Ch. 16 Social Policy Flashcards
social policy
is the programs, policies, and legislation that are designed to address the needs of citizens in securing a good life; is concerned with the social welfare of the people.
public policy
a purposive plan of action made by elected officials, bureaucrats, and other actors designed to solve a problem or to achieve a desired societal goal.
public goods
goods and services supplied by the government without profit.
domestic policy
those policies that occur within the borders of a country and apply to its citizens.
Social policy + Economic policy = Domestic policy
social welfare
programs primarily designed for the poor and the elderly who may not be able to provide for themselves.
ex. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; unemployment benefits, food stamps, and subsidized housing.
official actors
those group that are part of the power structure of the federal and state governments.
ex. House of Representatives, Senate, Executive Branch, courts, and state legislatures.
unofficial actors
have no authority or duty, under law, to formulate or enforce public policy.
include: individual citizens, the news media, interest groups, think tanks, political parties, and other unofficial players.
Elite Theory
the interests of the elite drive public policy and the masses follow their lead.
Bureaucratic Theory
bureaucratics who have control over the entire complex system of government drive public policy.
Interest Group Theory
public policy is made to accommodate competing interest groups in society.
Pluralistic Theory
a wide variety of diverse groups share political power and no one group can control public policy; everyone gets some advantage.
Authoritative (Policy Implementation)
government directed that either compels or restricts an action. Enforced with fines, loss of benefits, or jail time.
Incentive (Policy Implementation)
encouragement to act in a certain way in the form of tax deductions, subsidies, or other incentives.
Capacity-enhancing (Policy Implementation)
method of empowering people to act in a certain way; assumes people have
Hortatory (Policy Implementation)
encourages people to act by motivating them with slogans, advertisements, speeches, and other forms of promotions.
“outdoor relief”
early American charity for the poor that allowed them to live outside of an institution.
“indoor relief”
charity for the poor that replaced indoor relief in about 1800 and required recipients to reside in institutions like poorhouses and asylums in order to receive charity.
General School Law of 1642 and the Old Deluder Satan Law of 1647
Massachusetts Bay laws that mandated compulsory government supervised education.
grammer school
early American version of high school in which young men were taught the classics, mathematics, Latin, and Greek to prepare for university.
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
part of this federal legislation set aside public land for education.
normal schools
schools that trained teachers.
