ing within the range of legitimate concerns meriting the attention of the policy (Dearing). Thus agenda setting can be identified as the list of issues or concerns to which government officials and people outside of the government pay serious attention. Agenda setting is the first stage of the policy process in which policy problems are presented for governmental resolution. It is an ongoing competition among proponents of issues to gain the attention of the media, professionals, the public, and the policy elite. There are several reasons for the importance of the agenda concept. Since the American political system is a representative democracy rather than a direct one, it cannot be guaranteed that all potential political and social problems will automatically come up for public consideration. The action of conducting a public agenda will winnow out idiosyncratic concerns and emphasize those that have been citied by a large number of people. The existence of a combined public and political agenda simplifies the problems associated with choosing among the issues and helps legislators apportion their time more efficiently. Public agendas tend to be vague in defining priorities or imposing urgency factors; they however suggest the desirability to deal with all issues in a timely manner.An issue is a battle between two or more groups over contradictory social or political matters. When talking about issues in terms of agenda setting, their dual nature must be considered. This conflicting nature allows these topics to become noteworthy, as proponents and opponents debate in the shared public arena, which is also known as mass media. According to Kingdon there are three main components which lead to the rise of problems or concerns to the agenda. The first is the problem or issue itself. Problems move onto the agenda for several reasons. External indicators, like the media or interest groups, show the issue is in existence. These indicators ...
