Deliberation-oriented Discourse Analysis For Policy Inquiry

The argumentative turn hallmarked a new theoretical trend in policy science. Incontrast with traditional positivist paradigm which focuses on technical problemsolving and relies on expertise, the rising post-positivist policy inquiry devotes toexamining social construction process of public policy and its political dynamics andattempts to democratize policy science by proposing civil engagement anddeliberative policy analysis. From the post-positivist perspective, argumentation,deliberation and related qualitative methods play crucial roles in public policy studiesand practice.As one of the core methods in post-positivists’ toolkits, discourse analysis, whichconstrues the established ideas and facts in public policy from the constructivistperspective, is increasingly utilized by researchers in different topics. This novelmethod has demonstrated its power in revealing the complexity of social sensemaking, analyzing discursive dynamics in politics and eventually arousing criticalreflection on policy issues. Therefore, it would be a valuable exploration to usediscourse analysis to facilitate public argumentation and deliberation so as to fosterconsensus building in policy making.Given the current state that discourse analysis is limited in theoretical discussionamong policy researchers, this dissertation attempts to develop its practical potential,especially devoting to exploring the marriage of discourse analysis and publicdeliberation, and thus to propose an operable model for policy analysts in thepost-positivist era to conduct their inquiries. Aiming at this goal, this dissertation firstmakes a brief overview of the previous studies, examining the theoretical perspective,approaches and functions of discourse analysis in policy studies. Based on Habermas’and Bernstein’s theories, an empirical-interpretive-critical joint model is established,which implies the role of discourse analysis in the policy inquiry system. Then, thedissertation proposes a three-step framework of deliberation-oriented discourseanalysis (DDA) and demonstrates how to use DDA in a real context through the casestudy of China’s farmland red line controversy. Finally, the dissertation ends with thediscussion on DDA’s future opportunities and challenges.