Analysing Policy Proximity through media reporting

Knill, Christoph ; Steinebach, Yves und Buitkamp, Bastian (2022): Analysing Policy Proximity through media reporting. In: dms – der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management, Bd. 15, Nr. 2: S. 293-310

Abstract

Policy changes in one subsystem can easily spill over to other subsystems. An approach that addresses these interconnections is the concept of ‘policy proximity’. This concept posits that different policy issues share common features that make them more or less likely to change together. However, we unfortunately have no systematic knowledge of the proximity between policy areas. In this article, we address this shortcoming by proposing a novel measurement concept of policy proximity that captures the proximity between different policy issues based on their joint appearance in media reporting. To do so, we conduct a relational content analysis of all media reports aired by the German news broadcast ‘Tagesschau’ between 2013 and 2021. We show that policy issues substantially differ in their connectivity with other subjects and identify for each subsystem the closest ‘neighbors’. We conclude by discussing our results in light of existing policy change theories.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Sozialwissenschaften > Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politikwissenschaft
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 320 Politik
• ISSN: 18657192
• Sprache: Englisch