narrative approach syllogism in policy making and analysis using William N. Dunn's framework. The data used in this research uses secondary data from internet searches and literature from reputable journals. This research uses a qualitative and descriptive approach. The conclusion of this research is the syllogism of the narrative approach in public policy studies, consisting of the narrative approach in qualitative research methods, the narrative policy framework (NPF), and the advocacy coalition framework (ACF). In public policy studies, the activities of the policy-making process are divided into two actors with different tasks: first, policymakers carry out agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation of policies. Meanwhile, the second actor is a policy analyst, whose job is to identify problems, forecast policies, recommend policies, and monitor and evaluate policies. Each stage can use a narrative approach syllogism, where policymakers can explain and understand whether a policy will impact individuals or communities, understand the experiences and perspectives of the community or other stakeholders, build community empathy and support, and identify unexpected consequences. For policy analysts, the narrative approach of the syllogism is useful in terms of understanding the impact of policies, identifying emerging problems and conflicts, organizing and presenting policy recommendations clearly and persuasively, assisting with efforts to identify emerging issues, identifying dominant and alternative narratives that shape policy debates, understanding the formation, maintenance, and role of coalitions in the policy process, and evaluating policy effectiveness and adjusting recommendations. Keywords: Public policy, syllogism, narrative approach, Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF)

Media Coverage of Sexual Violence Cases in the Russia-Ukraine War

The purpose of this research is to examine how international news sources have narrated the sexual violence issues during the recent Russia-Ukrainian conflict. This research used the Narrative Policy Framework to analyze not only the function of news narratives but also the elements (such as characters) portrayed in rape cases (criminals, heroes, and victims). Furthermore, NVivo Pro was used to process the research data qualitatively. According to the findings, international news sources like The Guardian, CNN, and Al Jazeera have largely reported on the claim that sexual violence, especially rape, has been used as a 'weapon' by the Russian military in its attacks on Ukraine. Ukrainian women, men, children, girls, and boys make up the vast majority of the victims here. Meanwhile, the Russian government and army are presented as villains in the narrative. Different narratives emerge when the three media outlets discuss actors in terms of heroic roles, as shown by this research. There are signs that the media has its objectives, particularly in the context of the Ukraine-Russia war, based on the disparities between the narratives given to the hero characters by the media.

You are a hero! The influence of audience‐as‐hero narratives on policy support

AbstractEffective communication increases support for policy measures. This article argues that a narrative that portrays a policy's target group as a hero is most effective in generating support for the given policy. The research builds on the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to test the influence of an audience‐as‐hero narrative on the opinion about a new campfire regulation among visitors to a national park in Russia. A survey experiment with 314 visitors to the national park compares the influence of a narrative portraying the regulation's target group as a hero (a park visitor) on policy opinion and a narrative portraying another hero (a firefighter). Results show that the audience‐as‐hero narrative has more influence on policy support than a nonnarrative message and also more than a narrative portraying another hero. This indicates that audience‐as‐hero narratives are particularly effective in generating support for policies.Related ArticlesCrow, Deserai A., Lydia A. Lawhon, John Berggren, Juhi Huda, Elizabeth Koebele, and Adrianne Kroepsch. 2017. “A Narrative Policy Framework Analysis of Wildfire Policy Discussions in Two Colorado Communities.” Politics & Policy 45(4): 626–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12207.Shanahan, Elizabeth A., Mark K. McBeth, and Paul L. Hathaway. 2011. “Narrative Policy Framework: The Influence of Media Policy Narrative on Public Opinion.” Politics & Policy 39(3): 373–400. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00295.x/abstract.Smith‐Walter, Aaron, Holly L. Peterson, Michael D. Jones, and Ashley Nicole Reynolds Marshall. 2016. “Gun Stories: How Evidence Shapes Firearm Policy in the United States.” Politics & Policy 44: 1053–88. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12187/full.

Higher Education Policy Narratives during COVID-19: How are Budget Requests Justified to State Legislatures?

During economic recessions, state funding for higher education contracts (Delaney & Doyle, 2011; Hovey, 1999; SHEEO, 2022). Despite this reality, public higher education officials need to offer insights and explanations to state legislators about the current status of their institutions and their needs when discussing their budget requests. We use a multiple case-study design, framed by the narrative policy framework, to examine how campus officials in California and Texas justify their budget requests to the state legislature during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on 131 h of transcribed legislative budget meetings and 62 documents, our findings suggest that higher education leaders emphasize the economic functions of higher education and center their ability to successfully manage during these uncertain and difficult times by highlighting improved or stable accountability measures such as enrollment, persistence, graduation, and job placement rates. During these budget requests, there are commonalities between the states regarding the structure, justifications, and narrative strategies used. However, higher education leaders evoked different narrative objects depending on the perceived values, beliefs, and norms of their state legislators.

