1. Chapters 17-21: Policy

2. The Policy Making Process
Political agenda are the issues that people belief require governmental attention.

3. The Policy Making Process
Relative Deprivation
The concept is based on de Tocqueville’s views on the French Revolution.
Citizens are more active and easily aroused when they are poor or repressed, but when times become better, they become more complacent.

4. The Policy Making Process
Institutions
Courts
This is the area for dealing with issues when there is no clear majority.
This is also used when advocates with unpopular cases are heard.
Professionalization of Reform occurs when bureaucracy thinks up problems to solve rather than respond.

5. The Policy Making Process
Majoritarian Politics
It is a policy in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays.
It appeals to a large bloc of voters.
“Free-rider” problem is commonly associated with this.

6. The Policy Making Process
Interest Group Politics
It effects a small portion of society.
Another group must pay for the benefit.

7. The Policy Making Process
Client Politics
This is the policy in which one small group benefits and almost everyone pays.
Pork-barrel legislation falls in this category.
Logrolling typically falls in the category too.
It is also referred to as “loophole” politics when dealing with taxation.

8. The Policy Making Process
Entrepreneurial Politics
This is policy in which almost everybody benefits and a small group pays the cost.
Policy entrepreneurs are people who act on behalf of the unorganized or indifferent majority.

9. The Policy Making Process
Deregulation
This occurs when the government removes restrictions from businesses or agencies.
Process regulation (aka. Social regulation) includes rules aimed at improving consumer or worker safety and reducing environmental damage.

10. Economic Policy Basics
Sociotropic is the concept that voters seem to respond more to the condition of the national economy than their own personal finances.
Democrats tend to reduce unemployment.
Republicans tend to reduce inflation.

11. Economic Policy Economic Theories Monetarism
It is the belief that inflation occurs when too much money is chasing too few goods.
In this scenario, government should have a predictable increase in the money supply at a rate about equal to the growth in the economy’s productivity.

12. Economic Policy Economic Theories Keynesianism
The government must spend more money when the country is in a recession.
The government must cut back when there is inflation.
The key is to create the correct level of demand.

13. Economic Policy Economic Theories Planning
It was developed by Kenneth Galbraith.
The government should be able to regulate maximum prices and wages.

14. Economic Policy Economic Theories
Supply-Side Tax Cuts is the belief that lower taxes and fewer regulations will stimulate the economy.

15. Economic Policy Economic Policy Making The Troika
The Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)
The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Secretary of the Treasury

16. Economic Policy Economic Policy Making
The Fed (The board of governors for the Federal Reserve System)
They regulate the supply of money.
They also control the monetary policy by manipulating the money supply as well as interest rates.

17. Economic Policy Economic Policy Making Congress
They set fiscal policy.
They decide the tax rate and how much money the government should spend.

18. Economic Policy
The Budget is the document that announces how much the government will collect in taxes and spend in revenues and how those expenditures will be allocated among various programs.
The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.
Budget resolution is congressional decision that states the maximum amount of money the government should spend.
Entitlements are government amounts of money that must be spent.

19. Economic Policy Reducing Spending
Sequester is an automatic spending cut.
Discretionary spending means that spending limits are set.

20. Economic Policy The Tax Reform Act of 1986
This created low rates with small deductions.
Individuals made big gains.
Losers were businesses.

21. Social Welfare Divisions Income
No means: available to everyone regardless of income.
Means tested: available to those that fall below a certain income level.

22. Social Welfare Divisions Political Majoritarian
Insurance Programs (unemployment & elderly benefits)
Assistance Programs (blind & dependent children)

23. Social Welfare Divisions Political Client
Service Strategy (providing job training and education)
Income Strategy (giving people money)

24. Social Welfare US Welfare
The main policy promotes “helping the deserving poor.”
The US prefers to provide services.
National welfare began during the Great Depression (1935).

