INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS AND POLICY
3 definitions of politics:
Politics is....
•....[the process of determining] “Who gets
what, when, and how?” - Laswell
•....”the authoritative allocation of values
(valued things)” - Easton
•....”the competitive process engaged in a
society to allocate scarce resources and
determine priorities” - Feagin
5 Characteristics of Public Policy
•Policy consists of courses of action rather
than mere decisions;
•Policy is purposive or goal-oriented action;
•Policy is what government does, not what it
says it will do or intends to do
•Policy is based upon law and is authoritative
[that is, it must be developed by
government]; and
• Policy is the result of political processes.
The “Science” of Political Science
How do we come to know the things we know?
How do we go about increasing our knowledge
and decreasing our ignorance?
The Three
Epistemologies:
•fideism: by “faith”
•rationalism: by mental
reflection
•empiricism: by
sensory perception and
experience
THE RATIONAL/EMPIRICAL APPROACH
Explaining
Relationships:
• What is a variable?
- Dependent variables
- Independent variables
• Measuring variables
- Nominal
- Ordinal
- Interval
- Ratio
Models and Theories:
• What is a model?
- Description
- Simplification
• What makes a “good” theory?
- Explanation
- Prediction
- Generalization
- Parsimony
- Ceteris paribus assumption
• Correlation versus causation
• Positive vs. normative theories
Types of Models Used
in the Study of Politics
• Verbal
• Visual
• Graphical
• Mathematical
EXPLAINING RELATIONSHIPS
AMONG POLITICAL VARIABLES
• Formulating hypotheses
• Testing Hypotheses
-Experimentation
-Statistical analyses
• Making probabilistic statements
USING GRAPHS TO UNDERSTAND POLITICAL AND
SOCIAL PHENOMENA
Y
No
relationship
Y
Exact, linear,
inverse
Y
Exact, linear,
direct
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
Exact, nonlinear
Inexact, nonlinear
Inexact,
linear, direct
X
X
X
Date
Jul-93
Apr-93
Jan-93
Oct-92
Jul-92
Apr-92
Jan-92
Oct-91
Jul-91
Apr-91
Jan-91
Oct-90
Jul-90
Apr-90
Jan-90
Oct-89
Jul-89
Apr-89
Jan-89
Oct-88
Jul-88
Apr-88
Jan-88
Oct-87
Jul-87
Apr-87
Jan-87
Oct-86
Jul-86
Apr-86
Jan-86
Oct-85
Number of Monthly Recipients (x 1,000)
Time-Series Graphs
Number of Monthly AFDC Recipients in Maryland, 10/85 to 9/93
250
200
150
100
50
0
Oc
t-8
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Ju 9
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Number of AFDC Recipients (x 1,000)
and Unemployed (x 1,000)
Time-Series Graphs
Number of Monthly AFDC Recipients and Number of Monthly Unemployed In Maryland, 10/85 to
9/93
250
200
150
AFDC Recipients
100
Unemployment
50
0
Date
PRACTICE: Sketch a graph and explain the
relationship you would expect to find between:
1. a family’s annual household income and the amount of
money they contribute annually to political campaigns
2. the amount of money a nation budgets for national
defense and the probability that a nation will be
engaged in an armed conflict
3. the minutes of TV time purchased by a candidate
running for the U.S. Senate and the number of votes
he/she receives in the election
4. the popularity of a Democratic president and the
probability that the Republicans will win additional
seats in Congress in an upcoming election
5. the amount of money received in monthly cash benefits
($) by a woman on AFDC and the length of her
dependency period [how long her family receives
benefits]
A Systems Model of Public Policy-Making
ENVIRONMENTS
Physical system
FEEDBACK LOOP (outcomes - effects
on society and individuals may cause new
problems to be identified)
Economic system
Demographics
External political
systems
Cultural system
Constitutional
system
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Input
Structures
Inputs
Legislative
Individuals
Mass Media
Interest
groups
Government
Institutions
Demands Executive
Benefits
Judicial
Supports
Actors
Party systems
Roles
Electoral
systems
Processes
Deprivations
ENVIRONMENTS
Physical system
Economic system
Demographics
External political
systems
Cultural system
Constitutional
system
ENVIRONMENTS - the environment is any
condition or circumstance that is external to the
boundaries of the political system being
examined. Thus, a political system may
respond to social, economic, or physical
conditions, or it may respond to inputs from
other (external) political systems. At any rate, it
is proper to think of environmental conditions in
terms of systems and in the plural.
INPUT STRUCTURES - the channels, linkages, and connections
from the environments to government institutions. These
individuals and organizations/institutions serve to recruit political
actors, nominate and elect public officials, represent people, set
agendas for public discussion and action, and communicate
demands and supports to public officials.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Input
Structures
Individuals
Mass Media
Interest
groups
Party systems
Electoral
systems
INPUTS - Inputs into governmental structures include demands
for specific policy action and general support for the political
system or one of its parts. Diffuse support contributes to the
long-term maintenance and stability of the political system.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Inputs
Demands
Supports
GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS - these are the familiar legislative,
executive, judicial, and bureaucratic branches of government.
