Determinate sentencing appealed to a wide spectrum of New Yorkers including politicians of both parties, policymakers, and the media. Data were obtained from archival materials, interviews, and personal observations. The article describes the four phases of policy development in the agenda building model, i.e., issue creation, issue expansion, agenda entrance, and issue resolution. The determinate model, as it developed in New York, was susceptible to selective interpretations by people with different interests. Once the sentencing guidelines committee proposed a concrete model, proponents of determinacy became opponents, and the movement died. 38 references