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The authors of this article propose a number of analytical elements complementary to historical institutionnalism. À number of these are drawn from the French school of public policy analysis, and its notion of the « référentiel », which here is revised and generalized. This allows a renewed emphasis on the role of actors at the heart of the analytical approach and heralds a return of the notion of politics, here defined as as the dynamic interaction of power and legitimacy in the context of an institutionalized decision-making framework in the study of the making and implemention of public policy.