Determinación de las categorías de análisis estadístico

In Chapter 2, I described Schattschneider’s theory of politics as involving overt conflict between identifiable groups seeking a political resolution adjudicated by the state. My use of

this theory to organise my research into policy implementation included extending the theory using insights derived from actor-network theory, translation and durability.

Translation is the process through which actor-networks arise, stabilise, and dissolve or are absorbed into larger networks (Callon 1986), and augments Schattschneider’s theory by describing the dynamic nature of politics. In actor-network theory, individual entities are defined as actors through their interactions with other actors (Callon 1991; Law 1999), and, as they are defined through interaction, all actors are themselves actor-networks (Callon 1991). This leads to the understanding that all structured social relations are to some degree unstable and may be decomposed into the components and strategies that led to their formation. Durability is the process by which actor-networks become stabilised and the social relations in which they are based are rendered invisible (Latour 1991). As actor-networks may draw together a variety of social and technological entities in their production, these durable networks may be human or non-human. In the present research, the benefit of the actor- network theory perspective is in the analysis of policy documents, and of the role that policy documents fulfil in complex implementation networks. These roles include obscuring unproven assumptions, directing practice, and representing central agency actors in local negotiations.

In translation, actor-network theory confronts the normative legitimacy of structural actors in society. Actor-networks are built up through processes of enrolment and mobilisation, in which individual entities are assembled into larger social or technical collectives. As they are assembled, the individuals are displaced and simplified while the central actor to the network assumes the role of representative (Callon 1986). In simplification, enrolled individuals are rendered equivalent, and as individuals and their representatives are combined into larger networks, displacement and simplification increases. Stabilising a network relies on replacing the network with a single technological object, symbol, or practice (Latour 1991; 2005), and these objects can also be combined until the original enrolment is completely invisible; a black box. The social constructionist critique142 arising from the application of actor-network

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Latour and Woolgar (1979) have written about how scientific knowledge arises from the practice of science, which is itself the application of standardised research practices. The result of scientific investigation is the construction of a version of reality that defines experience, and reinforces the authority of the methods used in this construction (Law 2004). Science is also concerned with translation the observations made into

“inscriptions” (Latour and Woolgar 1986, 51), in order to separate the text from the material basis (the equipment, assumptions, reasoning, etc.) on which the text was constructed. The material nature of the text constructs the things it describes as a material object, regardless of how intangible or ephemeral these things may be (Law 2004). As things, these texts have definite form, and any assumptions, faulty reasoning, or unexamined practices that went “into their production is deleted” (Law 2004, 36). As these texts are used in the production of other texts the distance between the original observation and the statement representing it is increased. This distance renders the text more durable and costly to challenge (Latour and Woolgar 1986; Latour 1991; 2005).

theory to any problem begins by viewing the intentions, or stated objectives of central actors as emblematic of more complex actor-networks. Understanding how translation works can complement the analysis of policy and implementation contests by identifying policies, arguments, and organisations as complex actor-networks that can be decomposed and analysed for their untested assumptions, bias, or democratic foundation. This theoretical stance is applicable to policy implementation research through two key insights: 1) that policy embeds earlier policy contests, which may institutionalise assumptions or exclusionary

practices that may not have been critically examined when the policy was being formulated; and 2) policy shapes practice by presenting constraints to practice as the only alternative, and as a form of practice that the individual has already agreed to.

Policy texts direct implementation action. In this way, they are actors, capable of defining the roles and responsibilities of other entities by drawing connections between them and other actors and practices. As actors, policy texts increase the complexity of implementation networks, and destabilise them in the manner described by Schattschneider (1960). Texts on their own are incapable of negotiation, but in the context of the network, these actors

negotiate by presenting a view of policy or practice that may not conform to the view held by other actors. When policy outcomes are determined in implementation, these actors

participate in shaping the final form that implementation takes. In local implementation contest, these actors may also be selectively engaged: vague direction may be engaged as an invitation to exercise discretion, while highly specific direction may come to be viewed as a top-line constraint (Wilson 2000), signalling the sum total of work required in successful implementation. The variable shape of the implementation networks in which these textual actors participate allow other actors to negotiate their implementation obligations with the texts. In addition, the implementation practices that emerge from these negotiations also become durable, and when policy direction changes, earlier documents and practices will continue to play a role in negotiating implementation.