For a sociology of official reports. Symbolic effects and writing configurations of decision-making tools

This article consists in a review of the literature on “official reports” within policy analysis and neighboring fields. We define this object and suggest two complementary ways of approaching and analyzing it. First, against an instrumental perspective of official reports, we highlight their symbolic effects. We draw attention to their diversity. In the short term, such reports may affect political players’ legitimacy and modify features of the decision-making process (in terms of speed, openness, etc.). In the long term, they may contribute to policymakers’ learning and the institutionalization of policy narratives. Second, the article provides avenues for explaining the occurrence of symbolic effects. We highlight the role played by “writing configurations”. The latter subsume all institutions constraining the writing process of official reports (social properties of authors, culture and public image of their organization, etc.). Although we do not specify the link between a specific symbolic effect and a configuration, we offer an analytical grid of potential factors.