The Policy-Making Process

Public Policy Public Policy: government’s plan to solve a common problem Encourage behavior: ex: low interest student loans Discourage behavior: ex: drug laws

Policy Formation: Agenda Setting: Public Attention Policy Formulation: policymakers address; strategies Policy Adoption: formally adopt Policy implementation: bureaucracy carries out, procedures for running programs Policy evaluation: Determine next step (goes back to 1, 2, or 4)

The Policy-Making Process Public policy is government action or inaction taken to deal with problems and concerns. Policy Adoption Problem Recognition Budgeting Agenda Setting Policy Implementation Policy Formulation Policy Evaluation

Linkage Institutions Linkage institutions are political channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the policy agenda.

Linkage Institution’s Roles Interest Groups: Lobby for regulation, distributive or redistributive policies Sierra club, AARP, NRA Political Parties: Determining Policy Public Opinion: “Trigger Issue” Elections: Solidify public opinion and direct government

Other Influences Groups may react to a sense of relative deprivation The national government may later adopt ideas pioneered by the states The media helps place issues on the political agenda

Media

Setting the Agenda The political agenda: deciding what to make policy about The current political agenda includes taxes, energy, welfare, and civil rights Shared beliefs determine what is legitimate for the government to do

Scope of Government Action Government always gets larger People generally believe that government should continue to do what it is doing now Changes in attitudes and events tend to increase government activities Government growth cannot be attributed to one political party

Government Growth

Policy Making Institution's Roles Congress: Passing Laws President: Budget Proposal, veto, executive orders (Civil Rights Act 1964), “making” it an issue, Bureaucracy: implementation (enforcement and interpretation with broad language) Courts: Interpreting what gov. can and cannot do

The Influence of Institutions The courts make decisions that force action by other branches: e.g. school desegregation, abortion The bureaucracy is a source of innovation and forms alliances with senators and staff The Senate is a source of presidential candidates with new ideas

Policy A choice government makes in response to a political issue or public problem 15

Domestic Policy Types of Policy: Redistributive: high income pay, low income receive Distributive: all pay bill; ex: tax breaks, student loans, price supports, Pork-barrel Regulatory: limit actions, environmental regulation

Economic Policy: GDP: Gross Domestic Product Fiscal: taxation and spending Progressive Tax Regressive Tax Flat Tax Keynesian Supply-side Divided Government Reagan: decrease taxes Congress: wouldn’t cut spending

Other Domestic Issues Economic Policy Monetary: regulate Debt: total Federal Reserve Debt: total Deficit: yearly Free Trade: NAFTA U.S. Budget Nation States Environment: Clean Air Act: 70: limited emissions; 90: regulated plants and industries

Other Domestic Issues Entitlements: Mandatory public expenses Social Security Welfare: AFDC (abolished 1996) and TANF (5yrs, other restrictions) Health Care: Medicare Medicaid Obamacare Middle-Class: Education: Homeownership: Corporate Welfare:

Foreign Policy Foreign Policy: policy to solve problems outside of borders Isolationism: Remain neutral Interventionism: Spread democratic ideals Containment: Prevent the spread of negative influences

Foreign Policy Strategies: Deterrence: discouraging another country from doing something Compellence: encouraging another country to do something Preemption: attack before being attacked Unilateralism vs. Multinationalism

Foreign Policy Instruments: Propaganda Diplomacy Foreign Aid Covert Operations Economic Sanctions

Foreign Policy Influences: Other Countries: Intergovernmental Organizations: NATO, United Nations, EU, AU, OPEC NGOs: Multinational Corporations: Public Opinion: Interest Groups:

Policy Impacts Does it solve the problem? Does it create more problems? Depending on the answer, policymakers may revisit the issue refine their efforts policy must be on the agenda or ignore the problem if people are disinterested in the policy 24

Policy Example: The Clean Air Act—Public Concern Air pollution becomes a problem when a sufficient number of people complain about it Smog in Los Angeles, 1960s Asthma and children Air quality alerts 25

Clean Air Act—Linkage Institutions The issue attracts attention from any number of linkage institutions News reports or books on air pollution problems Politicians realize electoral benefits of advocating air pollution legislation Interest groups and political parties use issue to mobilize support 26

Clean Air Act—Institutions In response to pressure from public (through linkage institutions), policymaking institutions respond with policy solutions: Passing the Clean Air Act of 1970 Issuing Executive Order to create the EPA 27

