Discourse Analysis of Communications Interactions Between Senators and Resource Persons During Committee Deliberations

Abstract

Miquel, J.D. (2018). Discourse Analysis of Communication Interactions Between Senators and Resource Persons During Committee Deliberations: The Case of RA 10931 (Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or the Free Tuition Law), Unpublished Master's Thesis, University of the Philippines Open University. This study aims to determine the extent of power play among legislators and resource persons during the committee deliberations of the proposed Free Tuition Law by looking into the communication interactions among them and the scope of influence of resource persons in this specific part of legislation–Senate committee level. Since the study focuses on the communication processes in legislation, literature gives a closer look at committee hearings and how it encourages participation and interaction between lawmakers and resource persons. By employing discourse analysis as research design and Dyadic Power Theory (DPT) as theoretical lens, the study forms an inductive data-driven analysis of the transcript during the committee deliberations of the specific bill. Results of the study show that legislation is a communication process. Lawmakers and resource persons interact with each other and communicate their interests, suggestions, and reservations on the proposed bill—a discourse that is instrumental for the passage of the measure into law. More importantly, the study reveals that senators are keen to pass the then Free Higher Education Act despite the reservations of resource persons. While minor suggestions of resource persons were taken into account as reflected in the bill passed by the Senate, important issues raised by the former were not considered in the bill's final draft. The recommendations to grant free tuition subsidy only to poor students and to address the lack of quality education in public educational institutions on top of the bill's goal to increase accessibility of tertiary education were apparently not reflected in the law. The study also highlights the underlying flaws in the Free Tuition Law which puts into question if the law indeed promotes equitable access to college education despite having untargeted beneficiaries and merit-based selection of students.