American Public Policy short answers
What does "discounting" the future mean? Why might the conclusions of cost-benefit analysis be sensitive to different discount rates?
"Discounting" the future implies determining the present value of the future. In other words, discounting is a process through which present value of a sum which is to be received in future time period is determined. Different discount rates would result in different present values of future costs and benefits. Thus, decision to undertake a project or not would also be different at different discount rates. For instance, at one discount rate, present value of benefits may exceed the present value of costs and thus project may look beneficial. However, with same set of data, use of other discount rate could result in present value of costs exceeding the present value of benefits and thus project may not look beneficial at all. Due to this, the conclusions of cost-benefit analysis might be sensitive to different discount rates.
What is an example of a social insurance program? Why might it be argued that this is an appropriate function for government?
An example of a social insurance program is unemployment benefits. Social insurance programs could be argued that they are appropriate for the function of government because they provide a form of a safety net and stability in worst-case scenarios or age. Designed to help people when they need help Injured or sick and need help The idea is that government will provide a form of insurance provided by mandatory taxes Most people agree that the government has some role here A lot of disagreement on how much and how widespread these programs should be A lot of the nonmilitary spending goes here now
What are unfunded mandates, and why do they cause friction between national and state officials? Give an example.
An unfunded mandate is a statute or regulation that requires a state or local government to perform certain actions, with no money provided for fulfilling the requirements. They cause friction between national and state officials because they ultimately force the state official to do work or tasks without reward and incentive. Another reason is because they can impede onto state/local culture or beliefs. A typical example would include the Americans with Disabilities Act (and many civil rights acts in general). UNDERfunded mandates Federal governments force the state to do something but do not give them enough money to do it No Child Left Behind Clean Water A lot of federal programs give states the options to either be involved or take over the program so it's optional, at least in implementation.
Why would we expect independent regulatory commissions to be more independent from control by the president than executive departments and agencies?
Because independent regulatory commissions are usually created by congress rather than the executive branch and they do not report directly to the president (thus the president has less power in getting rid of the head of the organization) ...but why
Why might think tanks be more likely than elected officials to be a source of public policy proposals?
Because think tanks often have a more specific field of knowledge than elected officials do and thus often see problems and issues that officials may overlook due to lack of specialized knowledge. Also, all they do is think about policy.
What is incrementalism? What are its strengths as a method for making policy decisions?
Belief in or advocacy of change by degrees; gradualism, especially with regards to determining the next year's budget of an agency. The best predictor of next year's budget is this year's budget. The chances of risk are reduced and it is more adjustable and able to change with the times. Theory of public policy making, according to which policies result from a process of interaction and mutual adaptation among multiple actors advocating different values, interests, and possessing different information. Incrementalism would be building on previous/past policies and public budgeting. Don't analyze things from scratch they happen as an adjustment of the previous year or over time they just kind of tweak things Punctuated equilibrium is a quick shift or a knee jerk reaction Politically expedient Simplicity Flexible
What is a continuing resolution, and why is it important in budget politics?
Continuing resolution/continuing appropriations are legislations in the form of a joint resolution enacted by Congress. They are important because when the new fiscal year is about to begin or has begun, its' function is to provide budget authority for Federal agencies and programs to continue in operation until the regular appropriations acts are enacted. Continuing resolutions continue the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time. Continuing resolutions typically provide funding at a rate or formula based on the previous year's funding.
What are executive orders, and what are the limits on their legal status?
Executive Orders are issued by United States President and directed towards officers and agencies of the U.S. federal government. ... The ability to make such orders is also based on express or implied Acts of Congress that delegate to the President some degree of discretionary power (delegated legislation). Executive orders are subject to judicial review and may be overturned if the orders lack support by statute or the Constitution Can't override statutes or constitutional provisions. Also, only in effect for as long as the sitting president wants them to be - so there's a time limit.
What is the difference in structure between executive departments and independent regulatory commissions?
Executive departments report directly to the president, and the heads of those agencies are members of the president's cabinet. There are currently 15 and each department contains agencies that are head by a secretary. Defense, Interior, State and so on. Independent regulatory commissions are usually set up by Congress and the president has less power in getting rid of the head. They act as judges in determining if someone acted illegally or legally, but can only pursue violators in their area of expertise.
. When and why did smoothing business cycles become something that the federal government is expected to do?
