Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 1996

A Legal Discourse Community: Text Centered and Interdisciplinary in Social and Political Context

KAREN GRIGGS

Abstract

This article reviews recent studies of legal discourse and nonacademic writing and presents the results of a historical case study of an environmental public policy. The author examined the rhetoric of public sector communication to show how an Indiana water quality standards administrative law was socially constructed as it was written collaboratively in two cycles by members of a text-centered legal discourse community. Key findings describe a dynamic discourse community with changing writing roles among government employees, lay members of the audience, and water pollution control board members. The social and political context surrounding this collaborative effort delayed formal adoption of the water quality standards in the public sector. Controversial provisions of the law stimulated social and political actions, including legislation, and in the process delayed rulemaking.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
1996-04-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651996010002008
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Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis collaborative writing qualitative research
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Hannah (2010)
    Legal Literacy: Coproducing the Law in Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Griggs (2007)
    Non-Rule Environmental Policy: A Case Study of a Foundry Sand Land Disposal NPD
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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