Policy

Question 1

Public Policy

Answer 1

Government actions to address some perceived social, economic, or economic problem

Tends to be fragmented b/c of overlapping jurisdictions within bureaucratic departments and congressional committees, as well as conflicts b/t branches of government.

Tend to be made incrementally

Question 2

Issue Networks

Answer 2

Consist of groups of individuals from inside & outside the government who work together to develop policy in a specific area

Question 3

Iron triangle

Answer 3

Alliance among bureaucrats, interest groups, and congressional subcommittee members

Question 4

Revolving door

Answer 4

Refers to how agency heads & workers will often become lobbyists after leaving government work and how agency heads are often drawn from interest group and industry leaders that agree with the president

Question 5

Types of Policies:

Answer 5

Distributive: allocate resources to a segment of society so that a service or benefit is gained
-Sometimes called pork and are the results of iron triangles

Redistributive: take resources from 1 sector of society and transfer it to another
-welfare, unemployment, social security

Regulatory: guide the operations of government programs, regulate business, labor, energy and environment
-affected by competition and coalitions between interest groups

Question 6

Specific Approaches

Answer 6

Incentives: offer people reward to bring about certain behavior

Disincentives: discourage certain behaviors

Gov provides a certain service or program

Gov establishes rules: for example- FDA makes drug manufacturers follow certain rules on testing drugs

Question 7

Policy Making Process

Answer 7

1. Agenda Setting: problems defined as political issues that the gov needs to take issue on. Elected officials use issues as platform
2. Policy formation: formal proposals are developed and a decision is made on whether to adopt it
3. Adopting the Policy: through exec order, agency regulations, congressional legislation, or court decision
4. Implementation: make sure people/businesses are informed and give enough time for them to comply; create penalties and enforcement; bargaining b/t interest groups and levels of government