First published in 1984, this explanation of the policy-making process in the United States described agenda setting as the ability to define "the list of subjects to which government officials and those around them are paying serious attention." Kingdon (U. of Michigan) identifies three streams tha

Re-issued as part of the "Longman Classics in Political Science" series, Kingdon's renowned work features a new Foreword exploring the book's historical and enduring contributions. Kingdon's landmark work on agenda setting and policy formation is now offered in a Longman Classics Edition. This enduring work of original research, drawn from interviews with people in the U.S. federal government over the course of four years, examines the questions of how issues get to be issues for legislators. The book grapples with the questions: How do subjects come to officials' attention? How are the alternatives from which they choose generated? How is the governmental agenda set? Why does an idea's time come when it does? Hailed as one of the finest books about public policy- making, and winner of the 1994 Aaron Wildavsky Award, this book's rich detail and engaging prose make it a text that both students and instructors will savor.

Foreword.
1. How Does an Idea's Time Come?
2. Participants on the Inside of Government.
3. Outside of Government, But Not Just Looking In.
4. Processes: Origins, Rationality, Incrementalism, and Garbage Cans.
5. Problems.
6. The Policy Primeval Soup.
7. The Political Stream.
8. The Policy Window, and Joining the Streams.
9. Wrapping Things Up.
10. Some Further Reflections: New Case Studies Thoughts About the Modeling.
Appendix on Methods: The Interviews
Coding
Case Studies
Noninterview Measures of Agenda Status.