PUP3002 Intro to Public Policy 1 10 Introduction o Policy a standing decision characterized by behavioral consistency and repetitiveness on the part of both those who make it and those who abide by it o Rules or lack thereof the consistent behavior to be executed in a given o Authority the official or organization responsible for the enforcement of rules o Subject the person or group that may be subject to the rules o Objects the items or resources subject to the rules o Policy outputs the procedure o Policy Outcomes the results o Public Policy A course of government action or inaction in response to public situation problems o Public Problems something that could be perceived as unacceptable affecting a large group Public belief that government intervention is necessary Why does the government get involved o Political Reasons o Moral Ethical Reasons o Market Failures Monopolies Externalities Information failure Insufficient public good provision Public Goods o Based on rivalry and excludability o RE Private Goods o RNE Common Pool Resources public lake fishable tragedy of the commons o NRE Club goods toll goods cable television o NRNE Pure Public goods almost nothing but sort of like national defense The Roles of Government Adam Smith o National Defense o Law and Order o Certain Public Goods infrastructure basic education What Policy should be chosen o Distributive Rights and legal protections Taking from some and giving to others o Redistributive o Regulatory Laws o Competitive Regulation FDA o Protective Regulation o Constituent o Position EPA Clean air and water acts delegation of power or creation of agencies No laws and regulation just a position This is our official stance on issue x Effectiveness o Does it solve the problem o Does it prevent the problem o Causal Link Efficiency o How much does it cost o How much effort is needed o Cost relative to benefits Does it tackle the cause instead of just treating it o Spuriousness Is our idea of the cause correct Equity Feasibility o Who benefits o Who is burdened and by how much o Externalities o Unexpected Consequences o Could it be approved o Will voters punish or reward it o Can it be done o Constraints on technology authority and resources Coral snakes are docile but very venomous So there is no antivenin because no one is ever bitten Two Solutions the debt limit o A negotiated package of spending cuts and tax hikes paired with an increase in o The trillion dollar coin o Which one works better Effective Feasible Equitable and Efficient GDP Consumption Investment Government Spending eXports Imports o Homework Chapter 2 of the book 1 15 Overview o Constitution Powers specifically given to federal government Limits on government Separation of powers Branches of Government Executive not powerful enough to make laws by themselves Legislative bicameral one on population one equal They make laws and control the tax system o Bills and budget both pass in the House o Senate confirmation o Oversight of agencies o Declares war We don t declare wars that would be too complicated with the UN o Ratifies treaties o Deals with impeachment Judicial The court appointed by Exec and checked by Congress to determine the constitutionality of laws and policy o Mediates disputes between states o Federal court system The first people to hear constitutional cases o Stare Decisis o Judicial Activism Federal Bureaucracy Precedent let the decision stand o Exec Office of the President OMB Council of Economic Advisors etc o Cabinets State Defense etc o Independent Executive Agencies CIA NASA etc o Independent Regulatory Commissions SEC FTC etc o Government Owned Corporations Fannie Mae Freddie Mac FDIC Amendments o 9th amendment don t use other amendments to take o 10th amendment anything that we didn t cover goes to the rights from people states or to the people o The Federal Government Interstate Commerce Clause used to control drugs and whatnot Highway funds come from their agreement to raise drinking age to 21 o Amendments o State Government Governor Bicameral Legislature except Nevada o Senate o House of Representatives o Counties or equivalent o Local Government Balanced Budget Amendments Ballot Initiative and Referendum Initiatives propose amendments and add things Referendum is to remove laws Three ways to change the constitution 60 of each house Revision Commission do we need to change this Popular if 8 in the districts think this is a good idea we ll put it on the ballot Limiting the Chaos As of 2006 60 approval only state with this requirement 10 cents per signature verification fee o 2012 voters 12 mil o 960 000 in fees o We limit the signature seeking at polls to limit fringe influence o o Florida we do have a balanced budget amendment Sales Tax Use Tax NO Income Tax Property Tax o Blackboard quiz password Jefferson Niche Theory Article 1 17 Why do we study the states o More variation in policy o Policy experiments o What starts in states sometimes goes national Overview o What is an interest group A group that acts to persuade policy makers to agree with their points of view or support policy proposals they favor oppose those the group does not or help keep certain issues or policy alternatives off the legislative agenda Support Oppose Control the agenda Types of Lobbying Direct contacting actual representatives Grassroots motivate action by constituents Others o Convincing new supporters o Dissuading people from the opposition o Defending protecting against lobbying by opponents Hard Money campaign contributions to candidates Soft Money contributions to issue advocacy 527c groups Super PACs Expertise o Technical Details Tools of the Interest Group o Advice o Research Public Opinion o Polls o Advertisements o Mobilization o Who Joins and Why Benefits Selective only people in the interest group benefit AARP Solidary benefits from being part of a collective Expressive be able to express your opinions can be cathartic Purposive to show your support for a particular issue Unions Union Shop Right to Work o Some types of jobs are only open to union members o You can t close any job to someone because of their union non union status o This usually causes the unions to be relatively weak in comparison to closed shop states due to the free rider problem o What Interest Groups Need Organization and scheduling Money as well as expertise and facilities Leadership Resources Members Access Enough voters in the constituency to persuade representative to
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