Week 7 Discussion: Agenda Setting

20 20 unread replies. 20 20 replies.

Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

Textbook: Chapter 11
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)

Initial Post Instructions
Agenda setting can be a difficult task in government. Why? Who do you consider an important agenda setter in government? How does this participant help set the agenda? Give an example of an attempt at agenda setting in government. Was it successful? Why or why not? Consider how factors such as culture, political positions, etc. might impact your own, or the agenda setters' priorities.

Hello everyone!

One of the most difficult parts of the policy making process is the first stage, agenda setting. This stage can be difficult because you must get your problem voiced to some of the most powerful people in the world. For a policy problem to make it into the agenda Kingdom argues that there are three things that must come together before that can happen. These three things include: the problem, the existence of a solution, and the political will to deal with it (Whitman Cobb, 2020). According to our textbook the most powerful agenda setter is the president. He can help influence the agenda by spending time on a certain topic and influencing the media as well as congress to identify these specific issues. The Freedom of Information act was enacted on July 4, 1966. This act was created to help keep our government accountable. This act has helped to expose a great deal of government misconduct as well as threats to the public’s health and safety (History.com, 2020). I feel that this was an important issue that was placed on the agenda and I am glad that it passed. I feel that something like this is necessary in every government to provide continuous check on government power.

References

History.com. (2020). Freedom of information act. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/1960s/freedom-of-information-act

Whitman Cobb, Wendy N. (2020). Political Science Today. Washington, DC: Sage Publications, Inc.