Political Agenda Policy
Chapter 15
Setting the Political Agenda
- What gets into the political realm to later become a policy?
A. What belongs on the Agenda?
1. Shared beliefs of the people
2. Major impact of events
3. Changes in the way political elites think and talk about politics
4. Change in public opinion
5. Weight of custom and religion
B. the legitimate scope of government action
1. Grows in time of crisis
2. Changes in attitudes and events tend to increase government
activity
C. Groups: a motivating force in adding new issues
1. May be organized (corporations) or disorganized (urban
minorities)
2. May reproduce and expand the government agenda
Ex: New commissions and laws
3. May change values and beliefs of others
D. Institutions that create new issues
1. The Courts
a) Make decisions that force action by other branches:
When congress and the president fail to react a catalyst acts;
House not involved
-School desegregation
-Abortion
b) Courts facilitate change when there is no popular
majority
2. Bureaucracy professionalism of reform
a) Thinks up problems to solve
b) More professional and more trusted
c) Pro-active view
3. Senate
a) Very activist compared to the past
b) Source of presidential candidates’ new ideas
4. Media- moves ideas onto the agenda
a) Lets people know what issues are most important
Making a Decision
A. Nature of the issue
1. Affects the groups that participate
2. Affects the intensity of the conflict
B. Cost & Benefits of proposed policy
1. Cost: any burden monetary or non-monetary that
some people expect to bear from policy
2. Benefit: any satisfaction monetary or nonmonetary that some people receives from a policy
3. Politics is a process of disputes over cost vs.
benefits and who benefits
4. People prefer programs that provide benefits at
low costs.
Majoritarian Politics
distributed benefits, distributed costs
A. gives benefits/costs to large #’s
B. involves appeals to large blocks of voters
C. Debate is conducted in ideological terms,
for example, military benefit
Interest group politics
- Concentrated benefits, concentrated costs
A. Benefits and costs are given imposed
on small identifiable group
B. Debate without public involvement; it is
carried on by interest groups
Ex: Labor vs. Business
Client Politics
- Concentrated benefits, distributed costs
- breaks from American government
A. Relatively small groups benefit; groups
have incentive to organize
B. Beneficiaries are “client” of the
government
Ex: Sugar growers
Entrepreneurial politics
- distributed benefits, concentrated costs
A. Success depends on people who work
for the unorganized majorities
B. Success also depends on legitimacy of
claim
Ex: A superfund force an industry to
pay $
* Ralph Nadar consumer
Benefits and
Costs Chart
Costs
Benefits
Distributed Benefits
Concentrated Benefits
Distributed Costs
Majoritarian Politics
Client Politics
Concentrated Costs
Entrepreneurial Politics
Interest Group Politics
BUSINESS REGULATION
A. Government tends to be pro business
1. Congress has similar background (both have money) the
more money, the more likely to influence someone in the
government
2. Market economy is pro-business
3. Wealth can buy political power
B. Majoritarian Politics
- pay a lot, people get a lot
1. Sherman Act (1890)
2. Clayton Act (1914)
Both were created to break up trusts
(Monopolies- one corporation controlling an industry)
C. Interest group politics
-pay a little, people get a little
- Most common
1. Labor Unions vs. Management
Democratic
Republican
a) NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) - agency created by
the government made of a member board that has 5 year terms;
They are appointed by the president and approved by Congress
b) OSHA (Occupation Safety and Health Administration)
- Both were labor laws passed and they both benefited the worker
NOT management.
D. Client politics
- pay a lot, people get a little
1. licensing of jobs (attorneys, barbers) - this keeps competition and
protects industry
2. Regulation of industry (sugar, milk) - prices are set higher than
they should be to prevent competition from other countries and
maximize profits
E. Entrepreneurial politics- Nadar consumer
•
- pay a little, get a lot
•
1. Galvanize public
•
a) Mobilize congressional support
•
Ex: Clean Air Act is a direct result
Perceptions, Beliefs, Interests
A. Problems
1. Cost or benefit is a matter of perception
2. Not always monetary
B. Types of Arguments
1. Here and Now- instant gratification
2. Cost Argument- cost is always going to affect benefits
C. Values
1. More concerned with self-interest
D. Deregulation
1. Government regulation bad for competition/ consumer
2. Reducing subsides for tobacco growers
3. Recent presidents are moving toward deregulation costs
starting with Ford (Republicans)