Discursive Institutionalism: The Explanatory Power of Ideas and Discourse

Abstract

The newest 'new institutionalism,' discursive institutionalism, lends insight into the role of ideas and discourse in politics while providing a more dynamic approach to institutional change than the older three new institutionalisms. Ideas, as the substantive content of discourse, consists of three levels-policies, programs, and philosophies-and two types-cognitive and normative. Discourse, as the interactive process of conveying ideas, comes in two forms-the coordinative discourse among policy actors and the communicative discourse between political actors and the public. Both ideas and discourse are situated in institutional context, understood in terms of the background information provided by the three older new institutionalisms as well as in more specific 'meaning' contexts. The institutions of discursive institutionalism, moreover, rather than external rule-following structures, are simultaneously structures and constructs internal to agents whose 'background ideational abilities' within a given 'meaning context' explains how institutions are created and exist and whose 'foreground discursive abilities' following a 'logic of communication' explains how institutions change or persist. Finally, interests are subjective ideas which are neither 'objective' nor 'material' although they are real while norms are dynamic, intersubjective constructs rather than static structures.

Zwischenstadtland Schweiz. Zur politischen Steuerung der suburbanen Entwicklung in Schweizer Gemeinden

“…Zeitgleich hatten aber auch funktionalistische oder strukturalistische Annahmen Hochkonjunktur (Almond und Powell 1966). Dieser Welle an wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten folgten in soziologischen und politikwissenschaftlichen Studien vermehrt theoretische Ideen, welche der Strukturationstheorie von Giddens (1984) folgten und die Rolle der politischen Institutionen und Strukturen verschiedenster Art sowie die Rolle des individuellen Handelns als kombinierbare Erklärungsdimensionen thematisierten (March und Olsen 1984;Coleman 1990;Hall und Taylor 1996;Schmidt 2008). Politische Institutionen sind in dieser Sichtweise weder ausschließlich der Spiegel einer Gesellschaft (Kritik an den strukturalistischen Theorien) noch nur das Resultat rein individuell motivierten Handelns (Kritik am Rational-Choice-Ansatz).…”

Destabilizing Environmentalism: Epiphanal Change and the Emergence of Pro-Nuclear Environmentalism

“…Understanding the processes of discursive change requires paying attention to how individuals (who in Gamson and Modigliani's terms 'sponsor' discourses (Gamson & Modigliani, 1989)) use and are constrained by the discursive resources available to them (Schmidt, 2008). In particular, while the relationship between discourse and identity is much contested theoretically, we take the position that while discourses construct identities, by constructing legitimate subject positions, individuals are also more-or-less powerful agents who can utilize available discursive resources to both recreate their own subjectivity and create new discursive positions for others (Frosh, 2003).…”

Value of Public Administration Management to International Relations: Scaffolding an Inter-Disciplinary Research Agenda

“…Goldstein & Keohane"s seminal Role of Beliefs and Ideas in FP (Goldstein & Keohane, 1993) had a pivotal influence in PP"s role of ideas. Enduring ideas, rather than diverse/ad hoc interests, lead to policy paradigms that in turn drive policy actions; ideas may be iterated in discourses (discursive institutionalism) (Schmidt, 2008). Here, the enduring ideas may be Washington Consensus and the non-Consensus of the Post-Washington Consensus 14 , amongst others, and it is useful to draw linkages of how ideas from elites are proliferated and institutionalized and further permeated to influence other actors.…”