Clean Air Act—Evaluation The Clean Air Act is evaluated over time It is amended in 1977 to extend deadlines for compliance The evaluation stage revealed that the initial Act—however successful in limiting air pollution—was too restrictive and impractical 28

Clean Air Act Revisited In 1990, the Clean Air Act is again amended in response to the growing problem of: Prevailing winds and subsequent problem of Acid Rain Current talk of regulating carbon dioxide California has done so, as of 2006 Federal “cap and trade” legislation? Not through Congress, but regulation through EPA and supported by courts 29

Costs, Benefits, and Policy Cost: any burden, monetary or non-monetary, that some people must, or expect, to bear from the policy Benefit: any satisfaction, monetary or non-monetary, that some people must, or expect, to receive from the policy Politics is a process of settling disputes over who benefits/pays and who ought to benefit/pay

A Way of Classifying and Explaining the Politics of Different Policy Issues

Kinds of Politics Majoritarian politics: distributed benefits, distributed costs Interest group politics: concentrated benefits, concentrated costs Client politics: concentrated benefits, distributed costs Entrepreneurial politics: distributed benefits, concentrated costs

Majoritarian Politics: Distributed Benefits, Distributed Costs Majoritarian politics – A policy in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays Social Security Military Defense Cancer research Controversy usually over cost/ideology, not rival interest groups

Majoritarian Politics Example: Antitrust legislation in 1890s was vague with no specific enforcement agency During the reform era, politicians and business leaders committed to a strong antitrust policy Enforcement was determined primarily by the ideology and personal convictions of the current presidential administration

Interest Group Politics – Concentrated Benefits, Concentrated Costs Interest group politics – A policy in which one small group benefits and another small group pays Labor - Business TV Broadcasters – Cable Companies Banks – Insurance Companies Fought by organized interest groups 35

Interest Group Politics Organized interest groups are powerful when regulatory policies confer benefits on one organized group and costs on another equally organized group Example: In 1935 labor unions sought government protection for their rights; business firms were in opposition

Texas high school students protest against smoking during an event sponsored by Teens Against Tobacco Use, a peer-based tobacco use prevention program. During the Great Depression, depositors besiege a bank hoping to get their savings out.

Client Politics: Concentrated Benefits, Distributed Costs Client politics – A policy in which one small group benefits and almost everybody pays Farmers Airlines Pork-barrel legislation Logrolling Legitimacy

Client Politics “Agency capture” is likely when benefits are focused and costs are dispersed—an agency is created to serve a group’s needs Example: National regulation of milk industry, sugar production, merchant shipping The struggle to sustain benefits depends on insider politics

Entrepreneurial Politics: Distributed Benefits, Concentrated Costs Entrepreneurial Politics – A policy in which almost everybody benefits and a small group pays the cost Auto safety/antipollution Brady Bill Policy entrepreneurs – activists who pull together a political majority on behalf of unorganized interests

Entrepreneurial Politics Relies on entrepreneurs to galvanize public opinion and mobilize congressional support Example: In the 1960s and 1970s a large number of consumer and environmental protection statutes passed (e.g., Clean Air Act, Toxic Substance Control Act)

Highway safety was always a problem, but it became a national issue after policy advocates, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), emphasized it. p. 465

Deregulation Example: airline fares, long distance telephoning, trucking Deregulation is a challenge to iron triangles and client politics It is based on the idea that governmental regulation was bad in industries that could be competitive

An Example: Acid Rain Problem identification: Agenda setting: The president, legislators, interest groups, and other public officials recognize that acid rain is a problem It affects health and the economy Agenda setting: Media cover problems caused by acid rain Candidate Bush signals his willingness to combat acid rain if elected president 44

Acid Rain, continued Policy formulation: Policy Adoption: The White House and administrative agencies develop a proposal Congress responds with its own proposal, influenced by interest groups Policy Adoption: Provisions to limit acid rain are written into the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 45

Acid Rain, continued Budgeting: Policy Implementation: Congress appropriates money so that the EPA can carry out the acid rain provisions of the CAA 1990 Policy Implementation: EPA monitors emissions outputs; sulfur dioxide Industry engages in emissions trading Policy evaluation: was the policy effective? If not, the process could begin again It was, so acid rain “solved”, but other air pollution problems arise 46