The rhetorical function of narrative in the analysis of public policy

Sharon McFarland, Purdue University

Abstract

Although the literature on narrative devices in fiction and history writing is voluminous, the function of narrative in the policymaking process has received little attention. The purpose of this study is to investigate the rhetorical value of story-building or narratizing as a means of achieving the adherence of a policymaking audience to a discrete point of view. The place that narrative accounts occupy in present day discourse in general is also considered. While the framers of the constitution envisioned a democratic legislative process, and sought to construct a system of lawmaking that would be inclusive, this study focuses upon the increasing reliance by overburdened legislators on neatly turned stories that “make sense.” The policies that result may overlook the refractory nature of social problems, as policymakers increasingly tend toward the adoption of a narrow, disciplinary focus that discounts the critical aspects of an issue that are not addressed within that discipline. This research targets the aggregated congressional testimony of a policy analysis group, the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation (MDRC), on the subject of welfare reform, culminating in the passage of the Family Support Act of 1988. This study suggests that MDRC testimony, which was central to the passage of welfare-to-work legislation, succeeded in persuading legislators to their view by limiting the issue to economics. That is, by telling a story from the perspective of an economist narrator, the complex issue of why some Americans don't work was able to be condensed into a neatly packaged cost-per-trainee equation. Because economists told the story, the policy issue was framed and analyzed as one of economics; I argue that the resulting mandatory work legislation discounts the human factor that, in theory, and sometimes in practice, has formed the cornerstone of American democracy.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Berg, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Rhetoric|Composition|Political science

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