Policy Agenda Module 1

Summary

This transcript discusses the politics of agenda-setting in the United States, emphasizing how a functioning democracy should reflect public concerns through elected officials. It explores the policy agenda, distinguishing between systemic and governmental agendas, and further breaks down governmental agenda into mandatory and discretionary items. The focus is on why certain policies are prioritized over others. John Kingdon's agenda-setting model is highlighted, explaining how problems, policies, and politics converge to create a policy window for potential legislative action. The summary also touches on the role of indicators, focusing events, and feedback in problem recognition, and the influence of elections, national mood, and interest groups in shaping the political stream.

Takeaways

• 🗳️ Democracy functions optimally when the public's electoral choices directly influence the policy agenda of public officials.
• 📋 The policy agenda encompasses issues that policymakers choose to act on or at least appear to be acting on.
• 🌐 The systemic agenda includes all issues discussed by various stakeholders, while the governmental agenda focuses on what the government is actively addressing.
• 📅 Mandatory agenda items are issues that must be addressed by the government, such as budgeting and treaty negotiations.
• 🛑 Discretionary agenda items are policy matters that are not mandatory but are chosen by policymakers to focus on, often based on political priorities.
• 🔑 John Kingdon's agenda-setting model suggests that policies are most likely to pass when a problem stream, a policy stream, and a politics stream align.
• 📊 The problem stream involves indicators, focusing events, and feedback that bring issues to the government's attention.
• 🏛️ The politics stream is influenced by factors like elections, national mood, and interest groups' demands, which shape politicians' policy priorities.
• 📝 The policy stream consists of various policy proposals that are waiting for the right opportunity to be attached to a current problem.
• 🪟 Policy windows are brief periods when the alignment of the problem, policy, and politics streams creates an opportunity for policy change.

Q & A

What is the importance of agenda-setting in a democracy?

Agenda-setting is crucial for a functioning democracy because it determines which issues are addressed by public officials. Ideally, in a democracy, the people should send signals to their officials through elections about the problems that need attention.

What does James Anderson's categorization of the policy agenda entail?

James Anderson's categorization of the policy agenda includes the demands that policymakers choose to act on or at least appear to be acting on. These are the issues that governments are actively looking at or studying at any given time.

What is the difference between the systemic agenda and the governmental agenda?

The systemic agenda includes all issues being discussed by various stakeholders like interest groups, politicians, and the media. The governmental agenda, however, specifically refers to what the government is actually attending to at any given time.

What are mandatory agenda items?

Mandatory agenda items are issues that the government must address by law or regulation. For example, the federal budget must be passed by a certain date to avoid a government shutdown, and presidential appointments require Senate confirmation.

Can you explain discretionary agenda items?

Discretionary agenda items are issues that a president or government official chooses to prioritize based on their political agenda or beliefs. These are not legally required but are important to the individual in power, such as President Obama's focus on the Affordable Care Act.

What is John Kingdon's agenda-setting model?

John Kingdon's agenda-setting model suggests that there are three streams: the problem stream, the policy stream, and the politics stream. When these three streams come together at a policy window, there is a high likelihood that policy will be passed.

What are the elements of the problem stream in Kingdon's model?

The problem stream includes indicators like unemployment rates, focusing events such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks, and feedback from citizens and institutions about existing policies.

How does the politics stream influence the agenda?

The politics stream is influenced by factors such as elections, national mood, and interest groups. Politicians may choose to address certain issues based on perceived electoral advantages or changes in public opinion.

What role do interest groups play in the agenda-setting process?

Interest groups can influence the agenda by pressing their demands. However, they are generally more effective at blocking ideas than getting new items onto the agenda.

What is a policy window according to Kingdon's model?

A policy window is a brief period when the problem, policy, and politics streams align, creating an opportunity for policy change. If these streams do not align during this window, the chance of policy passing decreases.

What does Anthony Downs' issue attention cycle consist of?

Anthony Downs' issue attention cycle includes stages like the pre-problem stage, alarm discovery stage, decline of intensity, and post-problem stage. This cycle explains how issues move in and out of public focus, affecting the likelihood of policy enactment.

