Policy analysis as a hermeneutic activity

Abstract

Any piece of policy analysis must be appropriate to the context of its intended use. Social science often fails as policy analysis due to insensitivity to context. This paper explores a number of different modes of policy analysis to determine the circumstances in which the application of each is appropriate. It is argued that each mode is appropriate only under a fairly limited set of conditions; many of the problems policy analysis encounters are a result of attempts to apply a mode outside its niche. Greater use should be made of what is developed here as a hermeneut!c model of policy analysis, appropriate in a residual set of conditions which none of the traditional models of policy analysis copes with adequately.If it rained knowledge, I'd hold out my hand; but I would not give myself the trouble to go in quest of it

The rhetorics of policy analysis

“…Scientific analysts cannot just march off into the dense foliage of politics and advocacy and expect to have the trust needed to persuade politicians and advocates. They need to develop hermeneutic and interpretive skills (Dryzek, 1982). Thus scientists who sought to understand the political community would approach that community from the traditional perspective of the scientist (experience-distant).…”

Beyond Empiricism: Policy Inquiry in Post positivist Perspective

“…Bringing together the analytical perspectives of social science and the competing normative arguments of the relevant participant in the policymaking process, the interaction can be likened to a conversation in which the horizons of both citizens and social scientists are extended through a mutual dialogue (Dryzek 1982).…”

Entre le savoir et le faire : vers un trait d’union

“…6 Pour connaître les divers courants théo-riques qui traversent cette tradition, on peut consulter Bernstein, 1976. 7 L'application de ce modèle du savoir aux processus de planification et de formulation des politiques est examiné selon diverses perspectives dans Brunner, 1982, Dryzek, 1982, de Neufville, 1983 …”