Government Policy-making

1
Government Policy-making

• and the impact of globalization

2
Overview of How Government Policy is Made

• Three branches of government (judicial,
  legislative, and executive).
• Executive President, Vice-President, Cabinet
  members, Federal departments and agencies.
• Constitution specifies a balance of power so that
  one branch does not have more power than others.
  View has been challenged by the Bush
  administration.
• For example, the President can set an agenda
  (yearly State of the Union address) and state how
  much money he wants for various programs.
  However, only Congress can allocate funds and
  pass legislation.
• President does determine how those funds are used
  when programs are implemented.
• The president and the various departments can
  issue executive orders (President) and
  regulations (various departments) about how
  programs will be operated and how money will be
  used.
• The President can also veto legislation he
  doesnt like. House and Senate can over ride
  vetoes but must have a 2/3 majority in both
  houses.
• Federal departments are required to develop draft
  procedures for how programs should be operated.
  Once the drafts are produced, they are published
  in the Federal Register. The public may send
  written comments about these regulations in order
  to have them retracted or modified.
• President does have latitude in determining who
  in the various departments (Cabinet officers,
  senior administrators) will oversee the
  development of regulations. However, cabinet
  officers and senior officials must be confirmed
  by the Senate.
• The courts may block implementation of a policy
  or law if they find that they are
  unconstitutional or violate individual rights.
  Supreme Court and Federal judges must be
  confirmed by the Senate.
• House of Representatives and the Senate develop
  some of their own rules for decision-making. In
  the Senate, for some legislation, 60 votes is
  required to bring these bills to the floor
  making control of the Senate by small majority of
  members of one party problematic unless they have
  support from members of more than one party.
• If House and Senate pass slightly different bills
  for a piece of legislation, representatives of
  both houses are appointed to a committee to work
  on the differences.
• Also problematic are budget bills individual
  members may include budget allocations (earmarks)
  that will benefit their districts in a particular
  budget bill without much notice.

3
Interest Groups and Vested Interests

• Interest Groups are formed to lobby Congress and
  the Executive branch for legislation that will
  favor them (vested interests).
• Lobbying is regulated to some extent lobbyists
  who spend a certain amount of time or money on
  lobbying must register with the government.
• However, lobbyists often find ways to do favors
  for individual politicians or parties such as
  holding fundraising events or holding receptions
  at political conventions. (They used to fund
  travel and meals for elected officials to some
  extent new legislation has limited the ability of
  lobbyists to do this).
• Corporations and other interest groups often
  encourage employees or members to support certain
  candidates who have policy agendas similar to the
  groups or who can be influenced to support the
  groups agenda.
• You can find a politicians or an interest groups
  agenda on their web page. Political commercials
  are also good sources of information about the
  candidates interest and his or her likely
  supporters.

4
Where Does Legislation Start

• Legislation originates in committees.
• House and Senate divided into numerous committees
  primarily in terms of budget areas/issues i.e.
  defense, transportation, environment, etc.
• Representatives and Senators are appointed to
  committees on basis of seniority/interest. Chairs
  are members of the majority party.
• Chairs have power to choose issues,
  solicit/subpoena testimony, and launch inquiries
  or investigations. Chairs will negotiate with
  ranking (senior) minority members around some
  issues and procedures.
• Congressional committees have the responsibility
  for oversight of government activities. Legally,
  the White House and government agencies must
  provide some types of information to
  Congressional Committee.
• The Bush administration has argued that national
  security issues and Executive Privilege
  should limit the information that they provide to
  Congress.

5
California Legislative Process

• Structure resembles the Federal government.
• Two houses State Assembly State Senate pass
  legislation and must agree on the final bills
  (conference committee process).
• Governor may veto legislation. Assembly and
  Senate can override with a 2/3 vote of both
  houses.
• Governor sets the agenda, runs the executive
  branch and state agencies, and makes a budget
  request.
• House and Senate must pass budget bills.
• Legislation originates in committees.
• Legislation is shaped through the power and
  influence of lobbying groups.

