Analysing Policy: What’s the

Problem Represented to be
Faridah Ohan

Sumber: WPR Approach (Carol Bacchi)

Introduction
• The whole notion of “policy” fits within a particular understanding of
the role of government
• Policy takes shape within specific historical, and national or
international context

“how governing takes place, and with what implications for those so
governed”
6 questions
1. What’s the problem (or whatever subject being discussed)
represented to be?
• What is it hoping to change?
• What does it produce as the problem?

Contoh:
If training courses are offered to women as part of a policy to increase
their representation in better paid occupations or in positions of
influence, the problem” is represented to be women’s lack of trainig
Polices are problematizing activities:
• Policies claim to fix things
• The assumption the existence of a problem that needs fixing
• How government think about the problems are central to governing
process
• We are governed through problematisations rather than through
policies
• We need to direct our attention from assumed problems to the shape
and character of problematisations
The study or Problematisations
• The characterization of a problem is the place to start in order to
understand how an issue is being understood.
• It is adequate to engage the commonsense understanding of
problematisation as how something is put forward as a problem.
• Problematisation reduces complexity
• That is by positing an issue as a particular sort of issue, a range of
factors must be simplified.
“Only part of a story is being told. As a result it is critically important to
interrogate the problem representations that lodge within public
policies in order to see what the include and what they leave out”