NEW CHAPTER 15..STILL MESSED UP LAYOUT...tried to fix sorry

The Policy-Making Process: Chapter 15

I. Setting the Agenda

-The most important decision is deciding what to make a policy about.                                     -political agenda- A set of issues thought by the public or those in power to merit action by the gov.   *Has changed overtime and time has created more and more issues

-Policy agenda made legitimate through 1) shared political values, 2) weight of custom/trend, 3) the impact of major events and 4) changes in the way political elites think and discuss                                                                                                                                                                                  

A) The legitimate Scope of Government Action

-Scope of legitimate gov. action grows/changes with attitude.

-Expansion of gov. has fundamentally been a nonpartisan process. During wartime, depresssion and crisis the public usually expects the gov. to do whatever possibly to fix problems.

-However; the gov. often changes policy w/o crisis or public demand but even when the directed conditions of the policy are improving. I.E. The Occupational Safety and Health Act passed when the # of industrial deaths had been decreasing for 20 yrs.

-The explanation for this can be found in the workings of institutions, behaviors of groups and opinions of political elites.                              

~Groups- either organized (corp./unions) or unorganized (urban minorities). Groups sometimes suffer 'relative deprivations' or conditions people thought were normal are suddenly intolerable. Groups sometimes respond through violence/pent up anger. Society has changed who they empathize with.   

 ~Institutions- Most influential institutions were the courts, bureaucracy, and the Senate. The courts are often referred to as 'tripwires' that when activated ignite a chain of events that alter political agenda. They also serve as advocates of unpopular issues  with electorates, i.e. religion in schools, abortion, affirmative action...                                                                                              The bureaucracy is a source of political innovation. Large w/ many experts it is a source of policy proposals i.e. Social Security, federal aid to education...                                                           The Senate in the 1960's evolved into a hub of new policy ideas. Senators that ran for presidents often used new policies for publicity.                                                                                   ~Media- Press can help or harm new issues w/ agenda. Papers often give attention to issues/bills as they passed. However the press must choose which of the 1000's of bills to focus on.      

                                                                                                                                                                           II. Making a Decision

-Issues provoke different reactions i.e. interest groups, unchallenged, ideological appeal, bargaining

-The affects of the bills can be determined by the possible costs/benefits of a bill                          -cost-any burden, monetary or non-monetary, that some people must bear or think they must bear if a policy is adopted. I.e. cost of a foreign policy is the chance of a nation drawn to war.    -benefit-Ant satisfaction, monetary or non-monetary, that people believe they will enjoy if a policy is adopted. I.e. benefits of a foreign policy initiative may include the enhanced security of the nation.

-Two aspects of these costs/benefits are: 1) the perception of costs and benefits affects politics. 2) people take into account not only who benefits but also whether it is legitimate for that group to benefit....who deserves it??

-policies=process of debate over who will benefit or pay for a program and who ought to benefit or pay

-most people prefer gov. programs that provide benefit @ low cost. President usually avoid policies that instantly increase prices of products unless in crisis.

-Cost and benefits of a policy may be 1) widely distributed (spread over most/all of citizens or 2) narrowly distributed (limited to small # or identifiable group).                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 III. Making Politics: Distributed Benefits, Distributed Costs

-Many policies promise benefits to many @ the cost of many i.e. Social Security                            -majoritian politics- not dominated by pulling and hauling among rivals and their representatives in hopes of finding a majority                                                                                         -'free rider' problem of people not joining groups because it will benefit them even if they do/don't contribute

-controversial over matters of cost and ideology i.e. drug use                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 IV. Interest Group Policies: Concentrated benefits, concentrated costs                         

-interest group politics- a proposed policy will confer benefits or some relatively small, identifiable group and impose cost on another small, equally identifiable group.

-Controversial and often produces decisions that the public is uninformed about until the law has already passed.

-relates to monetary cost/benefit but also involve intangible such debating. I.e. nazi parade in a Jewish community.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

V. Client Politics: Concentrated Benefits, distributed costs                                             

-client politics- politics of policy-making in which some small group receives the benefits of the policy and the public at large bears the cost.

-Public is usually indifferent because the cost is so small i.e. farmers benefit from agriculture price supports but consumers don't know about the extra money involved.                                      -pork-barrel projects-legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in several districts or states in the hopes of winning their votes in return.                                                                            -i.e. several projects in one legislation                                                                                                     -logrolling- mutual aid among politicians, whereby one legislator supports another's pet project in return for the latter' support of his                                                                                         -i.e. trading votes for each other

-groups don't necessarily have to fight their own policy, they often earn sympathy.                                                                                                                                                                                           

VI. Entrepreneurial Politics: Distributed Benefits, concentrated costs                        -entrepreneurial politics- policies benefitting society as a whole or some large part that imposes a substantial cost or some small identifiable segment of society. I.e. Brady's bill--background checks for those buying guns.

