Programmatic Action and Policy Processes

Abstract

The Programmatic Action Framework (PAF) is a theoretical lens on policy processes developed at the intersection of policy process research, public administration, elite sociology, and social psychology. This chapter is particularly devoted to outlining the foundations of the PAF and putting them in context with other existing theories of the policy process. There are two main bases of PAF assumptions: Firstly, the role of bureaucracy in areas close to the state in formulating policy and the related desire for increased authority gained through advancement in individual careers. Secondly, social psychological perspectives on social identities of groups formed on the basis of shared characteristics are adopted by the PAF to outline the role of shared biographies and resulting policy programs, which are identity-forming, in policy processes and policy change. The particular focus of this study is on the institutional conditions under which such actors form programmatic groups and use their policy programs to shape the policy process over time.