If the economy is operating with less than full employment, i.e., with high unemployment, Keynesian theory states that monetary policy and fiscal policy can have a positive role to play in smoothing the fluctuations of the business cycle. Basically, it is the role of the federal government to try to stabilize the economy if the economy is running inefficiently. This became popularized at the Great Depression/1930s with the election of FDR. a capitalist economy has cycles boom and bust - we had panics which were busts and then we'd have booms - the great depression was a depression but after the 30s we expected government intervention after that - Keynesian economics was also developed in this time (cut taxes increase spending and raise deficits during a down tick and decrease spending and raise taxes during upticks)
Describe three kinds of market failure that might be justifications for government intervention in the economy.
Monopoly power: Missing markets: Markets may fail to form, resulting in a failure to meet a need or want, such as the need for public goods, such as defence, street lighting, and highways. Incomplete markets: Markets may fail to produce enough merit goods, such as education and healthcare. Imperfect Information : Lack of facts about a problem, lack of knowledge about the process causation Public Goods/Externalities: Imperfect property rights. Public goods are "good things" that private markets don't create enough of; externalities are just the opposite. I think that the three are over production and negative externalities like pollution cause the government to regulate behavior Underproduction causes the government to subsidize and offer aid Over consuming causes the government to ration (part of the first additional readings) ** Markets Public goods are one of the classic cases in which markets do not work properly. Markets cannot efficiently produce public goods like defense or parks. Therefore these goods may have to be delivered by public sector and financed by taxation. Markets can fail by externalities, meaning that the total social costs like pollution- of some activities are not included in the ,market price of product. And Markets can fail due to not having adequate information and therefore cannot make optimal decisions. This is the (economist) justification for regulation that force producers to provide customers info about risks of the products
What is the difference between policy outputs and policy outcomes when we are evaluating public policies and programs? Give examples.
Outputs tell the story of what you produced or your organization's activities. Output measures do not address the value or impact of your services for your clients or to the industry at large (company X produced 8000 chairs this year). On the other hand, an outcome is the level of performance or achievement that occurred because of the activity or services your organization provided; in other words, the question then becomes "what is the level of impact company X, Y, or Z had on W industry this year?". An example could be although Apple produced 1 million iPhones in the year of 2016, their level of impact to the technological development of smartphones was rather plain compared to its' competitors. "Outcome" is the term we use for the goal we want to achieve. For example, "justice", "national defense", "well educated population", etc. Outputs are things which lead to the outcome that we are able to measure. Ex: a well educated population might be measured by how many college grads we have. o outcome: things we wanna achieve, hard to measure and define (ex: justice, well-educated public) o output: things that should lead to outcome that we can define and measure (we can measure how many grad from HS, Col, test score, literacy scores...) o input: least useful in evaluating if its working but most measured cuz easier
What is path dependence and why does it occur?
Path dependency is an idea that tries to explain the continued use of a product or practice based on historical preference or use. This holds true even if newer, more efficient products or practices are available due to the previous commitment made. It occurs often because of perceived stability and safety. * where we are today is a result of our past* Policy mold will rarely be changed if it's been working so far.
Compare pluralist and elitist explanations of agenda setting.
Pluralism and Elitism are two theories centralized on the distribution of power. The Pluralist Theory can be described as a general type of government where all participants share an equal status whether it be in possession, power, or rights. Pluralism appeals to the masses and the under privileged because it evens the scale from distant class orders to a unity. The premise of the Elitist Theory is that the privileged and the successful are to inherit governing powers because of an obvious superiority shown through their success. Thus, pluralists tend to agenda set geared more towards the masses and towards immaterial power whereas elitists tend to stress on material power and on resources (and consequently onto those with more wealth). Elitism is a stress on material power. Those who have resources must be successful and rightful rulers, or else that resource would not have gotten into their possession. Superiority in the elites is the premise for the Elitist Theory. Whoever has achieved must be of a higher mental capacity, and therefore are the only ones who are worthy of a position of power. To Elitists, the common people are common due to a lack of superiority. Pluralism - that you've got interest groups and they are trying to get their issue on the agenda and no one group has a monopoly on an issue and no one is above the other so they are competing but that's not always true depending on connections, resources and organization Elitism - Especially powerful when making things not get on the agenda (preventing things)
What are public goods, and why can't we rely on the private sector to provide them?
