Intro PubPol

Monopoly

• A single firm dominates the market, reducing competition and driving up prices

 Sherman Act (1890)

was passed to prevent monopolies

Positive Externalities:

Benefits that affect third parties (e.g., education). Governments may provide subsidies or public provision to encourage production

Negative Externalities:

• Costs that affect third parties (e.g., pollution). Governments intervene with regulations, taxes, or cap-and-trade policies.

Public Goods:

Goods that are non-excludable and non-rivalrous (e.g., national defense). Government intervention ensures their provision.

Imperfect Information:

When buyers or sellers lack full knowledge, leading to suboptimal decisions. Governments may require labeling, advertising, regulations, or public dissemination of information.

Egalitarianism

Equal treatment and rights for all (e.g., Voting Rights Act of 1965)

Utilitarianism:

Greatest good for the greatest number (e.g., eminent domain)

Libertarianism:

Maximizing personal freedom, limiting government intervention (e.g., lowering taxes)

Socialism:

Redistribution based on need (e.g., public housing, wealth taxes)

Rational Actor Theory:

• Politicians act in self-interest to secure re-election (pork barrel legislation)

Group Conflict Theory

• Policy results from competition among interest groups (labor unions v. employers)

Legislative Branch:

• Passes laws, controls budget, confirms appointments

Executive Branch:

Enforces/approves laws, issues executive orders, directs agencies

Judicial Branch:

Interprets laws, reviews constitutionality, resolves disputes

Steps to pass a bill

1. Proposal: Bills originate in House or Senate

   1. Bills & Joint Resolutions: Proposed laws that must pass both chambers and be signed by the president

   2. Simple or Concurrent Resolutions: Non-binding statements expressing congressional opinions or administrative decisions

2. Committee Review: Bills assigned to committees for debate and markup, decide which referred bills to consider seriously, invite testimony & public hearings 

3. Floor Debate: House has time limits; Senate allows filibusters

   1. House: Debate is limited and structured by the House Rules Committee

   2. Senate: Unlimited debate is allowed, enabling filibusters unless cloture (a 60-vote supermajority) is invoked

4. Vote: Majority needed in both chambers

5. Conference Committee: Resolves differences between House and Senate versions; final bill can be enrolled

6. Presidential Action: The president can sign, veto, or pocket veto the bill

7. Veto Override: Congress can override a veto with two-thirds vote in both chambers

   1. House of Representatives: Revenue bills must originate here

   2. Senate: More flexible debate rules, including the use of filibuster

President

vetoes/signs bills into law, issues executive orders

Executive Office of the President:

• policy development & research, communicate w/ Congress

Cabinet-level Departments:

• implement policy legislation & develops regulations, cabinet leaders appointed by president (w/ Senate approval)

Independent Executive Agencies:

 fixed terms regulation of certain industries

International Emergency Economic Powers Act (1977)

authorizes US president to declare national emergency & regulate commerce, freeze assets, or impose sanctions in response to any “unusual & extraordinary threat” to the US originating from foreign sources 

Administrative Procedure Act

• governs how federal administrative agencies propose & establish regulations, adjudicate cases, & issue decisions

Modern Challenges to Separation of Powers

• Partisan Polarization: Is Congress performing its legislative & oversight roles, or is it sidelining itself?

• Executive Overreach: Are Presidents acting outside of legislative or constitutional authority?

• Delegation & Deference: Are Legislative & Judicial branches giving too much authority to executive agencies?

• Judicial Independence: Are politicization & threats to courts undermining the impartiality of the judiciary? 

General Public:

Broad population

Attentive Public:

Actively follows politics

Issue Public

Engaged in a specific policy area

Public Opinion Polls:

• Measure public attitudes on policy issues, elections, and political approval

Random Sampling:

Ensures that every individual in a population has an equal chance of being selected, improving accuracy

Sampling Frame:

• The list from which poll respondents are drawn. If unrepresentative, results can be biased

Response Rate:

The percentage of people who respond to a survey. Low rates can lead to nonresponse bias: certain voter groups were less likely to participate in surveys

Margin of Error

Expressed as a percentage (+/-), indicating the range within which the actual population opinion likely falls

Salience:

• Importance of an issue

Coherence:

Consistency of public opinion

Elite Theory:

Policy is shaped by a small group of influential individuals, including business leaders and political elites

Group Conflict Theory:

Interest groups compete to influence policy, including labor unions, environmental groups, and corporate lobbyists

Grassroots Mobilization:

