Pol midterm
incrementalism
Repetitive policymaking Successive limited comparisons
tax expenditures
Revenue losses that result from special exemptions, exclusions, or deductions on federal tax law.
antipoverty programs
- income assistance - general assistance - food stamps - medicaid - social service programs - tax credits - earned income tax credit (EITC)
how do governments get revenue
- income tax - corporate income tax - sales tax - tariffs and duties - property tax
Tools of public policy
- laws - services (direct provision or contracting out) - money (grants) - taxes (incentives, command & control, pollution taxes) - other economic instruments - moral suasion
Bardach's Eightfold Path
1. Define the problem 2. Assemble some evidence 3. Construct the alternatives 4. Select the criteria 5. Project the outcomes 6. Confront the trade-offs 7. Decide 8. Tell your story
Market failures
1. Monopolies 2. Externalities 3. Information Failure 4. Production of goods 5. Public/common goods
4 types of goods and services
1. Private 2. Public 3. Toll 4. Common Pool Resources (CPRs)
cost-benfit analysis steps
1. identify 2. measure 3. adjust 4. aggregate
Reasons for government intervention
1. to smooth exchange rate movements 2. to establish implicit exchange rate boundaries 3. to respond to temporary disturbances 4. importance on free market economy
collective action problem
A situation in which the members of a group would benefit by working together to produce some outcome, but each individual is better off refusing to cooperate and reaping benefits from those who do the work.
9 theories of policy process: bounded rationality
Human limitations/can't look at all the limitations Organizational, political, and cultural parameters constrain choices
opportunity costs
Cost of the next best alternative use of money, time, or resources when one choice is made rather than another
punctuated equilibrium
Political processes are generally characterized by stability and incrementalism, but occasionally they produce large-scale departures from the past
9 theories of policy process: Elites Theory
Elites and the mass public have different attitudes
9 theories of policy process: rational choice theory
Incentives and rules shape the rational actions of individuals
Marginal vs. Average tax rates
Marginal - % tax paid on the next dollar earned Average - total tax bill / taxable income
9 theories of policy process: rational model
Maximize social gain
TANF vs AFDC
Temporary Assistance for the Needy ended Aid to Families with Dependent Children, empized work, put in time limits, states run the program
9 theories of policy process: institutional theory
The power of institutions and what they are
Principle-Agent Problem
When the agent (worker or manager) doesn't act in the best interest of the principle (owner).
discount rate
You value your money now and not later
cost-benfit analysis
a decision-making process in which you compare what you will sacrifice and gain by a specific action
moral hazards
a situation in which one party engages in risky behavior or fails to act in good faith because it knows the other party bears the economic consequences of their behavior
approaches to measuring poverty
absolute measure (set income compare) vs relative measure (under 50% of median income)
rent seeking
activities undertaken by individuals or firms to influence public policy in a way that will increase their incomes
politcal actors and their limitations
congress, president, bureaucracy, courts, media, parties, intrest groups, public
9 theories of policy process: group theory
factions, organization of people and money
the submerged state
government social programs that people don't realize they are benefiting from.
government failures: decentralized gov
implementation problems and competition between levels of gov
government failures: bureaucratic
is the bureaucracy really fulfilling the policy
Linkage Model
ment to link problems in different rent areas to help further them both
asymetric polarization
one party being issue based and the other being more broad
Income vs Payroll Tax
payroll taxes are paid by employer and employee; income taxes are only paid by employees
forms of legitimation
popular, legislative, judcial
cycling
preferences come back around in public opinion
Kingdon's 3 Streams Model
problem stream, policy stream and politics stream
motivated reasoning
processing information in a way that allows consumers to reach the conclusion that they want to reach
how does public opinion effect public policy?
responsiveness
Tragedy of the Commons
situation in which people acting individually and in their own interest use up commonly available but limited resources, creating disaster for the entire community
what makes welfare policy unique
structural system causes it, how to measure poverty, some people dont believe that the gov should do anything about poverty
path dependence
the idea that how policies originate is how they will end up, change is possible but typically it stays on a similar path.
Hacker's Divided Welfare State
the use of government to protect people's economic well-being, it does not just aid the poor.
government failures: representative dem
trustee vs delegate model
government failures: direct dem
tyranny of the majority
government failures
when the government intervention in the market to improve the market failure actually makes the situation worse