Defining the 'public' in a public healthcare system

Using data from a larger study on public participation in the Quebec healthcare system, we draw on the sociological theory of Bourdieu to analyze speakers' in-use definition of 'the public' in some 100 interview and observation notes. We found that the definition of 'the public' is the subject of a vigorous struggle at the symbolic level. Many actors share a common, but often conflicting, interest in the elaboration and objectification of a given definition of 'the public' because their legitimacy is strongly related to their ability to be perceived either as representing the 'public' will or as acting in the 'public's' interest. Building upon the categorizations used in the discourses, we are also able to draw a picture of each group of actors' positions and strategies in this struggle. This picture reveals how the claim to directly represent the public's 'will' is closely related to actors' lack of formal power to influence decision-making in the system. We then use these observations to discuss the role of discourses in political and symbolical struggles.