Conceptualising and Operationalising Work Packages 7 and 8

In this concept note, produced in the framework of BRIDGES’ “Migration Narratives in Political Debate and Policy-making” (Work Package 7), we develop a conceptual and methodological framework for the analysis of how different narratives shape, and are deployed in, political debate and policy-making.

In the first part, we set out the features and functions of narratives in public political debate and policy-making, highlighting the complex interplay between media and political narratives and narratives in more technocratic policy venues. Based on existing literature, we argue that narratives in different political and policy-making arenas are governed by different logics and, therefore, will engender different discursive styles (‘lay/populist’ versus ‘technocratic’).

In the second part, we analyse how political and policy actors respond to different narratives, setting out a four-way typology of government strategies for responding to (especially populist) narratives: embracing, adapting, rejecting, or ignoring (decoupling).

Finally, in part three, we develop a unique method for empirically identifying these strategies.