Policy Making 5 Chapters… 100+ Pages… 15 Slides… You’re welcome….

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 2

Figure 17.3 The Policymaking Process 3

Setting The Agenda The Political Agenda: “What are we going to make policy about?” Triggers: Calamities, effect of technological advancement, human behavior, and media Issue definition: Influenced by our values, world viewpoints, and what we think to be important. What are legitimate issues to put on the agenda? Based on: Shared political values Custom and tradition Impact of events

Setting the Agenda 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

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 6

Policy Formulation 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 7

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 8

Policy Evaluation Policy evaluation the analysis of a public policy’s results – Measurement of program outcomes – Cost-effectiveness analysis 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 9

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 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 10

Decision Making Now that something is on the agenda how is the decision made? – Determined by nature of the issue Impacts groups that become politically active Affects intensity of conflict Best viewed through Cost/Benefit Analysis – Cost: Any burden that people must bear (or expect to bear) from the policy – Benefit: Any satisfaction that people must receive (or expect to receive) from the policy – Viewed through perception and legitimacy (should that group benefit?)

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

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

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

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

Types of Politics Distributed BenefitsConcentrated Benefits Distributed CostsMajoritarianClient Concentrated CostsEntrepreneurialInterest Group