Determine the agenda-setting process

The "agenda" is the list of subjects or problems to which government officials, and people outside of government closely associated with those officials, are paying serious attention at some given time. The agenda-setting process narrows the set of all possible issues to the set that actually becomes the focus of attention. The key question here is, why do some issues or problems become prominent in the policy agenda while others do not? Answers to this question are generally framed in terms of problem recognition and definition, the formulation of solutions, and politics. People recognize problems, generate proposals for policy change, and engage in such political activities as pressure group lobbying and election campaigns. Each participant can in principle be involved in problem recognition, proposal formulation, and politics, though in practice participants usually specialize to some degree in one or another of the three processes and these specialists tend to get involved in formulating policy proposals whereas politicians rarely draft detailed policy documents.