Public PolicyAP Government

What is it?Government action to address a specific challenge.

What are today’s challenges?

Politics and Policy

Types of Public Policy

Distributive policy (new benefits are given to all citizens)

Redistributive policy (resources taken from one group and given to another—zero sum game)

Counterdistributive policy (resources taken from everyone to solve a specific problem—Social Security)

The Eight Steps in Making Public Policy

1. Making assumptions about the world

2. Setting the agenda• Nondecision• Policy agenda• Think tanks

3. Deciding to act4. Deciding how much to do• Incremental policy• Punctuating policy• Iron triangles• Issue networks

The Eight Steps in Making Public Policy

5. Choosing a tool Federal spending Use of taxes Providing goods and services Guarantee protection against risk Regulations and rules Provision of both material and symbolic benefits

6. Deciding who will deliver the goods or services Federal government “Third-party government”

Private businesses Colleges and universities State and local governments Charities

7. Making rules for implementation Federal Register

8. Running the program

Pages in the Federal Register

Policy-Making Alliances

Iron TrianglesFederal department or agency

Interest groups

House and/or Senate authorizing committee

Issue Networks

Federal department or

agency

House and/or Senate authorizing committee

= Small, highly specialized interest groups