-Have a hard time passing because they have the minority to offend                                                -policy entrepreneurs- those in or out of the government who find ways of pulling together a legislative minority on behalf of interests that are not well represented in the gov. They would help dramatize the issue. I.e. Ralph Nadar

-can occur w/o leadership of an entrepreneur if majority is disgruntled. i.e. gas prices

due to the role of media, the decentralization of congress and the change in attitudes of citizens entrepreneurial politics has become more visible                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

VII. The Case of Business Regulation

-people fear the strength of wealth and power. They believe that Economic power will dominate political power because 1) wealth can be used to buy influence, 2) politicians and business leaders have similar class backgrounds and similar beliefs about policy and 3) elected officials must defer to the preferences of business to ensure economic health.

-other observers fear that politicians will disregard the values of economy and side w/ the non-business majority. Corp. fear they will be used as scapegoats for war, inflation and job loss.

neither of these observations are entirely correct.                                                                                A. Majoritarian Politics

-not all efforts to regulate business put groups against one another. i.e. anti-trust legislation like the Sherman Act of 1890. Outspoken 'Grange' farmers feared monopoly and the act made it a crime to 'restrain' or 'monopolize' trade.

antitrust efforts determined more by ideology and personal conviction then interest groups.       B. Interest Group Politics

-Organized interest groups are very powerful, however when the regulatory policies confer benefits on a particular group and costs on another, equally distinct group conflict ignites.

I.E. Unions versus business. The creation of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to regulate union organization but both the Taft-Hartley Act and the Landrum-Griffith Act hurt the unions because of the partisan apportionment of Congress. (Republicans favor business while Democrats favor unions).                                                                                                                   C. Client Politics

-many suppose that when gov. sets to regulate business the firms regulated will 'capture' the agency regulating.

-this can happen when a benefit of 1 group is at the expense of many other people.

-however, a regulation does not have to be a burden it can be a benefit.

-I.e. state and city laws regulate the practice of law and medicine to prevent fraud, malpractice, and safety hazards but they sometimes restrict entry into the occupations, enabling higher prices and citizens usually don't care.

-client politics are harder to practice unless a group is thought to be 'deserving'

-client politics seem to be on the decline                                                                                               D. Entrepreneurial Policies

-1960's-1970's 24 consumer/environmental protection laws were passed as a policy entrepreneur  dramatized the issue

-the motives can be self or public spirited

i.e. inside gov: Dr. Harvey Wiley of the Dept of Agriculture campaigned for the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Oustide gov: Upton Sinclair dramatized the conditions of the meat packing district in his book The Jungle leading to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

political resistance must be overcome and policy entrepreneurs attempt to adapt a moralistic tone.

-officials often try to ensure a snowball effect for all their legislations to pass                                                                                                                                                                                                           IIX. Perceptions, Beliefs, Interests and Values

-perceptions and beliefs provide the conflict over policies.

-this political conflict is a struggle to make one definition of those costs and benefits of a proposal prevails over others. Material interest play a part in all of this; the more cash one gets the harder it is for them to separate their views.

-here and now argument: what happens now is more important then the distant future

-cost argument: people focus on what they will lose rather than gain.

-people also affected by values and what is good for countries and community                                  A. Deregulation

-1980's several industries were deregulated over the objections of those industries. i.e. airline fares were set by the Civil Aeronautics Board but today airline fares are set by market.                 B. Reducing Tobacco Subsidies

-In 1982 when the renewal for subsidies was up again congressional backers know they had to make concessions because of health risks. So they agreed to let farmers pay for their own subsidies.            

-process regulation- rules aimed at improving consumer or worker safety and reducing environmental damage                                                                                                                         

C. The Limits of Ideas

-Ideas can be powerful but there are limits

-Today its is harder to maintain client policies free of challenge due to the costs.

Web Resources

1)  http://www.publicagenda.org/: The website provides insight into how to change public policy and what the political agenda is as of today.

2) http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/: The website lets you navigate between the different policies and agendas of President Obama.

3)http://www.theage.com.au/world/us-to-reverse-bush-policy-on-human-rights-20090401-9jpv.html: Reveals the policy shift that took place over Iran after President Obama took office.

*Another option is took look up think tanks online and focus on the policies they are trying to pass.  i.e. Energize Clinton County could be considered a group trying to change public policy.

Assigned Reading

1) Specifically read page 441 (beginning w/ Majoritarian Politics) thru page 446 (stopping before The Case of Business Regulation).

This link might help understand cost and benefit analysis. It is an article on Cost-Benefit Analysis of Health, Safety and Environmental Protection. 

FRQ

After reading pages 441-446 discuss/describe three main types of policy coalitions and a possible cost/benefit situation for each one. Briefly discuss how logrolling and pork-barrel projects could disguise politically agenda to the public