PPOL Midterm Key Words Flashcards
Public Problem
Any condition with negative consequences that requires collective, as opposed to individual action to solve. The nature of the problem and solution is often ambiguous and contested by different political schools of thought.
Administrative burdens
Barriers or frictions experienced in encounters with public services. These can be intentional or unintentional and create learning, emotional, or compliance costs among those facing the frictions. Admin. Burdens can affect some groups more than others.
Learning costs
Costs incurred as a result of administrative burden relating to the process of searching for necessary information about public services.
Compliance costs
Costs incurred as a result of administrative burden relating to time and effort needed to follow administrative rules.
Psychological costs
Costs incurred as a result of administrative burden, such as fear, frustration, or stress.
“Deserving Poor”
The group of public deemed to be “deserving” of aid by the government. In the US, usually those who work but are still poor are considered “deserving”
Entitlement Program
Benefits that governments are required to provide to eligible populations, no matter how many people apply/are in need. Unlike rationed benefits, the government cannot “run out” of the aid or service they are providing.
Means-Tested Program
Requires income/assets to fall below a certain level, usually defined by a certain percentage of the federal poverty line. This government-defined level determines eligibility for aid/benefits.
Universal program
Income/wealth has no impact on one’s eligibility for a certain program or benefit. Age and other restrictions may apply. Programs such as these avoid creating incentives for certain behaviors like reducing working hours to be eligible for benefits. Because the program serves a wider population of people, the cost of providing benefits becomes much higher.
Racism(structural/systemic)
A racialized hierarchy in law and institutions that does not require individual action to perpetuate stereotypes and create disadvantages.
Compliance
The act of conformity to official requirements or “box checking”. Rational workers may prioritize self preservation over government/policy efficacy by adopting cautious interpretations of rules to avoid consequences(perceived or real)
Accountability
Unit responsible for a certain function or policy is judged on measured performance as opposed to their compliance. Consequences are assigned to both positive and negative outcomes like penalties/rewards.
Randomized Control Trial (RCT) and Causal Inference
RCT is an experimental way of randomly determining who will receive access/benefits to a specific program and who won’t. This is the best way to make causal inferences, or, determining cause and effect of a program. This is because the random assignments makes the treatment and control groups on average the same before treatment is applied, and therefore, outcomes of the treatment can be applied to the specific policy or benefit being studied.
Human capital
Knowledge, skills, and health that people build over the course of their life. This can have private impacts and public impacts such as setting one’s child up for success(private) or contributing to a strong democracy(public). Without government intervention, people likely would not invest enough in themselves, therefore, the government steps in to improve these private and public returns.
Federalism
A system in which one territory is controlled by multiple levels of government with unique roles and responsibilities in funding, governing, and policy implementation. In the US, an overarching national power(federal) oversees broader territorial issues while subdivisions of power(state and city) handle local concerns.
Stakeholders
A set of actors with interest in a certain public problem or its solution. The influence of the stakeholders and their reasons for interests varies. Some policy processes mandate/encourage stakeholder engagement.
Policy window
An opportunity to bring a policymakers’ attention to a public problem or a specific avenue to solve it. Windows are often created by political change or events that can generate public attention to particular policy issues.
Political framing
A way to change public perception of a public problem or policy by selectively emphasizing certain aspects. This can shape people’s opinion on and attitude towards certain problems and policies, which impacts decision-making.
Path dependence
The dependence of a policy outcome on past policy choices rather than current context and analysis. Stakeholders often perpetuate this because they grow accustomed to existing policies(that may benefit them) and resist change.
Moral hazard
rational lack of incentive to guard against a certain risk that one is already protected from i.e. by insurance
Samaritan’s Dilemma
The idea that a well-intentioned individual providing aid or service to someone else could de-incentivize the actions necessary for that person to become self-sufficient, increasing the risk of them needed continued support later in life.
“know-do” gap
The gap between what is known by research to be best practice and what is actually practiced. It is important to understand why relevant actors may not be providing the level of service/aid that they know how to, because incentives and accountability can sometimes remedy this. This is a large source of implementation failure.
Street-level bureaucrats
Public service workers that interact directly with the public and have a significant impact on how they apply and enforce public policies. Their decisions shape how policies look in theory versus how they are enacted in practice.
Generalizability
The extent to which the results of a certain study can be applied to a greater population beyond the studied group.