6
Implications of Globalization

• Everything (policy, economic behavior, poverty,
  immigration etc) is inter-connected.
• Economic activity and control of international
  organizations contribute to migration and poverty
  in others.
• Industrialized countries purchase raw materials
  (lumber, minerals, agricultural products from
  others) and products from others. Workers can be
  exploited by large corporations and growers. Have
  few economic opportunities in home country.
• U.S. and other industrialized nations need
  immigrant labor in order to produce products at
  low costs.
• Often trade agreements such as NAFTA permit
  industrialized countries to operate unregulated
  (wages and safety) industries in countries such
  as Mexico. This allows U.S. corporations to make
  the products they need because they can pay
  people less in these countries. In addition,
  there are fewer jobs for U.S. manufacturing and
  service industry workers because these jobs have
  been relocated.
• U.S. corporations may purchase products made in
  countries such as China and El Salvador and then
  look the other way when workers are mistreated.
• Large corporations may flood foreign market with
  products or agricultural goods that drive prices
  in those countries down and limit economic
  opportunities.

7
Interest Rates

• The Federal Reserve bank sets the amount it costs
  individuals and corporations to borrow money.
• When interest rates are low, more people can
  borrow and corporations are more likely to
  borrow money to expand their businesses. When
  some businesses expand, they hire more people.
  However, business can choose to use this money
  for more technology or to relocate overseas.
• When interest rates are higher, people who save
  rather than spend money are better off. Some
  economists think that saving is better for the
  country than spending because it creates a pool
  of money that the government can borrow to cover
  deficits.
• Rationale for the economic stimulus package is
  that people will use the money to purchase
  products and therefore businesses will be able to
  expand and hire more people. Some economists
  argue that instead of an economic stimulus
  package should focus on infrastructure
  development (such as building roads and bridges).
  This would contribute to more people being hired
  for good paying jobs in the U.S.
• Mortgage crisis is happening because large
  lenders such as banks and mortgage brokerage
  forms sold home mortgages to people who might not
  have qualified for large loans or offered loans
  with no down payments in which the interest rates
  for adjustable. This means that the interest
  rates were set higher the longer the person had
  the loan. As house values decreased, many people
  owed more money than the value of their house.

8
U.S. Economic Policies Internal External
Implications

• U.S. Government typically runs at a deficit, they
  dont take in enough income to cover all yearly
  expenses.
• The Federal government borrows funds from the
  Social Security System and also borrows money at
  low interest rates from countries such as China
  and Germany unless there is enough money at low
  interest rates for them to borrow in the U.S.
• The accumulated deficit from year to year is
  called the debt. The U.S. must repay the debt and
  pay interest on it. The money comes from the
  yearly income of the Federal government.
  Consequently, payment on the deficit takes money
  away from other social programs.
• Because of relationships among U.S. and foreign
  businesses and debt re-payments, financial
  instability in the U.S. contributes to financial
  instability in counties that owe the U.S. money
  such as China and some of the European countries.

9
Impact on Impoverished Nations

• U.S. and other western industrialized nations
  control large funds that provide development
  assistance to 3rd World Nations International
  Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
• In order to qualify for loans from these
  counties, they must reduce government
  expenditures. However, many of these nations are
  so impoverished that what they really need to do
  is spend money on roads, education, and other
  improvements that will aid economic development.

10
Immigration Policies

• Industrialized countries hire immigrants to work
  in jobs that require skills or for low wage work.
• Therefore the economy is dependent on a supply of
  labor for this source.
• However, industrialized countries differ in terms
  of policies on legal immigration and access to
  benefits such as welfare and health care. Legal
  immigrants (such as skilled workers and refugees)
  are treated differently that people with few job
  skills or undocumented immigrants.
• Often immigration controls are implemented when
  people become fearful of people who are different
  from them.