POLITICAL SCIENCE

This is a graded discussion: 25 points possible due Oct 19 at 1:59am

Week 7 Discussion: Agenda Se!ng 21 21

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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.

Use evidence (cite sources) to support your response from assigned readings or online lessons, and at least one outside scholarly source.

Follow-Up Post Instructions Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification. Minimum of 1 scholarly source, which can include your textbook or assigned readings or may be from your additional scholarly research.

Writing Requirements

Grading This activity will be graded using the Discussion Grading Rubric. Please review the following link:

Course Outcomes (CO): 2, 4, 6

Due Date for Initial Post: By 11:59 p.m. MT on Wednesday Due Date for Follow-Up Posts: By 11:59 p.m. MT on Sunday

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

Minimum of 3 posts (1 initial & 2 follow-up) Minimum of 2 sources cited (assigned readings/online lessons and an outside scholarly source) APA format for in-text citations and list of references

Link (webpage): Discussion Guidelines

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(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/72720)Samuel Angus (Instructor) Aug 19, 2020

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PLURALISM, ELITISM, AND AGENDA SETTING MORE GENERALLY Class,

What is elite theory? What is pluralism? (Whitman Cobb, 164) How is agenda setting visualized according to each?

If I was to assert that the internet and social media pushed us in the direction of pluralism, would I be right?

How can the Me Too Movement, Black Lives Matter, and other similar movements be seen through each of these two lenses? What about other ‘grass roots’ movements? Have these movements played a critical role in agenda setting? If so, how and why? If not, how come?

Sam

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Angela Walker (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/169532) Sunday

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10/14/20, 2:20 AM Page 2 of 17

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The president is a vital agenda-setter in government. He or she is vocal about specific issues, and thru the mass media coverage, the president can influence the public’s perception of what issues are important. The State of the Union address, given by the president every year, is one of the most visible acts of presidential agenda setting (Cobb, 2020). The media is an excellent vessel for agenda-setting to be done. Through the media, we, the public, are fed information about issues. And though they, the media, do not tell us what to think, they help tell us what to think and talk about.

President Trump has been a large and controversial figure in the media for four years now. With the fast election approaching, you can’t help but become entangled in the mess these two candidates have created. Almost immediately after President Trump took office, some Democrats wanted to impeach him. The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for abuse of power and Congress’s obstruction on December 18, 2019 (“President Donald Trump impeached,” 2019). However, the Senate acquitted Trump (“President Donald Trump impeached,” 2019). More and more, the media has focused on Trump or Biden’s character instead of the issues. Even the presidential debate left you questioning what either candidate stands for.

Reference

President Donald Trump impeached. HISTORY. ( 2019). Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://history.com/this-day-in-history/president-trump-impeached-house-of-representatives (https://history.com/this-day-in-history/president-trump-impeached-house-of-representatives) .

Cobb, W. (2020). Political Science Today (p. 105). SAGE Publications Ltd.

(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/72720)Samuel Angus (Instructor) Monday

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THE PRESIDENT Angela and Class,

The President is indeed one of the most important agenda setters. How can the President help bring about recognition of a problem, identify solutions, and manufacture the necessary political will? What specifically can a President do? What tools does he have at his disposal? What examples best show the power of the President when it comes to setting the agenda?

Sam

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Traci East (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/153410) Monday

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Professor and Class,

Agenda setting in government is difficult because it must have a problem, solution, and the political will to handle it. With these three areas together sets the groundwork and a good policy worker set it in motion. I feel like a great agenda setter in government is the President. The president has the most power and can influence the media and congress when they focus their time and energy on a topic of concern (Whitman Cobb, 2020). There are two factors the active participants and the process that affect agenda setting. The Active participants would be the president, other government officials, and congress. The process is made up of discussions that lead into passing of the new policy and problems with the legislation. This process can be influenced by outside sources and can cause legislators to make policy decisions based on what the media covers.

Agenda setting for President Tramp coming in to 2020 was supposed to be for drug prices, healthcare, and infrastructure. So, when the President did his State of the Union address, he briefly discussed infrastructure and never addressed drug prices or healthcare and even two months after his address the issues have never been addressed. Then in this case this agenda setting was not successful due to ignoring the issue but then the pandemic hit, and his focus switched as did most Americans.

