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Intro to American Government
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Intro: Government,
Politics, and the
Policymaking Process
Copyright © 2011, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
UPI Photo/Michael Kleinfield/Newscom
The Importance of Government• Politics and government have enormous
influence on us.– Government affects us through
• regulations • taxes• services
• If we understand how it works, we will be better equipped to take advantage of the benefits and services.
Copyright © 2011, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Importance of Government
• Philosophical questions concerning– Role of government– Kinds of service government should provide – What limits should be placed on it, addressed by
individual preferences
• Knowing how government influences our lives helps us frame responses to these philosophical questions.
Copyright © 2011, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
• Government – Institution with the authority to set policy for society – Actions inherently political
• Politics – The way in which decisions for a society are made
and considered binding most of the time by most of the people
• Government and politics are intertwined.
Government and Politics
Copyright © 2011, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Bill Fritsch/Brand X/Corbis
The Policymaking Process
• Public Policy: what government officials choose to do or not to do about public problems.
• Government policies can take the form of laws, executive orders, administrative regulations, court decisions, or, in some cases, no action at all.
Copyright © 2011, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
• The policymaking process takes place within a context of the factors that determine problems that government addresses, the set of policy alternatives that decision-makers are willing to consider, and the resources available to the government for addressing the problems.
• Issues, responses, and resources, all depend on these environments:
– Social– Economic– Political– Governing– Cultural
Copyright © 2011, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Policymaking Process
The policymaking process has several stages:
Agenda Setting: the process through which problems become matters of public concern and government action.
Policy Formulation: involves the development of strategies for dealing with the problems on the official policy agenda.
Policy Adoption: official decision of a government body to accept a particular policy and put it into effect.
Copyright © 2011, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Policymaking Process
Policy Legitimation: actions taken by government officials to ensure citizens regard a policy as legal and appropriate.
Policy Implementation: the stage of the policy process in which policies are carried out.
Policy Evaluation: Is the policy working well?
Policy Change: the modification of policy goals and means in light of new information or shifting political environments.
Copyright © 2011, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Policymaking Process
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