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Chapter 17 The PolicyMaking Process What is “policy?” • GENERAL: Any broad course of government action. o Make college more affordable. o Better control immigration. o Improve public schools. • NARROW: Any specific government program or initiative. o Maintain cap on student loan interest rates. o More aggressive deportation efforts. o Change teacher evaluation methods to make it easier to fire them. Copyright © 2011 Cengage Setting the Agenda “He who decides what politics is about runs the country.” • Policymaking has two basic steps: 1. Putting an issue on the political agenda. 2. Creating a plan of action for that issue. • The policymaking process is dependent on many variables: o o o o • Events beyond the control of government. Interest group activity Political competitiveness Operation of key institutions: courts, bureaucracy, media Creating a policy requires a majority coalition. Copyright © 2011 Cengage Setting the Agenda What makes a government policy legitimate (proper or right)? 1. Shared political values (anti-poverty programs) 2. Custom and tradition (what government has customarily done is accepted) 3. Significant events (war, economic crisis) 4. Shifts in behavior of political elites. (civil rights) Copyright © 2011 Cengage Legitimate scope of government action • It is always getting larger. • Significant stages: o Late 19th Century industrialization o Great Depression o 1960s & 1970s: Civil rights movement, Great Society, environmental movement, consumer protection. • Many people believe the government should continue doing what is already is doing (environmental protection). • Changes in attitude + significant events = ever expanding role of the government. • Not a “liberal conspiracy.” Significant expansion of the role of federal government under Eisenhower, Nixon, and Reagan. Copyright © 2011 Cengage Agenda setting • The government’s agenda and programs may expand even when there is no public demand. • GROUPS o May be organized (unions, interest groups) or unorganized (Tea Party, urban minorities) o May be reacting to perceived unfairness or lack of government response. • MEDIA o Helps place issues on the agenda (stand-your-ground laws) o Publicizes issues placed there by others (contraception) Copyright © 2011 Cengage Agenda setting • COURTS o Make decisions that force action by other branches: school desegregation, abortion, gay marriage. o Courts facilitate change when there is no popular majority • BUREACRACY o Source of political innovation. o Modern bureaucracy has a variety of experts and advocates who are source of policy proposals. o Iron triangles and issue networks allow bureaucrats to participate in policymaking. • SENATE o Framers: Senate will moderate change. o Modern Senate: source of political innovation. o Source of presidential candidates with new ideas. Copyright © 2011 Cengage Bill Pugliano/Getty Images Highway safety was always a problem, but it became a national issue after policy advocates, such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), emphasized it. p. 465 Copyright © 2011 Cengage Making a Decision • Using a cost-benefit analysis model helps us understand the policymaking process. • Cost: Burden – actual or perceived – of adopting a policy. • Benefit: Satisfaction – actual or perceived – of adopting a policy. • Perception of costs/benefits: What people think might happen is different from what will actually happen (auto emissions standards) • Legitimacy of costs/benefits: Does a group deserve to pay for or benefit from a policy? (Aid to mothers with dependent children – “welfare”) Copyright © 2011 Cengage Making a Decision: Politics in a nutshell Who ought to pay/benefit from a policy? vs Who will actually pay/benefit from a policy? • If there is agreement – policy is created. • If there is dispute – no policy. • Beliefs about these two things are matters of opinion, there is frequently dispute. Copyright © 2011 Cengage Applying the cost/benefit model • Most people prefer programs that offer large benefits at low cost. • Policies that require a high cost with small or remote benefits are generally avoided, passed quietly, or only passed in a crisis. • Example: Oil/gasoline prices, energy independence. o “Drill here, drill now” – promoted as low cost policy that benefits everyone. o Alternative energy development – perceived as high cost, remote benefits program. o Who benefits? Who pays? Copyright © 2011 Cengage Figure 17.1 The Politics of Different Policy Issues Copyright © 2011 Cengage Majoritarian Politics: Distributed Benefits, Distributed Costs Majoritarian politics – A policy in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays • Social Security • Military Defense • Cancer research Controversial issues often involved. Controversy usually over cost/ideology Large groups of voters involved rather than rival interest groups Copyright © 2011 Cengage Interest Group Politics – Concentrated Benefits, Concentrated Costs Interest group politics – A policy in which one small group benefits and another small group pays • Labor - Business • TV Broadcasters – Cable Companies • Banks – Insurance Companies Fought by organized interest groups Sides perceive strong impact of proposed policy. Public is often uninformed about proposal. (TV broadcasters vs. cable companies) Copyright © 2011 Cengage Client Politics: Concentrated Benefits, Distributed Costs Client politics – A policy in which one small group benefits and almost everybody pays • Farmers – agricultural price supports • Airlines – gov regulations restricted price competition Group that benefits is “client” of the government. Cost to majority is small, widely distributed. Benefit to small group may be substantial. Pork-barrel legislation is often the result of client politics. Copyright © 2011 Cengage Entrepreneurial Politics: Distributed Benefits, Concentrated Costs Entrepreneurial Politics – A policy in which almost everybody benefits and a small group pays the cost • Auto safety/antipollution • Brady Bill – background check for gun buyers Called entrepreneurial politics because proposals are often “sold” by activists (policy entrepreneurs) either in or out of government who put together a political majority. (example: Ralph Nader) Organized groups are energized to oppose policy proposals because they will pay high costs while many benefit. Copyright © 2011 Cengage The Case of Business Regulation Majoritarian Politics Interest Group Politics Client Politics Entrepreneurial Politics The Granger Collection, New York Copyright © 2011 Cengage The Grange sought to warn farmers of the dangers of a railroad monopoly. p. 472 Dairy farmers get government subsidies for their milk production. p. 474 Bob Mahoney/The Image Works Entrepreneurial politics: Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle, published in 1906, shocked readers with its description of conditions in the meatpacking industry and helped bring about passage of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. p. 476 Bettmann/Corbis Copyright © 2011 Cengage Perceptions, Beliefs, Interests and Values • • • • • Bill Aron/Photo Edit Though many economists question the value of the Small Business Administration, it remains popular because it loans money to a lot of voters. p. 477 Perception of Costs and Benefits Deregulation The power of ideas Process regulation Airlines Telephone Trucking The Limits of Ideas Copyright © 2011 Cengage