pww final 2

Hacker's 3 Components

-direct govt. benefits with high visibility (OASDI, Medicare) -hidden welfare state (tax expenditures) -private benefits subsidized by the govt. (pensions and health care)

Dependents Group

-disabled, mothers, children -policymakers avoid blame for punishment -receive symbolic rewards -benefits emphasize justice-oriented rationale; unrelated to public interest; burdens are protection from harm -client initiated contact -Participation is low but conventional

What are the sources of "market failure" in healthcare?

-Agency- too much responsibility is shifted to one party who may act in their own best interest -Moral hazard- insurance may encourage risky behavior because people have less of a financial burden when seeking out medical care -Adverse selection- people who purchase medical insurance are those who are most likely to need it

How did the fact that ERISA preempted state regulation of self-insured health plans influence the development of private health care benefits?

-Allowed firms to self-insure to circumvent state taxes and regulations -Left high-risk people to deal with the public system or have no health coverage at all -Insurers advised companies on how to cut costs

Layering

-Builds new policy without eliminating the old -High internal, low authoritative

Conversion

-Bureaucracy making the change -Low internal, high authoritative

briefly explain the experiments Mettler conducted and presents in required class reading

-Providing citizens with basic information about submerged policies would influence their likelihood of forming opinions about them and their levels of support for them - through policy design, political delivery, political communication, policy makers can pull back the camouflage that obscures the submerged state and alert citizens to its effects

Earned Income Tax Credit benefit structures

-EITC is a fully refundable tax credit that can create a negative tax liability and is progressive -8 benefit structures (Single heads of household with (1) no children (2) 1 child (3) 2 children and (4) 3 or more kids and then married couples with (5) no children (6) 1 child (7) 2 children and (8) 3 or more children ) -More children you have, the more benefits you receive (up to 3) -Phase in: benefits increase as the workers income increases -Plateau: period where EITC benefits remain constant as an individual's income increases after the phase in but before the phase out -Phase out: the point at which an individual's income increases their EITC benefit begins to decrease until the final income level is reached

Revision

-Formal reform of standing policy -Low internal, low authoritative

What effects did ERISA have on pension policies in the private sector?

-Hastened the rise of defined-contribution plans at the cost of defined-benefits plans -Contributed to the general fall in pension generosity

How does policy feedback influence the development and actions of interest groups?

-Interest groups form and shape behavior and expectations (AARP) -leads to path dependency

Describe the eligibility conditions for the EITC.

-Investment income must be $3,350 or less -Actual qualifying amounts vary by number of children and marital status, -With no children, you must be between 25 and 65 y/o.

According to Rehm, Hacker, and Schlesinger, there are two natural political constituencies for the welfare state...identify and define them.

-Low income people (Benefit from redistribution) -High risk people (May lose means of material support due to economic dislocatio)

four tax provisions that are part of the "hidden" welfare state

-Mortgage Interest Deduction (You can subtract the interest you pay on your mortgage from your taxable income base) -Earned Income Tax Credit (For low income workers- benefits increase as you work more, Fully refundable) -Additional Child Tax Credit (Fully refundable, Allows people to collect excess benefit from child tax credit) -Child Tax Credit (Reduces liability based on number of children, Not refundable, means-test (can earn up to $110,000 married a year) -Exemptions (Reduce taxable income, Can claim yourself, children, and spouse)

What is a "qualifying child" and how does this relate to EITC eligibility?

-Must be under 19, or 24 if a full-time student -Cannot pay for more than half of their own support -Must live w/ you for more than half the year, except for temporary absences

What specific reforms does Mettler propose

-Policymakers must reconfigure the role of vested interests that have benefited from existing arrangements -Reformers must reveal to the public what is at stake in reform through political communication -Reformers must redesign policies to make governance more visible to citizens

What is the "power-resources" school?

-Political power of the working class -Less affluent citizens are thought to support a larger welfare state

Compare and contrast public and private welfare benefits.

-Private benefits don't replace public benefits, but provide additional benefits for affluent people -Private benefits are easier to enact, but have hidden costs and benefits -Pensions: private benefits for affluent & organized, public for everyone -Health care: private benefits are the norm, public benefits are selective

What is pension "integration" and how did it influence the development of pension policy in the U.S.?