Outlines

00:00

🗳️ Democracy and Agenda-Setting

This paragraph discusses the importance of agenda-setting in democracy, particularly in the United States. It emphasizes that in a fully functioning democracy, the public should dictate the government's agenda through elections. The concept of inputs equaling outputs in a political system is introduced as an indicator of a healthy democracy. The paragraph then delves into James Anderson's categorization of the policy agenda, which includes both what policymakers choose to act on and what they merely appear to act on. Anderson's distinction between the systemic agenda (everything being discussed in Washington) and the governmental agenda (what the government is actually attending to) is highlighted. The governmental agenda is further divided into mandatory and discretionary agenda items, with examples provided for each, such as the federal budget and presidential appointments for mandatory items, and the Affordable Care Act as a discretionary item.

05:02

🌐 Understanding the Policy Agenda

The second paragraph focuses on how the policy agenda is set, using John Kingdon's agenda-setting model. Kingdon's model suggests that there are three streams that influence policy: the problem stream, the policy stream, and the politics stream. The paragraph explains that for policy to be passed, these three streams must align and create a policy window. The problem stream involves how issues gain attention, with indicators, focusing events, and feedback highlighted as key factors. Indicators are government statistics that signal problems, while focusing events are incidents that draw significant attention to an issue. Feedback from citizens and institutions can also influence the agenda. The paragraph also touches on the politics stream, which includes the national mood, elections, and rational behavior by politicians, and how these factors can push certain issues onto the governmental agenda.

10:03

🔄 The Dynamics of Policy Formation

Paragraph three continues the discussion on Kingdon's agenda-setting model, focusing on the politics stream and the policy stream. The politics stream encompasses issues that politicians perceive as needing attention, such as new presidential mandates or changes in national mood. The paragraph gives examples, like President Trump's focus on immigration and renegotiating NAFTA, and how these issues are driven by political agendas. The policy stream, on the other hand, is about the solutions proposed for existing problems. It discusses how policy proposals are often attached to current events to gain traction. The concept of policy windows is also introduced, which are opportune moments for policy change that can close quickly. The paragraph concludes by discussing how policy windows can close due to factors like public interest waning or the emergence of opposing views, using the example of the Harry and Louise ads that influenced public opinion on health care reform.

15:05

📉 The Challenges of Policy Reform

The final paragraph summarizes the challenges in getting policies onto the agenda and the rarity of significant policy reform. It uses Anthony Downs' issue attention cycle to explain why policy windows close quickly. The cycle includes stages such as the pre-problem stage, where issues are not widely discussed, the alarm discovery stage, where public interest peaks, and the post-problem stage, where interest declines, and issues return to being managed by experts. The paragraph emphasizes the difficulty of aligning the problem, policy, and politics streams through a policy window to enact policy changes, which is why major reforms are infrequent in government.

Keywords

💡Agenda-setting

Agenda-setting refers to the process by which certain issues are selected for attention by policymakers, media, and the public. In the context of the video, agenda-setting is crucial to understanding how democracy works in the United States, as it determines which issues are addressed by the government. The video emphasizes that in a well-functioning democracy, the agenda should be set by the people through elections, but other forces can influence this process.

💡Democracy

Democracy is a system of government where power is vested in the people, who can exercise it directly or through elected representatives. The video discusses how agenda-setting is integral to democracy, as it should reflect the will of the people. If agenda-setting is controlled by entities other than the electorate, it can undermine the democratic process.

💡Policy Agenda

The policy agenda encompasses the issues that policymakers choose to address or feel compelled to act upon. James Anderson's categorization of the policy agenda is mentioned in the video, highlighting the difference between what is merely discussed (systemic agenda) and what is actually being worked on by the government (governmental agenda).

💡Systemic Agenda

The systemic agenda includes all issues being discussed by various stakeholders such as interest groups, politicians, and the media. The video points out that while the systemic agenda is vast and ever-changing, it is less useful for understanding government action than the governmental agenda, which is more focused and specific.

💡Governmental Agenda

The governmental agenda consists of the issues that the government is actively considering or working on at a given time. The video explains that this agenda can be further divided into mandatory and discretionary items, with examples including budget decisions, presidential appointments, and policy reauthorizations.

💡Mandatory Agenda Items

Mandatory agenda items are issues that the government must address by law or necessity. The video uses the example of the federal budget, which must be passed by a certain date to avoid a government shutdown, illustrating how these items are non-negotiable and time-sensitive.

💡Discretionary Agenda Items

Discretionary agenda items are those that policymakers choose to focus on based on their priorities or political capital. The video gives the example of President Obama's focus on passing the Affordable Care Act, which was not mandatory but was a key policy goal of his administration.

