The study of agenda setting concerns the ranking of government priorities. It enables us to better understand why, given competition between social issues of concern, some elicit a more or less immediate political response. This note, produced by the National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP) aims to fuel the reflection of public health actors: practitioners, professionals and managers working in public or community health organizations.
Through the theoretical model of the “four Ps” (power, perception, potency and proximity) as well as a series of examples and questions, readers will gain a better understanding of agenda setting and its determinants. The objective is to support discussions and action around the production of healthy public policies.
For other resources on the same subject:
Fostering Evidence-informed Policy Making: Uncertainty Versus Ambiguity
An Introduction to Punctuated Equilibrium: A Model for Understanding Stability and Dramatic Change in Public Policies