-Private pension liabilities were assumed as public obligation IOT reconcile the relationship between private and public pension -created a 2 track system which left elderly dependent on SS -was dollar for dollar, now 50 cents

What state tax policies tend to make state tax burdens more progressive?

-Progressive income tax -Refundable tax credits tend to be available -Income tax is a large source of state revenue -Homestead exemption

What is "community rating" and why is it significant to health insurance?

-Rate prices are the same for everyone in the same area -Some businesses tried to shift from community to experience rating to lower costs, but the ACA combats this

What attributes of submerged state policies help them to overcome partisan differences and institutional gridlock (according to Mettler)?

-Republicans and conservative democrats find them attractive, moderate/conservative democrats have proven willing to go along -Institutional features of congress make them easier to enact than direct spending -They've cultivated the support of interest groups that defend them

How are the politics of welfare state retrenchment different from the politics of welfare state expansion?

-Retrenchment: unpopular- no one likes losing benefits, cuts typically concentrated on one group, politicians try to avoid it and blame someone else, cuts are less visible -Expansion: popular - everyone loves more benefits, politicians try to claim credit, benefits are visible

What is the "privatization of risk" in pension policy?

-Risk shifted to the american citizen -Shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans

What are the characteristics of a path dependent process?

-Self-reinforcing -Early decisions are important because they shape and constrain subsequent choices -Inertia is crucial- what exists is likely to persist -Non-decisions are important

What role did economic regulation during the Second World War play in the development of healthcare policy in the U.S.?

-Severe labor shortage during WWII led companies to include benefit packages in order to entice and retain employees -Private system of health insurance was institutionalized during WWII

cost-control strategies that firms adopted in the face of rising health care costs

-Shifting insurance costs to workers via copays and deductibles -Excluding preconditions -Dropping coverage altogether -Shift from community rating to experience rating -Employee selection based on experience, expectations

What state tax policies tend to make state tax burdens more regressive

-State and local taxes tend to be regressive -States that tend to rely on sales and excise taxes -Applying sales tax to food

Under what circumstances is welfare state retrenchment more likely?

-When a party has electoral slack (when they control both houses of congress comfortably and have a second-term president) -Moments of budgetary crisis -When you can lower the visibility of the change -When it can be reframed

What are tax expenditures? Examples? Most costly?

-basically revenue loss for the govt. -pensions & health care are most costly -exclusions, deductions, exemptions, credits, preferential rates

policy feedback & path dependency essay

-both resist change -Pension & Health care policy diverged: Timing & sequence of the development of public and private institutions Social security became the foundation on which private pensions were built Resistance to change (connection to path dependency & policy feedback) Private provision became the norm in health care (public became the norm in pensions)

Deviant Group

-criminals, gang members, drug addicts -policymakers claim credit for punishment -receive clear punishments -benefits and burdens are efficient means to achieve some important national purpose; rationale is harder to sustain for benefits -avoidance -Participation is disruptive (riots, etc.)

How, if at all, is the submerged state (Mettler) different from the hidden welfare state (Howard)?

-hidden welfare state emphasizes the low visibility of social policies implemented through the tax system and that it keeps the general public (people who aren't benefiting from them) from understanding it - submerged welfare state is so indirect and hidden that even people who do benefit from its policies don't understand or know about them -Hidden talks about tax policies & expenditures, -submerged talks about government regulation of private sector that constructs market relationships -Mechanisms in submerged are more extensive

Why does Soss think that AFDC clients are unlikely to participate in politics?

-high internal, low external efficacy -Threatened by the fact that if they voice opinions they may lose benefits altogether -have negative interactions and believe the government doesn't care about them

why the hidden welfare state defies the standard narrative about social policy in the U.S.

-increases the size of the American welfare state -topics are hidden from the public's view and are easier to enact that traditional welfare programs -Seemingly impossible to justify (benefits rich)

Briefly explain Hacker's critique of Pierson's work on welfare state retrenchment (from the Hacker article, not the book). How and why does Hacker think Pierson's analysis was limited?

