Thesis (MA - Political Studies) - University of Auckland, 2005. This research sought to determine the extent the idea of children's rights has influenced development of issues on the New Zealand policy agenda since ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1993. The process of agenda setting and the influence of the idea of children's rights were examined and analysed to gain insights into the role of the state in protecting children. Three case studies of the issues of child abuse, children and the media, and New Zealand's Agenda for Children were examined using a policy agenda setting analysis. This involved close analysis of publicly available documents, reports, political speeches and comment, political party resources, and reporting of issues in the media to locate and observe agenda setting mechanisms. Several agenda setting mechanisms influenced the development of children's issues on the New Zealand policy agenda. This research concluded that problem definition significantly affected the success of a policy on the agenda. Conflicting rights proved to be a barrier to the progress of issues on the policy agenda. This was evident in both the case studies of child abuse and children in the media. In the case study of the development of the Agenda for Children there were no conflicting rights. This contributed to a straightforward and uncomplicated progression of this issue on the policy agenda. While the idea of children's rights was ascertained to be influential in the agenda setting process, it was not continually the dominant idea.--AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT