Business Power in Noisy Politics: An Exploration Based on Discourse Network Analysis and Survey Data

Abstract

This study links voter-centred and interest group perspectives to assess the role structurally powerful businesses can play in contested political issues. Revisiting the literature on business influence in politics, incumbent businesses are theorised to strategically use their structural power to influence voters’ preferences. The conceptual framework is illustrated with a case study of a direct democratic vote related to Swiss energy policy. To empirically trace the role incumbent businesses played in the run-up to the vote, the study employs a two-step approach. First, it uses Discourse Network Analysis (DNA) to examine arguments and actor coalitions in the public debate preceding the vote. Second, the DNA results inform a statistical analysis of survey data on voting behaviour. The findings suggest that incumbent businesses can use their structural power strategically to shape voting behaviour. The study stimulates the discussion about political power relationships in societies and enriches the nascent debate about phasing out unsustainable energy infrastructure. Importantly, it opens up ways to combine DNA with other methods, an avenue that shows promise for use and further refinement in future applications.

Stakeholder discourse coalitions and polarisation in the hen harrier conservation debate in news media

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The Analytical Framework of Governance in Health Policies in the Face of Health Emergencies: A Systematic Review

“…The literature discussed here was made in socially and economically developed nations, which have actors with some decision-making power (29) in international policies, as well as in the design of their indicators in the health system (30); but in those economically disadvantaged countries, with great social inequality, with a lower budget and health spending, with a weak structure of health systems (31), there are more significant disadvantages to adopting international recommendations to address pandemics. Another challenge for governance in these countries' health policies is that governments should consider local peculiarities, viability, sustainability, and potential risks and benefits before and after of public health policies implementation (32).…”

Policy Debates and Discourse Network Analysis: A Research Agenda

“…Černý and Ocelík (2020) apply DNA to uncover polarised advocacy coalitions in the debate on energy supply and the phasing out of coal in the Czech Republic. Rinscheid (2020) analyses energy policy in the Swiss context and focuses specifically on how incumbent business interest groups can appeal to voters. He combines DNA with public opinion surveys, which is an important avenue for learning more about the channels through which actors ultimately seek to influence policy making.…”