The Political/Process Promise of Policy Framing

Abstract

The paper presents a study of the usage of the frame analytical language of description in contemporary policy analysis. Tracing a genealogy of the frame theory from the Gregory Bateson's writings to the studies of political scientists Donald Schön and Martin Rein, authors indicate a critical differences between the use of the frame-analytical optics at the studies of political decision making and its use for the analysis of the social movements (D. Snow, R. Benford). Authors develop one of the possible approaches to the understanding of framing processes — one that they call “dynamic”, and illustrate its applicability using the case of Utrecht mayor elections. The paper proposes an original treatment of the framing as a process which include an elements of selection, naming and categorization. Special attention is paid to connections between framing and storytelling.