Concurrence entre élites autour d'intérêts : Le choix de l'emplacement du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Can we explain public policies? In a scientific perspective, frameworks have been developed to simplify extremely complex realities and point out factors that would explain what we observe. By applying two models elaborated to frame analyses of public policies, we realize their capacity to clarify specific aspects of the decision-making process about the siting of the French university hospital in Montreal (CHUM) without achieving an adequate interpretation of the final choice. In the end, we put forward that in the social sciences ambitions to go beyond descriptions can be at best fulfilled with interpretive analyses giving a better comprehension of phenomena. In that regard, we present a framework inclusive of items which make up public policies, from their conception to the implementation stages.