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The Policy Making ProcessChapter 17
Public Policy
Public Policy-Making Process
The Policymaking System
• Public Policy = how to solve a “public” problem
• The process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time.
Making Public Policy in 5 Steps1. The National Agenda
- getting on the radar
2. Policy Formulation
- determining the remedy
3. Policy Adoption
- choosing the remedy
4. Policy Implementation
- regulating the policy
5. Policy Evaluation
- assessing policy
Setting the Political Agenda• The political agenda:
something that is important to lots of people– Healthcare?
• Getting on the agenda:- major event occurs- Trend in statistics- interest group awareness- media awareness
• Should policy be made radically or incrementally?
The Influence of Institutions on Public Policy
• Congress makes laws; President enforces laws– Both help decide policy agenda
• Court decisions require enforcement assistance→ school desegregation, abortion– Often tackle issues ignored by legislature/executive
• The bureaucracy is a source of innovation and forms alliances with senators and staff– Iron Triangles– Issue Networks
Other Influences• Groups may react if their issues are being ignored
– Tea Party– Occupy Wall St.
• States are laboratories for future national policies – Federalism– Block Grants
Costs, Benefits, Politics Effect on Policy* In order to make a policy decision, policymakers
must assess the following items:
• Cost: any burden, monetary or non-monetary, that affect a group/people by a policy
• Benefit: any satisfaction, monetary or non-monetary, that affect a group/people by a policy
• Politics = who actually benefits/pays and who ought to benefit/pay- getting items on the policy agenda- helping one group over another group
Classifying and Explaining the Politics of Different Policy Issues
The POLITICS of Making Public Policy• Majoritarian politics: benefits for all & costs for all
– Ex: Military spending• Interest group politics: benefits for a few & costs for a few
– Ex: labor unions wants vs. business wants• Client politics: benefits for a few & costs for all
– Pork-Barrel Projects → “Earmarks”– Ex: “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska
• Entrepreneurial politics: Benefits for all & costs for a few– Ex: food safety, environment safety