A Comparison between Political Claims Analysis and Discourse Network Analysis: The Case of Software Patents in the European Union

24 Pages Posted: 29 May 2010

See all articles by Philip Leifeld

Philip Leifeld

Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods

Sebastian Haunss

University of Bremen - Centre for Social Policy Research (CeS)

Date Written: May 2010

Abstract

The study of policy discourse comprises actor-centered and content-oriented approaches. We attempt to close the gap between the two kinds of approaches by introducing a new methodology for the analysis of political discourse called Discourse Network Analysis. It is based on social network analysis and qualitative content analysis and takes an entirely relational perspective. Political discourse can be analyzed in a dynamic way, and the approach makes previously unobservable cleavage lines and alignments measurable at the actor level, at the level of the contents of a discourse, and a combined layer. We compare discourse network analysis with political claims analysis, a competing method, and apply both methods to the European-level discourse on software patents. Our results demonstrate how an anti-software-patent coalition was mobilized and how it gained control over important frames, while the well-organized pro-software-patent discourse coalition was not able to gain sovereignty over the discourse.

Keywords: Software Patents, Intellectual Property Rights, Discourse Network Analysis, Social Network Analysis, Political Discourse, Policy Networks, Public Policy Analysis, Social Movements, Political Claims Analysis

Suggested Citation

Leifeld, Philip and Haunss, Sebastian, A Comparison between Political Claims Analysis and Discourse Network Analysis: The Case of Software Patents in the European Union (May 2010). MPI Collective Goods Preprint, No. 2010/21, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1617194 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1617194

Philip Leifeld (Contact Author)

Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods ( email )

Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 10
D-53113 Bonn, 53113
Germany

Sebastian Haunss

University of Bremen - Centre for Social Policy Research (CeS) ( email )

Bremen
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://shaunss.ipgovernance.eu

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