29
8
Since the 1970s, agenda-setting studies have investigated the interaction between media, public
opinion, and policymakers to explain why public issues rise and fall in importance over time
(Soroka, 2002: 166).
9
From the perspective developed in this paper, agendas are not policy ideas but mere lists of issues;
alternatives are applied policy ideas ready for legislative consideration.
10
In 1991, the surprising election to the Senate of Harris Wofford, a Democratic (Pennsylvania)
candidate campaigning in favor of universal health insurance, was the ‘focusing event’ that
convinced many U.S. federal officials to seriously address the issue of health care reform: Hacker,
1997.
11
On the U.S. debate over welfare reform, see Somers
&
Block.
12
Yet it should be acknowledged that some problems may emerge in a relative institutional vacuum.
In such a context, social learning is not an issue. The debate over eugenics in the U.K. and the U.S.
during the 1920s and 1930s illustrates that type of situation (Hansen and King, 2001).
13
Ideas as ‘road maps’ are discussed in Goldstein and Keohane, 1993. It is difficult to draw a strict
line between cognitive and normative ideas, that is, between paradigms and programs. As opposed to
Campbell (1998), it seems more accurate to understand paradigms as a form of knowledge and a plan
for action.
14
On ‘sectoral paradigms’, see Merrien, 2001. It is worth noting that ‘global paradigms’ are distinct
from political ideologies such as conservatism and liberalism, which are broader and more difficult
to define (Berman, 1998). On the concept of ideology, see Freedan, 1996.
15
On the concept of ‘parapolitical sphere’, see Horne, 2002.
16
In France, the governmental cabinet ministériel also performs tasks generally associated with think
tanks: Gaffney, 1991.
Convention