💡John Kingdon's Agenda Setting Model

John Kingdon's agenda setting model is a framework for understanding how policies are selected for government action. The video describes Kingdon's model as having three streams: problem, policy, and politics. When these streams align, a policy window opens, making it more likely for policy to pass.

💡Problem Stream

The problem stream in Kingdon's model refers to the process by which issues gain attention due to indicators, focusing events, or feedback. The video explains how events like 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina can serve as focusing events, suddenly bringing issues to the forefront and necessitating policy responses.

💡Politics Stream

The politics stream involves the political considerations that influence which issues are prioritized. The video discusses how factors such as elections, national mood, and interest group pressures can affect the politics stream, leading to policy changes that reflect current political priorities.

💡Policy Stream

The policy stream pertains to the development of policy solutions to address identified problems. The video notes that policy entrepreneurs often seek to attach their proposed solutions to current problems, demonstrating how policy ideas are floated and potentially adopted.

💡Policy Window

A policy window is a period of opportunity when the alignment of problem, policy, and politics streams creates a chance for policy change. The video uses President Obama's push for health care reform as an example of a policy window that needed to be acted upon quickly before political circumstances changed.

💡Attention Cycle

The attention cycle is a concept that explains how public interest in an issue can wax and wane, affecting the likelihood of policy change. The video describes stages from pre-problem to post-problem, where initial interest in a new issue can decline as costs and complexities become apparent.

Highlights

The importance of agenda-setting in understanding democracy in the United States.

In a fully functioning democracy, the public should dictate the political agenda through elections.

Agenda-setting can be detrimental to democracy if controlled by entities other than the public.

James Anderson's categorization of the policy agenda into what policymakers choose to act on.

The necessity for policymakers to at least appear to be acting on certain issues.

The distinction between the systemic agenda and the governmental agenda in policy-making.

The systemic agenda includes all issues discussed by various entities in Washington.

The governmental agenda focuses on what the government is currently attending to.

Mandatory agenda items are those that government must address, such as budgets and treaties.

Discretionary agenda items are policy issues that a president or government chooses to prioritize.

John Kingdon's agenda-setting model with three streams: problem, policy, and politics.

A policy window opens when the three streams align, increasing the likelihood of policy passage.

Indicators, focusing events, and feedback are factors that bring problems to government attention.

Focusing events, such as 9/11, can drastically change policy agendas.

The politics stream includes factors like elections, national mood, and interest groups influencing policy agendas.

The policy stream consists of proposed solutions to problems waiting for the right time to be enacted.

Policy windows can close quickly due to the attention cycle of issues.

The Harry and Louise ads as an example of how public opinion can shift and close a policy window.

The rarity of massive policy reform due to the complexities of aligning the three streams and policy windows.

