Chapter 17 Domestic Policy

Learning Objectives What types of politics may matter to whether and how government acts on any given issue? How do America’s social welfare policies and programs differ from those of many other modern democracies? Why are some social welfare policies and programs politically protected while others are politically imperiled? Is there a political consensus about how to address the solvency challenges facing major social welfare programs? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Learning Objectives Why have government regulations on certain big businesses been imposed over the objections of those industries? Why are environmental policies designed and enforced differently in America than in other industrialized nations? Does just one type of politics drive environmental policies and programs? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Introduction WHO GOVERNS? TO WHAT ENDS? How, if at all, have Americans’ views of government’s responsibility to help the“deserving poor” changed over time? Why are some government social welfare programs politically protected while others are politically imperiled? TO WHAT ENDS? What does the Constitution mean by “promote the general Welfare”? Who should administer federal welfare programs? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Policymaking Politics Revisited Cost vs. Benefit Legitimacy Perceived costs and benefits can be: Widely distributed Narrowly concentrated Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Who will benefit or pay for a program? Who ought to benefit or pay?

A Way of Classifying and Explaining the Politics of Different Policy Issues Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Figure 17.1

Social Welfare Policy “To provide for the . . . general Welfare” Restrict spending? OR Meet national needs? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Social Welfare Policy From the New Deal to the New Health Care Law Insurance program (unemployed/elderly) Assistance program (blind, dependent children and aged) Means test Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Social Welfare Policy FDR and the New Deal Social Security Act (1935) Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Topham/The Image Works In 1932, unemployed workers line up at a soup kitchen during the Great Depression.

Social Welfare Policy Johnson and the Great Society Medicaid and Medicare (1965) Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare Act in 1965. Source: Lyndon Baines Johnson Library/MCT/Newscom

Social Welfare Policy Obama Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. President Barack Obama signs the Affordable Health Care for America Act in 2010. Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Two Kinds of Social Welfare Programs Social Welfare Policy Two Kinds of Social Welfare Programs Benefits most Most pay No means test Majoritarian politics Social Security and Medicare Issue: cost Benefits few Most pay Means tested Client politics TANF and SNAP Issue: legitimacy Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Opinion on Social Security and Medicare Proposals, By Generation Social Welfare Policy Social Security and Medicare: Majoritarian Politics Opinion on Social Security and Medicare Proposals, By Generation Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Table 17.1 While both are popular programs, Social Security has higher prospects for remaining solvent than Medicare. Why? Source: Adapted from Andrew Kohut, “Debt and Deficit: A Public Opinion Dilemma,” Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, June 14, 2012.

Public Opinion on Changing Medicare and Social Security Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Table 17.2 Source: ABC News/Washington Post Poll, March 10–13, 2011; Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health Poll, January 4–14, 2011; and School of Public Policy, University of Maryland and Center on Policy Attitudes, “How Americans Would Deal with the Budget Deficit,” February 3, 2011, p. 49.

Social Welfare Policy Social Welfare Policy in America: Four Distinctive Features More restrictive view of who is entitled to governmental assistance Slower to embrace the welfare state States play a large role Nongovernmental organizations play a large role Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Social Welfare Policy From AFDC to TANF: Client Politics Existing state programs Federal government regulations governing the programs Public opinion changes Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Social welfare programs like the late AFDC that are perceived to benefit only certain groups of citizens at a cost that is shouldered by most people (client politics) will be established and remain politically protected only if the cost to the public at large is not perceived to be great and if the people receiving the benefit are widely deemed “deserving.”

Social Welfare Policy Medicaid: Client and Majoritarian Means-tested Benefits broader population Interest group support Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Over the last two decades, most proposals to “cut Medicaid” have actually been proposals to trim program benefits for the program’s TANF-eligible adult, non-disabled populations.

Business Regulation Policy Relationship between wealth and power Antitrust Laws: Majoritarian Politics Sherman Act (1890) Federal Trade Commission Act (1914 Clayton Act (1914) Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Business Regulation Policy Labor and Occupational Health and Safety: Interest Group Politics Wagner Act National Labor Relations Board Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970) Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Democratic presidents favor labor and thus tend to appoint pro-union board members; Republican presidents favor business and thus tend to appoint pro-management members to the NLRB.

Business Regulation Policy Agriculture Subsidies: Client Politics Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Bob Mahoney/The Image Works Client politics has become harder to practice in this country unless a group is widely thought to be a “deserving” client. Dairy farmers get government subsidies for their milk production.

Business Regulation Policy Consumer and Environmental Protection: Entrepreneurial Politics Auto safety/antipollution Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. AP Image The motives of policy entrepreneurs may be self-serving or public spirited. The best-known policy example in this country is Ralph Nader. Entrepreneurial politics: Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle, published in 1906, shocked readers with its description of conditions in the meat-packing industry and helped bring about passage of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

Environmental Policy The Politics of “Cap and Trade” Environmental Policy in America: Three Distinctive Features Adversarial State dependent Interest group pressures Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Environmental Policy Environmental Policy Agricultural Pesticides: Client Politics Endangered Species: Entrepreneurial Politics Pollution from Automobiles: Majoritarian Politics Interest Group Politics Acid Rain: Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Environmental impact statement: A report required by federal law that assesses the possible effect of a project on the environment if the project is subsidized in whole or part by federal funds.

New Federal Safety Regulations for Deep Water Oil Drilling Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Click picture to play video

New Federal Safety Regulations for Deep Water Oil Drilling Taking a closer look: What persons or agencies oversee federal environmental policy? How are new regulations an example of adversarial policy? Who pays for costs associated with administering environmental regulations? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Beyond Domestic Policy Does just one type of politics drive domestic policies and programs? Which type of politics matters most on economic policy issues? Copyright © 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.