The Policy-Making Process:
A Student Project
Mrs. Papish
Strongsville High School
AP U.S. Government and Politics
Overview
The Project that follows is designed to give you the opportunity to discover the policymaking process by investigating major areas of public policy.
Upon conclusion of the project, you should have a thorough understanding of how the
government policy agenda is established, how policy is interpreted and implemented by
various policymakers, and how public policy impacts people. Keep in mind the importance
of understanding the “interactions and dynamics among actors, interests, institutions and
processes” described in the AP Course Syllabus, as well as the necessity of analyzing policy
issues. As you approach this project, be aware that government policies come in many
forms and are realized through both the actions and the inaction of the government. This
assignment will focus your attention on essential areas of policy that due to time
constraints we will not be able to cover in class discussion.
Objectives
At the end of the project, you should be able to:

Explain several ways people and institutions create public policy and how
federalism allows for various methods of influencing the policy-making system.

Analyze how various formal and informal institutions interact to implement and
achieve policy goals

Evaluate the impact of policy in the U.S. political system in a selected public arena
(healthcare, foreign policy, economic stability, or environmental policy)
Policy Categories
The following is a list of federal laws and government programs reflecting aspects of
federal policy that are suggestions; you may wish to use a policy that interests you that is
not on this list as long as it falls under your assigned category.

Environmental policy: National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act,
Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Endangered Species Act, California
Desert Protection Act

Social/health care policy: Social Security Act of 1935, Medicare Act of 1965,
Medicaid Act, Aid to Families With Dependent Children, Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families, Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the Health Care and Education
Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Foreign and/or defense policy: War Powers Resolution, Strategic Defense
Initiative, North American Free Trade Agreement, General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade

Economic policy: Sherman Act of 1890, National Labor Relations Act
(Wagner Act), Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, Home Ownership and Equity
Protections Act (HOEPA, Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), Home
Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (“Stimulus Law”)
You will be assigned to a group of three and have two weeks to complete the project. Your
group will report your findings by way of a written summary of the selected policy in
which you will provide your own analysis of the impact of the policy on the public. You
will also make a PowerPoint presentation to the class that is a visual representation of your
summary report.
Throughout this project you should become familiar with the various players in the policy
process ) president, executive branch experts, congressional committee members, interest
groups, constituencies, staffers, policy experts).
The rubric for the project is posted to my AP Government web page.
Public policy project rubric
I. Analysis of policy
A. Description/purpose of policy (13 points)
1. Informal institutions involved in creation of policy
________5pts
2. Formal institutions involved in creation of policy
________5 pts
3. Cited source(s)
________2 pts
B. Implementation/impact of policy (17 points)
1. Bureaucracies involved with policy
________5 pts
2. people/places positively and negatively affected by policy
________5 pts
3. Any formal challenges to policy(civil action) and the
Reaction of the court(s)
________5 pts
4. Cited source(s)
________2 pts
II. Overall presentation: the above criteria should be included in your paper as well as your
PowerPoint with handout notes
A. Spelling, punctuation, grammar, organization and word usage
B. Class presentation: professional demeanor and public speaking
skills demonstrated
III. Final Score
Teacher Comments
_______2.5 pts
_______2.5pts
______/35 pts
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