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

在许多区域，森林政策次级系统的特点可能是政策联盟之间的长期冲突。行为者试图将其信念和利益纳入公共政策机构的设计，从而采用各种战略。问题定义和解决方案的话语构建也可以被视为这样一种策略。分析联合斗争的学者特别注重对政策变化的分析。在分析德国和美国森林政策的研究中，联盟方法受到特别关注。如果考虑到公共森林政策，一方面，两国的政策进程有显著的相似之处。另一方面，也出现了截然不同的事态发展。例如，虽然行动者联盟的结构和联盟所采用的战略显示出许多相似之处，但重大的政策变化只发生在美国。本项目从这一发现开始：它旨在了解为什么政策变化发生在美国的森林政策有关国家森林-与德国的情况相反。该项目将分三个步骤进行：首先，将在文献中识别和分析引发或阻止政策变化的驱动因素，包括对政策变化的不同理论理解。第二，实证研究将进行专门侧重于话语策略，已采用的联盟。第三，将前两步分析的美国森林政策案例与德国案例进行比较，得出政策变化的话语机制的理论结论。关于方法，1）广泛的文献综述，2）选定的政策文件的话语分析，3）专家访谈将进行。在这个建议中，只有美国的案例研究正在申请，而与德国的情况下，我已经发表的研究将被利用。

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.