Chapter 16: Social Policy Flashcards
- What are the key steps in the policymaking process?
Well, first you want to set the agenda and ask if the issue is political and can be solved in the realm of politics. Then you want to frame and define the issue properly in order to help garner support and limit the scope of discussion. After that is policy formulating, discussing, and crafting a policy to tack the issue at hand, this is also when you want to find support for the policy by taking action. Finally, its implementation is done by the specific Beurararcy, and then at the very end it is up to Congress to evaluate if the bureaucracy has done a proper job with it.
- How does a “night-watchman” state differ from a “nanny-state?” Where does
Does the United States fit on this spectrum?
Night-watchman state does not provide many services for its citizens, so education, transportation, energy, and more are not as provided by the government. But because of that, they don’t tax their citizens that much. A nanny state is the opposite, it taxes citizens a lot more, but provides far more services and benefits to its people. The US is closer to a “night-watchman” state than a “nanny-state” it isn’t either, it simply leans toward one.
- In what key ways did President Franklin Roosevelt move the United States away from the “night-watchman” state? What were the key provisions of the
New Deal? Why were they enacted?
He offered a “new deal” moving us towards the “nanny-state” with banking insurance and new public works programs to get people working. I’ve mentioned two above, but the most important, to me, is banking insurance, which prevented people from taking out money from their banks causing banks to crash and fail.
- What were the key elements of President Johnson’s Great Society Program?
War on poverty, Johnson framed it as a political issue and tackled it with his administration, was able to define who is in poverty and how the government should help them.
Education reform, desegregating schools, and increasing federal funds.
Discrimination reform, the civil rights act of 1964 was of course passed during his time.
Healthcare reform, giving basic healthcare to all especially those who are less wealthy and capable.
- What are the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act?
- Why is the Social Security program in the United States a cause for concern?
Why do politicians generally ignore this concern?
Created in a way that took the contributions of the people, and gave them to the retired, but family dynamics changed and fewer workers made it concerning if we’ll be able to match the outflow with the flow of money going in. But there is almost no solution to this since politicians who try to change it generally become unpopular because either way you raise taxes or cut benefits and make a LOT of people unhappy.
- What were the key problems associated with the old welfare program (AFDC)?
It was assumed that people would use the program until they were out of poverty, but many became dependent on the program. This was due to Negative income tax, meaning that the less money YOU made the MORE money they gave you. On top of that once an individual was out of poverty usually additional costs were put on the family thus creating no incentive to get off of it.
- In what ways did the new welfare program (TANF) attempt to fix the problems with AFDC?
Helped get people off of the program eventually, even if didn’t completely kill poverty, even though that was never the intention. It attempted to get people off the program by enacting a 5-year limit and on top of that, they had to find another form of income to pay back the loan.
