Chapter 17

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Figure 17.1 No Worries! I Can Drive Without Watching the Road 3

Government Purposes and Public Policies  Public policy -- a general plan of action, designed by government to solve a problem or pursue an objective  Not acting is also a policy decision  Policy disagreements come from differing opinions on government’s goals, the means to meet goals, and how the situation should be perceived 4

The Policymaking Process  Disagreement about government’s goals often based on value differences  Look at policies related to drugs:  Libertarians value freedom and want drugs decriminalized  Conservatives value order and support controls over drug use  Valuing equality, liberals favor treatment programs 5

Types of Policies  Political scientists categorize policies by their objectives:  Distributive policies  Representative John Murtha’s “pork”  Redistributional policies  Seattle’s proposed espresso tax  Alabama’s proposed redesign of state tax code  Regulation  Mexican trucks traveling in U.S. 6

Figure 17.2 Who is Paying Their Fair Share? 7

Public Policy Tools  Main tools used to achieve governmental policy objectives:  Incentives and disincentives  Direct provision of services  Setting rules  Tools can be combined  Policies not static: means, goals, and situations change 8

Gridlock Proposal Gridlocked 9

Greeks Smoke a Lot, Bulgarians Too  Since 1970, smoking has declined in U.S.  Smoking rates in Europe higher  Some countries beginning to address with taxes  Regulatory restrictions vary considerably  Anti-smoking education efforts have increased 10

A Policymaking Model  Policymaking process has four stages:  Agenda setting  Policy formulation  Implementation  Policy evaluation  Political agenda the broad set of policy areas in U.S. life 11

Figure 17.3 The Policymaking Process 12

Agenda Setting  In agenda setting, policies defined as political issues  Triggers can be calamities, effects of technology, or irrational human behavior  Issue definition influenced by our values, world viewpoints, and what we consider to be a government responsibility  Changes often due to new frame 13

What’s the Problem? 14

Figure 17.4 The Innocence Frame Gains Traction 15

Policy Formulation  Policy formulation where formal plans are developed and officials decide about adoption  Occurs in all 3 branches of government  Not always just one stage, or in one level of government  Tends to be incremental  Proposals not always enacted 16

Sex Offender Registry/Tracking 17

Implementation  Process by which policies carried out is implementation  Process starts with notification of affected parties  Involves bargaining and negotiation as part of a pluralist system  Changes in technology procurement  Medicare prescription drug program 18

Policy Evaluation  Policy evaluation the analysis of a public policy’s results  Measurement of program outcomes  Cost-effectiveness analysis  Texas’s “top 10 percent” law as example  Evaluation provides feedback on policies  Evaluation difficult because behavior complex and driven by many causes  Also, different programs exist to achieve same goal, such as abstinence-only sex education 19

Figure 17.5 Different Evaluations, Different Findings 20

Fragmentation and Coordination  Separation of powers results in a fragmented approach to solving policy problems  Different interest groups try to influence different parts of government  Sometimes more than one agency responds to a problem  Creation of Department of Homeland Security a response to need for an agency to oversee fragmented responses to homeland security issues 21

Christmas Day 2009 Bomber Umar Farouk Abdumutallah 22

Fragmentation and Coordination  Congress also has diffusion of authority  Overlapping committee jurisdictions  States have differing policies on any given issue, and also may differ from president’s views  In a federalist system, who has control?  Attempts to eliminate jurisdictional overlap result in turf battles 23

The Pursuit of Coordination  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) fosters coordination within executive branch  Coordination of policies among the states a more difficult balancing act  Reorganizations within an agency sometimes brought on by a scandal, negative report, or highly visible problem  Effect of pluralism on coordination evident 24

Government by Policy Area  When policies developed, participants from many areas must develop working relationships  Participate at all stages of policy formulation  Various individuals and organizations working in a particular policy area constitute an issue network  Conflict within a network common  Common denominator expertise 25

26 The Veterans Affairs “Triangle” 26

Issue Networks  Issue networks promote pluralism  However, majoritarian influence of public opinion still significant  Elections one indicator  Issue networks facilitate pluralist policies when majoritarian influences weak 27

The Nonprofit Sector  Nonprofits not a government organization or business  May receive public funding, however  Groups give government valuable feedback  Charities that perform some public good  In groups with income of at least $25,000, greatest percentage involved in social services  Many other services, from PTAs to museums, provided by nonprofits 28

Figure 17.6 America’s Nonprofit Sector 29

A Lifeline in Haiti  After earthquake January 12, 2010, Partners in Health, a nonprofit, provided assistance in 10 small hospitals  U.S. military responded, but impractical to maintain long-term presence  Nonprofits a lifeline for disaster response  Governments use nonprofits to devise and implement programs in developing world 30

The Nonprofit Sector  Nonprofits enrich society with their efforts  Government rewards organizations with tax deductibility for donors  Government also enters into partnerships with nonprofits to provide needed services  Savings to government since nonprofits use many volunteers  Economic downturn resulted in fewer contributions to nonprofits  Nonprofits vital part of policy process 31