Despite scholarly fascination with magic concepts, empirical research on how they fare in practice is scarce. This study explores how magic concepts retain their magic when used in public organizations. Using survey data and case studies, we identify “trust” as a magic concept in Scandinavian municipalities and develop a typology of its four central functions. We find that the concept of trust is used to confirm and confront old organizational practices, as well as to calibrate and catalyze new ones. We suggest that the multivocal character of magic concepts enables them to fit multiple agendas simultaneously, strengthening their ability to stay magic.

中文翻译：

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让魔法永存：魔法概念的多重功能

尽管学术界对魔法概念很着迷，但对其在实践中表现如何的实证研究却很少。这项研究探讨了魔术概念在公共组织中使用时如何保持其魔力。利用调查数据和案例研究，我们将“信任”确定为斯堪的纳维亚城市的一个神奇概念，并对其四个核心功能进行了分类。我们发现信任的概念被用来确认和对抗旧的组织实践，以及校准和促进新的组织实践。我们认为，魔法概念的多义性特征使它们能够同时适应多个议程，从而增强它们保持魔法的能力。