PMR — pp. 1-29 2026-07-13 Original Strategic narratives and the processes of goal achievement in municipal strategic planning
Fabien Eymas
Abstract
This study examines how strategic narratives shape strategic planning processes in ways that support the pursuit of municipal goals. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of a French municipality and combining analysis of council deliberations, documentary materials, and interviews, it shows that strategic narratives link planning to implementation. The findings reveal how temporality, positioning, and performative intent interact to generate municipal strategic capacity by sustaining coherence, structuring multi-actor alignment, and mobilizing engagement over time. The study contributes to public management research by integrating a narrative perspective with strategic planning scholarship and showing how strategic narratives become embedded in municipal practices.
JOP 88/3 pp. 1011-1026 2026-07-01 Original Immigration, Public Housing, and Support for the French National Front
Gloria Gennaro
Abstract
In Europe, urban peripheries that host public housing estates are often inhab-ited by a diverse population, including many migrants. In those places, far-rightparties enjoy growing electoral support. This paper asks: Can expansionary publichousing policies boost the electoral support of far-right parties in diverse communi-ties? I exploit the staggered roll-out of a French public housing policy to show thatresidents of municipalities with large pre-policy immigration shares vote more forthe National Front in response to public housing expansion. The opposite happensin municipalities with low pre-policy exposure to immigration. The paper investi-gates three potential mechanisms: compositional changes, material grievances, andlatent group conflict. Separate empirical analyses of sociodemographic, housing,and newspaper data suggest that the third mechanism may drive the results. Thepaper further discusses the theoretical and practical implications of these findingsfor understanding the challenges of adapting the welfare state to increasingly diversesocieties.