Crowley, M. (2019, September 4). Trump Heads Into 2020 With No Clear Agenda. But It May Not Mattert. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/us/politics/trump-2020-policy-agenda-.html.

Owens, C. T., & Lamm, A. J. (2019, February 28). How Problems Gain Importance and Become Contentious Issues through Agenda Setting. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc177.

Whitman Cobb, W. N. (2020). Political science today. Sage, CQ Press.

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Siddony Blue (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/141474) Yesterday

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Traci

You give a sound definition for agenda setting. I think when a President comes in, if they are not focused and tactful when it comes to setting their agenda and sticking to it, even after they are put into office, make unstable conditions for the economy, government, laws and their ability to work in the best interest of people.

With Trumps agenda, after researching more about his platform during his campaign in 2016, looking back over the past four years, he has not followed through and truly addressed the issues of healthcare, but rather put forth his own agenda.

Siddony

10/14/20, 2:20 AM Page 4 of 17

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(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/72720)Samuel Angus (Instructor) Yesterday

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THE PRESIDENT Traci E., Siddony, and Class,

The President is an important agenda setter. How can the President help bring about recognition of a problem, identify solutions, and manufacture the necessary political will? What specifically can a President do? What tools does he have at his disposal? Informal discussions with folks in Congress? The State of teh Union? Something else? What examples best show the power of the President when it comes to setting the agenda?

Sam

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Stacey Ryle (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/117098) Yesterday

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Siddony

I agree that the President of the United States has a large platform to set an agenda. Media being one of the largest. Our country is part of a global health pandemic and instead of using the media and his platform to reassure and calm American citizens about this issue, he does the exact opposite. “Trump lashes out an enemies real or imagined ..which then causes the media outlets to cover his performance” (Sternberg, 2020) instead of the issue at hand. Trump should be using the media to not only discuss the pandemic but also to let Americans know what the government plans to do to keep citizens safe. He should be speaking to the fact that there is no governmet party when it comes to this virus. We are all potential victims and we need to fight this as a united country.

Stacey Ryle

Reference

Sternber, J. (2020). Trump flips the agenda-setting script. Retrieved from : https://www.medianut.substack.com

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Lindsay Holton (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/150366) Yesterday

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Stacey,

I respectful disagree with your post about President Trump and how he has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. I do think media is a strong platform yet media doesn’t give out the most accurate news as it normally is based off that sources own agenda whether their republican or democrat. The most accurate information based on agenda can be viewed at the State of the Union address, and further more current based information like the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen on press briefings completed by President Trump. So in that case, I do believe he uses the media correctly because he has a job to provide accurate information to the public, and by going through FOX or CNN might not be the best option as they are 2 strongly opposing news sources. If a plan is what everyone is looking for, I have heard it many times the people want a vaccine, and according to President Trump one is coming by the end of the year. As according to his 2 term agenda, a vaccine development by 2020, returning to normal by 2021, and preparing for a better pandemic future (Trump, 2020). That being said, I don’t think I will be jumping in line for the vaccine but I’m sure others will.

Unity is what President Trump spoke on in his State of the Union address. He spoke specifically to the Democratic Party, asking to set aside differences, seek common ground, and summon unity to better serve the people (Investor’s Business Daily, 2018). Yet, some American citizens are fueled with hate based off of President Trump’s aggressive attitude and twitter craze, which is not appropriate, but his work in office to help better our country speaks greater volumes.

References

Investor’s Business Daily. (2018, January 31). State Of The Union: Trump Hit It Out Of The Park. https://search-proquest- com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/docview/1992753220?accountid=147674 (https://search-proquest-com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/docview/1992753220? accountid=147674)

Trump, D.J. (2020, August 23). Trump Campaign Announces President Trumps 2 Term Agenda: Fighting For You! https://www.donaldjtrump.com/media/trump-campaign- announces-president-trumps-2nd-term-agenda-fighting-for-you/ (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/media/trump-campaign-announces-president-trumps-2nd-term- agenda-fighting-for-you/)

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Veronica Smith McCormick (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/140818) Yesterday

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Hello Traci. I have read your discussion post. You have made some very important points. The political agenda of some candidates do not include those elements that you mentioned. I think that many politicians need to adjust their political agendas to meet the needs of the voters.

