Key Publications
Wagenaar, Hendrik. (2011), Meaning in Action. Interpretation and Dialogue in Policy Analysis.
Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
  Meaning in Action gives both graduate students as well as advanced readers a uniquely comprehensive overview of the vast, varied and often confusing landscape of interpretive policy analysis. It is both theoretically informed and exceedingly practical in its treatment of the important role that interpretation plays in the analysis of public policy. The book covers a wide range of interpretive approaches in the field of policy analysis. The main argument of the book is that meaning, a central category in policy analysis, is not of one kind. It distinguishes between three distinct types of meaning, hermeneutic, discursive and dialogical meaning. Each of these three kinds of meaning is rooted in different philosophical assumptions, underlies different approaches to interpretive analysis, and focuses on different topics in public policy. Each interpretive approach, such as discourse analysis, frame analysis, narrative analysis, or poststructuralism, is therefore understood in the context of the full spectrum of available interpretive approaches. The book brings together important debates on interpretive approaches from the USA, the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. Its examples cover a wide range of policy issues and countries. Finally, it offers the reader a practical methodological guide of how to engage in interpretive policy analysis.
Maarten Hajer & Hendrik Wagenaar (eds.) (2003), Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society, Cambridge University Press
 
In this book - to which I contributed the Introductory Essay and a chapter on policy practices -, we lay out a methodological-conceptual vision for political science and public policy. We argue (a) that in the modern network society politics enters public life through the effects of, and reactions to, public policy initiatives, (b) that methods are not politically neutral but embody and sustain, a particular political arrangement, and we (c) suggest that given the ontology of politics as networked and deeply pluralistic, a policy science that ‘fits’ should be interpretive, practice-oriented, and deliberative. The book has become a classic in the field and has found entrance in course syllabi all around the world. It has had a wide impact in the field of interpretive policy analysis and is considered a reference work.
Hendrik Wagenaar & Maurice Specht. (2010) Geëngageerd Bewonerschap. Bewonersparticipatie in Drie Europese Steden. (Engaged Residents: Citizen Participation in Three European Cities.) The Hague: Nicis Institute. (95 pages. In Dutch)
  This is the final report of our project ‘Citizen Participation as an Administrative Arrangement: Social Complexity and Participatory Practices’ in which we summarize findings from an ethnographic study of bottom-up citizen initiatives in three disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. The project addresses key issues in public management and democratic theory, such as the role of citizens in decentred governance and the conditions for effective participatory democracy. We describe how these citizens developed the will and the capacity for democratic participation. We introduce the concept of a participation trigger to describe the different kinds of practical work that are required to initiate and maintain participatory governance initiatives aimed at complex urban problems such as prostitution, urban restructuring, crime and safety, and integration of ethnic minorities. Citizen participation is an emerging practice that involves a number of urgent tasks, such as exploring the problem at hand, getting to know your fellow residents, establishing partnerships with relevant actors such as politicians and administrators, organizing time and keeping up motivation.