The Politics of Public Policy
Setting the Political Agenda
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Most important is determining what belongs
on the political agenda.
At any given time certain shared beliefs
determine what is legitimate for the
government to do. This legitimacy is
affected by shared political values, the
weight of custom and tradition, the impact of
events, and changes in the way that political
elites think and talk about politics.
Legitimate scope of the government is
growing.
Setting the Political Agenda
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3 forces enlarge government activity, sometime
without public demand or even when conditions are
improving.
GROUPS- small groups of people enlarge the
scope of government by their demands. i.e.
corporations, unions urban minorities.
INSTITUTIONS- Major institutions such as the
courts, bureaucracy, and Congress may add new
issues to the political agenda. i.e. Courts force
action – desegregation of schools; bureaucracy is a
source of proposals, & Congress produce
presidential candidates who focus on activism
MEDIA- Publicizing issues shapes the political
agenda, The public becomes aware of issues
through the media.
Cost, Benefits, and Policy
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The costs and benefits of a proposed policy
provide a way to understand how an issue affects
political power. (Costs can be any burden
monetary or non monetary; a fee or higher tax)
non monetary items such as:
Requiring formal reports (for example, the number
of team sports for boys and for girls in a school
district)
Restricting activities (for example, farming on land
that is a protected wetland or discriminating n
hiring on the basis of gender)
Performing functions for the government (for
example, collecting income and FICA taxes)
Cost, Benefits, and Policy
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A benefit is any satisfaction (monetary or non
monetary) that people expect to receive from this
policy. It might be tangible or intangible items such
as:
Restrictive competition (for example, ownership
restrictions on television station or monopolies
allowed in professional sports)
Accessing resources owned by the public (for
example, mining rights on public land or use of
patents developed by government-sponsored
research)
Coordinating actions by government agencies (for
example, amber alert procedures)
4 Kinds of Policies
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1. Majoritarian Politics- policies that
promise to benefit large numbers of people,
at the cost of a large number of people (for
example, Social Security, or military
defense.)
Debate occurs in ideological terms (or cost
terms) instead of as a rivalry among interest
groups.
These issues are resolved by public votes
and debate.
4 Kinds of Policies
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2. Interest Group politicsA proposed policy will confer benefits on
some relatively small, identifiable group and
impose costs on another small, equally
identifiable group (for example, bills
requiring business firms to give benefits to
labor unions)
Interest groups will debate these with
minimal interference from the wider public.
4 Kinds of Policies
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Client Politics
Some identifiable, often small, group will
benefit, but a large part of society will pay
the costs( for example: regulated milk
prices benefit dairy farmers but increase the
cost of milk to consumers)
The group that benefits will often organize
and work to get them. (Cost are widely
distributed, affecting many people only
slightly. People are most often unaware of
these costs.)
4 Kinds of Policies
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4. Entrepreneurial politics
A large part of society will benefit from a policy that
imposes substantial costs on some small,
identifiable segment of society (for example
antipollution and safety requirements for
automobiles, proposed as ways of improving the
health and well-being of all people but at the
expense of the manufacturer.)
Key element is the policy entrepreneur who acts on
behalf of the unorganized or indifferent majority.
Entrepreneurial politics can also occur if voters and
legislators in large numbers suddenly become
disgruntled by the cost of some benefit that a group
is receiving or if they become convinced that urgent
reform is needed.
Business Regulation
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4 kinds of policy will be represented.
Does economic power overrule
political power?
Or is political power a threat to a
market economy?
Business keeps the economy healthy.
Business Regulation
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Some laws that reflect majoritarian politics in
business: (lots of people involved)
Antitrust legislation in the 1890’s(i.e. Sherman AntiTrust Act & Federal Trade Commission Act) were
sparked by public support
An example of Interest Group driven politics in
Business is the Labor – Management conflict of the
20th century. Labor unions sought government
protection for their rights to strike and engage in
other forms of collective action. Business firms
opposed this greatly. Labor would win with the
creation of the National Labor Relations Board in
the mid 30’s. Management won victories in the 40’s
and 50’s with the Taft-Hartley Act & Landrum-Griffin
Act) (Here winners and losers were picked by the
economic cycle. Costs and benefits involved
specified groups not the public as a whole.
Business Regulation
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An example of Client Politics in business
regulation is state licensing of occupations
such as law and medicine. This is done to
prevent fraud, malpractice, and improve
safety.
Members now charge higher prices which
affect everyone.
Citizens do not object cause there is no
other alternative pricing and they view this
as a way they are protected.
Business Regulation
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Entrepreneurial politics have often been evident in
regulating business.
1906 Pure Food and Drug Act forced meatpackers
to sanitize their conditions.
The 1960’s and 70’s brought a large number of
consumer and environmental protection issues
aimed at specfic industries and business. (i.e.
Clean Air Act and the Toxic Substance Control Act)
Ralph Nader is an excellent example of a policy
entrepreneur, associating himself with many
consumer and environmental issues.
Perceptions, Beliefs, Interests,
and Values
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The perception of costs and benefits affects politics.
(i.e. people think laws fighting pollution will be
expensive for companies and not consumers, they
will generally favor the law.
Perception is key, and often has to be framed
properly for the policies to go through and pass.
(perceptions – vital to the country)
Opponents will try to frame things in the clientpolitic role so that people will not be supportive,
because they will think its only helping a small
group of people or not them as a whole.
Perceptions, Beliefs,
Interests, and Values
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Values play a vital role I policy making.
Concepts of what is good for the community
or a community shared value can widely
vary.
What is happening now or in the near future
is most important to people, than what can
happen in the distant future. (short term/
long term disconnect)
Perceptions, Beliefs,
Interests, and Values
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F.Y.I (added facts)
1980’s airlines, long distance telephone companies,
and trucking were deregulated.
Deregulation was embraced because support was
there from regulatory agencies and consumers,
even though the industries opposed deregulation.
These industries did not like deregulation because
they feared: more competition, lower prices, and
fewer profits. (This shows the weakening of client
politics and the strengthening of the power ideas in
policy-making.
Policy making at the federal level is a complex
and often confusing process that requires an
understanding of the policy agenda, the costs
and benefits of various issues, and the
perceptions of groups involved.