Transcripts

so we're gonna focus in on the politics

of agenda-setting which is very

important to understanding how democracy

works in the United States and a fully

functioning democracy it should be the

people through elections that send

signals to their public officials as to

the problems that should be addressed

and if that's what actually happens kind

of in the political systems theory model

where the inputs equal the outputs then

democracy is working well if somebody

else has the ability to be able to make

and set the agenda then that is

obviously to the detriment of democracy

so we're gonna focus on why government

looks at some policies and not others so

let's just go back to James Anderson's

categorization of the policy agenda

Anderson says that the policy agenda is

the demands that policymakers choose to

or feel compelled to act on or at least

appear to be acting on and I think the

second part of that is very important

that it's at least appear to be acting

on right so these are the things that

government's actually looking at at any

given moment in time and what they are

studying what they're trying to do so

there are potentially thousands of

different things that they could be

looking at but there are only a few

items at any given point in time that

are actually on the public agenda right

essentially because there's a limited

amount of time and there are a limited

amount of resources to be able to

function now carbon elder who are

probably the two most well known

theorists of studying policy agendas

basically pointed to different things

what we can call a systemic agenda

versus what we can call the governmental

agenda so the systemic agendas are

essentially everything that's being

discussed discussed in the Washington

community interest groups politicians

the media members of Congress what are

the issues that are out there that are

being discussed now obviously there's an

infinite amount of possibilities that

are on the systemic agenda so really

that doesn't provide a very useful

context for us to understand how

government works well

really want to focus in on is the

governmental agenda what's government

actually attending to at any given point

in time now in looking at that carbon

elder breakdown two additional things

within the governmental agenda one is

the mandatory agenda items and second

are discretionary agenda items so for

example in the federal government the

federal budget year what they call the

fiscal year runs from October 1st to

September 30th

technically in any given year the budget

has to be passed by September 30th in

order for to start on October 1st and

absent a budget the federal government

cannot operate

hence over the last several years we've

had threats of government shutdowns and

actual government shutdowns without

legislation the government cannot run so

that obviously is you know as a

consequence a mandatory public policy

that has to be on the agenda you know we

have it at the state level as well but

over the last several years we have not

been able to get that done on time

either presidential appointments are

something they're kind of mandatory so

when the president say for example the

president Trump and president all of his

cabinet had to be had to be vetted by

the United States Senate and then have a

confirmation process that would be

something we considered to be mandatory

the president negotiates a treaty with

another country that's something that

has to be looked at by them we also have

what are called reauthorizations which

are every several years major public

policy topics have to be reauthorized

essentially weary up for another four or

five years and say these are our

priorities in agriculture for the next

four or five years and this is how much

money we want to spend so once money

runs dry or runs out on a certain

program that has to be reauthorized and

that's mandatory or else you can't spend

money on that program then there are

also discretionary things so for example

every president comes into office with

some issues that they got elected on and

which don't necessarily have to be dealt

with but

important to them so President Obama for

example when he became president focused

his first year year plus about year and

a quarter on passing the Affordable Care

Act that was a discretionary item he

could have decided to focus more on

economic development particularly

because of the recession but he felt as

though he would never have enough

political capital again to be able to

push healthcare through and the time was

then to do that that was a discretionary

policy Republicans in Congress

attempting to repeal and replace the

Affordable Care Act that is a

discretionary policy there's already you

know there already is a policy called

the Affordable Care Act and they've put

and the Republicans have put this on the

agenda as a discretionary item there's

no mandatory reason for that to be

discussed so really we want to focus in

on the governmental agenda and not the

systemic agenda now in looking at how we

set the agenda there are a couple of

different ways to focus on this John

Kingdon has an agenda setting model

that's very well known and very useful

to helping us understand when things

actually get passed and you'll see a

diagram here his agenda setting model

says that there are basically three

streams out there there's a problem

stream a policy stream a politics stream

and then there's a policy window when

all three of these streams can come

together you got a pretty good

likelihood that something's actually

going to pass if not if those streams

don't come together probably will not

pass so let's take a look at what each

one of these individual things mean the

problem stream one of the things that we

focus on is how do problems gain the

attention of members of government or

the public there are a number of things

that kingdon points to he talks about

indicators focusing events and feedback

so there are a lot of government

statistics or statistics that are

provided that are indicators to us of

when there is a problem the biggest

thing obviously is unemployment when the

unemployment rate starts to increase

generally we were

recession our economic growth is another

indicator and that indicates to us that

a priority should be placed on finding

new ways to create jobs rates of poverty

and impoverishment our indicators that

let us know what needs to be dealt with

in society the cost of government

programs other indicators looking at

budget deficits over time are indicators

of the health of the economy and the

health of the federal budget and are an

indicator that something needs to be

done right so if we see an exploding

future budget deficit that usually is an

indicator at least to Republicans that

they should try to cut some spending

sometimes you have what's called a

focusing event which really places great

emphasis on something that's occurring

and the need to be able to make policy

change on that so for example within our

lifetimes probably the biggest focusing

event was September 11th 2001 prior to

at that point in time most people had

never heard of al Qaeda most people were

not particularly concerned about

terrorism but that event then changed

the way that we looked at the world the

United States place in the world and

within a matter of two years we were in

two separate wars one effect in

Afghanistan and one in Iraq and that was

