Central Definition
The Programmatic Action Framework (PAF) is a theoretical perspective of policy process research. Its central argument is that, under certain conditions, policy actors with shared social identities develop policy programs that envision reform ideas for the development of a policy sector, and around which they form as a corresponding programmatic group. They do so out of the motivation to gain authority and to realize their policy ideas. The PAF combines actor-centred theories from the social psychological Social Identity Approach (SIA), sociological elite theory, and public administration research to generate assumptions and formulate hypotheses for the explanation of trajectories of policy programs, in particular policy stability and policy change.
Historical/Generic Aspects
The PAF constitutes the further development of the programmatic approach, which consisted of a combination of sociological elite theory and public policy research that essentially entailed a...
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Bandelow, N.C., Hornung, J. (2023). Programmatic Action Framework in Public Policy. In: van Gerven, M., Rothmayr Allison, C., Schubert, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Public Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90434-0_35-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90434-0_35-1
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