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Political Agenda

A political agenda is a set of issues, problems, and questions that get attention and are viewed as important by government decision makers involved with policymaking (Apcentral, 2017). It is most often shaped by governments and political elites, but can also be influenced by other factors such as non governmental activist groups and by important events such as a party conferences (Clarke & Hanif, 2015).

Another key factor that has a great influence on political agenda is the media. Global studies have found that when certain issues are covered more heavily in the media, such as through different news outlets like the radio or the newspaper, the issue is more likely to be discussed by members of parliament (Sevenans, et. al, 2016). Media coverage has also been linked to the success of the rise of political parties and their ability to get their ideas on the agenda. For example, the prominent media coverage on anti-immigration in the Netherlands throughout the 90's lead to the higher number of votes for anti-immigration parties, and the overall success of the parties (Boomgaarden, H. G., & Vliegenthart, 2007).

Political agenda is also strongly tied to state centralization. The more centralized a state, the more citizens will likely try and affect the political agenda (Acemoglu et. Al, 2016). For this reason, many political elites tend to prefer a non-centralized state where they can maintain more control over the political agenda (Acemoglu et. Al, 2016).

The “Political Agenda Effect” asserts that when citizens from different backgrounds get together, their agenda will change in a way that takes their demands away from elites to focus more on public goods (Acemoglu et. al, 2016). The “Escalation Effect” contends that if citizens get together, this will induce elites to form national resources to fight against them and maintain the political agenda the way they desire (Acemoglu et. al, 2016).

References

Acemoglu, D., Robinson, J., & Torvik, R. (2016). The Political Agenda Effect and State Centralization. National Bureau of Economic Research. doi:10.3386/w22250

AP United States Government and Politics Scoring Guideline. (2009). Retrieved February 3, 2017, from http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap09_us_gopo_q4.pdf

Boomgaarden, H. G., & Vliegenthart, R. (2007). Explaining the rise of anti-immigrant parties: The role of news media content. Electoral Studies, 26(2), 404-417. doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2006.10.018

Sevenans, J., Walgrave, S., & Epping, G., J. (2016) How Political Elites Process Information From the News: The Cognitive Mechanisms Behind Behavioral Political Agenda-Setting Effects, Political Communication, 33:4, 605-627, DOI: 10.1080/10584609.2016.1153543

Clarke, S. J., Hanif, F. (2015) Live Q&A: How can NGOs lobby effectively to impact the political agenda? The Guardian. DOI: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2015/mar/26/live-qa-how-can-ngos-lobby-effectively-to-impact-the-political-agenda