Policy conflict is gaining attention in policy studies. In this paper, we explore the relation between emotional storylines and policy conflict escalation in the case of the Dutch gasquakes in the north of the country. Based on a longitudinal analysis of emotional storylines in 1308 newspaper articles and additional empirical data we find that Dutch subnational governmental actors as well as citizen action groups discursively express emotional storylines about anxiety/fear, anger, and contempt in relation to discursive expressions of trustworthiness/distrust. Over time, specific combinations of these emotional storylines shape the interpretation of the problem and point toward responsible actors. Also the way in which specific sequences of emotional storylines develop (particularly from fear to anger) suggests a discursive escalation. In addition, discursive escalation can be found in the increased intensity of specific emotional storylines. We conclude that the combinations, sequencing and increasing intensity of the emotional storylines suggest a process of emotionally expressed escalation, which we have only just begun to explore.

政策冲突越来越受到政策研究的关注。在本文中，我们探讨了该国北部发生的荷兰气震事件中情感故事情节与政策冲突升级之间的关系。基于对 1308 篇报纸文章中情感故事情节的纵向分析和额外的经验数据，我们发现荷兰地方政府行为者以及公民行动团体就焦虑/恐惧、愤怒和蔑视的话语表达与可信度/怀疑。随着时间的推移，这些情感故事情节的特定组合塑造了对问题的解释，并指向负责任的演员。此外，情感故事情节的特定序列发展方式（特别是从恐惧到愤怒）表明话语升级。此外，话语升级可以在特定情感故事情节的强度增加中找到。我们得出的结论是，情感故事情节的组合、顺序和不断增加的强度表明了情感表达升级的过程，而我们才刚刚开始探索。