New tool for discourse network analysis

EJPR has just published an article introducing a new tool for ‘discourse network analysis’. Using the tool, you can measure and visualize political discourses and the networks of actors affiliated to each discourse. One can study the actor congruence networks (based on the number of statements actors share), concept congruence networks (based on whether statements are used by an actor in the same way) and trace the evolution of both over time.

Here is a graph taken from the paper which illustrates the actor congruence networks for the issue of software patents in the EU (click to enlarge):

The discourse networks analysis tool is free and available from the website of Philip Leifeld, one of the co-authors of the article. I can’t wait to get my hands on the program and try it out for myself. The tool promises to be an interesting alternative to evolutionary factor analysis – another new method for studying policy frames and discourses that I recently discussed – with the added benefit of being able to present actors and frames in an integrated analysis.  

Here is the abstract of the EJPR article (there are more resources at this website):

In 2005, the European Parliament rejected the directive ‘on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions’, which had been drafted and supported by the European Commission, the Council and well-organised industrial interests, with an overwhelming majority. In this unusual case, a coalition of opponents of software patents prevailed over a strong industry-led coalition. In this article, an explanation is developed based on political discourse showing that two stable and distinct discourse coalitions can be identified and measured over time. The apparently weak coalition of software patent opponents shows typical properties of a hegemonic discourse coalition. It presents itself as being more coherent, employs a better-integrated set of frames and dominates key economic arguments, while the proponents of software patents are not as well-organised. This configuration of the discourse gave leeway for an alternative course of political action by the European Parliament. The notion of discourse coalitions and related structural features of the discourse are operationalised by drawing on social network analysis. More specifically, discourse network analysis is introduced as a new methodology for the study of policy debates. The approach is capable of measuring empirical discourses both statically and in a longitudinal way, and is compatible with the policy network approach.