American Public Attention to Political Issues - Outline Example

First is the stage where the issue is yet to attract public attention though it may be significant, second, is the stage where the public becomes aware of the problem and its significance and seeks to address it and solve it immediately and with optimism. The third stage is characterized by solving the problem as demanding both in terms of finance and in sacrificing our comfort. In some cases, the issue can be solved by advances in technology without sacrificing our comfort but in other cases, especially in social problem, such sacrifices may be necessary, and this form part of the third stage. Realizing the cost of the solution to the problem leads to a gradual decline in public interest in solving the problem. This gradual decline which results from some member of the public feeling threatened by the cost of the solution, other becoming discouraged and yet others overcome by boredom, constitute the fourth stage in the cycle. The final stage in the cycle is characterized by lesser attention or occasional interest in the problem by the problem.

For a social problem to pass through these five stages it must have three characteristics. In the first place, relatively only a numerical minority suffers from the problem. Second, a majority or powerful minority benefits from the existence of the problem. Third, the problem is intrinsically unexciting.