Activism driven by ordinary citizens engaging in protests, petitions, and advocacy campaigns

Citizens United v. FEC (2010)

• Allows unlimited independent political spending by corporations and unions

Dark Money:

Political spending by nonprofit organizations that do not disclose their donors

Super PACs:

Organizations that can raise and spend unlimited money to advocate for or against candidates but cannot coordinate with campaigns

Lobbying:

 Direct efforts by interest groups to influence lawmakers through meetings, donations, and policy proposals

Delegated Powers:

• Given to federal government (e.g., regulating interstate commerce)

Reserved Powers:

•  Held by states (e.g., education policy)

Concurrent Powers

Shared (e.g., taxation, law enforcement)

Implied Powers:

Derived from the Necessary and Proper Clause

National Supremacy

•  Federal laws take precedence over state laws

Commerce Clause:

Congress can regulate interstate commerce (Gibbons v. Ogden)

Dual Federalism:

Clear separation of state and federal powers

Cooperative Federalism:

Federal and state governments collaborate (e.g., New Deal programs)

New Federalism

More power given to states, block grants preferred

Categorical Grants:

 Specific use with conditions (e.g., Medicaid)

Block Grants:

 Broad use with more state discretion (e.g., TANF)

Social Insurance:

Funded through payroll taxes (e.g., Medicare, Social Security)

Social Assistance:

 Means-tested benefits (e.g., Medicaid, TANF)

Entitlement Spending:

Guaranteed funding (e.g., Social Security)

Discretionary Spending:

Requires annual approval (e.g., NIH research funding)

Marshall Trilogy

• Johnson v. M’Intosh (1823): Established that only the federal government can acquire land from Native American tribes

• Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831): Defined tribes as “domestic dependent nations” with limited sovereignty

• Worcester v. Georgia (1832): Affirmed that states cannot impose laws on Native American lands

• Plenary Power: Congress has ultimate authority over tribal affairs

Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (2022) and why it is controversial

Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (2022): Weakened tribal sovereignty by allowing state prosecution of non-Native criminals on tribal land

Identify the different stages in the policy cycle

1. Agenda Setting: Defining issues for government action

2. Policy Formulation: Developing proposals

3. Policy Adoption: Enacting legislation

4. Implementation: Executing policies (Top down vs. Street-Level Bureaucrat Model)

5. Evaluation: Assessing effectiveness (Ex Ante vs. Ex Post Evaluation)

6. Policy Change: Path dependency, critical junctures, Kingdon’s multiple streams theory

Forms of policy legitimation

• Legislative Legitimation: Congress enacts laws through the legislative process

• Executive Legitimation: Implementation through executive orders and agency regulations

• Judicial Legitimation: Courts interpret and uphold policies

• Popular Legitimation: Public support and social movements play a role in reinforcing policies

• Top-down vs. street level bureaucrat models of policy implementation

• Top-Down Model: Policies are set at high levels and executed by bureaucratic agencies

• Street-Level Bureaucrat Model: Frontline workers (e.g., teachers, social workers) exercise discretion in policy execution

Path Dependency:

• Policies are difficult to change once institutions and stakeholders are established

Critical Junctures:

• Major shifts occur during crises or political realignments

Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Theory:

• Policy change occurs when the problem, policy, and political streams align to create a “policy window”

Advocacy Coalition Framework:

•  explains change within policy subsystems over time; in every policy subsystem, there are competing coalitions of actors who want policy in that area to look a certain wayThere is some type of external event that allows an opportunity for coalitions to step into power & drive change

Punctuated Equilibrium Theory:

•  policy monopolies: group of actors who control an issue domain, policy venues: institutional locations where decisions are made, policy image: how a policy problem is publicly understood & framed  

Medicare vs Medicaid

Medicare is social insurance for elderly; Medicaid is social assistance for low-income individuals

AFDC Entitlement Program:

• New Deal Program, part of Social Security Act 1930s under cooperative federalism

TANF

• Work requirements, time limits, block grants to states (devolution) 

Indian Removal Act

Forced Native Americans off ancestral lands

Dawes Act

Divided tribal lands into individual allotments, leading to land loss

Indian Reorganization Act

• Encouraged self-governance and stopped land dispossession 

• Stopped land dispossession and encouraged tribes to form self-governing structures & manage lands but required federal approval

Indian Self-Determination Act

• Tribes can contract federal government to run their own education, healthcare, & social services

The Affordable Care Act

Expanded healthcare access, mandated insurance, provided subsidies