Policy Analysis and Problematization in Public Discourse
Summary
Policy analysis and problematization intersect to reveal how public issues are framed, debated and governed. At its core, policy analysis employs systematic methods to assess the rationale, design and impacts of governmental interventions. Problematization brings a critical lens, examining how certain conditions become defined as “problems” in need of policy solutions. Together they uncover the assumptions, power relations and narratives that shape public discourse. Key analytic strategies draw on poststructural thought to demonstrate that what counts as a policy problem is neither neutral nor inevitable but emerges through particular representations and language. This approach has been applied across domains—from digital education and public health to social welfare and environmental governance—to show how problem definitions enable some courses of action while foreclosing others. By interrogating how problems are constructed, scholars and practitioners can better understand underlying values, anticipate unintended consequences and open space for alternative policy imaginaries. Concrete examples include the framing of loneliness among older adults as a technological deficit, the portrayal of digital divides in education as a matter of individual access rather than structural inequality, and the characterisation of border-region health crises in terms of external threats rather than cross-border solidarity. Such insights carry global significance, informing more inclusive, transparent and adaptive policy processes.
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Policy Analysis and Problematization in Public Discourse publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in policy analysis and problematization in public discourse across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Problematization: the process by which issues are constructed and framed as specific problems within discourse.
Policy analysis: systematic examination of policy processes, content and impacts to inform decision-making.
Sociotechnical imaginaries: collective visions of desirable futures that shape policy and governance of technology and society.
WPR approach: an analytic strategy that investigates how problems are represented in policy texts and the assumptions behind them.
References
- Technology and older adults in British loneliness policy and political discourse. Frontiers in Digital Health (2023).
- In/equalities in digital education policy – sociotechnical imaginaries from three world regions. Learning Media and Technology (2023).
- European policies for public health in border regions: no European mindset as yet. BMC Public Health (2024).
- Problematizations in Health Policy. SAGE Open (2016).
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