These institutions may be referred to as conversion structures
because because they convert demands and supports into public
policy outputs. Government institutions pass the laws, appropriate
the money, and make rules and regulations, whether formal or
informal, for implementing policies.
THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Government
Institutions
Legislative
Executive
Judicial
Actors
Roles
Processes
OUTPUTS - are of two kinds: policy statements and implementing
actions. Policy statements include legislative statutes, executive
orders, administrative rules and regulations, and judicial decisions, as
well as informal policy pronouncements. Implementing actions are
those activities undertaken by administrators and other political actors
to carry out the policy statement. Outputs are generally characterized
as either benefits or deprivations imposed on a particular target group.
THE POLITICAL
SYSTEM
Benefits
Deprivations
OUTCOMES are the short
and long term
effects that
policies have on
environmental
conditions.
Outcomes feed
back into the
policy process
and have an
impact on the
formulation of
new policies.
Thus, as the
feedback loop
indicates, the
policy process
is a continual
cycle.
FEEDBACK LOOP (outcomes - effects
on society and individuals may cause new
problems to be identified)
THE POLITICAL
SYSTEM
Benefits
Deprivations
THE UTILITY OF THE SYSTEMS MODEL
In studying politics and public policy, the systems model can
be used to:
• Convey the idea of government as part of a larger system made
up of political actions;
• Identify the parts of the political system and the relationship of
each part to the others;
• Show the linkages or connections between the environments and
political structures, as well as linkages among parts of the
political system itself;
• Demonstrate how external variables in the environments
stimulate political activity and perhaps may ultimately necessitate
public policies;
• Allow us to develop possible explanations for government
performance by focusing on the various parts and their
interconnections;
• Show that policy outputs and outcomes are the product of
political activity occurring within the system; policy is the result
of political processes.
The Production Line Model of Policy-Making
Agenda-Setting
Evaluation
Formulation
Implementation
Adoption/
Legitimation
Government Institutions/Actors
Agenda-Setting
Agenda-setting involves two basic activities: (1)
problem identification and (2) priority-setting.
Problems may be identified by a wide variety of
political actors, both inside and outside of
government, who may have competing perceptions of
the problem’s cause, scope, and severity. Prioritysetting occurs when moving problems from the
public agenda to the official agenda. Determining
which problems are priorities and deserve
government’s attention is an issue of determining
“who gets access?” There are many points of access
in the American political system because there is no
single official agenda.
Agenda-Setting
Policy formulation involves working out the
details of alternative strategies to address a
problem placed on a government institution’s
agenda. The formulation of alternative policy
Formulation
strategies may be carried out by professional,
scientific policy analysts and planners, but more
often it is an informal process in which entities
that are affected by a problem and any potential
policy response attempt to persuade government
decision-makers of the merits of their preferred
solution. In other words, formulation is a
political rather than a rational process. Political
actors both inside and outside of government
may be involved in this stage of policy-making.
5 Types of Policy Statements
• legislative enactments (statutes)
• executive orders
• administrative rulings
• court decisions
• informal policy pronouncements
In the adoption/legitimation
stage, government officially
accepts a particular course
of action from among the
Agenda-Setting
alternatives produced in the
formulation stage [adoption
means “choosing”]. A policy
statement is adopted. Policy
statements may take several
forms. Policy statements
must be adopted by
government institutions
because (in American
society) only government is
recognized as having
legitimate authority to
impose binding decisions on
Adoption/
society. This legitimacy is
Legitimation
conferred by a legal/
constitutional process.
Formulation
Government Institutions/Actors
Agenda-Setting
Implementation
Implementation involves doing the things
to or for target groups that have been
authorized by the policy statement.
However, implementation is not as
Formulation
mechanical as mere administration.
It is
itself a dynamic, political process
involving activities characteristic of each
of the five stages of the broader policymaking process. Although implementing
actions are generally carried out by a
government
bureaucracy, private
Adoption/
individuals
or businesses or non-profit
Legitimation
agencies may have some implementation
responsibilities as well.
Government Institutions/Actors
Evaluation
Implementation
Evaluation is the measurement of policy
Agenda-Setting
performance and consequences in terms
of policy goals and other standards.
Policy evaluations may be conducted
formally by policy analysts in government
agencies, “policy think-tanks,” or the
news media, or informally by just about
anyone. Often informal, non-scientific
evaluations shape perceptions of policy
effectiveness more than rigorous,
scientific analyses. “Feedback” occurs
as a result of evaluation so that policy
may be adjusted at any time. As a
consequence, old problems may be
redefined
or new problems may be
Adoption/
identified
and the policy-making process
Legitimation
begins again. Thus, policy-making is a
continual or cyclical process.
