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“The World Changed Today”: Agenda‐Setting and Policy Change in the Wake of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks

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  • Thomas A. Birkland

Abstract

The September 11 terrorist attacks constitute a focusing event that have been said to have “changed everything” in America. However, the literature on focusing events, policy change, and the policy process suggests that the “windows of opportunity” opened by focusing events like the September 11 attacks do not automatically equate to policy change. This paper considers whether and to what extent the agenda and policies have changed as a result of the attacks. While the events of September 11 provided the impetus for change, the threat of terrorism was already well established in the policy stream, and September 11 only threw open the window of opportunity for policy change based, in large part, on preexisting ideas; many of these ideas were enacted. And in the case of aviation security, some innovation is evident in the area of cockpit security.

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  • Thomas A. Birkland, 2004. "“The World Changed Today”: Agenda‐Setting and Policy Change in the Wake of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 21(2), pages 179-200, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revpol:v:21:y:2004:i:2:p:179-200
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2004.00068.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Nikolaos Zahariadis, 2016. "Delphic oracles: ambiguity, institutions, and multiple streams," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 49(1), pages 3-12, March.
    2. Meijun Liu & Yi Bu & Chongyan Chen & Jian Xu & Daifeng Li & Yan Leng & Richard B. Freeman & Eric T. Meyer & Wonjin Yoon & Mujeen Sung & Minbyul Jeong & Jinhyuk Lee & Jaewoo Kang & Chao Min & Min Song , 2022. "Pandemics are catalysts of scientific novelty: Evidence from COVID‐19," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(8), pages 1065-1078, August.
    3. Vytautas VALENTINAVIÄŒIUS, 2022. "The role of focusing events on agenda-setting: changes in the Lithuanian security policy agenda after the annexation of Crimea," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 13, pages 309-329, June.
    4. Shiwei Fan & Lan Xue & Jianhua Xu, 2018. "What Drives Policy Attention to Climate Change in China? An Empirical Analysis through the Lens of People’s Daily," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-20, August.
    5. Charles Davis & Katherine Hoffer, 2012. "Federalizing energy? Agenda change and the politics of fracking," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 45(3), pages 221-241, September.
    6. Rick S. Kurtz, 2010. "Public Lands Policy and Economic Trends in Gateway Communities," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 27(1), pages 77-88, January.

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