1. Government Programs designed to improve quality of life.
Social Welfare Policy
Government Programs designed to improve quality of life.

2. Theories of Public Policy
Elite Theory- The chosen few or elite make all – important decisions in society
Pluralist Theory- Simply too many interest for any one interest to dominate. (Elitist theory is impossible)
Interest Group Theory- grouped with pluralists, recognizing the priority of one particular set of goods. Interest groups are the key actor because of this.
Bureaucratic Theory- Complex world of bureaucracy empowers bureaucrats because we can’t see all that goes on within a certain area of policy

3. Policy Making Process Recognition Agenda Setting Policy Formation
Policy Adoption
Budgeting
Implementation
Evaulation

4. Recognition Acknowledging and defining a problem
Government Responsibilities
Child abuse throughout the ages
Defining the Problem
Transportation of people with disablities
Transportation problem or Civil Rights Problem?
Defined as a Civil Rights Problem
Americans with Disabilities Act

5. Agenda Setting Systematic Agenda Governmental Agenda
A discussion agenda of all issues that are seen as meriting public attention
Governmental Agenda
Only problems to which legislators or public officials are obliged to devote serious time too
Who decides what gets on the Agenda for public policy?

6. Policy Formulation
Crafting of appropriate and acceptable courses of action to ameliorate or resolve a public problem
Who does this?
All of the actors in the Political Spectrum
Policy Adoption- How a bill becomes a Law

7. Budgeting
Some times policies are not funded or under funded so they cannot function
Housing and Urban Development only has funds to provide 20% of the eligible low income families rent subsidies

8. Policy Implementation
The process of carrying out public policy through governmental agencies and courts
4 Techniques
Authoritative
Incentive
Capacity
Hortatory

9. Policy Evaluation
The process of determining whether a course of action is achieving its intended goals
GAO- Government Accountability Office

10. Social Welfare Policy
Most Social Welfare Programs are creatures of the 20th century
During the 1890s and early 1900s, Most people assumed that poor people were lazy
After the Great depression, the Government saw this was not the case and leaped into action

11. 3 Areas of Social Welfare Policy
Income Security
Health Care
Public Education

12. Income Security
Protect people against loss of income due to retirement, disability, unemployment, or death of family
2 Types of Income Security
Means Based
Non-Means Based

13. Social Insurance: Non Means Based
Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance
Social Security- Not a pension program but a tax system
Considered a regressive tax
People making over 127,200 do not pay the tax on the amount they make after this figure
Social Security has a problem. More people are retiring while fewer are working

14. Government Policies
Progressive tax: people with higher incomes pay a greater percentage.
Proportional tax: all people pay the same percentage of their income.
Regressive tax: the poor pay a higher percentage of their income than the rich 14

15. Social Insurance- Means Tested Program
SSI- Supplementary Security Income
Single and Couple- 1,103
Aid to families with Dependent Children
Monetary benefits given to single women
Average women on AFDC was on the program for less than a year, white, and had one child
EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit)
To those who qualify it provides an average of 1500 dollars credit on income taxes
Single-$12,880 ($15,880 if married filing jointly)
With One Child- $33,995 ($36,995 if married filing jointly)
Food Stamps
To those who qualify it is about 100 dollars a month in stamps for those whose average family income is less than about 1700

16. Income, Poverty, and Public Policy
125% of Poverty Line for family of four is $28,800
Equals less than $20 per day, per family member
From this amount all food, clothing, medical and entertainment costs must be paid
Average rent in the U.S. is $804, when subtracting this amount, this family must survive on $13 per day, per person. 16

17. Government Policies Government Expenditures.
Transfer payments: benefits given by the government directly to individuals
Some transfer benefits are actual money.
Other transfer benefits are “in kind” benefits where recipients get a benefit without receiving actual money.
Some are entitlement programs, others are means- tested. 17

18. Effectiveness of Income Security
You decide

19. Health Care
Medicare- Covers people who receive Social Security benefits
Financed by about a 1.45 percent tax paid by employers and employees
Medicaid- provides medical care to the poor including hospitalization, physicians services, prescription, and long term nursing care to all who are covered under SSI and ADFC
Jointly financed by the states and the National Government

20. Public Education In 2014 634 billion was spent on Public Education
48.7 percent from the States, 42.8 percent by Local Governments and 8.5 from National Government
No Child Left Behind- Government takes a more direct role in education

21. Inequality in School Districts
States financed schools through Property taxes.
Many people have a problem with this process because they believe it is unequal.
Already ruled unconstitutional in a number of states.
Fix?
Voucher Plans and Charter School Debate