Public goods are commodities or services provided without profit to all members of a society, either by the government or a private individual or organization. The reason that we can't rely on the private sector to provide public goods is because in a capitalistic system, self-interest always reigns supreme. This means that although there might be the occasional outlier that will provide public goods at the expense of personal investment or profit, in the vast majority of cases, this is not the case. Public Goods are non-rival and non-excludable, meaning ones use does not prevent another from using the good, or detract from the value or use of the good by others. A good example is clean air.
What are street-level bureaucrats, and how do they influence policy implementation?
Street-level bureaucrats are workers of public agencies or government institutions that have discretion where the civil servants work who have direct contact with members of the general public.They interact and communicate with the general public, either in person (as with a police officer doing a random checkpoint to check for drunk driving or a civil servant in a department of transportation who helps people to register a newly purchased car and provide them with licence plates); over the phone (as with a government call center, where civil servants answer phone calls from people who are applying for or receiving unemployment insurance); or, in jurisdictions which have implemented electronic government technologies, via the Internet (e.g., a person finding out about the government's taxation laws by going onto the taxation department official website and asking questions to a civil servant via email). So they influence policy implementation by having some discretion on how they enforce the laws like police officers deciding whether to give the driver a warning or a fine.
Why is the interstate commerce clause important for understanding the growth of the federal government?
The Commerce Clause, states that Congress has the exclusive authority to manage trade activities between the states and with foreign nations and Indian tribes. Courts and commentators have tended to discuss each of these three areas as a separate power granted to Congress. It is common to see the Commerce Clause referred to as "the Foreign Commerce Clause", "the Interstate Commerce Clause", and "the Indian Commerce Clause", each of which refers to the same single sentence in the constitution that covers all three. This is significant for the growth of the federal government because it further established the federal government's power over the states and over foreign entities. Federal government can regulate interstate commerce but not intrastate commerce Now it been said that it has to have a substantial effect on interstate commerce Heart of Atlanta motel v United States - saying that the law was allowed under interstate commerce - motel couldn't choose to serve some guests but not others US v Lopez - gun laws and schools (can't do it within 500 ft of a school)
What is the Hawthorne Effect in policy evaluation?
The Hawthorne effect (also referred to as the observer effect) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. Thus, if companies or organizations know that they are being evaluated, then more likely than not, behavior will change
What is the garbage can model (or multiple streams model) of policy making?
The garbage can model is quite different from traditional decision-making models. It assumes that organizations are far from perfect and operate in a state of anarchy (without rules). Organizational preferences and processes are unclear to the members of the organization, and decision-makers in the organization change frequently. The garbage can model assumes that no organizational process for finding a solution to a problem exists and that decision-makers are disconnected from problems and solutions. o 3 kinds of "streams" that flow through the process and in order for something significant to get done they need to come together § sometimes get together in unusual ways o 3 streams: problems, politics, policies § there needs to be a problem, someone needs to see that it's a problem and that it`s in their personal interest to fix it § spillover effects: a diff prob is solved than originally intended
. What is an iron triangle? Why might iron triangles be less common than they were 60 years ago?
The iron triangle comprises the policy-making relationship among the congressional committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups. They essentially make it so that what the general public may want may not be achieved because of a form of corruption that benefits congress, interest groups, and bureaucracies that play off of each other. Iron triangles are less common than they were 60 years ago because agencies are pressured by so many interest groups. There has also been a growth in subcommittees meaning most of these agencies are subject to control by many different legislative groups, often with very different interests.
What is the difference between cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness?
The key difference between cost effectiveness analysis and cost benefit analysis is that cost-effectiveness analysis compares the relative costs and outcomes (effects) of a project whereas cost benefit analysis assigns a monetary value to the measure of the effect of a project. The use of these two techniques largely depends on the nature of the project and the type of industry.
What are the basic procedural steps all federal administrative agencies must follow to adopt new regulations?
There are 4 basic steps that all federal administrative agencies must follow to adopt new regulations. They are: (1) Notice (2) Comment and hearing (3) Adoption of new rule and (4) Publication of new rule
What is the difference between a transfer payment and a tax expenditure? Give an example of each
Transfer pay is a redistribution of income or wealth (payment) without goods or services being received in return (i.e. welfare, social security, etc.). Tax expenditures are government spendings made through the tax code. Examples would include tax exemptions for homeowners. Tax expenditures are like "revenue foregone" by the government. Don't involve the bureaucracy, and not really "spending"