Agenda Setting, Policies, and Political Systems: A Comparative Approach

Before Making Significant Policy Decisions, Political Actors And Parties Must First Craft An Agenda Designed To Place Certain Issues At The Center Of Political Attention. The Agenda-setting Approach In Political Science Holds That The Amount Of Attention Devoted By The Various Actors Within A Political System To Issues Like Immigration, Health Care, And The Economy Can Inform Our Understanding Of Its Basic Patterns And Processes. While There Has Been Considerable Attention To How Political Systems Process Issues In The United States, Christoffer Green-pedersen And Stefaan Walgrave Demonstrate The Broader Applicability Of This Approach By Extending It To Other Countries And Their Political Systems. Agenda Setting And Political Attention Brings Together Essays On Eleven Countries And Two Broad Themes. Contributors To The First Section Analyze The Extent To Which Party And Electoral Changes And Shifts In The Partisan Composition Of Government Have Led--or Not Led--to Policy Changes In The United States, The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, And France. The Second Section Turns The Focus On Changing Institutional Structures In Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, And Canada, Including The German Reunification And The Collapse Of The Italian Party System. Together, The Essays Make Clear The Efficacy Of The Agenda-setting Approach For Understanding Not Only How Policies Evolve, But Also How Political Systems Function.--publisher's Website. Political Agenda Setting: An Approach To Studying Political Systems / Christoffer Green-pedersen And Stefaan Walgrave -- Party Politics And The Policy Agenda: The Case Of The United Kingdom / Peter John, Shaun Bevan, And Will Jennings -- Lawmaking And Agenda Setting In The United States, 1948-2010 / Bryan D. Jones And Michelle C. Whyman -- The Evolution Of The French Political Space Revisited: Issue Priorities And Party Competition / Sylvain Brouard, Emiliano Grossman, And Isabelle Guinaudeau -- Party-system Development In Denmark: Agenda-setting Dynamics And Political Change / Christoffer Green-pedersen -- The Policy Agenda In Multiparty Government: Coalition Agreements And Legislative Activity In The Netherlands / Arco Timmermans And Gerard Breeman -- Agenda Setting And Direct Democracy: The Rise Of The Swiss People's Party / Frédéric Varone, Isabelle Engeli, Pascal Sciarini, And Roy Gava -- Content And Dynamics Of Legislative Agendas In Germany / Christian Breunig -- Strong Devolution But No Increasing Issue Divergence: Evolving Issue Priorities Of The Belgian Political Parties, 1987-2010 / Stefaan Walgrave, Brandon Zicha, Anne Hardy, Jeroen Joly, And Tobias Van Assche -- The Impact Of Party Policy Priorities On Italian Lawmaking From The First To The Second Republic, 1983-2006 / Enrico Borghetto, Marcello Carammia, And Francesco Zucchini -- Policy Promises And Governmental Activities In Spain / Laura Chaqués-bonafont, Anna M. Palau, And Luz M. Muñoz Marquez -- Diffusion Of Policy Attention In Canada: Evidence From Speeches From The Throne, 1960-2008 / Martial Foucault And Éric Montpetit -- Conclusion: What It Takes To Turn Agenda Setting From An Approach Into A Theory / Christoffer Green-pedersen And Stefaan Walgrave. Edited By Christoffer Green-pedersen And Stefaan Walgrave. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.