Policy Making

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Policy Making
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Who is involved in Policy making?

• Legislative Branch
• Executive Branch
• Judicial Branch
• Bureaucracy
• Special interest groups
• Research groups
• Corporations
• State and local governments
• Citizens

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Policy Making Process

• Recognizing the problem/agenda setting
• Where is the need?
• Formulating the policy
• Plan of action from various groups
• Adopting the policy
• Official action taken legislation, executive
  order, court decision

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Process cont

• Implementing the policy
• Apply it to real situations, enforce, punishments
• Evaluating the Policy
• Good and bad
• Changes
• Begin process all over again

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Types of Policies

• Economic
• Fiscal
• Monetary
• Foreign
• Military
• Social
• Regulatory

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Economic Policy

• Laissez-Faire
• To leave alone
• Free market
• NO GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT
• Keynesian Economics (FDR)
• Government manages economy
• Today
• Mix of both

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Fiscal Policy

• How does the government raise and spend money?
• Income taxes (45)
• Progressive tax
• Social Insurance Tax (1/3 of revenues collected)
• Social Security and Medicare
• Borrowing
• Deficit Spending
• Other taxes
• Excise (Regressive), Estate, Customs, duties,
  tariffs

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Where does money go?

• 2.7 trillion federal budget
• Entitlement Programs
• Required by law Social Security, Medicare,
  unemployment insurance, retirement pensions
• National Defense
• National debt
• Interest on debt

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Monetary Policy

• The government controlling money
• Inflation too much in circulation, dollar
  value goes down
• Deflation too little in circulation
• Federal Reserve independent from government
  control, regulate in circulation, adjusts
  interest rates

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Foreign Policy

• Prior 20th century Isolationist
• WWI WWII - Involvement
• Post WWII Containment Cold War
• United Nations

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Foreign Policy Goals

• Protect national Security
• International leadership world peace
• Maintain balance of Power
• Cooperating to solve international problems
• Promote human rights/democratic values
• Cooperative foreign trade and globalization of
  trade in international organizations

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Who makes foreign policy?

• The President
• Treaties with consent of Senate
• Executive Agreements no approval of Senate
• The Secretary of State
• Chief coordinator of all governmental actions
  with other countries
• National Security council
• Foreign/Military/economic policies that affect
  national security
• CIA
• Gather analyze and transmits information

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Military Policy

• Secretary of defense oversees Army, Navy, Air
  Force
• President as Commander in Chief
• Joint Chiefs of Staff military advisory board
  5 members from all branches of military service

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Social policy

• promote the general welfare
• Health Care
• Do we have a national health care system? No
  system but ok for research and regulation!
• The Public Health Service research and gather
  info
• FDA regulate labeling and processing of food
  drugs
• Center for Disease control reports on diseases
  in North America

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Social Policy cont

• Welfare
• Social Security for elderly, poor, disabled
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• Aid to Families with Dependent Children
• Food Stamps

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Social Welfare cont

• Education
• Usually a state and local community issue
• Federal government intervenes
• Higher education
• Project Head Start
• No Child Left Behind
• Schedules, standards, testing, curriculum,
  teacher qualifications

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Regulatory policy

• Regulating business
• Monopolies and fraud
• Regulating Labor
• Worker safety, bargaining, equal employment
  opportunities
• Regulating Energy and environment
• Department of energy
• EPA clean water, air, and waste disposal,
  pesticides, radiation

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• Review questions for unit 5!