1 / 16

Public Policy

Public Policy. Public Policy. Authoritative decisions – government What is the relationship between the policy and the desired goal or “outcome”? Connection between interest articulation and public policy? Evaluation of outcomes – asking the normative questions. Government and What it Does.

Audrey
Download Presentation

Public Policy

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Public Policy

  2. Public Policy • Authoritative decisions – government • What is the relationship between the policy and the desired goal or “outcome”? • Connection between interest articulation and public policy? • Evaluation of outcomes – asking the normative questions.

  3. Government and What it Does • Produce goods and services: • Consumer goods: • Transportation • Clothing • Industrial products (cars, refrigerators, etc) • Consumer services: • Postal • Police • Basic human needs • Potable water • Electricity The ratio of governmental production of goods to services varies with the type of political system.

  4. Public Policies Four major types: • Extractive: • Government removes resources from the domestic/international environments • Distributive • Government moves resources around its domestic/international environment • Regulative • Government uses its authority to induce behavior at individual or collective levels • Symbolic • Government uses its persuasive abilities to persuade citizens; build community.

  5. Policy Profiles • Nightwatchman • Lockean state, law and order, preservation of property • Police • Intrusive regulation, severe resource extraction (coercive of citizens, must “volunteer”) • Welfare • Extensive distributive activities: health, education, employment, housing, income support (higher taxes) • Regulatory States • A response to complexity – state oversight of public and private service provision and behavior (food safety, workplace safety, etc)

  6. Extraction • All political systems extract from their societies (specifically) and from their environments (generally). • Forms: • Taxation • Direct taxes • Indirect taxes

  7. Distribution • Allocation by government of money, goods, services, honors, opportunities to groups in the society. • Expenditure areas: • Health • Education • Defense • Foreign aid

  8. Welfare State • A set of government, sometimes private policies in the areas of pensions, health, sickness, accident insurance, unemployment benefits, etc. • Private component – private donations to nonprofit organizations

  9. Regulation • Governmental exercise of political control over societal behavior (individual/group). • States policy profiles in this area vary widely – cultural interests in regulation key. • Methods vary: coercion, financial incentives, moral exhortation (“Just say No”) • Bans on use of drugs • Sin taxes • Public information campaigns • Regulations against abuse of citizens, animals, environment • Regulations to promote safety – traffic cameras, gun control, citizenship rights, etc.

  10. Community Building and Symbolic Policies • Symbolic outputs occur for the following reasons: • To increase compliance (law) • To persuade voters (elections) • To accept hardship/sacrifice (service) • To build community/national identity/civic pride (socialization) • To enhance governmental legitimacy (new political structures in Iraq – 2004)

  11. Outcomes: Domestic Welfare • Consequences? Impact on lives? • Domestic actions impacted by not directly controllable international events. • Actions can have unintended consequences (positive or negative). • Important to evaluate/measure outcomes for effectiveness/desirability of policy.

  12. Outcomes: Domestic Security • Fundamental role of Government: • Domestic law and order most fundamental from Hobbesian view – domestic economic stability most fundamental from Lockean view. • In context of high crime are the fundamentals of daily life possible?

  13. International Outputs • War – global and civil conflict • Russia/USSR – 24 million deaths between 1900-1995 • Third World countries • United Nations • Peacekeeping efforts • National security – enormous costs, on rise since 9/11

  14. Political Goods and Values • Goods and values related at the system, process and policy levels of analysis • System goods reflect the functioning of the political system as a unit. • Process goods reflect the domestic functions of the political system components – democracy, citizen participation/political competition. (Effectiveness and efficiency are desired here). • Policy goods reflect the outcomes of the system components – economic welfare, security, citizen freedom (fairness).

  15. Political/Economic arrangements for achieving political goods • Advanced Industrial nations • Industrial authoritarian • Repressed political participation, encouraged private enterprise (economic inequality predominated) this combination generated unrest - demise of authoritarian Regimes. • Market oriented and social democracies • Taxes, welfare and regulation/size of government re-considered by both – environment new issue

  16. Political/Economic arrangements • Pre-industrial nations • Neo-traditional • Saudi Arabia, rentier state selective modernization • Personal rule • Sub-Saharan Africa • Clerico-Mobilizational regimes • Iran – religious authority • Technocratic-repressive • South America – business, military, civil technocrats repressed allowed economic growth • Technocratic-distributive • South Korea suppressed political participation encouraged economic re-distribution – has since expanded democracy • Technocratic-moblizational • single party political systems Mexico, Taiwan

More Related