Quiz (1) Public Policy

Polity

The institutional structures characterizing a political system

Basic institutional setup of a political system, like a democracy, an autocracy, or even an anocracy (elements of both).

Politics

The study of political processes and is concerned with who gets what, when, how.

It determines public policy.

Public Policy

A course of action (or non-action) taken by a government or legislature regarding a specific issue. It can also be defined as the system of laws, regulatory measures, and funding priorities created by a government.

Politics determines public policy

The design of a policy often reflects the power dynamics and resources of different social groups.

The political processes, like voting and a government's ideology, directly shape what policies are chosen and how they're made.

Public Policy Studies

Field of study interested in the processes and decisions that define a political system's policy outputs, as well as the effects that result from those policy decisions.

Policymaking

The process by which governments develop and implement strategies, rules, and guidelines to address specific problems or goals.

Rationalist Model

Model that focuses on how policies should be organized to achieve maximum benefit (optimality).

Stages of the policy process (Rationalist model)

• The collection of information

• The identification of possible policy alternatives

• The imposition of a policy choice

• The enforcement of the policy

• The evaluation of the policy

Incrementalism model

Policymakers make decisions with limited information, utilizing their cognitive limitations and limited time, and therefore aim for a "satisfactory" solution rather than an optimal one.

We know the answer, but we’re waiting for a problem to use the solution

Garbage Can (Recycling Bin)

Policymaking is determined by actors within organizations that draw from their recycling bin, as opposed to developing policies in response to the problems they are presented with.

We know the answer, but we’re waiting for a problem to use the solution

Policy variation

Differences in policy outputs across different policy sectors (e.g., healthcare vs. national security) or different countries (e.g., U.S. vs. Canadian healthcare)

Policy change

The degree to which public policies change (or don't change) over time. Policies often tend to be "stable," meaning change is slow and incremental.