Government Institutions/Actors
5 Classes of Public Policy
Class
Activity
RESOURCE ALLOCATIVE
giving, aiding, benefiting,
subsidizing
RESOURCE EXTRACTIVE
taking, taxing, requiring time
or service
REGULATORY
controlling behavior, setting
standards, inspecting for
compliance, punishing
non-compliance
SYMBOLIC
ritualizing, moralizing, making
promises, substituting rhetoric
for substance
INTERNAL ORGANIZATION
AND MANAGEMENT
organizing/managing govt.
affairs, budgeting, making rules
with respect to internal operation
Who Governs?
This is a central question for
political scientists. A number of
theories have been offered as
answers [see, for example, p.
561 in the AMERICAN
GOVERNMENT text]. Two
theories have won widespread
acceptance among political
scientists, although they reach
competing conclusions:
Elite Theory
Pluralist Theory
The Many Meanings of Democracy
procedural democracy - concerned with process
substantive democracy - concerned with outcomes
direct democracy - “the people” make decisions (process)
representative democracy - “the people” select leaders to make
decisions
majoritarian democracy - concerned with who has political power
(majority rule)
pluralist democracy - concerned with who has political power (varies
among competing groups)
elite democracy - concerned with who has political power (those with
economic resources)
liberal democracy - emphasizes process and places primacy on the
existence of individual rights
social democracy - emphasizes equality of outcomes (redistribution of
power in society, particularly wealth)
egalitarian democracy - emphasizes strict political equality
Describing American Democracy
Traditional democratic theory
The following conditions or criteria must be satisfied in order to
conclude that a country has a traditional democracy:
• Citizens must be politically equal;
• Citizens must act on their preferences for leadership and public
policy - i.e., citizens must participate in decision-making;
• Information must be fully and freely available;
• There must be a close correspondence between the policy
decisions of representatives and the policy preferences of their
constituents - i.e., representatives must be delegates;
• When choosing from among policy alternatives, the alternative
preferred by the majority must be selected - i.e., majority rules.
Describing American Democracy
Elite Theory
• Economic power equals political power;
• Society is divided into two groups: the elites and the
masses;
• Public policy is not based on demands of the masses rather it reflects the values and preferences of the power
elite;
• There is competition among elites - however, elites share
broad values in support of the status quo;
• Public policy is not necessarily anti-mass welfare;
• Changes or innovations in public policy come about as a
result of the power elite redefining their own values;0
• Policy changes will occur incrementally.
Elite Theory
According to this model,
public policy may be
viewed as the preferences
and values of a power elite.
Public policy, in other
words, flows downward
from the elite through
public officials and
administrators who merely
validate and carry out the
policies favored by the elite
to the masses or the
people who are apathetic
and ill-informed about
policy. Elites actually
shape mass opinion on
policy matters.
Elites
Public Officials
and
Administrators
Masses
Pluralist Theory
• The central fact of politics is a competition and
interaction among group interests;
• Public policy decisions and actions made by government
reflect the balance of influence among competing group
interests;
• No single group completely dominates the policy-making
process;
• The influence of groups changes as issues change;
• Changes in group influence can be expected to result in
changes in public policy;
• The distribution of influence among competing groups,
although constantly changing, rarely changes
dramatically;
• Changes in public policy will occur incrementally.
Pluralist Theory
According to this model, individuals with common interests ban
together, formally or informally, to press their demands on
government. Public policy at any given time is the equilibrium
reached in the group struggle. This equilibrium is determined by the
relative influence of competing groups.
Group
A
Group
B
WHY DOES GOVERNMENT MAKE
PUBLIC POLICY?
To provide public goods/services
•pure private goods
•pure public goods and the free-rider problem
•merit goods
To counter the problem of externalities
To deal with the problems of adverse selection
and moral hazard
Externalities
• A positive externality exists when all of the social benefits associated
with the production and consumption of a good or service are not
captured by the private market. When a positive externality exists the
private market produces a less-than socially optimal level of output.
There is too little production. Government usually attempts to
increase the level of output by subsidizing the production of the good
or service or by providing the good or service itself. An example of a
good/service with positive externalities is childhood immunizations
(public health benefits).
• A negative externality exists when all of the social costs associated
with the production and consumption of a good or service are not
captured by the private market. When a negative externality exists
the private market produces a more-than socially optimal level of
output. There is too much production. Government usually
attempts to decrease the level of output by placing regulations or
taxes on the production or consumption of the good or service. An
example of a good/service with negative externalities is motor
vehicles (pollution).
Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard
• Adverse selection is the tendency for people to enter into
agreements in which they can use private information (information
that is known only to themselves because it is too costly for anyone
else to obtain) to their own advantage and to the disadvantage of the
less informed party.
•Moral hazard exists when one of the parties to an agreement has an
incentive after the agreement is made to act in a manner that brings
additional benefit to himself or herself at the expense of the other party
(it is too costly for the injured party to monitor the actions of the
advantaged party).
EXAMPLE: Health Care Insurance
Adverse selection exists in health insurance because there is a
tendency for people who know they have a greater chance than
average of falling ill to be the ones most likely to buy health
insurance. Moral hazard is the tendency for people who are covered
by insurance to use more health care services or to be less careful
about avoiding health risks than they otherwise would.