Public Policy Origins and Practice

Public Policy

A course of action adopted or whatever governments choose to do or not to do in response to public problems.

Distributive Policies

Government policies that provide beneficial goods and services to a majority of the population at the expense of all taxpayers.

Redistributive Policies

Policies that reallocate wealth, property, or rights to the advantage of class-based groups, such as welfare programs.

Regulatory Policies

Policies that compel beneficial behaviors or place constraints on unacceptable individual and group behaviors.

Constituent Policies

Policies involving the creation, regulation, and functions of government agencies, often under the executive branch.

Articles of Confederation

The first U.S. governing document ratified in 1781, establishing a confederate government with weak central power.

Federalism

A power-sharing political system between the U.S. federal government and individual state governments.

Enumerated Powers

Specific powers granted directly to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution, such as coining money.

Reserved Powers

All policy-making powers not specifically given to the federal government, reserved for the individual states under the Tenth Amendment.

Concurrent Powers

Powers shared by both the federal and state governments, such as the power to lay and collect taxes.

The New Deal

A series of federal programs and regulatory policies introduced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to reverse the Great Depression.

The Great Society

1960s and 1970s federal initiatives and grants-in-aid designed to alleviate social inequalities in poverty, health, and education.

Article One of the Constitution

Establishes Congress as the legislative branch, intended by the framers to be the epicenter of policy making.

Power of the Purse

Congressional power to appropriate all revenue spent by the federal government, serving as a major check on other branches.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

A nonpartisan agency providing Congress with fiscal expertise, revenue projections, and policy cost analysis.

Article Two of the Constitution

Establishes the executive branch and the presidency, granting executive power and the duty to faithfully execute laws.

Executive Orders

Signed and published directives from the president that manage federal operations and carry the force of law without congressional approval.

Article Three of the Constitution

Establishes the federal judiciary, which impacts policy by issuing opinions on the constitutionality of government actions.

Judicial Review

The power of the federal courts, established in Marbury v. Madison, to determine if legislation and executive actions are constitutional.

Judicial Restraint

The belief that courts should avoid pushing their views on other branches unless an obvious constitutional violation occurs.

Judicial Activism

The view that the court should actively use its authority to solve policy problems ignored by the elected branches.

Bureaucracy

Non-elected government professionals responsible for carrying out policies, interpreting vague laws, and issuing administrative rules.

Lobbying

Any attempt by interested individuals or groups, often utilizing policy expertise or financial contributions, to influence lawmaker votes.

Agenda Setting

The media and political process of determining which issues receive public attention and discussion.

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Landmark healthcare reform legislation signed in 2010 by President Obama to expand coverage and regulate insurance practices.

Individual Mandate

A provision of the ACA requiring individuals to acquire health insurance or pay a penalty, upheld as a valid exercise of the tax power.

National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius

The 2012 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the ACA individual mandate as a tax and made Medicaid expansion voluntary for states.

Conference Committee

A temporary committee of members from both chambers of Congress created to reconcile differences between House and Senate versions of a bill.

Pluralist Theory

The argument that multiple competing interest groups and factions advancing their causes foster vibrant policy formulation and the public good.

Grants-in-Aid

Money given by the federal government to state and local governments to help carry out shared policy goals like infrastructure and education.