Home / Books / The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning

The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning

The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning cover image

Book

Pages: 352

Published: September 1993

Editors: Frank Fischer, John Forester

Contributors: Frank Fischer, Maarten Hajer, Robert Hoppe, Bruce Jennings, J. A. Throgmorton, Martin Rein, Thomas J. Kaplan, John Forester, John S. Dryzek, Patsy Healey, William N. Dunn, Duncan MacRae, Donald Schön

Public policy is made of language. Whether in written or oral form, argument is central to all parts of the policy process. As simple as this insight appears, its implications for policy analysis and planning are profound. Drawing from recent work on language and argumentation and referring to such theorists as Wittgenstein, Habermas, Toulmin, and Foucault, these essays explore the interplay of language, action, and power in both the practice and the theory of policy-making.
The contributors, scholars of international renown who range across the theoretical spectrum, emphasize the political nature of the policy planner's work and stress the role of persuasive arguments in practical decision making. Recognizing the rhetorical, communicative character of policy and planning deliberations, they show that policy arguments are necessarily selective, both shaping and being shaped by relations of power. These essays reveal the practices of policy analysts and planners in powerful new ways--as matters of practical argumentation in complex, highly political environments. They also make an important contribution to contemporary debates over postempiricism in the social and policy sciences.

Contributors. John S. Dryzek, William N. Dunn, Frank Fischer, John Forester, Maarten Hajer, Patsy Healey, Robert Hoppe, Bruce Jennings, Thomas J. Kaplan, Duncan MacRae, Jr., Martin Rein, Donald Schon, J. A. Throgmorton

Praise

“Fischer and Forester break new ground and provide a fascinating new way of viewing policy analysis. . . . An innovative view of policy analysis that addresses crucial developments in contemporary epistemology.” - Dennis J. Palumbo, Journal of Politics

"This book has the potential to be important in the field, the leading statement for a movement. It does not call merely for words to balance the statistics, as in the tired debate between the humanities and the sciences. On the contrary, it argues that the words and the statistics are all part of the argument. The contributors apply theories of judgment ranging from classical rhetoric to modern theories of narrative to see the judging whole. The book proposes a new way to see old debates. . . . In short, the book is excellent." - Donald N. McCloskey, University of Iowa

Buy

Availability: In stock

Price: $39.95

Request a desk or exam copy The banner ad announcing the Fall 2025 web sale is blue text on a yellow background. The text provides key details about the sale: a 50% discount on available books and journal issues with coupon code FALL25. The sale dates are October 20-November 9, 2025.

Information

Author/Editor Bios Table Of Contents Rights Awards Additional Information

Author/Editor Bios

Back to Top

Frank Fischer is Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University in Newark and a member of the Bloustein Graduate School of Planning and Public Policy on the New Brunswick campus.

John Forester is Professor of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University.

Table Of Contents

Back to Top
Editors' Introduction

I. The Argumentative Turn: Policy Institutions and Practices

Policy Discourse and the Politics of Washington Think Tanks / Frank Fischer

Discourse Coalitions and the Institutionalization of Practice: The Case of Acid Rain in Great Britain / Maarten A. Hajer

Political Judgment and the Policy Cycle: The Case of Ethnicity Policy Arguments in the Netherlands / Robert Hoppe

Counsel and Consensus: Norms of Argument in Health Policy / Bruce Jennings

II. Analytical Concepts: Frames, Tropes, and Narratives

Survey Research as Rhetorical Trope: Electric Power Planning Arguments in Chicago / J. A. Throgmorton

Reframing Policy Discourse / Martin Rein and Donald Schon

Reading Policy Narratives: Beginnings, Middles, and Ends / Thomas J. Kaplan

Learning from Practice Stories: The Priority of Practical Judgment / John Forester

III. Theoretical Perspectives

Policy Analysis and Planning: From Science to Argument / John S. Dryzek

Planning Through Debate: The Communicative Turn in Planning Theory / Patsy Healey

Policy Reforms as Arguments / William N. Dunn

Guidelines for Policy Discourse: Consensual versus Adversarial / Duncan MacRae, Jr.

Contributors

Index

Rights

Back to Top

Sales/Territorial Rights: World

Rights and licensing

Awards

Back to Top

Winner, 1995 Choice Outstanding Academic Books

Additional Information

Back to Top
Paper ISBN: 978-0-8223-1372-4 / Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8223-1354-0 / eISBN: 978-0-8223-8181-5 / DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822381815

Publicity material