a focusing event that changed the

trajectory of American foreign policy a

couple of other things

McCain Katrina was a focusing event on

our you know global warming and our

ability to be able to deal with

disasters and certainly FEMA became a

household name after that and we've

suffered through a number of hurricanes

recently and really our ability to be

able to limit the loss of lives probably

was a consequence of Katrina being a

focusing event that changed the way that

we deal with disasters there were all

kinds of things in relationship to this

that we can talk about focusing events

and then finally feedback one thing is

that citizens and state governments and

local governments and institutions and

businesses provide feedback to govern

when programs don't work and that

creates a need to be able to alter or

change these puppies policies and that

brings it to the attention of government

right so indicators being some kind of

statistics that that you know alert us

to a problem a focusing event something

that gains widespread notoriety and then

put something on the agenda and then

finally kind of decide to give feedback

on how policies work the second stream

that we talked about with with with

Kingdon is the politics stream and these

are things that politicians perceive

should actually be addressed and if this

changes over time and there are a number

of reasons why one is that one political

party the other believes that there

might be an electoral advantage to

dealing with this problem so just use

the example of the Republicans

attempting to to to get rid of the

Affordable Care Act replacing it and and

replace that repeal and replace because

they think that that is a policy that's

got them elected over the last election

cycles and that's something that they

should be focusing on right so that's

the politics stream often times when we

get a new president they come in with

what they consider to be a mandate to

change policy and a small amount of

items that they ran on so for example

you know for for Donald Trump

immigration is a major issue that is on

his agenda in addition to that

renegotiating NAFTA serve all these kind

of things that happen when you have a

new president or a new congressional

majority that takes over

it can also be times in which there's a

change in the national mood that we

believe that certain things should be

dealt with so there's a lot of

discussion in American culture today

about income inequality and people are

more willing than they probably have

been in several decades to regulate

businesses and become more kind of

intrusive in the business environment

and that's because people's ideas about

what's fair and what's not fair in the

topic of inequality is grown

to gain attention finally interest

groups can also press their demands and

get things on the agenda but as it says

down here at the bottom interest groups

are generally much better at blocking

ideas than they are actually getting

things on to the agenda so really

the national mood and elections and

rational behavior by politicians are the

most important things in the policy

stream I mean in that politics stream

and then finally we have the policy

stream and that is what should be done

about a problem so the interesting thing

about the policy streams are that there

are all types of ideas that are floating

around out there about policy issues

what you try to do if you have a

solution to a problem is attach it to a

problem that's existing at the current

time right so every issue that's out

there that you're supporting has a

proposal that you've developed about how

to deal with it and you're always trying

to find somebody that will pass that

policy so for example you can use

different focusing events for different

purposes right so say for example you

know the Hurricanes that just came

through Florida and and Texas they can

be used for the purposes of trying to

deal with things like global climate

change or they can be used as a method

to be able to focus in on how to deal

more effectively with disaster relief

now all the proposals for dealing with

climate change or disaster relief are

already out there what I'm trying to do

is take my proposal for that and attach

it to some event that's occurring so

you're successful if you match policies

to events

then finally we have these policy

windows there are times in which you

have to strike while the iron is hot and

I mentioned that President Obama in 2009

2010 felt that the only time that he

could pass health care reform would be

in his first year or so of office and

after that you'd run into the midterm

elections and then they'd be up for the

next presidential election in 2012 so

there was a small policy window to be

able to pass health care legislation and

they didn't want to miss that window so

basically that's driven by the problem

stream and the political stream so you

know things gain people's attentions and

then at that point in time our

politicians say oh we should deal with

this problem but the window for passing

policy change can can close relatively

quickly so you have to you have a very

limited time period now the question is

why does that policy window closed so

quickly and Anthony towns who's an

economist or a political economists

basically is said that there's an issue

attention cycle and there are certain

stages that we go through that open a

window for policy enactment and then

close it very quickly so there's the pre

problem stage when nobody except for the

people that are really affected by a

policy are interested in it that's not

out of the public view

there isn't much being discussed by the

public then there's what we can call the

alarm discovery stage all of a sudden a

problem pops up there and people get all

excited about this issue and we should

be addressing this right and then

interest groups politicians people that

oppose that policy start to say hey wait

a second yeah it would be real nice if

we had that policy but there are a lot

of costs associated with that and you

can't see it right here but I will make

these slides available to you you can

click on the Harry and Louise video here

back in 1992 when President Clinton

actually 93 when President Clinton was

trying to pass health care reform it was

on the public docket and people were

generally receptive to health care

reform but then a series of ads and it's

very rare that kind of ads really

changed things but a series of ads

called the Harry and Louisa ads fran and

basically said hey i was for all this

but look at all this government

regulation look at the fact that my

health care is going to change and

people started to realize well yeah we

want to insure the uninsured but we

don't want care to change and you know

we realized that there's going to be a

cost with a project and with a policy

and gradually this leads to a decline of

our intensity of interest and next thing

you know you get to the post problem

stage where once again something is out

of you and nobody deals with it except

for the experts so that's kind of an

overview of john Kingman's idea of how

things get onto the agenda so these

streams that move around there when you

can get the streams together and fit

them through a policy window you've got

a good chance of passing policy but as

you can see from this so real reason why

there is very rarely any massive reform

that goes on in government