The narrative policy framework and institutions

The narrative policy framework and institutions

Seeking the high ground: Exploring advocacy groups' use of policy narratives in the legalization of same‐sex marriage in Taiwan

AbstractAdvocacy groups employ narrative strategies and framing techniques to enhance societal support. However, to date, it remains unclear how the dynamics of narrative strategy evolve over time and what factors contribute to these shifts. To fill this research gap, we use the Narrative Policy Framework to analyze the competing advocacy groups' Facebook pages in Taiwan's same‐sex marriage debate from 2016 to 2019. The findings reveal that policy positions offer greater predictive power for the devil–angel shift, yet the utilization of conflict expansion and containment strategies is tied to policy issues, political events, and their intended target audience. Our findings also demonstrate that the phenomenon of policy narrative learning occurs when convergence of potential policy outcome is achieved. Furthermore, this study highlights the role of institutional mechanisms in advocacy through venue shopping, underscoring the contextual nature of advocacy groups' narrative strategies. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the utilization of narrative strategy in addressing a contentious social issue.

Is an urban waste-to-energy plant a “green” megaproject? The power of narratives in shaping the city: a Danish case study

ABSTRACT The role of communication in shaping cities has increased mainly in the last decades due to its relevance to the policymaking process. Even if the scientific debate regarding the Narrative Policy Framework reveals the importance of policy narratives influencing policy outcomes, the relationship between policy and political narratives has often been overlooked. In this paper, we explore this relationship by analysing the policy process of a megaproject case study involving a waste-to-energy plant in Denmark and the intricate process leading to its realisation. The polysemic concept of Smart Cities initially divides the policy arena between proponents of a pro-growth rhetoric focused on market strategy (advocating for a larger plant to expand market scope) and proponents of a pro-green rhetoric embracing sustainability, questioning the adequacy of the plant’s size (and highlighting potential negative trade-offs of a big plant). We illustrate how implementing policy ideas relies heavily on constructing narratives that political decision-makers use to advocate for specific policies (policy narratives) presented within a broader institutional discourse in the political arena (political narratives). This study assesses how the polysemic nature of policy ideas influences contemporary social institutions’ governance, structure, and operation, posing a challenge for environmental public management in today’s cities.

Media Discourse Regarding COVID-19 Vaccinations for Children Aged 5 to 11 Years in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States: Comparative Analysis Using the Narrative Policy Framework.

Media narratives can shape public opinion and actions, influencing the uptake of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines. The COVID-19 pandemic has occurred at a time where infodemics, misinformation, and disinformation are present, impacting the COVID-19 response. This study aims to investigate how narratives about pediatric COVID-19 vaccines in the media of 4 English-speaking countries: the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The Narrative Policy Framework was used to guide the comparative analyses of the major print and web-based news agencies' media regarding COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 years. Data were sought using systematic searching on Factiva (Dow Jones) of 4 key phases of pediatric vaccine approval and rollout. A total of 400 articles (n=287, 71.8% in the United States, n=40, 10% in Australia, n=60, 15% in Canada, and n=13, 3% in the United Kingdom) met the search criteria and were included. Using the Narrative Policy Framework, the following were identified in each article: hero, villain, survivor, and plot. The United States was the earliest country to vaccinate children, and other countries' media often lauded the United States for this. Australian and Canadian media narratives about vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 years were commonly about protecting susceptible people in society, whereas the US and the UK narratives focused more on the vaccine helping children return to school. All 4 countries focused on the vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 years as being key to "ending" the pandemic. Australian and Canadian narratives frequently compared vaccine rollouts across states or provinces and bemoaned local progress in vaccine delivery compared with other countries globally. Canadian and US narratives highlighted the "infodemic" about the COVID-19 pandemic and disinformation regarding child vaccines as impeding uptake. All 4 countries-the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada-used war imagery in reporting about COVID-19 vaccines for children. The advent of the Omicron variant demonstrated that populations were fatigued by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the media reporting increasingly blamed the unvaccinated. The UK media narrative was unique in describing vaccinating children as a distraction from adult COVID-19 vaccination efforts. The United States and Canada had narratives expressing anger about potential vaccine passports for children. In Australia, general practitioners were labelled as heroes. Finally, the Canadian narrative suggested altruistic forgoing of COVID-19 vaccine "boosters" as well as pediatric COVID-19 vaccines to benefit those in poorer nations. Public health emergencies require clear; compelling and accurate communication. The stories told during this pandemic are compelling because they contain the classic elements of a narrative; however, they can be reductive and inaccurate.

Who is to blame? Stories of European Union migration governance in Italian, Maltese, and Spanish newspapers

AbstractWhile scholars have investigated how media frame human mobility and securitize irregular border crossings, little research has been dedicated to how European Union (EU) actors are portrayed in media coverage of migration across the Mediterranean. By integrating framing into narrative analysis through the Narrative Policy Framework, our article fills this gap. Specifically, we provide a content analysis of Italian, Maltese, and Spanish newspapers and identify the key narratives underlying the portrayal of specific EU actors. We show that, overall, lack of EU solidarity is the prevalent issue in Italian, Maltese, and Spanish newspapers alike, followed by the alleged inefficiency of EU actors. Accordingly, the EU and its key actors are regularly narrated as either villains, responsible for the crisis and deserting member states in need of solidarity, or as weaklings unable to take effective action. These narratives appear remarkably consistent across countries, over time, and newspapers with different ideological orientation.