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Accountability as an Inhabited Institution: Contested Meanings and the Symbolic Politics of Reform
Author(s) -
Hallett Tim,
Meanwell Emily
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1002/symb.241
Subject(s) - symbolic interactionism , accountability , politics , institution , sociology , institutionalism , the symbolic , no child left behind , historical institutionalism , public administration , political economy , political science , social science , law , psychology , psychoanalysis
This paper examines the failed attempt to reauthorize the American educational law known as No Child Left Behind ( NCLB ) in 2007. Drawing on existing research on cultural processes of policymaking and insights from inhabited institutionalism, we analyze data from 20 congressional hearings, viewing them as social interactions. We find that hearing participants identified problems with strict accountability policies and, in interpreting those problems, introduced alternative meanings, including “ NCLB means children left behind.” Our approach stresses the symbolic politics of reform at the meso level of interaction and makes the case for a cultural analysis of policymaking that synthesizes both interactionism and institutionalism.