1. American Government and Politics Today
Chapter 15
Domestic Policy

2. The Policy-Making Process
Agenda Building: identifying a problem and getting it on the agenda.
Policy Formulation: the debate that occurs among government officials and the public in the media, in Congress, and through campaigns.
Policy Adoption: selection of a strategy for addressing the problem from among the solutions discussed.
Policy Implementation: the administration of the policy adopted
Policy Evaluation.

3. Health Care The Rising Cost of Health Care Medicare Medicaid
Advanced Technology
The Government’s Role in Financing Health Care
Medicare
Medicaid
Why has Medicaid spending exploded?
Medicaid and the States

4. Health Care (cont.) The Uninsured National Health Insurance
The Uninsured Employed
Shifting Costs to the Uninsured
National Health Insurance
The Canadian System
Health Savings Account

7. Life Expectancy in the U.S.

8. Poverty and Welfare
Income transfers, transfers of income from some individuals in the economy to other individuals. This is generally done by way of the government.
The Low-Income Population
The Antipoverty Budget

9. Poverty and Welfare (cont.)
Basic Welfare
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
Welfare Controversies
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
Homelessness

11. Immigration The Continued Influx of Immigrants
More than a million people a year immigrate to this country.
Minority Groups will constitute the “majority” of America by 2060.
Some point out the positives of immigration—offsetting the low birthrate and aging population.

13. Attempts at Immigration Reform
2006 Congress initiated, but did not pass, sweeping legislation that would make all illegal immigrants in the United States felons.

14. Questions for Critical Thinking
Presuming that national health insurance is off the table in the United Sates, what else could be done to protect the uninsured population from catastrophic medical costs?
How important is income in children’s achievement? What things can money buy that can help children achieve? What can it not?

15. Crime in the 21st Century Crime in American History
Crimes Committed by Juveniles
The Cost of Crime to American Society

16. Declining Crime Rates

17. Declining Homicide Rates

18. Declining Theft Rates

20. The United States
has the highest
incarceration rate
among major
world nations
measured
by the number
of prisoners
per 100,000 residents.

21. Incarceration Rates by Population Group

22. Crime in the 21st Century (cont.)
Federal Drug Policy
Money spent on federal drug interdiction programs has not met with much success, as illegal drug consumption in the U.S. has remained steady. State and local governments, however, have been attempting new remedies to curtail the drug problem.
Confronting Terrorism
Counter-terrorism strategies will necessarily be a part of federal government policy for years to come.

23. Environmental Policy Environmentalism The Environmentalist Movement
Conservation was a policy under which natural resources should be used, but not abused.
Preservation called for natural preserves that are isolated from the effects of human activity.
The Environmentalist Movement
Ecology

24. Cleaning Up the Air and Water
The National Environmental Policy Act
Curbing Air Pollution
The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1963 constitute a comprehensive policy mandating cleaner air in urban areas.
Water Pollution
The Clean Water Act sought to make waters safe for swimming, protect fish and wildlife, and eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the water.

25. Cost-Effective Solutions
One method of supporting cost-effective solutions was part of the Clean Air Act of The act capped overall national sulfur dioxide emissions but also permitted free trade in “rights” to emit sulfur dioxide. As a result, the sulfur dioxide emissions are made by the companies that reap the greatest economic advantage from their right to emit.
As a result of legislation, air and water pollution is down dramatically from what it was three or so decades ago. Lead content in the air is 3 percent of what it was. Sulfur dioxide is down by four-fifths.

26. Other Environmental Issues
The Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Global Warming
The Kyoto Protocol
The Global Warming Debate

27. Questions for Critical Thinking
Prison populations continue to explode. What can be done?
Why are environmental problems often difficult to legislate away? What improvements have been made in air and water quality in recent years? What problems still need solutions?