Editing Public policy (section)

==== Agenda setting ====
[[Agenda setting]] identifies problems that require government attention, deciding which issue deserve the most attention and defining the nature of the problem.

===== Social construction of problems =====
Most public problems are made through the reflection of social and ideological values. As societies and communities evolve over time, the nature in which norms, customs and morals are proven acceptable, unacceptable, desirable or undesirable changes as well.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Dorey|first=Peter|url=http://sk.sagepub.com/books/policy-making-in-britain|title=Policy Making in Britain: An Introduction|date=2005|location=London|doi=10.4135/9781446279410|isbn=978-0-7619-4904-6|access-date=2021-01-22|archive-date=2022-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118031758/https://sk.sagepub.com/books/policy-making-in-britain|url-status=live}}</ref> Thus, the search of crucial problems to solve becomes difficult to distinguish within 'top-down' governmental bodies.

===== Policy stream =====
The policy stream is a concept developed by John Kingdon as a model proposed to show compelling problems need to be conjoined with two other factors: appropriate political climate and favorable and feasible solutions (attached to problems) that flow together to move onto policy agenda. This reinforces the ''policy window'', another concept demonstrating the critical moment within a time and situation that a new policy could be motivated.<ref>{{Citation|last=Wilson|first=William|title=Can Sociology Play a Greater Role in Shaping the National Agenda?|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483325484.n1|work=Sociology and the Public Agenda|year=1993|pages=3–22|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|publisher=SAGE Publications, Inc.|doi=10.4135/9781483325484.n1|isbn=978-0-8039-5083-2|access-date=2021-01-22}}</ref>

===== Problem stream =====
Because the definition of public problems are not obvious, they are most often denied and not acted upon. The problem stream represents a policy process to compromise for how worthy problems are to create policies and solutions.<ref name=":3" /> This is represented in five discrete factors:
* ''Indicators'': Scientific measurements, qualitative, statistical data using empirical evidence is used to bring relevance to particular phenomena.
* ''Interpretation'': Policymakers make judgements whether an issue constitutes a problem worthy of action.
* ''Ideology'': Elements of dominant values, customs, beliefs are crucial to devising problems needed for attention.
* ''Instances'': Media coverage supports by drawing attention to issues, thus prompting policymakers to respond and address changes.

Therefore, John Kingdon's model<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Béland|first1=Daniel|last2=Howlett|first2=Michael|date=2016-05-26|title=The Role and Impact of the Multiple-Streams Approach in Comparative Policy Analysis|journal=Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice|volume=18|issue=3|pages=221–227|doi=10.1080/13876988.2016.1174410|s2cid=156139395|issn=1387-6988|doi-access=free}}</ref> suggests the policy window appears through the emergence and connection of problems, politics and policies, emphasizing an opportunity to stimulate and initiate new policies.<ref name=":3" />

===== Issue attention cycle =====
The ''issue attention cycle'' is a concept developed by Anthony Downs (1972) where problems progress through five distinct stages.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gupta|first1=Kuhika|last2=Jenkins-Smith|first2=Hank|editor1-first=Martin|editor1-last=Lodge|editor2-first=Edward C|editor2-last=Page|editor3-first=Steven J|editor3-last=Balla|date=2016-07-07|title=Anthony Downs, 'Up and Down with Ecology: The "Issue-Attention" Cycle'|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199646135.013.34|journal=Oxford Handbooks Online|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199646135.013.34}}</ref> This reinforces how the policy agenda does not necessarily lead to policy change, as public interest dissipates, most problems end up resolving themselves or get ignored by policymakers.<ref name=":3" /> Its key stages include:

# ''Pre-problem stage'': The problem is not recognized by the public, media or policy makers.
#  ''Alarmed discovery and euphoric enthusiasm'': Something is identified as a problem, supported awareness by media to pursue seriousness of problem
# ''Realization of costs which will be incurred by the solutions'': Investigating through cost-benefit analysis, bringing awareness of financial, environmental, structural curbs to consider solutions and what makes for their consequences.
# ''Decline in public interest in issue'': Citizens acquire acceptance of the problem and it becomes normalized. Newer issues attract the attention of the public. Limited attention span encourages policymakers to delay developing policy to see which public troubles demand necessary and worthwhile solving.
# ''Issue slips off, or back down, the policy agenda'': The issue effectively disappears, although it has the possibility to re-emerge in other pressing circumstances.