Rapid response and uncertain agendas: Senators' response to Dobbs

Abstract

AbstractWe examine policymakers' nuanced strategies of digital agenda setting during times of lawmaker uncertainty versus anticipated policy communication. Whereas existing agenda‐setting studies tend to focus on how policymakers allocate attention to preferred policies, we explain how policymakers react to an issue in a digital media climate where the expectation is engagement. We explore the dynamics of digital agenda setting with U.S. senators' Twitter activity in response to the unexpected document leak overturning Roe v. Wade and the anticipated, subsequent Supreme Court decision. Policymakers across the political spectrum quickly reacted to both events, capturing shared policy attention, yet did so with variable response times and differing frames for the issue. We argue that when the agenda rapidly contracts and issues become salient on Twitter, the uncertainty, time, and tenor of lawmakers' response tell us about their policy‐making priorities. Punctuated attention cycles churn fast in a digital climate, but even amid these quick, attention‐grabbing news cycles, the nuance of those moments and policy uncertainty suggest that rhetorical agendas differ when galvanizing events are anticipated. How policymakers convey their agenda when the media environment incentivizes lawmakers to respond regardless of issue prioritization is fundamental to understanding policy attention by lawmakers operating a digital media environment.