Chapter 18 POLICYMAKING AND ANDDOMESTIC POLICY POLICY

Learning Outcomes 18.1 Categorize different types of public policies and outline the process by which policies are formulated and implemented Trace the evolution of social welfare programs as a central element of public policy in the United States Describe the origins and evolution of Social Security as well as the funding and benefit issues facing the program. Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 2

Learning Outcomes 18.4 Explain how poverty is defined and trace the evolution of public assistance programs designed to address it Differentiate among Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and explain how each program addresses the issues of health-care delivery. Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 3

Learning Outcomes 18.6 Describe the role of the federal government in shaping education policy at the state and local government levels Assess alternative policies for addressing illegal immigration into the United States Explain how the issue of fairness shapes perspectives on government benefits. Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 4

Government Purposes and Public Policies  The Policymaking Process  Disagreement about government’s goals often rooted in value differences  Drug policies:  Libertarians value freedom and want drugs decriminalized  Conservatives value order and support controls over drug use Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 5

Government Purposes and Public Policies  Types of Policies  Distributive policies  Redistributional policies  Regulation Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 6

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Government Purposes and Public Policies  Public Policy Tools  Different ways to achieve public policy objectives  Incentives and disincentives  Direct provision of services  Governments largest expenditures come from direct payments to employees or vendors who implement programs  Setting rules Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 8

Government Purposes and Public Policies  A Policymaking Model  Policymaking process has four stages  Agenda setting  Policy formulation  Implementation  Policy evaluation Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 9

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Government Purposes and Public Policies  Fragmentation, Coordination, and Issue Networks  Separation of powers results in fragmented approach to solving policy problems  Different interest groups influence government  Working relationships among participants in pluralist system counter fragmentation  Issue networks  Facilitate pluralist policies when majoritarian influences are weak Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 11

The Development of the American Welfare State  The Great Depression and the New Deal  Great Depression: longest and deepest setback of U.S. economy in history  Began with stock market crash Oct. 24 th, 1929 and ended with start of WWII 12

The Development of the American Welfare State  The Great Depression and the New Deal  New Deal  FDR undertook measures to stem the Depression  Created Social Security  Initiated a long-range trend toward government expansion 13

The Development of the American Welfare State  The Great Society  Lyndon B. Johnson’s programs designed to redress political, social, and economic inequality  War on Poverty  Economic Opportunity Act (1964)  Encouraged local programs to educate and train people for employment 14

The Development of the American Welfare State  Retrenchment and Reform  Ronald Reagan’s reelection resulted in a reexamination of social welfare policy  Shifted focus from economic equality to economic freedom, and from federal government to states  Clinton charted middle course - Important reforms  Greatest expansion of welfare benefits under George W. Bush  Obama enacted the biggest welfare state reform since the New Deal with the passage of health-care reform in

Social Security  Social insurance: protect individuals from loss, regardless of need (entitlements)  Workers’ compensation  Social Security  Medicare 16

Social Security  Origins of Social Security  Social insurance programs began in Europe after World War I  In U.S., needs left to private organizations and individuals until Great Depression  Social Security Act 1935  Social insurance – old-age, surviving spouse, unemployment  Financial assistance – needy, blind and disabled  Health and welfare services – for disabled children, orphans and vocational rehabilitation for disabled 17

Social Security  How Social Security Works  Revenue fund administered by Social Security Administration  “Pay as you go” tax system  Universal participation essential and required  In 1955, nearly nine workers for each beneficiary  Today, three workers for every beneficiary  Birthrate, mortality rates and economy affect program 18

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Social Security  Who Pays? Who Benefits?  Congress established automatic cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security in 1972  Changes in payments and wages subject to tax tied to Consumer Price Index 20

Social Security  Social Security Reform  Future of Social Security a concern  Repeated attempts to reform Social Security have failed due to tough choices involved  George W. Bush - supported privatization  Obama opposes privatization but reform took back burner to recession 21

Public Assistance  Poverty in the United States  Until 1996, government imposed national standards on state programs and distributed funds based on proportion of population in poverty  Poverty level is minimum cash income that will provide for a family’s basic needs  The poverty threshold is what the Census Bureau uses to determine the number of people who live below the poverty line  Feminization of poverty 22

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Public Assistance  Welfare Reform  Personal Responsibility and Opportunity to Work Act (1996)  Abolished Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)  Replaced AFDC with Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) 24

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Health Care  U.S. only major industrialized nation without universal health-care system  Cost and Access  Access  50 million people (16%) had no health insurance in 2010, and many were underinsured  Cost  In 2010, public and private spending on health care reached an all-time high of $2.6 trillion, which was 17.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). 26

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Health Care  Medicare  Social Security Act amended to provide Medicare for citizens 65 and older  Two Components:  Part A for hospitalization  Part B for physician’s fees  Compulsory program, expanded over years to cover other services  Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (Part D) 28

Health Care  Medicaid  Provides health care to Americans with low incomes  Product of the Great Society, passed as another amendment to Social Security Act  Vast program, run and financed jointly with states  Eligibility and services vary widely by state  Medicaid participants: children under age twenty-one (half of all participants in 2011), adults (mainly pregnant women, parents, and other caregivers of children), those who are disabled, and those aged sixty-five and over 29

Health Care  Health-Care Reform  Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)  Most wide-ranging policy change in a generation  Aim is to provide insurance to as many people as possible  Notable aspects:  year olds can stay on parents’ insurance plans  Cannot be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions  All individuals are required to have health insurance by 2014 or pay a fine  Concerns about cost, although not expected to add to the deficit 30

Elementary and Secondary Education  Concerns Motivating Change  Equity: Overriding and persistent concern  Social and economic equity found through equality of educational opportunity  Brown v. Board of Education (1954)  Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)  Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)  Despite federal policy, improvements in education elusive 31

Elementary and Secondary Education  Concerns Motivating Change (cont’d)  National Security and Prosperity  Education considered key public policy area  National Defense Education Act of 1958 (NDEA)  1983 report: A Nation at Risk  Findings created momentum for improvement 32

Elementary and Secondary Education  Values and Reform  No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)  Reauthorization of ESEA  Required proficiency in reading and math by 2014  Implementation controversial – teaching to the test, unfunded mandate  NCLB not reauthorized in 2007  2010, Obama spin on NCLB - “Blueprint for Reform”  Focuses on bottom 5 percent of schools  Race to the Top – competitive grants 33

Immigration  Important problem facing America  Immigrants make up 12.5 percent of population; of those, 11.2 million are illegal  27% of noncitizens live below poverty line  Policy debates over illegal immigrants  Johnson-Reed Act 1924  DREAM Act - Obama issued executive action in 2012  The Constitution grants Congress the authority to “establish a uniform rule of naturalization” 34

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Benefits and Fairness  Two benefits provided by national government  Means-tested benefits  Non-means-tested benefits  Fairness of non-means-tested benefits?  Reform debates: making affluent pay more for programs 37