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Angela Walker (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/169532) Yesterday

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Professor and Class,

The President is an important agenda-setter. During times of crisis, it is he or she that Americans look to for comfort and action. The President can also bring attention to issues through speeches, and by visiting areas he wishes to draw attention to (Cobb, 2020). The President has to deal with several policies every day and often chooses to focus on only two or three at a time. This shows the political community that these policies are more important than other ones, maybe (Cobb, 2020). The President also has the power to appoint other officers in the executive branch, with Senate approval. This will help him get legislation passed that he finds important if his party is the majority rule.

Reference

Cobb, W. (2020). Political Science Today (pp. 105-106). SAGE Publications Ltd.

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Veronica Smith McCormick (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/140818) Yesterday

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Hello Angela. I read your discussion post. You made some very important points. No matter if people like him or not, President Trump has the biggest agenda of anyone in the political realm in our government. He sets the tone for the entire country. That is why he needs to watch what he says on Twitter and during interviews on television.

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Lindsay Holton (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/150366) Yesterday

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10/14/20, 2:20 AM Page 8 of 17

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Professor Angus and class,

A political agenda is built based upon the problem, the existence of the problem, and the will to deal with it (Whitman, 2020, p. 259). I believe the President is the most important agenda setter, and specifically, I think our current President has done a great job. A President chooses their issues based upon the nation’s pressing issues and federal budget, then presents to their office and in the State of the Union address (Whitman, 2020, p. 259). President Trump has many accomplishments like creating 4 million jobs, increase median household income, decreasing minority unemployment ratings, changes with Obamacare, improved vetting and screening for refugees, and strengthened our nation’s borders by building a wall (The White House, 2018). President Trump campaigns to continue “fighting to you” by creating more jobs, returning to normal by 2021 from COVID-19, bring jobs back from China, protect Veterans healthcare, protect social security and Medicare, cover pre-existing conditions, supporting our police officers, protect the unborn life, and so much more (Trump, 2020).

The President’s agenda is rightfully based upon the nation’s issues, and citizens are informed by the States of the Union address and any specific press briefing that is done. For example, when COVID-19 pandemic started, President Trump held press briefings daily for weeks informing the population of what is going on, how we can protect ourselves, and educating on the steps they are taking. Along with this information, medical professionals spoke above President Trump on COVID-19 specific details so this allows us to trust science based evidence. Media reliance is hard to obtain accurate information from, as even when we have done assignments looking at the credibility of news sources we find the journalists are swayed republican versus democrat. So to gather accurate information about what is going on in the government, I think staying in tune to accurate news is the best bet and according to the Investor’s Business Daily (2018), President Trump defied expectations in his State of the Union address giving long detail of what he will do in office and future plans.

References

Investor’s Business Daily. (2018, January 31). State Of The Union: Trump Hit It Out Of The Park. https://search-proquest-com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/docview/1992753220? accountid=147674 (https://search-proquest-com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/docview/1992753220? accountid=147674)

Trump, D.J. (2020, August 23). Trump Campaign Announces President Trumps 2 Term Agenda: Fighting For You! https://www.donaldjtrump.com/media/trump-campaign-announces-president-trumps-2nd- term-agenda-fighting-for-you/ (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/media/trump-campaign-announces- president-trumps-2nd-term-agenda-fighting-for-you/)

The White House. (2018, September). Trump Administration Accomplishments. https://www.whitehouse.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/ (https://www.whitehouse.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/)

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Stacey Ryle (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/117098)

10/14/20, 2:20 AM Page 9 of 17

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Professor and Class,

Agenda setting can be a difficult task in government. It is said to the the toughest step in the policy making process. WhittmanCobb (2020) states, “Three streams must combine together in order for a policy problem to make it onto the political agenda: the problem, the existence of a solution, and the political will to deal with it.” It is not easy to have all three of these things fall in line in government to allow a political problem to make it to an agenda. There also needs to be people willing to put in the work and fight the fight.

I believe Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, is a very important agenda setter right now in government. As the Speaker of the House, it is her job to set the House’s agenda based off current event issues and problems the country and its citizens are facing. She is a Democrat that often buts heads with the Republican party on many issues. The recent global pandemic has caused furloughs and job loss all over the country. Businesses have been forced to shut down and some not reopen. There have been talks for months of a second stimulus package to help American citizens and it’s economy. A formal relief bill cannot be passed due to disagreements between the Republican and Democratic parties on what this package should entail. Pelosi brings this issue to the agenda on a daily basis. ” Pelosi, supported by her leadership team and most recent committee chairs, is refusing to back down from her demands for a bipartisan $2.2 trillion-plus stimulus package to boost the U.S. economy which Republicans have repeatedly dismissed” (Caygle, 2020). At this point, Speaker Pelosi has not been successful. She is not willing to listen to the Republican proposal that fails to help state and local government agencies as well as the citizen. While some Democrats are willing to compromise, she is not. There are numerous “skinny” bills that the Republican party have tried to pass but Pelosi won’t budge.

