Radon and Asbestos: A Study of Agenda Setting and Causal Stories |
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| Authors: | Denise Scheberle |
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| Institution: | Denise Scheberle is assistant professor, Department of Public and Environmental Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Her research interests center on environmental policy, including indoor pollutants, and cooperative federalism. She has written articles on environmental policy implementation. |
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| Abstract: | Employing Kingdon's model of agenda setting (1984) and Stone's notion of causal stories (1989), this article examines how public concerns about radon and asbestos reached the congressional agenda. Several conclusions about agenda setting and causal stories are offered: First, scientific consensus about health risks was a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for radon and asbestos to achieve agenda status. Second, media involvement and the presence of policy entrepreneurs were critical factors in the agenda setting process. Third, differing incentives within the policy stream (for radon) and the political stream (for asbestos) affected the speed by which agenda setting occurred, as well as the shaping of formal policy. |
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