Mammotsa Makhene
Howlett, Ramesh and Pearl believe that agenda setting is probably one of the most important , if not the most important, stage of the policy formation process. The agenda that is set at the onset of the policy cycle will ultimately determine the objectives to be targeted, the instruments that will be used and finally the outcome (92).Over the years scholars have identified various models for agenda setting, including the convergence thesis, the resource dependency, which gave rise to the political business cycle model, the funnel causality and finally the issue attention cycle models.
Which of these models best describes current policy setting agenda in the United States (US), who gets to set this agenda and what mechanisms do they use (94-5)?
The run-up to the 2016 Democrat party presidential candidate nomination, saw various stakeholders, the media and public at large, suggesting that Bernie Sanders was changing the conversation around which policies to address and how to go about this. Sanders highlighted, income inequality, the uneven distribution of power between the poor, the wealthy, huge corporations and Washington insiders. These among other factors are the reasons he believes the current political and economic system in the US, can no longer be viewed as giving equal opportunity to all. He forced Hillary Clinton to address difficult issues such as tax policy, minimum wages as well as college student debt. While many democrats did not agree with his proposals, it would seem he helped swing the party towards a more progressive agenda (Tankersley).
The above example I believe is a great case to apply the funnel causality model of agenda setting. In this model, relationships between social, institutional, ideational, political and economic factors are considered to have influence on setting the agenda. “ These models, considered all these variables to be important but situated them within a funnel of causality, in which each factor was ‘nested’ among other variables” (Howlett, Ramesh & Pearl, 99).While we cannot ignore the fact that Mr Sanders was influential in changing the conversation around agenda setting, it is hard to determine exactly how much influence he had given an array of other factors. “It is fair to say that the party was already moving toward more anger at Wall Street, more suspicion of trade deals, more focus on the divide between the very rich and everyone else, when this election season began” (Tankersley). Some may even argue that in some cases support for for him as a nominee was based on anti Clinton rhetoric rather than policy preference. The traditional media, social media and blogs helped garner attention around Sanders and his agenda.
Here we see the issue attention cycle model in effect. Downs in the 60’s asserted that public policy agenda often originates from those matters that gain public attention at the time and cause the public to demand changes. These demands often fade once the matter is not given as much attention and once the public realizes that there is no easy fix (Howlett, Ramesh & Pearl,100). In a world where the internet dominates and information dissemination has become so seamless, we need to look at the effect of the internet and social media in affecting agenda setting. The Arab spring as well as the Black Lives Matter movement are testament to this.
In her 2009 study, Is There an Elite Hold? Traditional Media to Social Media Agenda Setting Influence in Blog Networks, Meraz found that traditional media’s agenda setting power or monopoly has lost some of its influence to the independent blog platform. This platform is credited for redistributing power between traditional media and citizen media and in allowing citizens to play a more active role in news agenda setting. How much power has been transferred from traditional media in agenda setting to citizens? The findings of the study showed that while traditional media does not yield as much influence, major traditional publications like The New York Times and Washington Post, were still among the top sources for agenda setting, both with the public and the blogosphere news network system. In conservative and moderate blog networks, it was found that there seems to be a negative tilt towards the conservative agenda. Conservative and moderate blog outlets seem to ignore media agenda setting power and in fact circumvent traditional media agenda setting power. Silence on certain topics can be a powerful strategy to use (1-2).
Policy agenda setting is a dynamic and evolving idea. Academic theories of the past including the convergence thesis and the resource dependency model, while still relevant, do not speak to all the factors at play in today’s society. Models such as the funnel of causality as well as the issue attention cycle, give some valuable insights for today's context. Those who set the agenda, have for the most part remained the same over the past few decades. Namely traditional media, policy makers and general democratic norms of industrialized countries. However these agents now yield less power than they did before due to growing public participation and opinion. While traditional instruments of agenda setting are being used social media and the internet are now challenging these instruments by providing faster and cheaper ways of disseminating information.
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Works Cited
Howlett, Ramesh and Pearl believe that agenda setting is probably one of the most important , if not the most important, stage of the policy formation process. The agenda that is set at the onset of the policy cycle will ultimately determine the objectives to be targeted, the instruments that will be used and finally the outcome (92).Over the years scholars have identified various models for agenda setting, including the convergence thesis, the resource dependency, which gave rise to the political business cycle model, the funnel causality and finally the issue attention cycle models.