There are many issues that affect agenda setting. In this case, it is the difference in political opinions that is bringing a standstilll to the stimulus package being passed. These issues often get in the way of important issues being brought forth and resolved.

Thank you

Stacey Ryle

References

Caygle, H, Ferris,S.,& Bresnahan, J. (2020). Pelosi faces growing Democratic unrest of covid relief. Retrieved from https://www.politco.com/news/2020/9/15/nancy-pelosi-house-coronavirus-deal-415112 (https://www.politco.com/news/2020/9/15/nancy-pelosi-house-coronavirus-deal-415112) .

WhittmanCobb, W.N.(2020). Political science today. (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: Sage: CQ Press.

(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/72720)Samuel Angus (Instructor) Monday

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10/14/20, 2:20 AM Page 10 of 17

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Nancy Pelosi Stacey and Class,

Is Nancy Pelosi (the Speaker of the House) a particularly important actor right now when it comes to agenda setting? If so, is it just because of her leadership position or is there more going on and if so what might that be? The threat posed by the pandemic to vulnerable populations, a more polarized political reality, and/or the upcoming election? Something else?

Sam

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Emily Fox (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/148024) Monday

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s agenda for 2021 is mainly getting a new coronavirus relief package passed. It’s called the Heroes Act and is trying to enhance the economy after it was crushed due to the pandemic. She is also backing the Democrats’ “For the People” agenda which would lower healthcare costs and attempt to clean up the corruption in government. “We have sent the Senate bills to lower health care costs, for bigger paychecks, for cleaner government, protecting John Lewis’ voting rights and enacting the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. We sent the Senate bills to protect our Dreamers, LGBTQ equality, prevent gun violence and to preserve our planet for future generations – and even more”(House Democrats’ Agenda Barely Mentioned at Convention, n.d.).

Through all of this she has made no secret about the fact that she does not believe President Trump is right for the job. They have had many falling outs and I believe she is anxious to get him out of the White House.

House Democrats’ agenda barely mentioned at convention. (n.d.). Roll Call. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://www.rollcall.com/2020/08/20/house-democrats-agenda-barely-mentioned-at-convention-as- pelosi-forced-to-talk-about-trump/

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Kylie King (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/169214) Sunday

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Professor and Class,

I’d like to first discuss what agenda setting is. According to Cobb, “Agenda setting, as stage one in the process is the problem, the existence of a solution, and the political will to deal with it” (Cobb, p 258, 2019). What does that mean? Well, in simple terms is means there’s an issue, as way for that issue to be resolved, and a person to solve it. The problem, however, is the fact that not everyone sees the issue as an actual problem nor that the politician handling the issue should be. Hence, why it is so difficult to set an agenda. Also, according to California State University Long Beach Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration, “there is no agreement on what the problem is or even whether it is a public issue. There is no agreement on the values or tradeoffs that should be made in areas of conflict (e.g., environmental protection versus jobs). Conflict arises because different groups would be affected in different ways by any potential definition of the problem or any potential solution” (PPA 590 Women & Public Policy, para 4, 2002). That idea alone further explains why agenda setting is so difficult. When it comes to agenda setting, I say the media has a good hold on that. For example, in an article it was stated that, “since Kirsten Gillibrand dropped out, no candidate has picked up the topic of reproductive rights, at least in terms of what the media is reporting” (Bajak, para 4, 2019). The media put that out for the public. I wouldn’t have known this information otherwise. I think this was an excellent topic to come up and become something that agenda setting should focus more on. Kirsten Gillibrand helps set this up by bringing it up during her run for the Presidential race. No, Kristen was not successful and that is due to the fact that she dropped her candidacy for President. With that being said, America is one of the countries that allows women to have rights. Now, reproductive rights go both ways, however in many other places, the women are to be submissive. I have a hard time with the concept that if I don’t want to have children, I have to have my husband sign off on it or I have to be a certain age with a child. Other beliefs are out there and I’m sure culture and priorities play a factor in it. Personally, things like this need to be talked about, so kudos to Kirsten Gillibrand for attempting to bring it up.

