1. Chapter Fifteen
domestic policy

2. Introduction
Domestic policy: all laws, government planning and government actions affecting daily life
Federal level
State level
Local level
Private sector

3. The Policymaking Process
Agenda building- issue must get on Congress’ agenda (happens through interest groups/lobbyists, mass media, a crisis, technological change)
Policy formulation- proposals are discussed among the President, Congress and Interest groups
Policy adoption- out of the proposals one specific policy Is chosen by Congress and the President
Policy implementation Policy is enacted by the executive branch and bureaucracy
Policy evaluation- groups inside and outside the government determine the effectiveness of the policy and its implementation.

4. The Policy Process
Figure 15-1

5. The Iron Triangle

6. How Does the President Influence Policy
Bully pulpit- how the president can use the media to get the public on his side
Lame duck/honeymoon period- lame duck is the period between a presidential election and the new president's inauguration
honeymoon period is the president's first 100 days
State of the Union- Presidents annual message to Congress where he proposes legislative programs. The message is also aired to the American people and the world.

7. What role does the court play in policy making
Judicial activism- a doctrine holding that the Supreme court should take an active role by using its powers to check the activities of governmental bodies when those bodies exceed their authority
Judicial restraint- a doctrine holding that the Supreme court should defer to decisions made by the elected representatives of the people in the executive and legislative branches

8. Examples of Domestic Policy
Health Care
Medicare, medicaid, Affordable Health Care Act
Environmental Policy
Energy Policy
Poverty and welfare
Immigration

9. Health Care Medicare Medicaid
Helps those ages 65+
Second-largest domestic spending program
Reimbursement caps
Medicaid
Helps “working poor”
Spending has exploded: 46 million enrollees
States pay part of cost
One in three Americans have government health coverage

10. Environmental Policy Environmental movement
Conservation
Preservation
Cleaning up the air and water
National Environmental Policy Act (1969)
Curbing air pollution: Clean Air Act (1990)
Water pollution: Clean Water Act (1972)

11. Environmental Policy Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act strengthened in 1973
Powerful tool for ecology movement
Tennessee Valley Authority habitat
Shifting to incentives for landowners

12. Tragedy of the Commons
The water seeping from an abandoned coal mine on Kayford Mountain in West Virginia contains sulphur and other waste products that pollute local streams such as this one. (AP Photo/Mandel NGAN/Newscom)

13. Energy Policy
Energy policy: laws concerned with how much energy is needed and used
Energy and the environment
Energy policy entangled with environmental policy
EPA regulations
Domestic power production can be at odds with clean air standards

14. Energy Policy Nuclear power—an unpopular solution
Efficient energy source
Fear of nuclear accidents and spent fuel issues restrict nuclear power in U.S.

15. Poverty and Welfare One solution: income transfers
The low-income population
16% of Americans in 2011
Increased by 6 million between
The antipoverty budget
$1 trillion in budget (one-third of expenditures)
Medicaid has biggest portion

16. The Official Number of Poor in the United States
Figure Note: The data points represent the midpoints of the respective years.
The number of individuals classified as poor fell steadily from 1961 through It then increased during the 1981–1982 recession. After 1994, the number fell steadily until 2000, when it started to rise again. The recession that began in 2008 spurred an increase to a fifty-year high in the number of poor Americans.
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office (2007).)

17. Poverty and Welfare Basic welfare Welfare controversies
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
Block grants
New burden on states
Welfare controversies
Some object to any welfare
But basic payments relatively low compared to other nations (2012 average = $700 monthly)

18. Poverty and Welfare Other forms of government assistance:
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Food stamps
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
Homelessness—still a problem
Number increasing
Estimates from 230,000 to 750,000

19. Immigration Continued influx of immigrants
Minority groups will constitute “majority” by 2060
Advantages of immigration
Attempts at immigration reform
Issue during 2006 elections
Arizona state law: constitutional?
DREAM Act

20. The Range of Federal Public Policies
Policies affecting colleges and universities:
Title IX
Veteran’s tuition benefits
Student loan programs
Other federal policies affecting daily life:
Housing
Agricultural industry
Labor unions
School improvement efforts
Building highways and bridges