The bonds of institutional language

A discursive institutionalist approach to the C lerk of the P rivy C ouncil's annual report

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9784704
AutoresPatrice Dutil (0000-0003-2294-7492, Toronto Metropolitan University, autor de correspondencia), Patrice A Dutil (Department of Politics and Public Administration Ryerson University Toronto Ontario), Peter Malachy Ryan (MacEwan University Edmonton Alberta)
Año2013
Volumen56
Número1
Páginas26-46
Fecha de publicación2013-03-01
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCanadian Public Administration (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0008-4840 • E-ISSN: 1754-7121
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/capa.12002
OpenAlexW1844866942
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas13

The C lerk of the P rivy C ouncil's annual report is seen as an important documentation of the public sector's priorities, but has never been examined. Using a combination of traditional content analysis and digital humanities techniques, this study analyses the first sixteen reports written under the aegis of six clerks, and concludes that they reflect competing priorities and emphases. Yet while the reports are each distinct, they collectively are highly repetitive and remarkably unaffected by either the context in which they were written or the policies pursued by governments. The consistency of the texts over sixteen years of transformation in government indicates that such institutional discourse is slow to change, demonstrating a strong “bond” to what had been reported previously. This article also shows how a mix of methods in dissecting the use of language can contribute to the budding field of discursive institutionalism

Consistency (knowledge bases · Context (archaeology · Documentation · Field (mathematics · Government (linguistics · Historical institutionalism · Institutionalism · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Commonwealth, Australian Politics and Federalism · History · Law · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research