Policy Making Flashcards
What is the most important decision that affects policy making?
Deciding what belongs on the political agenda
What are issues that people believe require governmental action?
Political agenda
Is government action increasing or decreasing in scope? Why?
Increasing because changes in attitude and the impact of events tends to increase the number of things government does
What are the 4 factors that determine what politics is about?
Shared political values, the weight of custom and tradition, the impact of events, and changes in the way elites treat politics
What is the idea that as people become better off things hat once were thought normal become intolerable called?
Relative deprivation
How do courts affect the issues that are on the political agenda?
They act as tripwires and set off a chain of events to alter the political agenda
How does the bureaucracy affect policy making?
It is so big that it becomes a source of political innovation
How is the senates role in policy making different than the founders intended?
They now create political change instead of acting as the balance and moderators
How does the media influence policy making?
It both publicizes new matter that are then added to the agenda or publicizes the matters that others added
What are the four types of politics?
Majoritarian, interest group, client, and entrepreneurial
What are widely distributed policies that promise benefits at a large number of people at a cost they will have to bear?
Majoritarian politics
What is the major influence on politics?
the perception of costs and benefits
Which coalition creates narrowly distributed issues fought out by organized interest groups with strong incentive to mobilize?
Interest Group Politics
Why is the public usually not informed about the policies of interest groups?
because they usually do not directly affect the public
What is the type of coalition when a small group benefits but a large group pays the price?
Client politics
What is a popular form of client politics that is not economic based?
pork barrel legislation
What is pork barrel legislation?
legislation that gives tangible benefits to constituents in hopes that they will give votes in return
What is the main reason people are for or against policies?
the costs and benefits and whether the group deserves the benefits
Why does public opinion change?
some groups lose their legitimacy e.g. tobacco farmers lost subsidies because of health risks of smoking tobacco
What type of coalition benefits a large part of society while a small group pays?
Entrepreneurial Politics
Why is it easy for small groups to block new policies?
Because the founders purposely made it difficult to pass new laws
What are Policy Entrepreneurs?
activists who advocate on behalf of unorganized groups
what do policy entrepreneurs do?
dramatize issues to increase public awareness
Why has entrepreneurial politics become more popular in the last decade?
there is an increased political role in the media and a change in citizen attitudes
Why do people believe that large corporations are a threat to popular rule?
they believe economic power will dominate political power
why do people believe that economic rule will dominate political power? (three reasons)
1) Wealth buys influence, 2) politicians and business leaders have similar backgrounds therefore similar political goals, and 3) elected officials must defer to the presence of businesses to keep the economy growing
WHY DO SOME BELIEVE THAT POLITICS IS A THREAT TO THE MARKET ECONOMY AND ITS VALUES?
They believe politicians will appeal to non-business people and portray businesses as a sinister elite
Is it true that if the government creates an agency to regulate businesses it will be “captured” by those businesses?
no, that only occurs when a policy confers a benefit on one group at the expense of many others
Who is a major policy entrepreneur?
Ralph Nader
