Theoretical foundations of the Programmatic Action Framework (PAF)

This article starts with a discussion of the analytical issues of the Programmatic Action Framework (PAF); based on the hypothesis that small groups of individuals, sharing a similar analysis of a policy problem sustaining a common policy change program (including orientations, arguments, and instruments) giving them a collective identity, and behaving strategically as a collective actor, can be main drivers of policy change. We then present the methodological implications of the empirical analysis of such programmatic groups and policy change programs. The methodology of the Programmatic Action Framework combines tools coming from the sociology of elites (positional analysis, analysis of professional trajectories, relational analysis) and the sociology of the policy process. It was first applied in empirical researches on health insurance reforms in France and the United States since the 1980s, shedding the light on the key role of specialized policy elites (specialized senior civil servants in France, long‐term insiders in the United States). We conclude by stressing that, because of its systematic and encompassing empirical methodology, the Programmatic Action Framework can be used in a comparative way, in other policy sectors than health care.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Programmatic Action Framework: An empirical assessment

Hassenteufel

Genieys

2020

“…The PAF is designed to provide agency‐based explanations for long‐term policy change and programmatic stability, suggesting the central role of groups that share policy ideas and compete for legitimate authority over sectoral policymaking within the state apparatus (Bandelow et al., 2020). The approach integrates ideational elements into institutionalist analysis, considering policy content in order to be largely endogenous (Hassenteufel et al., 2010).…”

Section: The Programmatic Action Framework (Paf)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bandelow et al. (2020) state that unlike an advocacy coalition, the programmatic group consists of individuals who do not necessarily share core policy beliefs but have forged a collective social identity that is stable for the policy‐relevant medium term (p. 5). In this sense, they focus on the formation and endurance—and eventual decline—of groups capable of collective action, proposing some key hypotheses for the empirical application of the PAF.…”

Section: The Programmatic Action Framework (Paf)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From what is known about the Brazilian health reform and the role played by the sanitaristas , I believe that this policy change could be successfully explained by the PAF. The approach was originally applied to the context of France, but it might to be extensible to other cases and policy sectors than health, as it consists of a midrange framework for the analysis of public action and assumes the intermediating and structuring role played by institutions (Bandelow et al., 2020, p. 7), meaning that it can be adapted to different settings. The PAF can be a powerful tool as it emphasizes the role of agency in political outcomes, leaving room for actors to promote change despite institutional resistance and party instability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Health reform in Brazil: The sanitaristas as programmatic actors

Davidian

2021

Brazil has one of the largest public health systems in the world. By applying the Programmatic Action Framework (PAF), this study provides an endogenous explanation for the health reform and brings new lenses to understand one of the most successful cases of social protection expansion. It demonstrates the relevance of a group of professionals who had a common perception of why the policy should change and a coherent policy change program. Cognitive frameworks, organizational resources, and strong professional culture allowed the sanitaristas occupying key positions in the state apparatus, behaving strategically as a collective actor. The evidence provided suggests the approach's relevance to this case due to considerations of political‐institutional specificities. Treating the sanitaristas as a programmatic actor is helpful to explain their role in promoting change and the endurance of the programmatic consensus they have built, which has been crucial to support the universal healthcare model in the country.

“…If the COVID‐19 crisis is a brutal shock, focusing public attention and shedding the light on policy failures, its impact on health and social care policies can only be understood by taking into account the role of key policy actors. Despite the change of prime minister in July, the same programmatic actors (Bandelow et al., 2020; Hassenteufel & Genieys, 2020) are still driving healthcare policy changes. The second paradox is that the pandemic seems more to have reinforced the existing reform paths than to have reversed it (discussed in section 4).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Handling the COVID‐19 crisis in France: Paradoxes of a centralized state‐led health system

Hassenteufel

2020

France was one of the European countries that was most severely affected by the COVID‐19 pandemic in the first half of 2020. Despite the effective capacity of crisis management often ascribed to majoritarian democracies, the French centralized state‐led health system is subject to rising critiques for the measures it has adopted and for the strategies it deployed to fight COVID‐19. The identified policy failures question the central government’ capacities in crisis management more generally. This article sheds light on the policy responses to COVID‐19 taken by the French executive and emphasizes that to understand the link between crisis and policy change, the policy trajectories prior to the crisis, the degree of politicization of the crisis, and the actor constellations existing throughout the crisis play a major role. National crisis reactions thus were far more driven by policy actors and political constellations, than by scientific advice or functionality.