Public Policy 1/13-17

Interventionist

state is a governance model where the state plays an active and direct role in the market and society. This includes direct ownership of industries, extensive social welfare programs, and significant regulatory activity in the economy and social sectors.

Regulatory

governance model where the state focuses on creating and enforcing rules and regulations to guide market and societal behavior, rather than directly owning industries or providing extensive welfare programs. It emphasizes oversight and the use of independent regulatory agencies to ensure fairness, efficiency, and accountability. Ex: Airline Deregulation Act (removed government control over fares, routes, and market entry of airlines)

state oriented policy

strategies where the government plays a central role in economic and social matters. These policies often involve direct intervention, such as public ownership of industries, centralized economic planning, extensive social welfare programs, and regulations to manage markets and ensure social equity. Examples include nationalized healthcare, government-funded infrastructure projects, or strict labor laws and higher taxes

social oriented policy

The redistributive function of the State

market oriented policy

The stabilization function of the State, lower taxes, job creation

Transnational administration

regulation, management, and implementation of global policies of a public nature by both private and public actors operating beyond the boundaries and jurisdictions of the state but often in areas beneath the global level. Ex: NAFTA (North American Free Trade)

Global governance

system of institutions, rules, and processes that aim to manage cross border issues (diplomatic relations, trade, financial transactions, migration, and climate change). Addresses collective concerns, and mediate common interests, creating both privileges and obligations for public and private. Ex: Paris Agreement to combat climate change.

Micro policy

Portland established an urban growth boundary to protect farmland and encouraged high density development.

Meso policy

Comprehensive Smoking Act in 1984, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control 2003

Macro policy

Structural Adjustment Programs by IMF and World Bank

Public Policy

societal level (improve social welfare, equity, economic growth within country)

Global public policy

addresses transnational societal problems with collective action

Global policy issues

societal problems whose sources, impacts, and solutions extend beyond the borders of the country

Policy

course of action for dealing with policy

Policy requirements

triangle: consensus, enforcement, and resources to address state(gov), market(economic), and society(people)

globalization

interconnection of countries and their economies culture/population through goods, services due to tech, flow of people, investment, and info

affects of globalization

more trade, immigration, competition between companies

Bottom-up policy

governance approach where initiatives and decisions start at the grassroots level, often involving local communities, individuals, or smaller organizations. These policies emphasize participation and adaptability to local needs and conditions before being adopted at broader regional or national levels.

Top-down policy

governance approach where decisions and directives are made by central authorities, such as national governments or high-level institutions, and then implemented at lower levels of society. These policies prioritize uniformity and central control, ensuring consistent application across regions.

comparative advantage

the idea that a person, company, or country can produce a good or service at a lower cost than others

Tarrifs

tax on imported goods. Goal is to help domestic business in the U.S., while hurting other countries’ economy. Makes imports more expensive for U.S. consumers

Advocacy Coalition Framework

policy change through coordinated efforts among individuals and orgs. Individuals have strong beliefs about certain policy, problems, causes, and their solutions

Agenda setting

how issues gain government attention (policy/problem/politics stream —> policy window —> agenda)

Policy stasis

institutional constraints/polarization prevent progress (resist to rapid change)

Advocacy coalitions

compete with each other for policy and agenda setting. A coalition is united by shared policy belief. Economic crisis or other societal shocks can hurt or help the agenda of one coalition over another

Humanitarian Coalition

policy belief was that landmines cause unacceptable harm to people and should be banned

Security coalition

policy of countries and military groups believed that landmines were necessary for defense and security of borders

Randomized Controlled trials

A method of evaluating the effectiveness of interventions by randomly assigning participants into treatment and control groups to minimize bias.

The three I’s of poverty

Ideology, ignorance, and inertia

Poverty

pronounced deprivation in well-being. Do not have enough income/consumption to be above a minimum threshold. may be defined differently in different areas

Objective approach to poverty

way to measure poverty either monetarily (absolute or relative) or not (basic needs approach or anthropometric needs).

Subjective approach to poverty

way to measure poverty through direct surveys

Core parameters for poverty measurements

families/households, individuals, poverty threshold (cost of food/living expenses)

Absolute poverty

fixed standard worldwide on what households should be able to count on in order to meet their basic needs

Relative poverty

relative threshold varying standard by country on the cutoff point in relation to the overall distribution of income or consumption in a country

Multidimensional poverty index

1. Health (nutrition, child mortality) 2. education (years of school), and 3. living standards (cooking fuel, housing, drinking water, electricity)

time inconsistency

tendency to make decisions that have good consequences in the short run, but bad consequences in the long run

public goods

(non-excludable) and can be enjoyed by anyone w/o diminishing the benefits they deliver to others (non-rival)

free rider

those who benefit from resources and public goods do not pay for them or underpay bc their is little inventive to contribute to a collective resource since they can enjoy its benefits w/o paying

Externalities

costs/benefits spill over to a 3rd party (other than consumer & producer)

Positive externality

govs providing subsidies for goods/services that generate spillover benefits

collateral

item of value that a lender can seize from a borrower if they fail to repay a loan

adverse selection

sellers have info (product quality) that buyers do not or visa versa

moral hazard

people engage in riskier behavior because they know they will not bear the full consequences

welfare cliff/trap

people face a disincentive to increase their income or work more hours because the additional earnings could lead to a reduction or loss of welfare benefits

Electoral clientism

aims to win over voters by promising specific benefits (public goods) in exchange for political support

Economies of scale

companies increase production and decrease costs by spreading them over a larger number of goods. Larger company, more cost savings and higher production levels

opportunity cost

highest valued alternative that must be given up to engage in an activity or option. benefits/values that could have been obtained by choosing the next best thing instead of what was chosen

comparative advantage

capacity of country to produce a good at a lower opportunity cost than other countries could

race to the bottom

countries compete with each other by lowering standards, regulations, or conditions in order to attract investment and improve comparative advantage at the expense of the environment and workers

Global Value Chains

international production sharing where production is broken into activites and tasks carried out in different countries (U.S. does design & sourcing of products, China does manufacturing)

Simple value chains

products leave one country to another to be finished

complex value chains

produced in a first country, cross at least 2 other counties to reach the final product

tarrif

tax imposed by one country on the goods/services imported from another country (exporter pays it)

quota

limits number/value of goods a nation imports or exports during a time

subsidy

benefit give by govs to groups/people (cash/tax reduction)

advocacy coalition framework

is a policy theory that suggests policy change occurs through collaborative actions among individuals and organizations outside of the government in policy subsystems, which function as arenas of competition among individuals.

structural transformation

involves an economy's shift from low productivity and labor-intensive activities to those that are more productive and skill-intensive

compensation principle

change in the economy is beneficial if the gainers could afford to compensate the losers. This principle may apply to changes in trade policies, for instance.

winning coalitions

Governments with small [__two words__] often fail to provide the public goods their citizens need to escape poverty

economic liberalism

government should not regulate the flow of goods, services, capital, or labor across borders.