Understanding forest policy change through discourse - a comparative analysis of US and German public forest land policy

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Georg Winkel
• Subject Area: Forestry
• Term: from 2010 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 181704232

In many regions, forest policy subsystems can be characterized by long-lasting conflicts between policy coalitions. Actors try to incorporate their beliefs and interests in the design of public policy institutions, thereby employing various strategies. The discursive construction of problem definitions and solutions can also be seen as such a strategy. Scholars analyzing the coalition struggle pay particular attention to the analysis of policy change. In the studies analyzing German and US forest policy, the coalition approach has received particular attention. If policy on public forests is considered, there are, on one hand, remarkable analogies in policy processes in both countries. On the other hand, there have also been strikingly different developments that have occurred. While, for instance, actor coalition structures and the strategies employed by the coalitions show many analogies, a major policy change occurred only in the US case. This project starts with this finding: It aims at understanding why policy change took place in US forest policy regarding national forests – in contrast to the German case. The project will be undertaken in three steps: First, drivers that have triggered or prevent policy change will be identified in literature and analyzed, including different theoretical understandings of policy change. Second, empirical research will be carried out specifically focusing on the discursive strategies that have been employed by the coalitions. Third, the U.S. forest policy case analyzed in the first two steps will be compared to the German case, and theoretical conclusions on discursive mechanisms of policy change will be derived. Concerning methods, 1) an extensive literature review, 2) discourse analysis of selected policy documents, and 3) expert interviews will be conducted. In this proposal, only the US case study is being applied for, while, for the comparison with the German case, my already published research will be utilized.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professorin Dr. Louise Fortmann