From DPA to Commoning: Creating a Political, Social and Economic Paradigm Shift

Going back to basics: Policy analysis is "a process of multidisciplinary inquiry aiming at the creation, critical assessment, and communication of policy-relevant knowledge. As a problem-solving discipline, it draws on social science methods, theories, and substantive findings to solve practical problems" (Dunn 2018:3). The foundations of classic policy analysis are 20th-century political, economic, and social constructions. They are thus embedded in the administrative, economic, and rational idea. Two significant trends – the argumentative turn (Fischer & Forester, 1993) and governance (as opposed to government) – have naturally given place to the development of deliberative policy analysis (DPA). Thus, while DPA is a breakthrough in policy analysis, it continues to conflict with the context within which policy is made and taught. Hence, while the context has supposedly changed, and more collaboration practices, more practices of deliberative democracy, and more types of knowledge are used within it, thus sensitizing us to complexity and diversity, DPA cannot find its natural place and become mainstream for policy analysis. As a result, many practices are anecdotal or changed in essence to fit the given context. In our proposed presentation, we would like to suggest a different fate for DPA. As will be elaborated below, we tie this fate to two components: the context of its implementation and its missing component. Regarding its context: Combining our different perspectives from theory and practice (Sustainability Studies, Heterodox Economics, and Public Policy), we argue that DPA 2.0 is an essential factor for Commoning – a new political, economic, and social environment that can help navigate complex challenges. In other words, we would like to outline the context that DPA fits into naturally, thereby increasing the epistemic fit of DPA. In a nutshell, commoning refers to "acts of mutual support, conflict, negotiation, communication and experimentation that are needed to create systems to manage shared resources. This process blends production (self-provisioning), governance, culture, and personal interests into one integrated system" (Bollier, 2020: 2). The principles of commoning often emphasize participatory decision-making, sustainability, and a sense of shared responsibility. At the center of Commons-framing are relationships that are all tied to values, norms, practices, and modes of communication that outline behaviors and actions, among them DPA. Regarding its components, we would like to emphasize another essential stage of DPA, namely "implementation analysis" (Sher-Hadar, 2023), which is often missing in the current processes and is an integral part of commoning practices that give life to co-evolution when combined. Our presentation will begin with the introduction of commoning as an idea and a practice; it will then elaborate on how commoning developed and how it can evoke a social, political, and economic paradigm shift, and thus offer DPA a better context in which to flourish; and last, it will elaborate on the missing component of DPA: implementation analysis.