Public policy in the face of post-truth politics and the role of deliberation

ABSTRACT

By learning from haze pollution policy in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the policy intervention discussed here is based on blaming rural farmers as a cause of the problem. The main policy instrument, thus, is to prohibit farmers from burning. Scientists point out that this complex problem is related to climate change, however, there is little focus on individual contributions to the problem. People find it more convenient to watch governmental agencies victimize farmers, since such a manipulation of the truth is politically and socially constructed. This challenge derives from the fact that some facts are perceived when making a policy, while some are ignored. Also, some facts are selected when evaluating a policy, while others are not. This article claims that joint-fact checking can help us to cope with the challenge when it operates through a deliberative process in which both empirical and normative assumptions are included.

KEYWORDS:

• Post-truth politics
• climate denial
• critical policy research
• deliberation
• joint-fact checking
• haze pollution policy

Acknowledgments

Special thanks go to Frank Fischer and Kathrin Braun for their comments of the initial draft presented at the 4^th International Conference on Public Policy organized in Montreal during 26th to 28 June 2019.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This article was developed from the research project entitled ‘Inclusive Policy Design’ granted by the Thailand Research Fund in 2019.

Notes on contributors

Piyapong Boossabong

Piyapong Boossabong is an assistant professor at the Chiang Mai University School of Public Policy. His research interests include policy analysis in the Global South, deliberative approach, governance, and local knowledge. He has published in, amongst others, the following journals: Policy Studies, Critical Policy Studies, Comparative Policy Analysis, and City, Culture and Society and has authored several book chapters including in Oxford Handbook and Routledge Handbook.

Pobsook Chamchong

Pobsook Chamchong is a lecturer at the Chiang Mai University School of Public Policy. Her research interests include socio-cultural conditions, public policy, collaboration, and local governance. She obtained a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK. Her recent publications include: 'How cultural and organizational conditions impact on policy entrepreneurship: evidence from Thailand', in the Journal of Asian Public Policy, 2019.