25. Social Welfare US Welfare Federalism has shaped welfare.
Charitable choice refers to the four federal laws passed in the late 1990s specifying the conditions under which nonprofit religious organizations could compete to administer certain social service delivery and welfare

26. Foreign & Military Policy
Basics
When interest groups or client politics is involved, Congress plays a much larger role.
Out of 13 major wars, only six have had a formal declaration of war by Congress.

27. Foreign & Military Policy
Checks on the President
Congress controls the purse strings.

28. Foreign & Military Policy
Checks on the President
The War Powers Act
The president must present a written report to Congress within 48 hours of introducing ground troops.
Within 60 days of continuing hostilities, Congress must approve any continued action.
If Congress fails to address the action, the troops must be withdrawn.
Congress can pass a concurrent resolution (which cannot be vetoed) and the president must comply.

29. Foreign & Military Policy
Checks on the President
INS v. Chadha (1983) which struck down the legislative veto has also made the War Powers Act questionably unconstitutional.

30. Foreign & Military Policy
Checks on the President
Intelligence Oversight
All covert actions must keep the House and Senate Intelligence Committees “fully and currently informed.”
After the 9/11 attack, President Bush created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to coordinate information between the CIA, the FBI, and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

31. Foreign & Military Policy
Foreign Policy
The National Security Council (NCS) coordinates military and foreign policy.

32. Foreign & Military Policy
Foreign Policy
Public Opinion
Each foreign crisis usually increases public approval of the president.
Casualty reports commonly support escalation.
Elite opinion
It changes more rapidly than public opinion.
It tends to carry more weight than other policy issues.

33. Foreign & Military Policy
World Views (paradigms)
Isolationism
Containment (anti-appeasement)

34. Foreign & Military Policy
World Views (paradigms)
Disengagement
“Vietnam”
“New Isolationism”
Human Rights

35. Foreign & Military Policy
Foreign Policy Polarization
It has become divided along party lines.
The gap has become wider.

36. Foreign & Military Policy
The Use of Military Force
Majoritarian: the military exists to defend the country and to help other nations defend themselves.
Client: the military exists to keep the military-industrial complex functioning.

37. Foreign & Military Policy
The Defense Budget
Personnel
Big-Ticket Items
Cost overruns when the price is exceeded than what was estimated.
Gold plating is when the military asks for the best of everything.
The cost of the USS John C. Stennis was 4.5 billion dollars. 

38. Foreign & Military Policy
The Defense Budget
Readiness has no constituencies and few congressional defenders.
Most expensive.
First thing cut.

39. Foreign & Military Policy
The Defense Budget
Bases
Many defenders.
Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC)
It is consist of private citizens.
They evaluate the need of bases.

40. Foreign & Military Policy
Terrorism
Bipolar World: Representative of the Cold War, with a clear enemy.
Unipolar World: where the US is the only superpower with no clear enemy.
Doctrine of Preemption is the concept produced from the 9/11 attack of attacking a determined enemy before it can attack us.

41. Environmental Policy Context
Entrepreneurial politics: controlling factories and power plants.

42. Environmental Policy Context Majoritarian politics Automobiles
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is 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.
Non-cash benefits are problematic with constituents.
LA Freeway

43. Environmental Policy
Context
Interest group politics: acid rain

44. Environmental Policy Context Client politics
The management of farmers and pesticides.
Heavy media coverage tends to have a heavy impact on this topic.

45. Environmental Policy
Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970.

46. Environmental Policy Command-and-control Strategy
This is defined as improving air and water quality, involving the setting of detailed pollution standards and rules.
People and government at times do not distinguish between realistic and unrealistic threats, costs, and goals.

47. Environmental Policy Achieving Goals
Offsets: a company, if it opens a new plant, must offset the new amount of pollution generated in an area.
Bubble Standard: Is the total amount of pollution a company may be allowed to produce; however, the company can determine how it wants to reduce its pollution amount.

48. Environmental Policy Achieving Goals
Pollution allowance (banks): This is when a company, if it is under its pollution max, can sell or bank it for future use.