Reframing Public Policy: Discursive Politics and Deliberative Practices [Paperback]

Frank Fischer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2003 | ISBN-10: 019924264X | ISBN-13: 978-0199242641 | Edition: First Edition

In recent years a set of radical new approaches to public policy, drawing on discursive analysis and participatory deliberative practices, have come to challenge the dominant technocratic, empiricist models in policy analysis. In his major new book Frank Fischer brings together these various new approaches for the first time and critically examines them. The book will be required reading for anyone studying, researching, or formulating public policy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is an excellent presentation and defense of the constructivist perspective on policy analysis, and makes a strong, positive case for the utility of postempiricist reasoning for understanding policy choices... an excellent, well-argues presentation. if a reader wants to understand the discursive perspective on policy, this volume would be a very appropriate place to begin."-- Political Science Quarterly

About the Author

Frank Fischer is Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; First Edition edition (August 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019924264X
• ISBN-13: 978-0199242641
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #799,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Serious Readers of Public Policy, April 5, 2011

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PubPol Syracuse - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reframing Public Policy: Discursive Politics and Deliberative Practices (Paperback)

In Reframing Public Policy, Fischer has brought together a variety of perspectives that inform the analysis of public policy, especially the comparison of both positivist/neo-positivist approaches and constructivist/interpretive/discursive approaches to policy. With the dominance of the positivist type literature, the critical set of approaches have been somewhat sidelined as key texts in post-graduate programs. Fischer's contribution with Reframing public policy is that it is organised as a textbook, describing and explaining a gamut of theories of the policy process, and showing the special features of a range of interpretive/discursive approaches such as narrative policy analysis (from Emery Roe and other authors), social construction in public policy, theory of discourse coalitions from Maarten Hajer (and contrasting it with Sabatier's advocacy-coalition approach very effectively), interpretive policy analysis (from Dvora Yanow), discursive policy analysis, deliberative policy analysis both from his own and others intellectual contributions to the field, using well articulated examples to illustrate their utility and importance.

It is a more well rounded text than most on the topic, and presents fairly complex ideas and the work of many authors, demystifying and simplifying their formulations for both advanced students and new scholars in the field who want to understand the debates in public policy analysis in an accessible manner. This book will be useful for anyone who seeks to is curious about how different philosophical foundations inform the taken for granted descriptions of the policy process available in the conventional literature.

Most importantly, an underlying theme in the book is about turning the mirror on the reader as to reflecting on the role played by a policy researcher and analyst, situating her/him squarely in the social and political processes as an actor playing a larger role than is commonly presented to be the case - a departure from the dispassionate, neutral observer to one that plays a crucial role in shaping both the analysis as well as the social phenomenon and political context under study. While this is common in anthropology and sociology, a relatively understudied aspect of policy studies.

Fischer's work can be seen to play the role of both a primer to the major debates in policy analysis and also an advanced introduction to the sheer variety of methods and techniques used, while uncovering their theoretical structures. Opening up interesting questions about the kind of education provided in policy schools both in the US and abroad, the text has in my experience led to lively debates and discussions opening up new directions in the field of public policy.

All in all, a highly recommended read for the grad/doctoral students, and an excellent source of references for the teachers and researchers!

5.0 out of 5 stars a book to buy, April 14, 2011

By 

PublicPolicyAnalysis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reframing Public Policy: Discursive Politics and Deliberative Practices (Paperback)

I really liked the book, because it is to the point and makes complicate arguments easy to understand. I think that everybody interested in public policy should read this book because it makes practical examples and explains well how approaches to explain public policy are different from the ones that are based on a positivist research logic. For example discourse approaches such as Maarten Hajer's are compared to P.Sabatier's advocacy coalition approach. Both aim at explaining policy change, but differ considerably from each other.
I do believe it is a classic that everybody should have in the office, no matter whether academic, student or practitioner.

3 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars ironic, January 14, 2007

By 

C. M. Reilly (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reframing Public Policy: Discursive Politics and Deliberative Practices (Paperback)

Fischer has some good ideas in this book, the most important being that the context and type of language we use in various political situations can shape the way policy is made. He encourages policy makers to adjust their vocabulary, tone, and power position for their audience. Unfortunately, Fischer's own language is so over-the-top acamdemic, dense, unapproachable, and circuitous that it leaves the reader wondering if he was making a sly little joke when he wrote this book. There are much better books and essays about the power of language and discourse in politics - this would make a good secondary reference but not worth it on its own.