Study On Policy Agenda Affected By Mass Incidents

Policy agenda,as the first link of policy process,occupies an important position in the policy process.With the development of society and economy,the policy system of China is becoming more and more open,and public participation in the policy process is increasingly common as well.In the outside initiative model of policy agenda,the public can sometimes push the issue to be placed on the policy agenda.Recently,the policy agenda of taxi industry reform is closely related to the frequent occurrence of mass incidents.The public affecting policy agenda through mass incidents is not a unique phenomenon.At present,there are many cases of policy agenda initiated by "Nao-Da",such as the PX incident in Xiamen,and the waste incineration plant incident in Guangdong.So why is there such a phenomenon in China's policy agenda setting'?What is the position of mass incidents in the policy agenda setting,and how does it affect the policy agenda?And why some outside promotion based on mass incidents can promote the issue to be successfully included into the policy agenda,while others fail to do that?Based on these questions,firstly,this paper reviews the studies on policy agenda and mass incidents from the perspective of policy agenda,on the basis of which,the concepts of policy agenda and mass incidents in this paper are defined.Secondly,this paper constructs the interactive analysis framework of mass incidents with problem stream,policy stream and political stream based on the classical theory—multiple-streams theory proposed by John·Kingdon,and the author holds that the mass incidents is an important way for the public to define problems,and that it is what policy communities reconstruct policy options with reference to,and that it is the way of public interest gathering and gambling as well as the catalyst for national mood changes.On the basis of theoretical analysis,this paper chooses the taxi industry reform as a case,and tries to prove that mass incidents can have an impact on the streams,and that it is possible to push the issue to be included into policy agenda.Moreover,since there have been two influential taxi drivers strikes in 2008 and 2015 respectively,this paper tries to compare the two incidents by discussing the variables that affect policy agenda initiated by mass incidents in the general overall policy process analysis framework proposed by Gill Walt,to discuss the variables that affect the results of policy agenda initiated by mass incidents.And the author holds that the change of the policy environment,the balance of power between the policy participants,and the development of the policy streams all affect the policy agenda initiated by mass incidents.Finally,the author holds that the public acting on policy agenda by mass incidents has both limitations and positive significance.On one hand,this way remains controversial in its legitimacy,and will lead to social instability,resulting in the deviation of the agenda setting.It is an obstacle to the further development of the outside initiative model of policy agenda.On the other hand,it shows the importance of paying attention to the demands of public interest in the agenda setting,and at the same time,to some extent,it promotes the reform of irrational system and the abolishment of unreasonable policy.This paper argues that China will encounter more complex problems in future,and it also needs multiple agenda-setting models.It is the lack of institutionalized approach that causes the public to choose the mass incidents in the outside initiative model of policy agenda.Therefore,public participation in policy agenda can be optimized by deepening the concept of governance,improving the laws and regulations,strengthening the system construction,and raising the awareness as well as fostering the abilities of orderly participation in order to avoid unnecessary mass incidents in future.