Understanding Policy Change as a Discursive Problem

Abstract

ResumenUna evaluación de política puede enriquecerse de metodologías cualitativas en aras de profundizar el entendimiento del investigador sobre la política, que muchas veces obedece a criterios positivistas y se concentra en mostrar los avances cuantitativos de sus logros. En este sentido, este artículo declara y muestra evidencia del valor del análisis de discurso en el marco de estudios comparativos de política pública, ampliando la capacidad de entender el contexto histórico, cultural, social y simbólico en el cual la política es construida e implementada. Como ilustración, se examinan las reformas en políticas públicas para el aseguramiento de la calidad de las instituciones de educación superior (IES) y sus programas en Colombia y Ecuador, aplicando el método de análisis de discurso para examinar si la política identifica y explica objetivos, problemas, retos y soluciones de maneras similares o no, ayudando a apreciar cómo las palabras representan valores, a entender mejor a las instituciones, y a evaluar la estabilidad o la falta de ella en las políticas públicas. Los resultados sugieren que el método revela diferencias significativas que los datos y estudios cuantitativos ocultan. Palabras claveAnálisis de Discurso; Métodos Cualitativos; Políticas Públicas Comparadas; Educación Superior; Colombia; Ecuador. Fecha de recepción: marzo de 2016 • Fecha de aprobación: abril de 2016 Cómo citar este artículoLima Bandeira, Mariana y Rubaii, Nadia M. (2016). El valor del análisis de discurso en los estudios comparativos de políticas públicas. El caso de aseguramiento de calidad en la educación superior en Colombia y Ecuador. Estudios Políticos, 49, pp. 13-34. DOI: 10.17533/udea.espo.n49a01 * Esta investigación se llevó a cabo, en parte, con el apoyo de una beca Fulbright otorgada a la profesora Nadia Rubaii en 2013-2014 para trabajar en la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia. Generally, the evaluation of a public policy is often based on positivist criteria, with a focus on showing quantitative evidence of progress and achievement. To convert this information into truly useful feedback, a policy study could be enriched through the use of qualitative methodologies, in order to deepen the understanding of the policy within its unique context. In this sense, this paper makes the case for and provides evidence of the value of discourse analysis in comparative policy studies. As one method of qualitative analysis, discourse analysis provides the researcher with the capacity to consider the historical, cultural, social and symbolic context in which a policy is developed and implemented. This approach adds additional value to the quantitative data and can reveal flaws and strengths that the more superficial quantitative methods do not reveal. As an illustration, we examine reforms in public policies for quality assurance of higher education institutions and programs in Colombia and Ecuador. We apply the method of discourse analysis to examine whether the policies in the two countries define objectives, pro...

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“…Anderson 2008;Béland and Cox forthcoming;Berman 1998;Bevir and Rhodes 2003;Bhatia and Coleman 2003;Bleich 2002;Blyth 2002;Campbell 1998;Cox 2001Cox , 2004Dobbin 1994;Edelman 1971;Fischer 2003;Goldstein and Keohane 1993;Hajer 2002;Hall 1993;Hansen and King 2001;Jenson 1989;Kay 2009;Larsen and Anderson 2009;Lieberman 2002;Mendelson 1998;Palier and Surel 2005;Parsons 2003;Pedriana and Stryker 1997;Richardson 2000;Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith 1993;Schmidt 2002a;Schmidt and Radaelli 2004;Schön and Rein 1994;Seeleib-Kaiser and Fleckenstein 2007;Skowronek 2006;Genieys and Smyrl 2008;Somers and Block 2005;Stone 1997;Surel 2000;Weir 1992;Taylor-Gooby 2005;Wendt 1999;White 2002;Yee 1996;Zittoun 2009). A good way to survey ideational analysis is to distinguish the different ways in which ideas can explain crucial aspects of policy d...…”

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