Health Sciences 3400A/B Chapter 2: Chapter 2 - Agenda Setting.docx

• School: Western University
• Department: Health Sciences
• Course: Health Sciences 3400A/B
• Professor: Sharon Regan

Document Summary

The process by which gov"t decide which issues need their attention. Public managers tackle these and other defects in agenda settings leading to improved policy processes and outcomes: their potential remains untapped because of the perception that their responsibility is with admin/organizational tasks. An agenda is a list of issues or problems which governmental officials and others in the policy community are paying some serious attention at any given time. Concerned with initial processes of issue identification and policy initiation and with the manner the processes affect policy-making activities. Agenda items differ between the economic and social circumstances. Sometimes defined as the process by which demands of various groups are translated into items that the government will consider for action. Empirical evidence shows that policy problems have been raised by the governments rather than social groups. Characteristic features of agenda setting: nonlinear, political as well as technical, takes place within a complex network of state and societal actors.