Chapter 18 POLICYMAKING AND ANDDOMESTIC POLICY POLICY.

Chapter 18Chapter 18

POLICYMAKINGPOLICYMAKING AND AND DOMESTICDOMESTIC POLICYPOLICY

Learning Outcomes18.1 Categorize different types of public policies and outline the process by which policies are formulated and implemented.

18.2 Trace the evolution of social welfare programs as a central element of public policy in the United States.

18.3 Describe the origins and evolution of Social Security as well as the funding and benefit issues facing the program.

Copyright 2014 Cengage Learning 2

Learning Outcomes18.4 Explain how poverty is defined and trace the evolution of public assistance programs designed to address it.

18.5 Differentiate among Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and explain how each program addresses the issues of health-care delivery.


Learning Outcomes18.6 Describe the role of the federal government in shaping education policy at the state and local government levels.

18.7 Assess alternative policies for addressing illegal immigration into the United States.

18.8 Explain how the issue of fairness shapes perspectives on government benefits.


Government Purposes and Public Policies

The Policymaking Process Disagreement about government’s goals often rooted

in value differences Drug policies:

Libertarians value freedom and want drugs decriminalized

Conservatives value order and support controls over drug use



Types of Policies Distributive policies Redistributional policies Regulation



Public Policy Tools Different ways to achieve public policy objectives

Incentives and disincentives Direct provision of services

Governments largest expenditures come from direct payments to employees or vendors who implement programs

Setting rules



A Policymaking Model Policymaking process has four stages

Agenda setting Policy formulation Implementation Policy evaluation



Fragmentation, Coordination, and Issue Networks Separation of powers results in fragmented approach

to solving policy problems Different interest groups influence government

Working relationships among participants in pluralist system counter fragmentation

Issue networks Facilitate pluralist policies when majoritarian influences

are weak


The Development of the American Welfare State

The Great Depression and the New Deal Great Depression: longest and deepest setback of

U.S. economy in history Began with stock market crash Oct. 24th, 1929 and

ended with start of WWII

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The Great Depression and the New Deal New Deal

FDR undertook measures to stem the Depression Created Social Security Initiated a long-range trend toward government

expansion

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The Great Society Lyndon B. Johnson’s programs designed to redress

political, social, and economic inequality War on Poverty

Economic Opportunity Act (1964) Encouraged local programs to educate and train people for

employment

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Retrenchment and Reform Ronald Reagan’s reelection resulted in a

reexamination of social welfare policy Shifted focus from economic equality to economic

freedom, and from federal government to states Clinton charted middle course - Important reforms Greatest expansion of welfare benefits under George

W. Bush Obama enacted the biggest welfare state reform since

the New Deal with the passage of health-care reform in 2010

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Social Security

Social insurance: protect individuals from loss, regardless of need (entitlements) Workers’ compensation Social Security Medicare

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Social Security

Origins of Social Security Social insurance programs began in Europe after

World War I In U.S., needs left to private organizations and

individuals until Great Depression Social Security Act 1935

Social insurance – old-age, surviving spouse, unemployment

Financial assistance – needy, blind and disabled Health and welfare services – for disabled children,

orphans and vocational rehabilitation for disabled

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Social Security How Social Security Works

Revenue fund administered by Social Security Administration

“Pay as you go” tax system Universal participation essential and required In 1955, nearly nine workers for each beneficiary Today, three workers for every beneficiary Birthrate, mortality rates and economy affect program

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Social Security

Who Pays? Who Benefits? Congress established automatic cost-of-living

adjustments (COLAs) for Social Security in 1972 Changes in payments and wages subject to tax tied to

Consumer Price Index

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Social Security Social Security Reform

Future of Social Security a concern Repeated attempts to reform Social Security have failed

due to tough choices involved George W. Bush - supported privatization Obama opposes privatization but reform took back burner to

recession

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Public Assistance Poverty in the United States

Until 1996, government imposed national standards on state programs and distributed funds based on proportion of population in poverty

Poverty level is minimum cash income that will provide for a family’s basic needs

The poverty threshold is what the Census Bureau uses to determine the number of people who live below the poverty line

Feminization of poverty

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Public Assistance Welfare Reform

Personal Responsibility and Opportunity to Work Act (1996) Abolished Aid to Families with Dependent Children

(AFDC) Replaced AFDC with Temporary Assistance to Needy

Families (TANF)

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Health Care

U.S. only major industrialized nation without universal health-care system

Cost and Access Access

50 million people (16%) had no health insurance in 2010, and many were underinsured

Cost In 2010, public and private spending on health care

reached an all-time high of $2.6 trillion, which was 17.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

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Health Care Medicare

Social Security Act amended to provide Medicare for citizens 65 and older

Two Components: Part A for hospitalization Part B for physician’s fees

Compulsory program, expanded over years to cover other services Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and

Modernization Act (Part D)

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Health Care Medicaid

Provides health care to Americans with low incomes Product of the Great Society, passed as another

amendment to Social Security Act Vast program, run and financed jointly with states

Eligibility and services vary widely by state Medicaid participants: children under age twenty-one

(half of all participants in 2011), adults (mainly pregnant women, parents, and other caregivers of children), those who are disabled, and those aged sixty-five and over

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Health Care Health-Care Reform

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) Most wide-ranging policy change in a generation Aim is to provide insurance to as many people as

possible Notable aspects:

19-25 year olds can stay on parents’ insurance plans Cannot be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions All individuals are required to have health insurance by 2014

or pay a fine Concerns about cost, although not expected to add to the

deficit

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Elementary and Secondary Education

Concerns Motivating Change Equity: Overriding and persistent concern

Social and economic equity found through equality of educational opportunity Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Despite federal policy, improvements in education elusive

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Concerns Motivating Change (cont’d) National Security and Prosperity

Education considered key public policy area National Defense Education Act of 1958 (NDEA) 1983 report: A Nation at Risk

Findings created momentum for improvement

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Values and Reform No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)

Reauthorization of ESEA Required proficiency in reading and math by 2014 Implementation controversial – teaching to the test,

unfunded mandate NCLB not reauthorized in 2007

2010, Obama spin on NCLB - “Blueprint for Reform” Focuses on bottom 5 percent of schools Race to the Top – competitive grants

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Immigration Important problem facing America

Immigrants make up 12.5 percent of population; of those, 11.2 million are illegal

27% of noncitizens live below poverty line

Policy debates over illegal immigrants Johnson-Reed Act 1924 DREAM Act - Obama issued executive action in 2012 The Constitution grants Congress the authority to

“establish a uniform rule of naturalization”

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They Have a Dream

Benefits and Fairness

Two benefits provided by national government Means-tested benefits Non-means-tested benefits

Fairness of non-means-tested benefits? Reform debates: making affluent pay more

for programs

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Chapter 18 POLICYMAKING AND ANDDOMESTIC POLICY POLICY.

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