An Examination of Higher Education Policy Problems Using Narrative Policy Analysis

Abstract

Policy actors and coalitions use narratives to frame higher education policy problems and solutions. In this article, I illustrate how I employed narrative policy analysis (NPA) in practice to demonstrate how state policy actors and coalitions created policy storylines that offered social orientation, reassurance, or guidance for a stubborn higher education policy problem in one state. I begin the article with a review of NPA, followed by a discussion of the methods and tools that guided my analysis and scholars interested in NPA can employ. Next, I provide a brief overview of the policy problem context followed by a detailed description and examples of analysis for policy artifacts and the construction of policy storylines.

Critical Qualitative Inquiry: Examining the Influence of Changing Voices and Bodies on Legislative Spaces

“…The Latina/o legislators’ discourse on reimagining of the social compact represented more than political rhetoric; through their language use and counter-narratives, they redefined and challenged taken for granted assumptions about Latina/o constituents and communities. In policymaking, arguments and discourses do not merely reflect the stated problem, but also espouse deeply held values and assumptions in the democratic process of governing—specifically about the role of power, who participates, and who does not (Martinez, 2019). Notably, the legislators in my study were responsible for sponsoring and helping to pass unprecedented policies related to decriminalize abortion; allocate funds for English learner students; legalize driving privileges for undocumented residents; and eliminate taxes for feminine hygiene products, also known as pink taxes.…”

Keeping the Higher Education “Promise” in Nevada: Latina/o Legislators Policy Ways of Knowing

“…While research is mixed on student outcomes (Bozick et al, 2015; Phuhta & Penny, 2013), in Nevada, preliminary analysis of the promise program confirmed that 69% of the Latina/o students who had applied for the Promise program reported that in the process of applying, they were influenced to attend college (Bernick & Brekken, 2019). Postsecondary policy research on promise interventions is centered on the policy intervention itself and less on the creator of the policy and how the issue came to attract the attention of policymakers and ultimately pass the legislative web of policymaking (Martinez, 2019).…”

Analisis Naratif Kebijakan: Kebijakan Ganja Medis di Indonesia

“…Beberapa penelitian terdahulu yang juga menggunakan metode NPA sebagai metode analisis terhadap sejumlah kebijakan publik antara lain penelitian tentang kebijakan rokok elektronik di Kanada, Uni Eropa, Australia dan Amerika Serikat (O'Leary, Borland, Stockwell, & MacDonald, 2017), kebijakan pendidikan di Amerika Serikat (Martinez, 2019), kebijakan ekonomi di Indonesia (Apriansyah, Purwadianto, & Hanita, 2020), dan kebijakan ketahanan pangan di Indonesia (Dwiguna & Munandar, 2020).…”

“…Dalam kebijakan publik sebuah narasi mencerminkan pemahaman dari aktor-aktor kebijakan dan koalisinya tentang masalah serta solusi dari masalah tersebut melalui pengalaman dan posisi mereka dalam sistem dari kebijakan tersebut. Sehingga narasi kebijakan menjadi sumber pembuatan makna yang penting (Martinez, 2019). Shanahan (2017) menekankan pentingnya bagi peneliti untuk menetapkan level analisis sebagai ruang lingkup penelitiannya.…”