Study Guide Exam 1 Introduction to Public Policy NOTE You are expected to know both the definitions of the terms below as well as how they have been applied in this course Some exam questions may simply be definitional the majority however will test your ability to apply these terms to the study of public policy The scientific analysis of government activity including laws regulations and funding priorities and its influence on society What is the gov t doing what impact is it having upon its citizens and how efficient and effective are its programs Government action designed to address the demands of a set of citizens to Chapter 2 Public Policy resolve a social issue Social Problems Something that a set of citizens is looking to the government to solve or not solve These are issues facing society part of public policy is deciding if government should interfere These influence government policy determining what does and does not get done and what is a priority Public Policy in Democracies vs Autocracies Democratic citizens influence policy Autocratic dictator decides policy Accountability Consent of the Governed the foundation of democracy almost requires an understanding of what the government is doing in the name of the governed This lead to three critical steps in assessing governmental action 1 We must understand the process by which policy choice sets are determined or shaped relative to another 2 We must assess the precise trade offs that any policy choice represents 3 We must be able to communicate the information revealed by each of the prior tasks in a clear objective manner Efficiency Equity Are the resources time and energy of a program delivering the greatest policy outcomes for a given level of resources Enacting government actions equally across all variables ethnicity wealth layout etc The Policy Making Process 7 Steps below 1 Problem and Solution Identification to respond to the problem if at all 2 Agenda Setting The process of defining a social problem and policy makers determining how The process by which formal institutional centers of power will take up and potentially act on a policy solution Policy Entrepreneur 3 Policy Formulation Complexity and Salience 4 Alternative Formulation policy solutions selected from a set of competing alternatives political actors decided based on political affiliation donors their electorate 5 Policy Selection 6 Implementation rulemaking regulation and clientele service 7 Evaluation Stakeholders investigation of effects of policy A set of individuals whose interests are at stake or affected by a given policy Within any problem there may be subsets of individuals those who are helped and those who are hurt by the problem and the proposed policy solution Pressures placed upon elected leaders and policymakers that change the Policy Demands cost of their inaction Credible Action Policy Entrepreneur solution External Shock A promised or threatened action that the action s target believes will be carried out with a high probability Individuals that advocate organize or attempt to define a policy problem or Factors sometimes not directly related to a certain problem that interferes with a policy maker s agenda For example resources being put towards fighting with ISIS can interfere with a removal of troops from the middle east Complexity Salience on an issue Complexity Knowledge often technical required to make informed decisions Salience The number of people affected by a policy decision Causal Relationship Relationship between an input variable and an output variable where an outcome variable has changed due to an exposure to an input variable Input Variable Independent Variable X Output Variable Dependent Variable Y Necessary Condition X is required for Y to occur Being 35 is a NECESSARY CONDITION to be in congress but it is NOT sufficient because not every 35 year old is in Congress Sufficient Condition If X is present Y will occur Rain is a SUFFICIENT CONDITION for puddles being on the ground Conditional Relationship The effect of one variable X on Y is moderated by the effect of another variable Z Deterministic vs Probabilistic Relationship Deterministic relationship If I observe X there will ALWAYS be Y Everyone who studies for this test WILL get an A Probabilistic Relationship If I observe X Y will PROBABLY occur Everyone who studies for this test will PROBABLY get an A What is a model of public policy Determinants of a good model Multivariate the idea that many factors usually lead to a result Probabilistic in most cases you are finding the likelihood of something happening not determining that something will always happen Parsimonious explains a lot with a little Think identifying the critical factors resulting in y rather than everything that contributes to y simplicity 3X model of democracy X1 Election X2 Free Press X3 Judiciary Generalizable can be a model for many things not just one a model that can be applied to explain a lot so the Democracy Citizen Demand Falsifiable can be proven wrong Clear and Logically Consistent Ideologically Neutral not putting your personal views in Won t be opposed by certain people Institutional Analysis and Development IAD Framework Actors X Institutions Outcomes Actors Who are they and what do they want all actors involved in decision making process Institutions Rules They restrict the actor Chapter 3 Rational Choice patterns of behavior in societies that reflect the choices made by individuals as they try to maximize their benefits and minimize their costs rational choice requires actor aware of all possible choices weights costs and benefits of each expresses and pursues what they deem best Preferences wanting one option over another Utility consuming a good or service A measure of the relative satisfaction that a person receives from possessing or Utility Function produces a numeric value to each good in a given set of consumption set allowing them to be ranked If two items hold the same value in this function the individual is said to be INDIFFERENT between the two items Individual pursuing rational preferences societal efficiency Nash Equilibrium individual can receive no benefit from changing actions or deviating from chosen strategy Prisoners Dilemma players have no desire to change because they will be worse off example of Game Theory interrogating 2 prisoners in separate room example both individuals have an incentive to defect Cooperation Game A game where groups of players
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