The emergence of sentencing reform and correctional priorities as public issues: Establishing a framework of analysis

Abstract

Recent public policy literature has placed emphasis on the development of public issues and their placement on governmental decision-making agendas. This study tests the applicability of a particular agenda-building paradigm to the pressing issues of sentencing reform and correctional priorities, at both the state and national levels. The analysis reveals that various models of agenda-building are of descriptive value, and that sentencing reform and correctional priorities have followed different routes in their placement on the formal agendas of governmental decision-makers. Implications of this research point to the need for a thorough knowledge of the public policy process, particularly the dynamics of issue expansion, in evaluating the progress and prospects of meaningful sentencing and correctional reforms.