References

Aleszu Bajak, D. K. and J. W. (2019, November 13). How news media are setting the 2020 election agenda: Chasing daily controversies, often burying policy. https://www.storybench.org/how-news-media-are-setting-the- 2020-election-agenda-chasing-daily-controversies-often-burying-policy/ (https://www.storybench.org/how- news-media-are-setting-the-2020-election-agenda-chasing-daily-controversies-often-burying-policy/) .

Cobb, W. W. (2019). VitalSource Bookshelf Online. Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://online.vitalsource.com/ (https://online.vitalsource.com/)

PPA 590 WOMEN & PUBLIC POLICY. California State University, Long Beach. (2002). https://web.csulb.edu/~msaintg/ppa590/agenda.htm (https://web.csulb.edu/~msaintg/ppa590/agenda.htm) .

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(https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/72720)Samuel Angus (Instructor) Monday

Edited by Samuel Angus (https://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/72720) on Oct 12 at 10:01am

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BASIC DEFINITION Kylie, Stacey, and Class,

Agenda setting is the first stage in the policy making process. It is recognition of a problem, agreement on a solution, and the manifestation of the political will to act. What does this mean? How does it work? Is it all boil down to their being a problem, a solution, and someone with the power and influence to make something happen? What is the broader policy making process, and how does agenda setting fit in?

Sam

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Michalle Wolfe (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/169676) Yesterday

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The basis of making a policy is a multi-stage cycle that can be described in 5 stages; Identification, building/ agenda setting, budgeting, formulation and adoption, implementation, and evaluation. The decisions made by the government are decisions that are intended to solve problems and improve the quality of life for citizens. This is just one more reason voting and knowing the beliefs of the people we are putting into office is so important.

After we identify the issue, we want to tackle we can start to build our agenda. This involves making it through several levels including the political system agenda, congressional and presidential agenda, and the bureaucratic agenda. Key actors in agenda setting include think tanks, interest groups, media, and government officials (2015). Then that agenda needs to be formulated and adopted. This means that approaches to solving the problem must made then contradictory proposals may be made and explored as well. In order for the policy to get support congress must also fit it into the budget. Since a policy may increase the needs for funds it puts more pressure on policy makers. Once congress passes, or adopts, legislation the regulations become final and heads for the Supreme court.

Implementation is often done by people who support it not as much by those who formulated and adopted it. The Supreme court is not responsible for the enforcement of its decisions instead it is up to the other branches to form guidance and implement it. Once the policy is implemented it will then be evaluated. This evaluation will tell how the policy is working, is it reaching who it was meant to reach, and is it successful. Most policy’s that are implemented are hardly ever terminated. When it is terminated it is usually because it becomes obsolete or lost its support among interest groups and elected officials that placed the agenda in the first place.

Agenda setting is the most important part of the entire process. The idea in question must make it

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Agenda setting is the most important part of the entire process. The idea in question must make it through so many different steps before it can even be considered on the agenda. Political agenda is pretty much the politics’ priority list. The agenda contains issues and items that receive political attention. As technology has advanced so has the use of media in political agenda making. The media has given politicans the ability to connect to more people and get more support for policies they want enacted. The broad, problem-seeking, often conflicting, and negative coverage prevailing in the mass media is more readily usable by opposition parties, than by government parties (Walgrave & Van Aelst, 2016).

American Politics. (2015). University of Texas. http://www.laits.utexas.edu/gov310/PEP/policy/ (http://www.laits.utexas.edu/gov310/PEP/policy/)

Walgrave, S., & Vam Aelst, P. (2016, August 31). Political Agenda Setting and the Mass Media. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore- 9780190228637-e-46?mediaType=Article (https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-46? mediaType=Article)

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Veronica Smith McCormick (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/140818) Yesterday

