According to Kingdon, this is done by routine monitoring of costs or program evaluation studies, or informal streams of complaints flowing into congressional offices. Kingdon goes on to state that problem recognition is critical to agenda setting. The chances of a given proposal or subject rising on an agenda are markedly enhanced if it is connected to an important problem. According to Kingdon, the second family of explanations for higher or lower agenda prominence is in the political stream. Political developments are powerful agenda setters.
Participants persuade politicians by consensus to argue that certain conditions become agendas.
In addition, interest groups are able to hinder consideration of proposals they do not prefer or by joining an issue that is already high on a governmental agenda. Visible participants affect agenda setting as well. In this category there are visible and hidden participants. The visible participants are those individuals who receive considerable press and public attention. They include the president and his high level appointees to name a couple.