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Public affairs as reality construction: an established paradigm with new implications
Author(s) -
de Lange Rob,
Linders Paul
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of public affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.221
H-Index - 20
eISSN - 1479-1854
pISSN - 1472-3891
DOI - 10.1002/pa.222
Subject(s) - framing (construction) , social constructionism , narrative , sociology , field (mathematics) , epistemology , social reality , public relations , political science , social science , philosophy , linguistics , mathematics , structural engineering , pure mathematics , engineering
This article was initially a reaction to the special issues of the Journal of Public Affairs on the relative lack of theoretical foundations for the research and practice of public affairs (Vol. 1 no. 4, Vol. 2 no. 1, 2002). The social‐scientific approach that is known under the name constructionism has interesting implications for the study and the practice of this field. The authors explore some of its central concepts and implications such as framing, priming, typification, claims making, symbolic power, background, sense making and narrative construction. They test some of these concepts for their applicability and usefulness for research, theory building and practice in the field of public affairs. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.