THE DEPRECIATING PUBLIC-POLICY DISCOURSE

Public policy discourse has entered an era of media-driven hyperrealit y, becoming detached from the lived experience of the polity. Bumper-s ticker political symbols, such as ''the war on drugs,'' have displaced vibrant discussion of public issues. This depreciation of the public discourse can be apprehended if vie conceptualize this problematic as a postmodern phenomenon. By borrowing vocabulary and concepts from pos tmodern thought, we can fly to figure out what is going on. How is mod ernity different from postmodernity? How does reality become hyperreal ity? After a description of postmodern conditions-and the implications of this for public policy discourse-the ''war on drugs'' is deconstru cted to supply a vivid example of the slippery slope from reality to h yperreality.