John W. Kingdon Short Quotes

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People in and around government sense a national mood.

John W. Kingdon
The opportunity passes if the ready alternative is not available.

John W. Kingdon
Setting the agenda and getting one's way, however, are two very different things.

John W. Kingdon
Consensus is built, sometimes very rapidly, by cutting in many and diverse interests.

John W. Kingdon
There is nothing automatic about campaign pledges finding their way into public policy.

John W. Kingdon
Somehow, open heart surgery means more to most of us then the Alton, Illinois, Lock and Dam 26.

John W. Kingdon
A fair body of scholarship has come to challenge the view that elected officials reign supreme.

John W. Kingdon
We still encounter considerable doses of messiness, accident, fortuitous coupling, and dumb luck.

John W. Kingdon
A good idea catches on, snowballing as it picks up adherents. Sometimes a bad idea does the same.

John W. Kingdon
The chances for a problem to rise on the decision agenda are dramatically increased if a solution is attached.

John W. Kingdon
The mere fact of being behind in "the greatest country on earth" is enough to constitute a problem for some people.

John W. Kingdon
Public opinion may sometimes direct government to do something, but it more often constrains government from doing something.

John W. Kingdon
It seemed to me that we knew something about how issues were decided, but that we knew much less about how they got to be issues in the first place.

John W. Kingdon
One goal of a senator or representative is satisfying constituents. Publicity is essential, and one way to get publicity is to push for new policy initiatives.

John W. Kingdon
People are sometimes reluctant to take big steps. Apprehensive about being unable to calculate the political fallout, politicians shy away from grand departures.

John W. Kingdon