This book summarizes recent advances in the work on agenda-setting in a comparative perspective. The book first presents and explains the data-gathering effort undertaken within the Comparative Agendas Project over the past ten years. Individual country chapters then present the research undertaken within the many national projects. The third section illustrates the possibilities and directions for new research in comparative public policy using the data presented in this book. All the data used and discussed in the book is moreover publicly available. The book represents a significant contribution to the study of comparative public policy. By introducing a unified research infrastructure it opens up new possibilities for both empirical and theoretical research in this area.

This book contributes to and expands on the major international Comparative Policy Agendas Project. It sets the project in context, and provides a comprehensive assessment of the changing policy agenda in Australia over a forty-year period, using a unique systematic dataset of governor-general speeches, legislation and parliamentary questions, and then mapping these on to media coverage and what the public believes (according to poll evidence) government should be concentrating upon. The book answers some important questions in political science: what are the most important legislative priorities for government over time? Does the government follow talk with action? Does government attend to the issues the public identifies as most important? And how does media attention follow the policy agenda? The authors deploy their unique dataset to provide a new and exciting perspective on the nature of Australian public policy and the Comparative Policy Agendas Project more broadly.

Using a unique dataset spanning fifty years of policy-making in Britain, this book traces how topics like the economy, international affairs, and crime have shifted in importance. It takes a new approach to agenda setting called focused adaptation, and sheds new light on key points of change in British politics, such as Thatcherism and New Labour.

Setting the agenda on agenda setting, this Handbook explores how and why private matters become public issues and occasionally government priorities. It provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of the perspectives, individuals, and institutions involved in setting the government’s agenda at subnational, national, and international levels. Drawing on contributions from leading academics across the world, this Handbook is split into five distinct parts. Part one sets public policy agenda setting in its historical context, devoting chapters to more in-depth studies of the main individual scholars and their works. Part two offers an extensive examination of the theoretical development, whilst part three provides a comprehensive look at the various institutional dimensions. Part four reviews the literature on sub-national, national and international governance levels. Finally, part five offers innovative coverage on agenda setting during crises.

Readings in Comparative Politicsis divided into six sections—States and Regimes, Governing the Economy, the Democratic Challenge, Politics of Collective Identity, Political Institutions and Public Policies, and Political Challenges and Changing Agendas—that correspond to the four main themes found in Kesselman'sIntroduction to Comparative Politicssurvey text. The selected readings are drawn from a variety of published, unpublished, and electronic sources. They tend to be general and theoretical in nature and were carefully selected to provide a good sample of the wide range of popular and scholarly views relevant to the major topics presented in introductory courses. The readings provide an extended opportunity to consider the four main themes used in the textbook: A World of States, Governing the Economy, the Democratic Challenge, and the Politics of Collective Identity. Excerpts are culled from a variety of sources including scholarly articles from journals and books, op-ed and newspaper articles, government statements, and statements by interest groups and NGOs in the U.S. and other countries, including published sources and material disseminated by the Internet.

Why do some countries have 'Culture Wars' over morality issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage while other countries hardly experience any conflict? This book argues that morality issues only generate major conflicts in political systems with a significant conflict between religious and secular parties.

Spanish politics has been transformed. Using new techniques, this book looks at 30 years of Spanish political history to understand party competition, the impact of the EU, media-government relations, aspirations for independence in Catalonia and the Basque region, and the declining role of religion.

Following the epic, contentious 2016 presidential election, Joel Spring’s ongoing documentation and analysis of political agendas for education reflect the major political issues since 2012. Here he examines the 2016 education planks of the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Green Parties, using their official platforms and other statements, speeches given by each candidate, and media reports and publications. Each party’s position is linked to previous political movements in education. Spring offers an alternative agenda for American schools, including a proposed education amendment to the U.S. Constitution and replacing human capital agendas with goals emphasizing education for a long life and happiness. Taking a fresh look at the social and political forces, educational research, and ideologies shaping their educational agendas and a comparative approach, the book stimulates reflection and discussion. Updates and changes in the Sixth Edition: Betsy DeVos’s education agenda supporting vouchers, free market competition and for-profit schools and its relationship to the education section of the 2016 Republican platform The important role religion and culture played in the evolution of Republican education policies after the school prayer and Bible decisions of the 1960s The influence of human capital economics on Democratic education proposals How No Child Left Behind and Democratic President Barack Obama opened doors to the growth of the for-profit education industry and investment bankers The 2016 Democratic positions on the cost of higher education and student loan debts The Democratic left as represented by the 2016 campaign of Democrat Bernie Sanders and his influence on the presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party platform The education proposals of the Green and Libertarian parties

This is the first book devoted to examining why some issues proposed by aggrieved individuals or groups are denied access to policy agendas. The book contains case studies that look at the policy process from the perspective of the strategies opponents often use to ensure agenda denial--strategies usually motivated by perceived threats to widely held world views and identities.

Ellermann examines the development of immigration policies in four democracies from the postwar era to the present.