ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the political sociology approach to policy instruments to investigate the link between instruments themselves and the mechanisms and dynamics of public action, at different scales, with attention paid to both the dimension of policies and politics. The main scope of the contribution is to provide an example of the interweaving political dynamics entrenched in legislative instruments. It aims to contribute to discussions on urban politics and democracy while showing how these dynamics have worked against the development of innovative forms of interventions on phone centre shops that could in fact foster social inclusion. The political sociology perspective supports the idea that instruments can contribute to the emergence of specific representations of a policy issue. Policy experts dealt with these shops by focusing on the technical aspects of the regulation with the ultimate normative aim to 'control' access to phone centres.
