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This article discusses the interpretive approach to governance. The interpretive approach comes from a hermeneutic philosophy, emphasi- zing intentionality, historicism, and reflexivity.
These philosophical ideas decentre governance.
The first wave of governance studies relied on a lukewarm positivism, extending the literature on policy networks to cover neoliberal reforms. This account of governance faced challenges from rational choice theory and from the idea of meta- governance. The interpretive approach responds to these challenges. The interpretive approach to governance responds to rational choice by decen- tring governance; patterns of governance arise as the products of meaning in action. The interpretive approach responds to metagovernance by decen- tring the state ; the state is stateless. The article illustrates this interpretive approach, with its emphasis on intentionality and historicism, using stories of network governance. It then concludes by discussing the implications of the interpretive approach to governance for policy analysis. Inter- pretive theory encourages: a more eclectic approach to data, a suspicion of formal models and frameworks, and a greater role for storytelling.
