The power to frame the scale. Analysing power in deliberative governance interactions

The last few years the future of the intensive agricultural sector is topic of fierce discussion in the Netherlands. In this paper we take the societal dialogue about the future of the intensive livestock sector to study the power to frame the scale in deliberative governance interactions. More specific we study how actors do scalar politics in the different parts of the societal dialogue, by framing the scale at which the issue should be addressed. We question who or what steers the framing of scale in interactions and what are the implications thereof for the policy outcomes? Framing of scale or scale framing is the framing of an issue at a particular scale and level. We develop a framework to analyse power to frame the scale in governance interactions. We use an interpretive approach, based on discourse and conversation analysis, to analyze interactions in the societal dialogue and to illustrate our framework. We conclude with a discussion about our approach and framework.