Abstract
Agenda-setting theory, a conceptual framework used to trace how issue salience is established among policy makers, media, and the public, has yet to be applied to political socialization. This study extends agenda-setting theory by conceptualizing it as a process of political development. In an analysis of adolescent involvement during the 2002 U.S. elections, data are reported from a quasi-experimental field study of the effects of the Kids Voting USA campaign intervention on students in Arizona, Colorado, and Florida. A model of agenda setting among adolescents is built by investigating the influence of school intervention exposure, news attention, discussion, and information integration on salience, opinion strength, and finally strengthened political predispositions (partisanship and ideology). Findings suggest that agenda setting provides a valuable perspective for understanding how adolescents come to decide what issues are important to them.
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