| Abstract [eng] |
“Image impact to the public policy agenda” is a research about how images affect institutional agenda. The main problem of this paper is the different approaches of two theories to the change of institutional agenda. The second problem is about images itself – why not all photos becomes images and what is an image. The main goal of this paper is to find out what kind of an impact an image can have on institutional agenda. To solve this problem this research uses Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and adds things from other theories. This paper has three main hypotheses H1: political entrepreneurs will take leadership to show the policy problem and will offer solutions, H2: The change on an image and its popularity will lead to an institutional agenda change, H3: The image will mobilize the media and it will frame the problem trying to show its position. All these hypotheses are confirmed. In this paper image was described as an event or its photo, which show a specific policy problem. There are 4 main objectives in this paper: to find a theoretical basis of analysis, analyze images and find what feedback it had, find the factor that changed the agenda. In this paper, we examine two images “Mato tragedy” and “Saviečių tragedy”. Both of these images point to the same policy problem – child protection policy and services. The research shows that the main factor that led to the change in institutional agenda was society mobilization behind the problem. The image itself sparked a big response from the society, media, and entrepreneurs. They all pushed the decision makers to do something. The main tactic it used was shaming. Entrepreneurs and society publicly shamed the decision makers that had different opinion about childcare. They mobilized on social media and changed the mind of some decision makers. Using this paper, other researchers can look deeper into how political images affect policy. This paper only provides a basic view of how thing change and who can influence the change in agenda. It could be useful to look not just into the agenda change but also into the policy itself. You can also take an additional look into the effect of social media to politicians. This research showed that all the politicians use social media and take the content on it seriously. This paper offers a new look into agenda and policy change. It proves that rapid changes in agenda are possible without the change of governing coalition. This paper also includes various theories into one analytical basis that helps finding the way agenda can change. One of the exceptional things about this paper is the integration of social media. Because it is a big part of decision maker informational diet. You can find out what kind of information can see decision maker and what kind can change their minds using control on information from social media. |
