Public Policymaking in India

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Agenda Setting, and Scope and Pace of Policy Change

The Kingdon Schema¹

When does a policy problem get picked up for policymaking? Or, to put it in other words, how is it that when there are so many problems pressing for the attention of the government, some are chosen and not others? When a new idea is adopted for resolving a policy problem, it is sometimes said that it is an idea whose time has come. The question is when and how does an idea’s time come? John W. Kingdon has explored these questions systematically in the American context. In very broad terms, Kingdon’s schema is of relevance to the Indian polity. Certain specifics of the schema, however, are only relevant to the American polity. To give an example, in the United States, ...