The socialist government behind the plan formed in 2005, following a three-year-rule by a centre-right coalition. The coalition followed a European neo-liberal approach focused on decentralization and privatization that led to a social and economic crisis. Despite lingering fiscal pressures, the new authority under socialist leader Jose Socrates promised improvements such as poverty prevention and equal opportunities and used new language in the PAIPDI reflecting the socialist dedication to change (disability newly framed as a human rights issue).

Social and Cultural Context of the PAIPDI

The ICF, rather than allowing for greater rights for people with disabilities, actually did the opposite in that the government determined one’s access to services and their rights, leaving disabled individuals disempowered. The author suggested a way to correct this would be through the participation of the individuals in defining their needs, rights, and supports, or the use of a holistic approach .

PAIPDI: Resulting Power Relations

The ICF favors those with more significant needs. Due to the ICF, there is a reduced number of students eligible for SEN supports, a trend that will spread to sectors such as social security, transportation, and more. This creates extremes: one small group eligible ("deserving disabled") and one large group excluded and instead reliant on mainstream services. This leaves people between the extremes not receving the necessary help, and perpetuates the stigmitization of the eligible.

PAIPDI: Further Implications on the Disabled Population

While discursive practices reveal the use of discourse within the text, sociocultural practices reveal the power dynamics behind the establishment of the PAIPDI and the implications on the disabled population. 

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1. Examination of the linguistic features of the text
2. Exploration of processes related to the production and consumption of texts (discursive practices)
3. Consideration of the wider social and cultural context to which the text as a “communicative evident” belongs (sociocultural practices)

Fairclough's Three Dimensional Model of CDA

Pinto, P. C. (2011). Between the lines: A critical discourse analysis of disability policy in Portugal. Disability Studies Quarterly, 31(3). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v31i3.1678 

Between the lines: A critical discourse analysis of disability policy in Portugal

The CDA shows a focus on the use of metaphor in text, particularly the framing of the PAIPDI as the "turning point" in Portugese policy through the use of a new definition of disabilities and vocabularies as such. Uses of terms such as "innovative," "radical," and "reorientation," emphasize this "paradigm shift." Emphatic terms also show a administrative commitment to the plan's promises.

PAIPDI: Texture of the Text

The discursive practices latent in the PAIPDI reflect the link between the text and the sociocultural context and the relationship between the political and scientific approaches used to shift disability policy from a charity to human rights concern.

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