This chapter examines John Kingdon’s book Agendas, Alternatives, and American Public Policy, considered an alternative to the more technocratic existing theories of policy-making. It begins by summarizing what the book says about American public policy and looking at the interlocking innovations that made it so important. In particular, it analyses two political processes that differ from the better known aspects of politics: agenda-setting and alternative specification. It then turns its attention to the second conceptual innovation in Agendas: the three streams of policy, politics, and problems. The chapter also describes coupling and the window of opportunity as potentially the most theoretically difficult parts of the book. In addition, it discusses potential theoretical directions that would go beyond further replication of Agendas.