Which of these models best describes current policy setting agenda in the United States (US), who gets to set this agenda and what mechanisms do they use (94-5)?
The run-up to the 2016 Democrat party presidential candidate nomination, saw various stakeholders, the media and public at large, suggesting that Bernie Sanders was changing the conversation around which policies to address and how to go about this. Sanders highlighted, income inequality, the uneven distribution of power between the poor, the wealthy, huge corporations and Washington insiders. These among other factors are the reasons he believes the current political and economic system in the US, can no longer be viewed as giving equal opportunity to all. He forced Hillary Clinton to address difficult issues such as tax policy, minimum wages as well as college student debt. While many democrats did not agree with his proposals, it would seem he helped swing the party towards a more progressive agenda (Tankersley).
The above example I believe is a great case to apply the funnel causality model of agenda setting. In this model, relationships between social, institutional, ideational, political and economic factors are considered to have influence on setting the agenda. “ These models, considered all these variables to be important but situated them within a funnel of causality, in which each factor was ‘nested’ among other variables” (Howlett, Ramesh & Pearl, 99).While we cannot ignore the fact that Mr Sanders was influential in changing the conversation around agenda setting, it is hard to determine exactly how much influence he had given an array of other factors. “It is fair to say that the party was already moving toward more anger at Wall Street, more suspicion of trade deals, more focus on the divide between the very rich and everyone else, when this election season began” (Tankersley). Some may even argue that in some cases support for for him as a nominee was based on anti Clinton rhetoric rather than policy preference. The traditional media, social media and blogs helped garner attention around Sanders and his agenda.
Here we see the issue attention cycle model in effect. Downs in the 60’s asserted that public policy agenda often originates from those matters that gain public attention at the time and cause the public to demand changes. These demands often fade once the matter is not given as much attention and once the public realizes that there is no easy fix (Howlett, Ramesh & Pearl,100). In a world where the internet dominates and information dissemination has become so seamless, we need to look at the effect of the internet and social media in affecting agenda setting. The Arab spring as well as the Black Lives Matter movement are testament to this.
In her 2009 study, Is There an Elite Hold? Traditional Media to Social Media Agenda Setting Influence in Blog Networks, Meraz found that traditional media’s agenda setting power or monopoly has lost some of its influence to the independent blog platform. This platform is credited for redistributing power between traditional media and citizen media and in allowing citizens to play a more active role in news agenda setting. How much power has been transferred from traditional media in agenda setting to citizens? The findings of the study showed that while traditional media does not yield as much influence, major traditional publications like The New York Times and Washington Post, were still among the top sources for agenda setting, both with the public and the blogosphere news network system. In conservative and moderate blog networks, it was found that there seems to be a negative tilt towards the conservative agenda. Conservative and moderate blog outlets seem to ignore media agenda setting power and in fact circumvent traditional media agenda setting power. Silence on certain topics can be a powerful strategy to use (1-2).
Policy agenda setting is a dynamic and evolving idea. Academic theories of the past including the convergence thesis and the resource dependency model, while still relevant, do not speak to all the factors at play in today’s society. Models such as the funnel of causality as well as the issue attention cycle, give some valuable insights for today's context. Those who set the agenda, have for the most part remained the same over the past few decades. Namely traditional media, policy makers and general democratic norms of industrialized countries. However these agents now yield less power than they did before due to growing public participation and opinion. While traditional instruments of agenda setting are being used social media and the internet are now challenging these instruments by providing faster and cheaper ways of disseminating information.
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Works Cited
- Howlett, Michael, M. Ramesh and Anthony Perl. Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems, Oxford University Press, 2009 (3rd Edition).
- Meraz, Sharon. "Is there an elite hold? Traditional media to social media agenda setting influence in blog networks." Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication 14.3 (2009): 682-707.
- Skocpol, Theda, “Targeting within Universalism: Politically viable Policies to Combat Poverty in the United States,” In Christopher Jencks and Paul E. Peterson Eds. The Urban Underclass, Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1991.
- Tankersley, Jim. "How Bernie Sanders Changed the Democratic Party." Huffington Post. N.p., 8 June 2016. Web. 17 Sept. 2016.