• Policymaking is complex, involving not only
  • Each branch of the federal government, but also
  • State and local government, and
  • Interest groups, and the public
• It may involve not only laws, but also
  • Rules, regulations, executive orders, and court decisions
    

The Arena: Actors & Environment

• A Fragmented System (recall chapters 2 & 3)
  • Federalism
  • Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances
  • Other actors
• Environment
  • The Economy, Institutions and Politics, Society and Culture

Policy Tools & Instruments

• Command and Control: Legal tools
• Economic Instruments: Tax and spend
• Information Instruments
  • Advertising (recall ch. 4 Video News Releases)
  • Other publications: Food pyramid; Nutrition labels

Types of Public Policy

• Distributive Policy: e.g. Infrastructure
• Redistributive Policy: e.g. “Welfare”
• Regulatory Policy
• Constituent Policy: e.g. reorganizing government or election rules

Policy Models (or “views”)

• Model: a simplified representation.
  • Elitism and Sub-Governments
  • Groups and Advocacy Coalitions
  • Institutionalism and Rational Choice
  • Bounded Rationality and Incrementalism

The Policy Process

• Multi-Step Process:
  Problem Identification/Agenda Setting > Formulation > Adoption > Implementation> Evaluation...
• Odd/Unintended consequences: Is the policy working as intended?
  [Video extra: The Daily Show, 10/18/2023: "Why Does California Categorize Bees as Fish?"]

The Policy Process

• Ethics and Values
  • Ethical Frameworks: Utilitarianism, moral imperative, veil of ignorance
  • Ethical Principles: Equity, Fairness, accountability, transparency, prevention of harm, respect for autonomy
  • Challenges and Tradeoffs: e.g. Climate Change: environment versus economics

Social Welfare Policy «

• Catalyst: Great Depression of 1929/1930s
  • collapse of private charity, bank failures
• John Maynard Keynes: What to do about the business cycle?
  • Traditionally, governments cut back in a depression… "Victorian work ethic"
    
• Keynes’ answer: Demand-side economics – create  demand
  • Prosperity: Cut back, Depression: Spend
    

Redistribution

• Consequence of National growth and industrialization: Interdependence
• Interdependence brings not only conflict, but also potential for harm to people through no fault of their own...
• Techniques: Fiscal: Taxing & spending; Monetary: Credit (money) supply
  
  

Social Welfare Policy

• Types
  • Contributory, “forced saving”: Social Security, Medicare
  • Non-contributory, “means-tested”: AFDC (to ’96), TANF
• Most?* Elderly (~$1.5t), Mid. Class (~$2.2t)
• Fewer * benefits: Poor (~$600b)
  *2015 estimates (nationalpriorities.org, based on OMB data)
• Policies: Education, Job Train, Health, Housing
• Economically successful, but political problematic…
• We reward politicians for keeping taxes low and spending high all the time!
• Result: chronic deficit spending