The policy transaction perspective: A pragmatist‐constructivist approach to the policy process

Abstract The aim of this paper is to advance a pragmatist‐constructivist perspective on the policy process. Building on the pragmatist concept of “transaction,” this perspective suggests that we can further illuminate the policy process by moving towards a more relational analysis that focuses on the emergent co‐construction of actors and issues. It stresses that policy processes are always a form of valuation where values are discovered and invented and through which interests are staked out and identities are forged. The article conceptualizes the policy process as an assemblage of intervening policy situations where policy valuation, problematization, and policy formulation take place and where collective action and problems/solutions are built and tested. The Policy Transaction perspective ultimately opens our eyes to how policy processes form and define the relationship between state and society.