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The Interpretive Process of Agenda‐Building: A Research Design for Public Policy
Author(s) -
Smith Michael A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.259
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1747-1346
pISSN - 1555-5623
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-1346.2002.tb00632.x
Subject(s) - punctuated equilibrium , public policy , process (computing) , order (exchange) , policy studies , policy analysis , heuristic , political science , sociology , positive economics , public administration , economics , epistemology , law , computer science , paleontology , philosophy , finance , biology , operating system
A heuristic model is offered to guide empirical case studies into public policy change in a stable, pluralistic system. Empirical information, filtered to the policymakers and the public through a system of preexisting values, lies at the heart of policy change. The model integrates several strands of thought on policy, including: Baumgartner and Jones's theory of punctuated equilibrium, based on changes on policy images held by the relevant policy actors and the general public; Schattschneider's mobilization of bias; Cobb, Ross, and Ross's three models of agenda‐building; Ripley and Franklin's theory of subgovernments; and Lindblom's emphasis on the role of the social scientist in responsible policymaking. In order to contribute productively to the policy process, social scientists must develop ethical, productive ways of responding to the ways in which other policy actors will use, and possibly distort, their findings.