Jenkins-Smith, Hank2019-04-272019-04-272013https://hdl.handle.net/11244/319286This dissertation examines how information is translated into issuedefinitions. Issue definitions---the way that policy issues areunderstood---have long been noted to be important for policychoices. In this project, I develop a model of issue definitions whereissues are understood as a function of the various dimensions of theissue weighted by the importance of each dimension. I then incorporatethis model into the theory of information processing developed byJones and Baumgartner (2005). The theory of information processingposits that information can be understood as signals in thepolicymaking environment, and information processing is the collectionand prioritizing of those signals. In this dissertation, I modelthese information signals as the salience of each dimension of anissue.Using the case of used nuclear fuel (UNF) management, this dissertation testhypotheses about the nature of issue definitions and policy change,institutions, and policy actors. Specifically, I estimate thedimensions of the UNF issue using latent Dirichlet allocation, a typeof quantitative text analysis. Following the development of the UNFdimensions, I test hypotheses about how the salience of these dimensions are relatedto policy change, how institutional structures influence dimensionsalience, and how policy actors systematically highlight somedimensions over others.140 pagesapplication.pdfPolitical planningPolitical science--Decision makingPolicy sciencestext