Chapter 4: Public Policy

What is public policy?

Action taken by government agencies or other organizations to address societal problems — can be laws, regulatory measures, or funding priorities.

What is agenda setting?

The stage where a societal problem is identified and placed on the political agenda.

What is policy formulation?

Policymakers develop and propose solutions to an identified problem.

What is policy adoption?

Officials decide whether to formally adopt proposed policies.

What is policy implementation?

The government carries out the adopted policy, often through street-level bureaucrats.

What is policy evaluation?

Government assesses the effectiveness of the policy and considers revisions or termination.

What are street-level bureaucrats?

Civil servants who work directly with the public (teachers, police, social workers) and apply government policies in their daily jobs.

What is fragmentation?

When different parts of government try to fix the same problem in conflicting ways — a result of federalism and separation of powers.

What is the Iron Triangle?

The coordinating relationship among congressional committees, bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups that allows interest groups to influence the legislative agenda.

What is the Systems Model?

David' Easton’s (1953) framework showing how public demands (inputs) enter a government ‘black box’ and emerge as policies (outputs) with feedback loops.

What are the five stages of policymaking?

Agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation.

What are the two models of agenda setting?

Elitist and pluralist.

What is the Elitist Model?

U.S. public policy results from relationships among elites — powerful individuals and organizations drive the agenda.

What is the Pluralist Model?

Policy results from competition among many groups; no single group dominates; diverse interests have access to the process.

What is fragmentation caused by and what is the result of fragmentation?

Federalism and separation of powers; U.S. policymaking is often reactive rather than proactive