Domestic Policy Last time: Get Out the Vote campaigning Today: the politics of domestic policy

GOTV and Nathan Henderson-James What did we learn from Nathan’s presentation? –Project Vote’s labor-intensive approach seems to work quite well, at an estimated cost of ~$15- $20 per voter turned out –personal contact and personalized telephone contacts are effective; depersonalized contacts are not –Are these voters “permanently” mobilized?

Domestic policy the text refers to several types of policy: –distributive: benefit allocations from a common pool of (renewable) “found” resources –regulatory: command-and-control policies governing economic and social interactions, using the police powers of the government to shape incentives –redistributive: transfers of wealth or income from members of one group to members of another group

Presidents and domestic policy distributive policies: prez can help MCs negotiate logrolls; reversion pts usually are remote (annual bills) regulatory policies: to what degree can the prez manage the bureaucracy and the courts? redistributive policies: reversionary policies usually are not remote (permanent authorizations/appropriations; entitlements)

Presidents and bureaucrats What do bureaucrats want? What do prez & Congress want vis-à-vis bureaucrats? –If prez and Congress have different interests, MCs may abdicate control over parts of the bureaucracy –can MCs be held collectively responsible for macro-economic or social outcomes? Not easily. But prez can be. –blame game: MCs may prefer to position-take rather than actually try to control policy outcomes Delegation problems: hidden info, hidden action; Madison’s dilemma Managing delegations: –screening and selection mechanisms –contract design –monitoring and reporting requirements –institutional checks

Prez management tools Signing statements: rhetorical device to interpret legislative intent –why should anyone treat as credible statements made by the prez at this stage? Appointment powers Executive orders: quasi-legislative statements about leg. intent or decree-like, policy-making devices –under what conditions should bureaucrat action be shaped by E.O.s?