Public Policy Quiz 2

Policy Agenda

The set of issues or problems being considered by the public, informal policymakers, and formal policymakers.

What has to happen to problems before they can be acted upon by the government?

They need to be converted into issues.

What is an example of an informal policymaker?

Interest groups

Agenda Setting

The process of which problems and alternative solutions gain or lose public or elite attention.

During the agenda setting stage, a problem might not have a clear what/ may still be blank on.

Not a clear definition and might be still being debated on.

Systemic Agenda

The set of issues being considered by the broad political community.

What counts as the broad political community?

Voters, interest groups, informal/ formal policymakers.

What is an example of an issue being considered by the broad political community?

Dissafsitcation with the government or civil rights.

Institutional Agenda

The set of issues being considered by those with formal policymaking power. This usually includes a large set of bills, even those that are not potlicalu feasible to pass. Many die in this stage after committees debate on it.

Do Institutional Agenda Bills get a vote?

No

Decision Agenda

The set of issues that are up for a vote or about to be acted on by a government body. Only a small subject of insertional agenda. This stage bills are often heavily debated, and can lead to fights.

Why is agenda slightly guarded?

Time

What affects what bills get on decision agenda?

Conditions affect the agenda status, and elite preferences affect agenda setting.

Why do conditions affect agenda setting

Because it is affecting the welfare of humans and most be acted upon now rather than later, like climate change or the 2008 housing market. Changes in conditions matter.

How to elite preferences affect agenda setting?

It drives the views, like Obama with healthcare or Trump with immigration

What ar the determinate of agenda status?

Condtions and Elites

How does the media affect policy agenda?

News media are able to influence the set of issues that voters think are important because we have reliance on the media for information, giving them the power to set the agenda. They can also keep issues of the agenda through gatekeeping, however this is not as easy to do.

What can the media do the political beliefs?

They can change how people view politicians and has the power to shape views because of uncertainty attitudes.

Movement from the insertional agenda to the decision agenda is highly blank to poltical completion and why?

Subjective, positive and negative control.

How are positive and negative control excessed?

Through the party ceding power to the party leadership in Congress.

Negative Agenda Control

Refers to the use of power to keep the bill off the agenda.

What is an example of negative agenda control?

McConnell keeping bills stuck in Congress because the majority of hist party doesn’t want to vote/pass a democrat bill.

Postive Agenda Control

Refers to the use of power to get bills onto the agenda.

Which is harder to do getting a negative or positive agenda control?

Positive because of lobbying and filibusters.

Downs Issue Attention Cycle

Attempts to model the agenda setting using a cycle approach.

What are the 3 things that go into the downs issue attention cycle?

Alarmed discovery, realization of the cost of action, decline in public interest and removal from the agenda.

What is Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Theory

Views the agenda process as random or chaotic. Views agenda setting and solutions gaining attraction as occurring when three streams collide at a “window of opportunities.”

What are the 3 independent streams?

Policy stream, politics stream, and problem stream.

What is the policy stream?

Ideas and solutions debated among policy actors and policy entrepreneurs.

What do policy entrepreneurs want to do?

They want to change policy to match their interest/ideas.

What are examples of policy entrepreneurs?

Elected leaders, people at think tanks, and bureaucrats. Could also be an inventor.

Politics Stream

Swings of national mood changes of administration, shifts in ideological distributions in Congress, and interest group pressure change. It can take the form of ideological mood, trust in gov, or other politicly moods.

Problem Stream

Problems that come to capture the attention of people in and around the government. When there is an opportunity to get on the agenda, they take it and compete for it.

What is Naturalization Law?

Sets the criteria and process for non-citizens obtaining citizenship.

Who is given the authority to regulate naturalization?

Congress through article one of the Constitution, however, they are silent on immigration

What are the requirements for Naturalization?

18+

green card holder 5+ years

Must be a person of good moral character

Demonstrate knowledge of US gov

demonstrate competence with English language

What does it mean to be a person of good moral character?

Attached to the principles of the condition of the us, and well disposed to the good and order and happenies of the US.

How are immigration and naturalization diffrent?

Immigration is the act of immigrating to the country which has strict limitations like the national orgins quota and naturalization means someone already immigrated and has a greencrad and Is trying to gain citizenship.

What was the initial immigration policy of the US?

Had open borders, however, then it had legal limitation like the Page Act of 1875 that barred undesirable immigrants.

What were the undesirable immgrants that the Page Act was referring to?

Those with criminal status in their country, asian laborers, and asian women who engaged in prositin.

What is the National Origins Quotas?

Limited immigration from certain areas and favored immigration from Northern and Western Europe.

Kennedy and others viewed the laws as inequitable and counter to American values.

What is the current legal immigration?

Immigration Nationality Act of 1965 which repealed the National Orgins Quota.

Issue Recognition

When a problem is noticed and then whether it should have the governments attention. What are the concerns and what causes these concerns?

When dealing with public issues you have to identify what?

Which level of government

Why is identification tricky?

It takes time to recognize problem, but then the causes might not be clear.

What is the key to finding solutions?

Establishing a link to the cause of a problem.

What is causality and casual stories?

Allows for the easy creation of models that directly link the effort expended to a particular outcome. Like the sugar intake in New York for obesity.

What is an agenda?

A list of issues currently being discussed.

Agenda Universe?

All broad/ not broad ideas floating on agenda. This is the first step.

Systematic Agenda

Issues/ideas that the gov or policymaker is considering.

In this stage definition of a problem might not be clear, as parties can have diffrent definitions of the problem.

Institutional Agenda

Series consideration. Typically on a bill and is hard to pass this stage as only 3% of oringally proposed bills are based and only 6% resolutions are passed.

Decision Agenda

Problems that governments are actively adapting on a solution; the specific steps. Typically bills and resolutions that are about to be acted upon.

Agenda Setting

The process of getting an issue recognized and placed on the agenda. Groups fight for issues to be recognized or not recognized as the gov can only select a few.

What does the agenda setting entail?

The process by which news media, leaders, and institutions decide which topics receive public attention and priority, shaping what people think about rather than what to think.

Pluralism

Everyone has equal access to influence policymaking.

Do any groups dominate competition for agenda space according to elite thoery?

No.

Elite theory

Elites have the power to influence policymaking because everyone else is uninformed.

What are examples of elites?

Policymakers, politicians, buisnnemen.

Do any groups dominate completion for agenda space according to the theory of elites?

Yes, policy reflects demand of elites over people. They use lobbying and groups to influence their power, making policy benefit them.

What are the 3 things open for an issue recognition?

Problem stream, policy stream, and political stream.

When does Kingdom’s theory occur?

When there is an open window.

Advocacy Coalition Framework

The more people fighting for solution, the grater chance of getting on a policymakers agenda. This includes citizens, interest groups, and policymakers that work to find the cause, however, this case is usually guided by their core beliefs. For example, gun control.