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Hello instructor Angus and class. Agenda setting is very important for the entire population of our country. When it comes to our government officials, all of the agenda that each of them sets has very great effects on millions of people’s lives. According to (Walgrave, et. al., 2016), the political agenda is politics’ priority list. It contains the items or issues that receive political attention. Both the conceptualization of the agenda and the meaning of what attention implies are variable. There is no such thing as the political agenda; rather, there are many different political agendas. In many parliaments, for example, members of parliament can ask questions about any topic to monitor the government or organize hearings about the topics they care about. All political systems have a legislative agenda consisting of bills and passed legislation. Budgeting is another political agenda as each budget grasps the monetary attention for the underlying issues. Political actors such as political parties, presidents, or governments have their own agendas as well, the list of things they care about and intend to act upon. They display their attentional intentions through party manifestos, government agreements, the state of the union, or other speeches, etc. Even outsider actors, such as social movements, highlight their issue priorities by demonstrating on specific topics and not on others. When it comes to a single person in our legislature who is an important agenda setter, I would have to say the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. She has an agenda that is important because she is the current leader of the Democratic political machine in Washington D.C. Her opinions and political muscle is followed by all people of the Democratic Party in this entire country. Here is how much power the political agenda of Nancy Pelosi is. According to (Pearson, 2019), when a vote was taken on the House floor on Jan. 3, she won by a vote of 220 to 192, with 15 Democrats voting for someone else or voting present. The close vote illustrated, once again, Pelosi’s skill in coalition-building and counting votes.

References:

Pearson, L. (2019). The power of Nancy Pelosi. Retrieved 10/13/2020 from

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/nancy-pelosi-speaker-of-the-house-career

Walgrave, et.al., (2016). Political Agenda Setting and the Mass Media. Retrieved 10/13/2020 from

https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore (https://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore) .

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One of the most difficult parts of the policymaking 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 a 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 for every government to provide a continuous checks on government power. Another example of an attempt at agenda-setting is the tobacco control in the Dutch government. There was a low urgency in tobacco control in Dutch due to its political orientation and since they were preoccupied with economic crises at the time (M.C., 2018). Interest groups (tobacco control organizations and the tobacco industry were successful in not drawing attention to this issue through framing.

References

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

M.C., W. (2018). Problem Identification and Agenda Setting. In Palgrave Studies in Public Health Policy Research. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

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

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Kimberly Stuck Thornton (h!ps://chamberlain.instructure.com/courses/68288/users/157798) Yesterday

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Week 7 Discussion: Agenda Setting

Agenda setting is when the mass media decides what the public thinks about and what they worry about. (Sanchez, 2002) Agenda setting in the government is difficult because you must first have an agenda that is appealing to the most powerful people in the world. To do this, you must have three streams that come together. One is the problem, two is the solution and three is the political will to deal with the issue. (N., 2020) Currently I believe that Donald Trump, the president is an important agenda setter in our government. This is because he is the leader of this country and should be making sure the focus is on the most important agendas. The president tries to set the agenda by bringing attention to issues as well as solutions, using constitutional powers like calling Congress into session, by recommending bills, and informing its members about the state of the union, as well as giving speeches and making news. (Libraries, 2016) One agenda that Trump has set was the plan to build a wall between the United States and Mexico. He even said that he was going to make Mexico pay for it. Well, this was an unsuccessful agenda. (Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, 2016) The wall has not been built due to the lack of funding. Many things can affect someone’s agenda. I set agendas every day. Sometimes these are completed, but then many times they may just not be enough time for the completion. That is the barrier I find with most of my agendas, the lack of time. I plan my agendas on what I feel is the most important at the time. Which agendas are going to help me and my family the most? Then the ones that are not as beneficial and just a desire are put to the back of the list and they may be placed there several times, due to the change in my agenda from moment to moment. This I call life.

References

Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. (2016, November 9). 17 things Trump said he will do if elected president. nj. https://www.nj.com/politics/2016/11/17_things_trump_said_hed_do_if_elected_president.html

(https://www.nj.com/politics/2016/11/17_things_trump_said_hed_do_if_elected_president.html) .

Libraries. (2016, November 16). 13.2 How Presidents Get Things Done. American Government and Politics in the Information Age. https://open.lib.umn.edu/americangovernment/chapter/13-2-how-presidents-get-things- done/ (https://open.lib.umn.edu/americangovernment/chapter/13-2-how-presidents-get-things-done/) .

N., W. C. W. (2020). Political science today. Sage, CQ Press.

Sanchez, M. (2002). Agenda Setting. http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~johnca/spch100/7-4-agenda.htm (http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~johnca/spch100/7-4-agenda.htm) .