SOCIOL 103 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Free Hand
Document Summary
Claimsmakers seek to change social policies, to alter how the society deal with the troubling condition. Their claims must reach those who have the power to make policy changes. Most obvious way to change policy is through the law. Court rulings have the power to shape the law. Supreme court rulings can shift fundamental perceptions of what is considered legal. Sometimes government agencies and courts also act as policymakers. Policy domain: part of the political system that focuses on a particular social issue. A given domain includes many people who are especially concerned with the issue addressed by that domain. Network of people who share an interest in a particular policy issue. Those people may oversee several arenas in which claims about that issue can be presented. Just as claimsmakers must compete for media coverage and public attention, they also must compete for places on legislators" agendas.
