1. The document discusses agenda setting in government and politics. It explains that for a policy issue to rise onto the agenda, three "streams" must align - the problem, a proposed solution, and political will. 2. Presidents are powerful agenda setters as they can focus media and congressional attention on issues. Congress also plays a role, with majority parties typically controlling the agenda. 3. Unexpected crises and policy failures can also thrust issues onto the agenda and override other priorities, as happened after 9/11 focused attention on terrorism.

1. SCI 100 Question Development Worksheet
Answer the following questions. Your instructor will use these
answers to evaluate the critical elements for Project 2.
1. Why did you select your news story? What about the story
makes it interesting to you both personally and scientifically?
-When looking over the different news article I came across “Is
it better to give than receive?” and I automatically connected
because I myself is a very big giver and so that in itself made
me interested in the article. From a scientific standpoint the way
the chemical was transfer from parent to child as far as them
showing there compassionate for someone else as their parents
showed them.
2. What did you already know about the topic before selecting
the news story? What opinions or assumptions had you made
about it?
-I honestly didn’t have any insight on what the article was about
I just made assumptions or I formed some sought of opinion just
based on the title because it was new material I was reading and
because of the title I was interested. I had a feeling that it was
going to discuss something on the lines of giving to someone
less fortunate. But I assume that it would be something on the
line of giving to an organization or community.
3. Which concepts covered in the course relate to your news
story? How?
· I would say the concept of chemistry is covered in my new

2. article because of the bond and or relationship of the parents
and kids. The compassion that was shown.
4. What question do you have about the topic in the news story?
Select one question that interests you based on your topic
exploration graphic organizer and previous responses.
· The question I would ask is what change the energy from 4 to
6?
5. Why would this question be important to a natural scientist?
-To a natural scientist this question is important to know spared
of positive energy and compassion.
· Due on 2/17/21 Wednesday @ 7pm EST
· 250 words minimum
· APA Format
· Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Initial Post Instructions
Agenda setting can be a difficult task in government. Why?
Who do you consider an important agenda setter in government?
How does this participant help set the agenda? Give an example
of an attempt at agenda setting in government. Was it
successful? Why or why not? Consider how factors such as
culture, political positions, etc. might impact your own, or the
agenda setters' priorities.
Textbook: Whitman Cobb, W. N. (2020). Political science
today (1st ed.). Washington, DC: Sage, CQ Press.
Agenda Setting

3. Agenda setting, as stage one in the process, is often the hardest;
how do you get a policy problem on the agenda of the most
powerful people in the world? One of the classic treatises on
agenda setting in public policy is Agendas, Alternatives, and
Public Policies by Kingdon.1 Kingdon argues that three
“streams” must combine together in order for a policy problem
to make it onto the political agenda: the problem, the existence
of a solution, and the political will to deal with it. When these
three things coincide, a policy window opens when it is the
easiest for political institutions to consider an issue.
Oftentimes, it takes willing and able policy entrepreneurs to
prepare the groundwork, to work to make sure the three streams
coincide.
While it might appear strange at first to think that problems and
solutions can be so easily separated by Kingdon, this distinction
is actually very important. Some members of Congress may seek
changes to particular policy areas absent a crisis or problem
simply because of an ideological belief about what the policy
should be doing. For example, some Republicans have sought
for years to reduce the amount of money being spent on
entitlement programs like the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, or SNAP (commonly known as welfare),
Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. However, if there is
no major problem with any of these areas and the policies are
operating relatively well, why would anyone see a need to
change them, other than ideologically based reasons, of course?
On the other hand, it is easy to see where policy problems may
arise suddenly that have no existing solutions; if there is no
agreed-upon way of solving a crisis, there may be stopgap
policies but no longer term way of fixing the problem in the
first place. Therefore, Kingdon’s policy streams theory
highlights how circumstances must come together just right in
order for policy changes to be successfully made.
Others have examined the role that political actors play in
agenda setting. Perhaps one of the most powerful agenda setters
is the president. Presidents, by focusing time and energy on a

4. topic, can influence the media and Congress to pick up on
problems as well.2 Given all of the things that a president may
choose to focus on in a given term, let alone week or month, a
president’s choice in focusing the nation’s attention on certain
issues sends a strong signal that an issue is important. When
making these decisions, presidents are likely to take into
consideration the makeup of Congress and the status of the
federal budget when deciding what issues to take
up.3 Presidents then can use the resources of their office, such
as the bully pulpit and even the State of the Union address, to
highlight policy issues they wish to focus on. Especially in the
run-up to election periods, presidents must be seen to be
responding to public concerns and therefore may use this
agenda setting power to help their own reelection efforts.4
If any institution, however, would be predicted to be concerned
with election and reelection the most, it would be Congress.
Walker describes the importance of choosing issues as such:
“By deciding what they will decide about, legislators also
establish the terms and the most prominent participants in the
debate, and ultimately, the distribution of power and influence
in the society.”5 Research on agenda setting in Congress has
mostly focused on the role of parties and partisanship.
For example, Cox tests the role of party in agenda setting in the
House of Representatives and finds it to be a significant
predictor of support.6 In other words, the majority party so
strongly controls the agenda that majority party members rarely
dissent in committee or on the floor. While the House lends
itself to being a majoritarian institution, the Senate, on the other
hand, requires minority participation in setting the agenda. This
would suggest that the minority party can more easily set the
agenda in the Senate; however, Gailmard and Jenkins find
evidence of just the opposite.7 Thus, when setting the agenda in
Congress overall, majority parties appear to have the most
power to influence what issues will be taken up.
Despite the best efforts of agenda setters throughout politics,
the contingent nature of crises and focusing effects are al so

5. important in helping legislators and citizens decide what is
important or not. For an example of this, we can look no further
than 9/11, which brought home the issue of terrorism. Although
terrorism is an ancient tactic, and many terrorist acts had been
carried out against the United States prior to 9/11, it took the
drastic events of that day to focus the attention of the American
public and its lawmakers on the problem that was al-Qaeda,
Osama bin Laden, and their brand of Islamic terrorism. Policy
failures like those of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
in treating the health problems of the nation’s veterans similarly
brought the attention of politicians and the public to systemic
problems at the VA. Outside events and policy failures, then,
also have inordinate agenda setting power and the power to
override many other issues that might have previously been on
the political radar.
SCI 100 Question Development Worksheet
Answer the following questions. Your instructor will use these
answers to evaluate the critical elements for Project 2.
1. Why did you select your news story? What about the story
makes it interesting to you both personally and scientifically?
-When looking over the different news article I came across “Is
it better to give than receive?” and I automatically connected
because I myself is a very big giver and so that in itself made
me interested in the article. From a scientific standpoint the way
the chemical was transfer from parent to child as far as them
showing there compassionate for someone else as their parents
showed them.
2. What did you already know about the topic before selecting
the news story? What opinions or assumptions had you made

6. about it?
-I honestly didn’t have any insight on what the article was about
I just made assumptions or I formed some sought of opinion just
based on the title because it was new material I was reading and
because of the title I was interested. I had a feeling that it was
going to discuss something on the lines of giving to someone
less fortunate. But I assume that it would be something on the
line of giving to an organization or community.
3. Which concepts covered in the course relate to your news
story? How?
· I would say the concept of chemistry is covered in my new
article because of the bond and or relationship of the parents
and kids. The compassion that was shown.
4. What question do you have about the topic in the news story?
Select one question that interests you based on your topic
exploration graphic organizer and previous responses.
· The question I would ask is what change the energy from 4 to
6?
5. Why would this question be important to a natural scientist?
-To a natural scientist this question is important to know spared
of positive energy and compassion.