2012 Articles

Changing Frames of Ethanol Policy in Congress and the Media

Weiner, Sarah

"This paper will focus on a particular slice of this story: namely, the evolving “frames” used to discuss ethanol policy. Frames are the issue areas deemed relevant to the evaluation of a particular policy. New frames, including global food prices, international trade regimes, and the budget deficit, were added across time to older ethanol frames, including the environment, agriculture, and energy security, to create an increasingly complex issue environment for ethanol policymaking. Specifically, this thesis will investigate the origination and transmission of these new frames. Often treated as a “black box” phenomenon by political scientists, the creation and adoption of new policy frames has important implications for understanding preference-formation and congressional policymaking. In the pages that follow, I will attempt to address this critical question. Where did Congress “find” new ethanol frames? Did members of Congress frame ethanol policy for the media, or vice versa? And why did some groups adopt new frames while others lagged behind?"-- from page 58