A Narrative Walks Into a Forum: Bridging the Narrative Policy and Ecology of Games Frameworks

ABSTRACT

Policy process research has expanded rapidly, yet many frameworks still develop in silos, limiting dialogue and leaving complementary mechanisms underused. In an effort to bridge these silos, we bring together two influential frameworks that have largely developed in parallel: the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) and the Ecology of Games Framework (EGF). We integrate them across three levels of analysis: actors at the micro level, forums at the meso level, and interconnected systems of forums at the macro level. At the actor level, we connect the EGF and NPF through learning, showing how narrative learning clarifies the mechanisms behind EGF learning processes, while the EGF helps the NPF specify the conditions under which learning is more or less likely. At the forum level, we develop concepts of narrative convergence and divergence to explain cooperation and conflict within collective‐choice venues. At the system level, we show how both frameworks help explain policy spillovers and ultimately, system performance. In doing so, we aim to begin a conversation between two seemingly disparate frameworks, offering preliminary but intentionally non‐exhaustive set of propositions and ideas about where the frameworks align, diverge, and where their integration is most theoretically and empirically productive.