Quiz 1

Public policy

Public policy

the sum of government activities, \n whether pursued directly or through \n agents, as those activities have an \n influence on the lives of citizens

3 levels of public policy

-Policy choices

-Policy outputs/ programs

-Policy impacts

Policy choices

The formation of a policy. The policy decision, among various alternatives, made by those with political authority

Policy outputs/ programs

The implementation of a policy choice. What emerges from a policy choice

Policy impacts

The evaluation of a policy. The assessment of the effects of a policy choice

6 instruments of public policy

-Law

-Services

-Money

-Taxes

-Other economic instruments

-Suasion

Law

The right to make authoritative decrees and to back up those decrees with the legitimate power of the state e.g., Voting Rights Act of 1965; Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Services

The government provides a number of services directly to citizens e.g., education (via schools and student financial support, recreation (via national and state parks)

Money

Spending/ appropriation of money: To individual citizens, To organizations, and To state or local governments. e.g., Social Security program, National Science Foundation/NSF grants, Medicaid program

Taxes

To raise revenues/ get money, which the government then \n utilizes to pay for services and enforcement of laws and \n regulations. e.g., sales tax, payroll tax, income tax.

Other economic instruments

Providing credit/ loans and providing insurance for certain activities or property e.g. student loans and federal flood insurance

Suasion

Government officials may seek to persuade certain groups of people, or the public as a whole, to do, or not do, certain things e.g., George W. Bush’s appeals to encourage consumer spending after 9/11

Separation of powers

Each of the three powers of government is placed in a \n particular institution. \n -To make laws(Legislative): in Congress, composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate \n -To executive laws(Executive): in the President and other officials -To interpret laws(Judicial): in the Courts

-There could be no checks and balances without \n separation of powers, but there could be separation of powers without checks and balances

-Policy change is difficult to achieve and requires a high degree of consensus among many \n constituencies.

-Agreement can be difficult, given that each institution may not be controlled by members of the same political party.

Federalism

The national government has equal or greater authority than the regional governments.

-Dual federalism: The national and state governments operated separately, each within its own sphere

-Cooperative federalism: Initiated by FDR. Funded by grants-in-aid offered by the U.S. government, they came with some general guidelines and restrictions, but exercised some discretion in deciding how to use the funds.

-Fiscal federalism: Initiated by LBJ. Used categorical grants, the funding provided to state or local governments with \n strict rules or guidelines, leaving no discretion to recipients of the funding. Had to do it to get the funding.

-New federalism: Initiated by Reagan. Used block grants, the funding provided to state governments, with less strict rules or guidelines, leaving discretion to recipients. Accompanied by reductions in spending—thus the states had more discretion, but less money.

-Ad hoc federalism: choosing either a state-centered or nation-centered approach on the basis of political or partisan convenience

Subgovernments

The underlying phenomenon that these terms describe is that the federal government rarely acts as a unified institution making integrated policy choices but tends instead to endorse the decisions made by portions of the government

-Iron Triangle: Describes the strong, virtually unbreakable bonds that develop over time among three key political actors

--(1) members of Congressional committees; (2) members of the executive agencies; and (3) interest groups

-Issue networks: This tends to occur when an issue rises \n to the level of national concern. Other actors are then involved, most notably mass media and think tanks

Budget and Accountability Act of 1921

-The act created a new executive agency, the Bureau of the Budget, tasked with assisting the President in formulating a national budget, which would then be submitted to Congress for emendation and approval.

-This act also created the Government Accountability Office (GAO), tasked with auditing agency expenditures.

Troika

The 3 offices the president depends on for the budget:

-Dept. of treasury

-Office of Management and Budget

-Council of Economic Advisors

Troika plus one

National Economic Council

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Its main responsibility is to formulate the President’s yearly budget

Council of Economic Advisors (CEA)

A group of economists who advise the President, providing forecasts about the economy and predictions about the effects of various economic choices

Dept. of the Treasury

To ensure the financial security of the U.S, among its responsibilities is to issue government bonds to cover debt

National Economic Council (NEC)

Coordinates and implements the President’s economic policy objectives, to ensure that decisions and programs are consistent with the President’s stated goals and to monitor their implementation

Congressional Budget Office (CBO)

To assist the congressional budget committees in formulating their respective budget policies

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

To investigate and evaluate spending within the executive agencies

3 main sources of revenues

-Income tax

-Payroll tax

-Corporate tax

Income tax

This tax applies to annual earnings, based on income.

Payroll tax

This tax applies to all wages, with half paid by employers and half by employees. Stays the same for everyone.

Corporate tax

This is a tax on profits of U.S. resident corporations. Based on companies profits.

Discretionary spending

Spending that is controlled directly through the \n annual budget legislation (defense).

The largest category of discretionary spending is Defense, at $751 Billion. Others are Education, Transportation, Foreign Aid, and Science, Space & Technology.

Mandatory spending

Spending that comes from the various entitlement programs (social security and Medicaid).

\n The largest category of mandatory spending is Social Security, at $1.2 Trillion, second is Medicare, at $757 Billion, next is Medicaid, at $592 Billion.