-only talked about fundamental authoritarian legislative change -only looks at affirmative choices government made during the retrenchment era of the 1980s and overlooked other types of important policy changes -over-estimated the extent to which social policy change occurred in the 1980s -missed some important information about how policy changed over time

What were the three explanations for non-participation among welfare recipients that Soss considered and rejected?

-personal traits of welfare recipients / satisfaction with welfare / culture of dependency -come from segments with less abundant political resources and skills -benefits demobilize citizens by making their need for change less severe and by framing welfare as "help"

What is policy feedback?

-policy "causes" politics -development of interests and institutions that shape behavior and expectations -creates a resistance to change so policies are able to endure long after they no longer make sense for our society -like how welfare recipients don't speak up because the policy has taught them not to

Drift

-policy doesn't change but circumstances do -High barrier to internal conversion, high barrier to authoritative policy change

What are subterranean politics? How are subterranean politics different from the submerged state?

-privatized approaches to social welfare, corporate policies, less visible and more indirect, consequences -Low visibility and low traceability -Problems are depoliticized --people think the government should keep their hands off benefits/hasn't helped them and that it is just the private market at work -hard to trace benefits and to place credit/blame on them. -submerged more has to do with the government than institutions

Marginal Tax Rate

-shields more money from taxation which benefits rich -tax paid on an "additional dollar" of income, meaning what you pay on your last taxable dollar

3 Components of Howard's Welfare State

-tax expenditures (benefit the affluent, revenue financed by govt., open-ended entitlements, mean-tested) -upper tier (entitlements, social, insurance, financed by wage earners, redistribution, SSI) -lower tier (typical welfare, TANF, AFDC, SNAP)

Contenders Group

-the rich, minorities, unions -policymakers avoid blame for rewards -receive hidden benefits -extent of burden is exaggerated; benefits are hidden by designing policy to limit visibility and traceability -subvert implementation -Informal participation

Advantaged Group

-veterans, scientists, elderly -policymakers claim credit for rewards -receive clear benefits -benefits explained by forging an instrumental link between the group's interest to the public interest; costs are unavoidable -agency outreach -Formal, active participation

Tax Exemptions

Amounts of money you can subtract from your adjusted gross income just for having dependents

who gets welfare?

BASICALLY EVERYONE (depends how you define welfare- means tested, funded by general revenues, and involving redistribution) -traditional welfare, social insurance, and taxes -Howard-tax expenditures benefit the affluent-costs government $346-438 billion -Mettler-submerged state policies generally benefit affluent, sometimes middle class, home mortgage interest deduction (capital gains from home sales tax free for appreciation of up to $250k for individual and $500k for couple), federally regulated housing market, student loans -Hacker- tax expenditures, and how federal and state policies influence private benefits, pensions and healthcare

What possible explanations for white opposition to welfare did Gilens consider?

Economic self-interest, Individualist beliefs, Party ID, Ideology , Racial attitudes, Attitudes towards the poor

Tax Deductions

Expenses that are subtracted from total income when calculating taxable income -- they reduce liability in proportion to the individual's tax bracket

What distinguishes the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) from the other means-tested programs we have described?

It is the only means-tested benefit that increases and income increases (progressive)

Compare and contrast President Obama's tax cuts (in the stimulus) with the President (George W.) Bush's tax cuts

OBAMA: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (a stimulus bill)-use tax breaks geared towards low to moderate income Americans as the primary vehicle for offering relief to American families-- policy further expanded the submerged state BUSH:tax breaks usually targeted affluent Americans, reduced marginal rates, return of deficits

What is a "group centric" policy evaluation?

People evaluate a policy based off of who that policy is targeting

Tax Exclusions

Reduce the amount that tax filers report as their gross (total) income, lower taxable income

Soss & Path Dependency/Policy Feedback

SSDI - government is rigid but responsive and rule based, people more likely going to participate in politics to get benefits AFDC - government is arbitrary and clients think they don't care about them, high internal but low external efficacy.

What is the difference between "strong universalism" and "weak universalism" ?

