John Kingdon's Three Stream Analysis

    Best starts off with the idea of a political network focusing on specific social issues for policy change, Best calls this policy domains. Best uses the side of Congress that deals with health, like Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as an example of a political network focused on the policy domain for health (201). Best goes on to explain John W. Kingdon’s model

At the beginning of this article, the author brings up the fields of policy studies, how to understand the policy making and how they

The policy cycle suggested by Althaus, Bridgman and Davis consists of a continuous wheel which nominally begins with the task of 'identifying issues ' and progresses through 'policy analysis ', 'policy instruments ', consultation ', 'coordination ', 'decision ', 'implementation ' and 'evaluation ' before beginning the cycle again (Althaus et al 2013: 37-40). The authors admit that policy rarely actually follows this model sequentially in the steps outlined above and is really meant as more of a guide to good policy, rather than an evaluation of actual practice (Althaus et al 2013: 40-42).

Attention Getter) Imagine you are at school and someone calls you saying a family member just had an accident, but there are no doctors to attend her or him. What would you think in that moment? Or what would you do? You are losing someone and no one can help. I would definitely feel devastated, hopeless, scared, sad, almost even useless. Horrible right? Well there are people around the world that face situations like those very often. Many people in the lower class do not have any sort of medical care due to their economic situation. Do you see how not having access to medical care can be dangerous, that is why if we want to fix it, we must focus on its current status and statistics, moral and ethical problems, the solution and the benefits of fixing this problem.

This paper is a review of chapter’s one (1), two (2) and three (3) in Thomas A. Birklands (2016) fourth edition regarding policy process. The reading attempts to define and show what is meant by policy process, how government, politics and the public are intertwined, problems that are associated with the policy process and how we address the problems. Current day events as well as past history are applied to the practice of policy process which assists in defining the process and highlighting its connection and importance. Thomas A. Birklands refers to the Clinton administration, the Obama administration and the George W. Bush administration, the DARE Program, World War II, and the Vietnam War, in the chapters and leads us down a path discussing

This is when the public has the chance to get involved in the policy making process.

In this paper we will discuss the final stages of how a topic becomes a policy. The paper will discuss formulation, implementation, and the legislation stage. These stages must be done in this order to ensure the policy is being formed the correct way and not scattered around. This paper will also consist of the evaluation stage, analysis stage, and revision stage and describe the purpose and methodologies process for evaluating and revising a public policy.

“That citizen sinks further into apathy, anonymity, and depersonalization. The result is that he comes to depend on public authority and a state of civic-sclerosis sets in” (Alinsky, 1971). This statement perfectly describes what is happening to the people today. People are no longer concerned with what is happening around them. The world today is living in an individualization phase where there are more people who know more stuff about the celebrities, latest fashion and gadgets, rich lifestyle, etc. rather than the continuous welfare problems. Because the world has reached the technology era, people are blind and deaf to the oppression that is happening. In this world full of complex networks of problems, where should the people start?

Before change can be made, a problem must be recognized. Progressive politicians, health care executives, and activists continuously shed light on the dysfunctions within today’s health care system.

Political activism is an important complement for nurses in the clinical practice. Nurses are in an exceptional position not only to provide quality bed side care to their patients but also to advocate for change within the community and political field. Common problem affecting a group of people can be a political issue. Identifying the cause of this issue and advocating to solve the root cause with the help of decision makers like politicians, hospital executives, managers or government bureaucrats, nurses can bring beneficial changes in Canadian Health care system.

Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2015). Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press. ISBN:

Throughout times, democracy has emerged as the best political way to rule a country. Within democratic systems, citizens have to vote for people who will represent them in the decision-making system. The question that John Kingdon wanted to understand in his writing of How Do Issues Get on Public Agendas? is how the legislative process and the public policies are made. John Kingdon well illustrates the processes by which an issue becomes policy issue, named the Cohen-March-Olsen, and the coming together of three processes. In the Cohen-March-Olsen, Kingdon proposed three stream: problem-recognition, policy stream of proposals and political stream.

Governmental policies and politics play a critical role in the realization of change in a public agency since the policies are developed and implemented at various levels (Dukeshire & Thurlow, 2002). Since these policies may range from formal regulations and legislation to informal guidelines in an agency, understanding them is important in the achievement of change in a public agency. A Public agency basically functions based on the established policies and politics in the government. Therefore, the accomplishment of the change in a public agency requires an increased understanding of the politics and policies of government.

In spite of the policy cycle tool, it is not as easy to develop or implement new policy as there are many factors influencing it. The process of policy development involves many participants and individual stake holders. It also involves various areas which will be affected due to the new policy development and implementation. According to Hardee, Feranil, Boezwinkle and Clark (2004) policy circle involves six different stages and involves various parties who are working together for the new policy development. However, it is

My difficult questions surround the doing and the reading of the policy process. There are three areas that I would like further explore: the role of citizen participation in the policy process, importance of critical and postmodern perspectives in understanding public policy, and the role of government.