Homework: Building an Agenda
Experienced policy advocates realize that their first challenge is to get a specific policy issue on decision makers' agendas in agency, community, or legislative settings.
-Bruce S. Jansson, Becoming an Effective Policy Advocate: From Policy Practice to Social Justice (8th ed.)
When you have committed yourself to an issue and become involved in convincing others that the issue is important enough to merit serious attention by decision makers, you are taking the first step to building an agenda.
You explore the importance of agenda-building processes to policy practice. You examine procedures for getting items on policy agendas, explore ways for building skills that help get proposals onto agendas, and develop strategies for getting agenda items in front of decision makers.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
a) Analyze strategies for putting items on policy agendas
b) Evaluate accuracy of the Kingdon model of policy making
Learning Resources
Required Readings
SOCW 6361 Webliography
These websites will be required throughout the semester. Become familiar with these websites, especially when doing research for your homeworks.
Jansson, B. S. (2018). Becoming an effective policy advocate: From policy practice to social justice. (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning Series.
Chapter 6, "Committing to an Issue: Building Agendas" (pp. 176-203)
Edwards, H. R., & Hoefer, R. (2010). Are social work advocacy groups using Web 2.0 effectively? Journal of Policy Practice, 9(3/4), 220-239.
Small Group Discussion: Policy Agendas
There are challenges to agenda building that if not dealt with carefully and skillfully can adversely affect an issue or a proposal that you are trying to place in front of a decision maker. On the other hand, no matter how expertly you build an agenda for your issue or proposal, some issues are going to simply be avoided or not selected for consideration. Why is this so?
In this Small Group Discussion, you explore challenges surrounding policy agendas and the reasons why some proposals never make it to the decision maker.
Post your responses to the following questions presented for Small Group Discussion:
o Many social issues do not receive the necessary attention from decision makers. Why might these issues be cast aside?
o Some issues lack sufficient support to ensure that they are added to decision-makers' agendas. Why might this be?
o Some issues receive significant attention from decision makers. Why might these issues easily find their way onto decision makers' agendas?
Be sure to support your post with specific references to this week's resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.
Homework: Kingdom: Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies
Agenda building is often the first step in your policy practice tasks. Building a solid agenda may well determine the success of the development of a policy proposal and may also determine your success in placing an issue in front of a decision maker.
For this Homework, you evaluate the accuracy of the Kingdon model of policymaking.
To prepare: Review Chapter 6 in your text, paying special attention to the section entitled "Three Challenges in Agenda Building."
Submit a 2 to 3 pages paper evaluating the accuracy of the Kingdon model in policymaking. Address the following:
1) Discuss the three streams Kingdon has identified where problems originate, and provide your opinion on which one most accurately reflects how and why policies come about.
2) Discuss the assertion that certain kinds of issues receive preferential treatment in problem solution and political streams.
3) Discuss tactics that policy practitioners use within each of the three streams to increase the odds that a specific issue will be placed on decision agendas.
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
i) The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
ii) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
iii) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.