Strong universalism- universal policy designs favored over targeted designs (Universal > Advantaged > Contenders > Dependents > Deviants) Weak universalism- universal policy designs are favored over policies that target groups with negative social constructions (Advantaged > Contenders > Universal > Dependents > Deviants)

Submerged v. Hidden v. Subterranean

Submerged (Mettler): about what gov't doesn't do, even those who benefit don't understand it, people misunderstand public v. private benefits; mechanisms used are more extensive than in hidden or subterranean Hidden (Howard): about tax expenditures, low visibility to those who don't benefit, topics hidden from public view & easier to enact Subterranean (Hacker): about institutions/ corporations/ private enterprises, depoliticizes problems, low visibility, argues hidden argument is overdrawn; people think these policies are natural market effects, not political consequences, private health care is an example

Mettler argues that the submerged state undermines democracy. Please briefly describe and explain the argument that leads Mettler to this conclusion.

expansion of the submerged state is a positive threat to democracy bc when people cannot see what the government is doing, they lose trust in it

How do Rehm, Hacker, and Schlesinger explain the extent to which support for welfare programs is broad or narrow?

Support is narrow when income and risk are highly correlated

What methods did Gilens use to investigate white opposition to welfare?

Survey analysis- Examined welfare spending and welfare attitudes in 13 different countries Survey experiment-Asked respondents whether or not a mother on welfare was likely to try to get a job or likely to have more children to try and get a larger welfare check, changed race of mother

What role did high marginal income tax rates play in the development of healthcare policy in the U.S.?

Tax base expanded to include more people and generate more revenue, which created demand for fringe benefits from employers

What is negativity bias and how does it affect welfare state retrenchment?

Tendency to be more sensitive to losses than gains

External efficacy

feeling that the government is responsive to your concerns

Schneider and Ingram & Path Dependency/ Policy Feedback

advantage groups will participate more in politics unlike the dependents who do but at a low rate. Deviants will not participate all together and contenders go through the submerged state bc policy feedback tells them that their interests are controversial

Internal efficacy

belief that they understand and can navigate the political system effectively

What according to Lawrence, Stoker, and Wolman distinguishes how liberal/democrats and conservative/republicans think about social policy?

conservatives use weak universalism and vice versa

What is the "revisionist" school?

demand for social change crosses class lines

What are the four models of government Soss considers to characterize clients' political beliefs?

democratic, capitalist, complicated, autonomous

Howard claims some tax expenditures are financed by

general revenues

four reasons why affluent people are more likely to receive more benefits from the hidden welfare state

higher marginal taxes, jobs provide benefits, agents to secure benefits, disposable income for homes and education

Preferential Rates

income of different sources are taxed at different rates, capital gains is an example

refundable credit

it means it can take your balance into the negative, meaning you can get money from the government. Additional Child Tax Credit Earned Income Tax Credit

What are the forces that constrain welfare state retrenchment?

negativity bias and policy feedback

Mettler & Path Dependency/ Policy Feedback

policies that are enacted creates interests groups who will want to keep certain policies that are of interest to them

What factors did Gilens argue are most important in explaining white opposition to welfare?

racial attitudes, then attitudes towards poor and individualist beliefs

Pierson & Path Dependency/Policy Feedback

recipients and employees have a vital stake in continuing the existence of govt. programs; banking, mortgage, insurance interest groups have interest in tax expenditures; negative effects of retrenchment lead policymakers to path dependency

Income Tax credit

reduces how much tax you owe (Additional Child Tax Credit can remove $1000 per child, which will be taken off of the amount of taxes you owe)

Income tax deduction

reduces how much taxable income you claim (If you have a $1000 tax deduction, your taxable income drops by $1000, you don't pay $1000 less in taxes )

In what ways is U.S. social policy exceptional according to Hacker?

role of the private sector

What is Hacker's "second face" of conservative influence?

same institutional fragmentation that once hindered the passage of large-scale programs now presents an effective barrier to conservative attempts at retrenchment

Average Tax Rate

the share of income you pay in taxes-- total taxes divided by total income.

What is the submerged state?

the welfare state that isn't seen, it is more about what the government doesn't do than what it does. This would include subsidies, tax breaks and tax returns that tend to benefit the more wealthy.

What is the "destructive competitive logic of private insurance"?

when medical costs rise, firms are forced to shift costs to employees, cut benefits, or drop plans