PAF 340 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Slippery Slope, Synecdoche, Welfare Queen
Document Summary
In these cases, stone is pointing out how public policies tell a story about a problem. In the polis, symbols communicate stories about problems and their causes : story of change, the problem is getting better/worse, progress is stymied, change is an illusion, story of power, stories of control/helplessness, conspiracy story, blame the victim story. Incorporate choice: move a problem from a state of nature to a deliberate decision, create heroes and villains. Imply narrative and solution: draw a comparison, normative leap, used to strategically define a problem and the scope of conflict, if a is like b then the way you solve a is how you solve b. Synecdoche: part that represents the whole, sets up typical instances or typical cases, confines policy response to the part that captures the most imagination, welfare queen, working poor, horror story, politically powerful, induces emotional response, simplifies complex problems.
