4—Agenda-Setting. Definition and Problematics Flashcards
What is issue articulation?
Issue articulation refers to how problems are framed within a jurisdiction. If, for example, gender inequality is the norm, a lower enrolment rate of girls in school will not be seen as a primary concern. Whilst, if it was considered a development-related issue, it would gain political attention. Likewise, different issue areas call for different subsets within the policy subsystem
What is a policy window?
A policy window is a short-lived period in which actors have the possibility of influencing the political agenda
What are the 4 types of policy windows?
routinized windows: in which regularly scheduled procedural events such as budget cycles dictate agenda openings;
discretionary windows: where individual political preferences on the part of decision-makers dictate window openings;
random windows: where unforeseen events, such as disasters or scandals, open agenda windows; and
spillover windows: where related issues are drawn into already opened windows in other sectors or issue areas
What is the difference between a problem and a condition?
A problem is the undesirable effect of a condition that is amenable to government action
What is problem tractability?
Problem tractability is a measure of how complex is to solve a specific problem
How are ill-structured/wicked problems defined?
Ill-structured/wicked problems have:
1. Boundaries subject to dispute
2. Causes that may be unknown or poorly understood
3. Potential solutions that are highly uncertain and/or subject to deep disagreement among technical experts and social and political actors
What is the issue-attention cycle?
It is a dynamic in public policy-making where issues, too costly to be solved, appear on the political agenda only when raised by public attention
What are epistemic communities?
Epistemic communities are subsets within the policy subsystem composed of groups of scientists and government officials involved in articulating and delimiting problem spaces (often setting the standards) in areas such as oceans policy and climate change
What are instrument constituencies?
Instrument constituencies define a subset of actors within the policy subsystem who advocate for particular tools or combinations of tools to address a range of problem areas
Who are the policy entrepreneurs?
Policy entrepreneurs are well-informed and well-connected insiders who provide the knowledge and tenacity to help agenda items develop and move between unofficial, or public, and official, or governmental, status.
What is the funnel of causality?
Is the structural framework in which actors operate at the level of agenda-setting. Precisely, policy-making occurs within institutions, institutions exist within prevailing sets of ideas, ideas operate within relations of power in society and the relations of power in turn arise from the social and material environment
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the funnel of causality model?
It accounts for the vertical influences that shift at higher levels may have on policy-making. However, this is also a weakness, as it does not explain the configurations of such architecture in specific circumstances
How did Cobb and Elder define agenda-setting?
Cobb and Elder define agenda-setting as problems commonly perceived by the political community as meriting public attention and as involving matters within the legitimate jurisdiction of existing governmental authority
What is the outside initiation model in Cobb and Elder’s analysis?
It is the mode of agenda-setting in liberal, pluralist societies, where issues start from non-political groups, then enter the public discourse and finally the political agenda
What is the mobilization model in Cobb and Elder’s analysis?
It is the mode of agenda-setting in totalitarian regimes, where the government sets the political agenda and then reaches the public to gain support for its policy
