Agenda setting and policy formulation

Question 1

What is the policy agenda?

Answer 1

• ‘…the list of subjects or problems to which government officials and people outside of government (closely associated with those officials) are paying some serious attention at any one time’ (Kingdon 1984, 1995, 2003)
– a sub-set of a much longer list of issues being discussed informally in society as potentially worthy of policy attention
– being on the agenda does not mean that an issue will necessarily be acted on, only an opportunity

Question 2

What is agenda setting?

Answer 2

• Moving an issue from a general social concern onto the government’s agenda
• Apolitical,pre-decisionmakingactivity
• The agenda is limited by time, money, staff and expertise, so there is a contest to get issues onto the agenda and keep them there
– and to ensure that they have high priority
• Affected by how issues are defined, how feasible solutions are judged, who influences the debate,
who controls the agenda and how priorities are determined

Question 3

How do issues get on to the policy agenda or not?

Answer 3

• The ‘three faces of power’ (Lukes) are particularly relevant to agenda setting
– particularly the second and third ‘faces’
• Countries vary in the extent to which the agenda is controlled by an elite/powerful
interests or is more open
– probably more evidence favours elitist position
• Different political systems offer more/fewer opportunities to move issues onto the agenda
– e.g. federal versus unitary systems, rules

Question 4

A range of actors shape what is on/off the policy agenda

Answer 4

• Interest groups – especially economic elites
• Issue coalitions – groupings of interests
• Policy ‘entrepreneurs’ who build coalitions
• Elected officials (ministers, MPs) – are central in most cases, sometimes also their officials
• Think tanks (usually aligned with parties)
• Academics, researchers and consultants
– more likely to shape the policy options and long term direction rather than the short term agenda

• Civilsocietyandactivecitizenparticipation • Media
– act as ‘gate-keepers’, shape (‘frame’) and draw attention to issues, but less commonly independently bring issues onto the policy agenda
– can influence where in the agenda an issue sits
• Regulatorsandspecialistgovernmentagencies • Internationalbodiese.g.WHO,WTO,IMF

Question 5

Other factors

Answer 5

• ‘Focusing events’
– e.g. disasters, scandals & causes célèbres can generate external ‘shocks’ to a settled policy system
– But hard to predict which ones will lead to major agenda changes
– Birkland (2006) argues that there has to be both a clear notion of the problem and of potential solutions for external shocks to produce a sustained response
• ‘Framing’ of issues
– objective indicators are rarely sufficient alone

Question 6

Issues have to be defined as policy/public

‘problems’ to get near the agenda

Answer 6

• Is there a policy problem?
– It is rare that objective conditions alone are so compelling or unambiguous that they determine that an issue gets onto the agenda
– Nature of problems is often contested • Howistheproblemdefined?
– May depend on ideology and values
– For example, ‘needs’ can be defined in normative, felt,
expressed or comparative terms
– Symbols, numbers and stories used to persuade
– Problems have to be ‘constructed’ to be acted on
• Whodefinestheproblem?
– can affect the likelihood of getting onto the agenda

Question 7

Construction of a problem

Answer 7

Private problem -> Social problem -> Public problem ->
On the policy agenda


Question 8

Alcohol framing

Answer 8

• Tradetreaty(EU)issue • Economicissue
– Producers versus retailers (supermarkets, the rest)
– Impact of price on economic inequalities • Crimeissue
– Disorder, violence versus illicit trade • Healthissue
– Individual (minority) versus population-wide
– Youthful binging versus older chronic consumption

Question 9

Hall, Land, Parker and Webb’s (1975) theory of agenda setting

Answer 9

• Legitimacy
– Those issues with which governments (or policymakers in other sectors) feel they should be concerned
• Support
– Public support for this issue affecting political will
• Feasibility
– Technical knowledge, skills, infrastructure, funds

Question 10

Kingdon’s three streams metaphor of
agenda setting (and decision making)

Answer 10

• Problem stream – Indicators
– Focusing events (e.g. disasters, accidents)
– Feedback (e.g. research, evaluations) • Policy stream
– Potential solutions
– Advanced by visible and hidden participants • Politics stream
– State of politics and public opinion
– Policy ‘entrepreneurs’ or ‘brokers’ building coalitions to put issues & solutions on the agenda

Question 11

Is Kingdon’s model generalisable?

Answer 11

• Kingdon’s analysis was exclusively of US federal policy making (health & transport)
• Thus tends to emphasise fragmented, haphazard, contingent, changing nature of policy process
• May underplay more rational search for problems in more organised systems and role of political manifestos & commitments in Westminster systems
• draws attention to role of institutions (and ideas)

Question 12

From agenda setting to policy

formulation

Answer 12

• According to the stages heuristic, when problems are identified as high priority issues to be solved by new policies (on the policy agenda), policy formulation begins, focused on how to get to the desired end
• In this view, formulation ends when governments (or other organisations) have decided on their policy ‘instruments’ (e.g. legislated) and begin to implement policies
• In practice, there are complex networks of people and organisations in the ‘policy stream’ who work on policy options during and after agenda setting