2. Agenda Setting

Agenda setting involves attracting the attention of public officials and the general public to specific public problems in order to determine what to decide on. Who decides what the decision action will be about? The answer to this question shows who determines the agenda. Defining the problems of the society and proposing alternative solutions is one of the most important stages of the policymaking process. Policy agenda, in whatever form, consists of all of the problems dealt with by public authorities and thus is likely to be the object of one or more decisions. In this regard, the agenda consists of a series of priority issues, public policy issues, and public issues addressed by policy actors. They may sound like ciphers of some kind, but models such as punctuated equilibrium, garbage can, multiple streams, and advocacy coalition framework have considerable potential in explaining agenda-setting processes. Policy communities and policy networks are also critical in understanding policymaking processes. After all, agendas consist of public problems that stand out among their likes or are given priority, and policy communities and network strive for keeping their problem in plain sight.