Tomas Hellström
Professor
Policy instrument affordances : A framework for analysis
Author
Summary, in English
The present study uses the concept of technological efficacy derived from ecological psychology and design studies to offer an alternative way of analyzing how policy instruments affect change. Reasoning from this, the paper outlines a framework for analyzing policy instruments in terms of their affordances. We define affordances as the means through which an instrument exerts influence on its intended target audience. Using this approach, we contend that policy instruments may be analyzed as interfaces that organize social relations and create structures of opportunity and/or restrict possibilities for action. We argue that explicating the pathways through which instruments afford or constrain action is a central task for policy analysis. Our proposed framework of analysis builds on the idea that instruments yield effects by facilitating action and learning. We further contend that the actions that an instrument can facilitate or inhibit are determined by specific affordance modalities of the instrument in conjunction with contingencies of the actor and the policy environment. Examples from research policy are used to illustrate some of these effects.
Department/s
- Department of Business Administration
Publishing year
2017
Language
English
Pages
604-621
Publication/Series
Policy Studies
Volume
38
Issue
6
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Routledge
Topic
- Political Science
Keywords
- Policy instruments
- affordances
- policy analysis
- policy process
- policy design
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0144-2872