Narrative Strategies on Digital Media in a Non-Democratic Regime: A Comparative Analysis of Urban Policy Debates in Moscow

Section S04: Acknowledging the Role of Institutions in the Policy Process Panel: The interplay between narratives and institutions in the narrative policy framework (Chairs: Johanna Kuenzler & Johanna Kuhlmann) Narrative strategies on digital media in a non-democratic regime: A comparative analysis of urban policy debates in Moscow Caroline Schlaufer, Dilyara Gafurova, Ekatarina Zhiryakova, Marina Shikhova, Nina Belyaeva Abstract The Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) has been widely applied to analyze the role of narratives in policy processes in the institutional context of pluralistic democracies. However, applications of the NPF in non-democratic institutional settings remain rare. This paper aims at addressing this gap by using the NPF to examine narratives and narrative strategies used by governmental and non-governmental actors on digital media in Moscow. We compare three cases of salient urban policy debates: transport policy, waste management policy, and housing renovation policy. We empirically examine two narrative strategies employed by governmental and non-governmental actors: the devil-angel shift and the narrative scope of conflict. Based on previous NPF research, we expect that governmental actors will strategically use the angel-shift and construct narratives that contain the scope of conflict by diffusing benefits and concentrating costs. Conversely, non-governmental narratives are expected to use a devil-shift strategy and expand the scope of conflict by emphasizing widespread costs and acknowledging benefits to an elite few. To empirically test our hypotheses, we draw on quantitative content analysis of narratives told on the internet and social media. As data source, we select the most important official websites, blogs of governmental and non-governmental actors, as well as social media discussions and website content of groups opposing official governmental policy. The results are expected to highlight the differences in narratives and narrative strategies employed by governmental and non-governmental actors in the three cases.