Getting invasive species on the political agenda : agenda setting and policy formulation in the case of ash dieback in the UK
Mackay, Heather LU
; Keskitalo, E. Carina H.
and Pettersson, Maria
(2017)
In Biological Invasions
19(7).
p.1953-1970
- Abstract
This study reviews how the issue of ash dieback has been placed on the political agenda in the UK, a country where the disease has affected one of the largest national extents, thus representing a particularly severe case. Comparisons are made between how the scientific community framed the ash dieback threat and the resulting response strategy and how both the media and the British government framed the problem. Representing one example of media framing, the study analyses one British newspaper’s coverage of the disease and the response strategies (the Daily Telegraph). The analysis highlights a gap between the biologically rooted perspective and the perspective of policymakers, where policy must manoeuvre between disparate viewpoints... (More)
This study reviews how the issue of ash dieback has been placed on the political agenda in the UK, a country where the disease has affected one of the largest national extents, thus representing a particularly severe case. Comparisons are made between how the scientific community framed the ash dieback threat and the resulting response strategy and how both the media and the British government framed the problem. Representing one example of media framing, the study analyses one British newspaper’s coverage of the disease and the response strategies (the Daily Telegraph). The analysis highlights a gap between the biologically rooted perspective and the perspective of policymakers, where policy must manoeuvre between disparate viewpoints and needs. Crucially, none of Pautasso et al.’s (Biol Conserv 158:37–49, 2013) five plant-science-based solutions were explicitly adopted by the British Government in their response strategy to ash dieback disease. The same is true of the biological control recommendations offered by Kirisits et al. (J Agric Ext Rural Dev 4(9):230–235, 2012). Instead, the government adopted a broader, more comprehensive approach than that recommended by plant scientists. The present analysis thus provides an example of a holistic perspective on the multiple competing factors that policymakers must navigate in their attempts to delineate action. It highlights instances in which proposed biological responses were rendered less applicable by a failure to understand the agenda-setting process and the policy-making arena. The present findings suggest that an improved understanding of the factors influencing agenda setting and policy action is essential to arriving at a more effective and integrated understanding of responses to biological threats.
(Less)
- author
- Mackay, Heather
LU
; Keskitalo, E. Carina H.
and Pettersson, Maria
- publishing date
- 2017-07-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Agenda-setting, Ash dieback, Framing, Invasive species, Policy, UK
- in
- Biological Invasions
- volume
- 19
- issue
- 7
- pages
- 18 pages
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85016545646
- ISSN
- 1387-3547
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10530-017-1415-3
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- additional info
- Funding Information: We are grateful to Paul Watson for research assistance and to Future Forests, a research programme funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research MISTRA, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Umeå University, for funding.
- id
- 642cf282-96dd-4307-8427-da816ed12914
- date added to LUP
- 2022-02-03 10:01:20
- date last changed
- 2022-03-05 18:33:13
@article{642cf282-96dd-4307-8427-da816ed12914,
abstract = {{<p>This study reviews how the issue of ash dieback has been placed on the political agenda in the UK, a country where the disease has affected one of the largest national extents, thus representing a particularly severe case. Comparisons are made between how the scientific community framed the ash dieback threat and the resulting response strategy and how both the media and the British government framed the problem. Representing one example of media framing, the study analyses one British newspaper’s coverage of the disease and the response strategies (the Daily Telegraph). The analysis highlights a gap between the biologically rooted perspective and the perspective of policymakers, where policy must manoeuvre between disparate viewpoints and needs. Crucially, none of Pautasso et al.’s (Biol Conserv 158:37–49, 2013) five plant-science-based solutions were explicitly adopted by the British Government in their response strategy to ash dieback disease. The same is true of the biological control recommendations offered by Kirisits et al. (J Agric Ext Rural Dev 4(9):230–235, 2012). Instead, the government adopted a broader, more comprehensive approach than that recommended by plant scientists. The present analysis thus provides an example of a holistic perspective on the multiple competing factors that policymakers must navigate in their attempts to delineate action. It highlights instances in which proposed biological responses were rendered less applicable by a failure to understand the agenda-setting process and the policy-making arena. The present findings suggest that an improved understanding of the factors influencing agenda setting and policy action is essential to arriving at a more effective and integrated understanding of responses to biological threats.</p>}},
author = {{Mackay, Heather and Keskitalo, E. Carina H. and Pettersson, Maria}},
issn = {{1387-3547}},
keywords = {{Agenda-setting; Ash dieback; Framing; Invasive species; Policy; UK}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{07}},
number = {{7}},
pages = {{1953--1970}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Biological Invasions}},
title = {{Getting invasive species on the political agenda : agenda setting and policy formulation in the case of ash dieback in the UK}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1415-3}},
doi = {{10.1007/s10530-017-1415-3}},
volume = {{19}},
year = {{2017}},
}