Chapter 1

Question 1

5 Public policy definitions

Answer 1

• Refers to the actions of the government and the intentions that determine those actions
• The outcome of the struggle in government over who gets what
• Whatever governments choose to do or not to do
• Consists of political decisions for implementing programs to achieve societal goals
• The sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents, as it influences the life of citizens

Question 2

Key attributes of public policy

Answer 2

• A problem that deserves a government response
• Made in the ‘public interest’
• Interpreted and implemented by public and private actors who have different motivations and therefore will bring different interpretations of problems and solutions.
• Oriented towards a goal or a desired state
• Made by the government

Question 3

Policy

Answer 3

A statement by the government of what it intends to do about a public problem

Question 4

Technocracy

Answer 4

A system of government characterized by high reliance on a small elite of technical experts, whose decisions about public policy are more influential than the desires of citizens

Question 5

Discipline

Answer 5

A field of academic research/study

Question 6

Social science

Answer 6

The branch of sciences that studies the actions and behaviour of people, groups, and institutions

Question 7

Enlightenment

Answer 7

Used to describe a philosophic movement of the early eighteenhundredth century, in which numerous theorists and philosophers developed new political and social philosophies based on reason and on insights from the natural sciences

Question 8

Politics

Answer 8

The process by which society determines who gets what, when they get it and how they get it

Question 9

Classical Liberalism

Answer 9

The ideological system that emphasizes individual liberty and the ownership and acquisition of private property as a means to improve overall wealth and happiness and discourage social strife

Question 10

Public interest

Answer 10

The assumed broader desires and needs of a public

Question 11

Problem

Answer 11

A usually undesirable situation that can be alleviated by government action