Interpreting emotions in policy narratives: a pluralist framework

The influence of emotions on real-world policy processes, particularly in the Global South, remains underemphasized. This article aims to address this gap by arguing that emotional expression can function as a component of policy narratives that contributes to policy processes in such contexts. Using clean air policy in northern Thailand as a case study, the explicit role of emotions in policy narratives is examined. Participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentary reviews were conducted as research methods. The epistemologically pluralist narrative policy framework is offered by expanding the boundaries of narratives to encompass factual, contextual, normative, ideological and emotional stories. Through this lens, emotions help confirm feasible policy options, complementing technical feasibility studies. Aside from technical and administrative data, the impacts of the policy depended heavily on public satisfaction with the perceived changes. Accordingly, this study suggests that, instead of ignoring emotions, narrative policy analysis should incorporate them to better understand their actual roles in policy processes.