Interpretative policy analysis rests on a long tradition of philosophical argumentation that stands on its own, without reference to positivist argument. Its hallmark is a focus on meaning that is situated in a particular context. The language of ‘interpretative’ policy analysis underscores the extent to which methodological choices, rather than being a disembodied repertoire of tools and techniques, are grounded in a particular set of epistemological and ontological presuppositions – in this case, those associated with interpretative schools of thought (such as hermeneutics, phenomenology, and some critical theory). This chapter elaborates on the importance to policy analysis of ‘local’ knowledge relative to a policy issue and sketches out some interpretative research methods for accessing and analysing it.

Policy analysis and communities of meaning

The centrality of communities of meaning to policy analysis becomes evident in what was initially called a ‘cultural’ approach to public policy processes, including those organizational actions subsumed under implementation studies (Yanow 1987, 1990).