State policy of coexistence with the semiarid of Pernambuco: a cognitive policy analysis

Abstract

The present research intended to analyze the state policy of coexistence with the semiarid of Pernambuco under the theoretical-methodological framework of the policy cognitive approach. The foundations of cognitive analysis were discussed as an assumption of public policy analysis that considers the importance of the cognitive framework for a given policy to be understood by its actors on its normative and instrumental dimension. Aside from that, the paradigm of coexistence with the semiarid was discussed. In order to achieve that analysis, policy documents, state laws and news reports were collected from the state's three main media vehicles Jornal do Commercio, Folha de Pernambuco and Diário de Pernambuco. The content was analyzed, and were studied the discourses present both in the documents and in the speeches of the local political leaders. After this investigation, it was noticed some divergences in the documents regarding the paradigm of coexistence. It was also found in the collected speeches that the reasonings at local level are often more consistent with the paradigm of coexistence than the national debate on the subject.