Test 1 Flashcards
Key Tenet of Classical Liberalism is?
Popular sovereignty
Thomas Hobbes
Explored idea of the “Social Contract,” deeply distrustful of the general population
Lasswell definition of politics
“Who gets what, when and how”
Rawls
Believed policy should help the disenfranchised
Environmental scientists
help form environmental policy
Public Policy
Whatever governments choose to do or not to do
Stages of the Stages Model
Issue Emergence Agenda Setting Alternative Selection Enactment Implementation Evaluation
Weakness of Stages Model
Implies a beginning and an end—the cycle is
actually endless
Implies an orderly step of stages—stages can be
skipped, taken out of order
Stages can overlap—implementation and
evaluation, for example
Strength of Stages Model
it’s still a good way to organize our
thinking
Elements of the Systems of Model
The environment influences the system
The inputs: public demands for policies
The outputs: policies
The political system: the black box
Feedback influences the system
Boundaries between elements are blurry
Inputs of Systems Model
Election results Public opinion Communications to elected officials Media coverage Personal experiences
Outputs of Systems Model
Laws
Regulations
Decisions
Statute Law (legislation)
Laws made by the legislature and signed by the executive. It is codified into state codes and statutes
Case Law
Laws made as a result of judicial decisions.
Regulations
The rules made by government agencies and regulatory bodies
Separation of powers
The constitutional division of powers between the legislative executive, and judicial branches of the government
Federalism
A system of government in which power is shared between a central or federal government and other governments (states).
What part of the Constitution has been used to grant Congress inherent power or expand their jurisdiction?
Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 (necessary and proper clause)
Why is our system stable?
Difficult to change constitutional system
Rules and norms of the legislature and other bodies
Public support for stability
The system is highly fragmented
Big Government
When the government takes a more activist role in society through social programs and interventionist regulations.
Institutionalism
The study of politics and policy based on the interaction of formal institutions in government.
Why would congress write vague legislation?
To insulate itself from some of political ramifications of specific proposals and to give regulators more flexibility in creating specifics and enforcing them.
Bureaucratic discretion
The ability of agencies in government to make decisions without the explicit direction or consent of any other branch of government.
Congressional oversight
the process by which Congress supervises the executive branch’s implementation of laws and programs
What are the functions of political parties?
They aggregate preferences into broad coalitions
They organize the legislative branch
They provide opportunities for participation
They help integrate national and state politics
Iron Triangle
Congressional committees, Bureaucracy, interest groups
Agenda Universe
The list of all the possible ideas that could ever be advance in any society.
Systemic agenda
Any issue, problems or idea that could possibly be considered by participants in the policy process provided that the idea does not fall outside well-established social, political, ideological and legal norms
Institutional agenda
the list of issues that is being currently considered by a governmental institution, such as an agency, legislature, or court
Decision agenda
The agenda that contains items that are about to be acted upon by a governmental body, such as bills, court cases, or regulations
Focusing event
A sudden event that can generate attention to public problems or issues, particularly issues and problems that are actually or potentially harmful
Indicator
Evidence of a problem, often based on statistics. (unemployment rate)
Elite Theory
Agenda driven by elites
Pluralism
Agenda driven by needs of everyday people
