Agenda itself is an integral part of the mundane routine. All people choose the priorities and organize their daily actions in accordance with them. This means that agenda setting even in personal space has a significant impact on the human life. When talking about the wider scale, agenda setting can influence the course of events in the whole world.
Agenda setting is the term mainly used in the field of mass media and policy making. In the first case, a properly organized list of important pieces of news in an average newspaper or TV-show can create some special perception among the audience. In other words, the news, which is shown first, capture the biggest attention and then appear as the most important ones. Therefore, agenda setting is the factor, which has the direct influence on the society’s mood and becomes the powerful impetus of the public response. In other words, agenda setting is the key reflection of all the mass media’s responsibilities.
In policy making, the term agenda setting has a deeper meaning. This is not an obvious process, which is presented as the center of the whole action, as it happens in the case of mass media. Still, it is hard to imagine any policy without special supportive agenda. In the context of policymaking, agenda is the exact order of the actions, which ought to be implemented. Therefore, agenda setting is the process, which identifies and describes the main things to do in order to make the policy work. Moreover, agenda setting also sets the priorities and shows the precise causal relationships between the reasons of the policy implemented and the result, which has to appear after the implementation.
When talking about the problems, policies, and politics and their influence over the process of the agenda setting, it is important to describe an example. In the Bipartisan Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the agenda setting is proved to be the base for the future policy created and implemented (Kingdom, 2011). The major role in setting the agenda in the mentioned example plays the problem of immigrants. By stating that the immigration system is broken, the participants of the policymaking process justify the necessity of the future actions. To expand the idea of problems in agenda setting, it is vital to mention that any policy is the respond to some public problems or issues which need to be resolved.
In the mentioned example of setting the agenda of the immigration system, a policy is the central thing. A whole agenda is a number of actions, which need to be implemented. However, there are many designations, such as demonstrate or help. Nevertheless, the main instructions aim to create new immigration system, which is undoubtedly the final desired policy. In this context, policy implementation is the integral thing which represents the result of the set agenda. For example, creating the list of legislated actions is the process of policy making. Besides, this facet of the new immigration system policy is placed at the end of the agenda because it is the final result, which the whole process is aimed to.
Politics, in fact, are some kind of power, which trigger the process of policy making and, therefore, influence the agenda setting. Politics is the background of the actions needed and the power, which can set the named orders in action. In the example with the new immigration system policy, politics establish the main points of the agenda. For instance, they state that creating a new path for immigrants is an important part of the further policy. In the agenda setting process, the political priorities are represented in the order of designations.
In conclusion, it is important to point out that such facets of the policy making process as problems, policies, and politics are the impetus of the agenda setting. These factors represent the exact order of the actions which ought to be taken in accordance with the political priorities and the algorithm of the issue resolution.
References
Kingdom J. W. (2011). Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policy. Longman Pearson.
