Introduction to American Public Policy Notes PDF

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Introduction to American Public Policy Notes

Week 1 (Aug. 27): Intro to American Public Policy - Midterm and Final Exams (40%) - Oct. 15, due no later than Oct. 18. - 75 mins - Final is 120 mins due same day - Dec. 17. 8am – 10pm - APP Assignment (10%) - Rapid Reaction: Redman and the ACA (10%) - Quizzes (20%) - Policy Debate and Brief (15%) - Participation in Debates (5%) Theories of Policy Making  Four important questions 1. Who participates in the policy making process? 2. How are policy decisions made? 3. What are the underlying assumptions of the theory / model? 4. If the theory is correct, what are the consequences for the general public of policy decisions made in accordance with the particular theory / model? Theories of Policy Making  Ten Theories 1. Institutionalism 2. Process 3. Group Theory 4. Elite Theory 5. Rationalism 6. Incrementalism 7. Game Theory 8. Public Choice Theory 9. Systems Theory 10. Kingdon-Garbage Can Model

David Easton’s Systems Theory: Inputs, Institutions, and Outputs

David Easton’s Systems Theory: Inputs, Institutions, and Outputs 

An Example from Systems Theory o 18th Amendment (Ratified in 1919): Prohibition Amendment  Institution: Congress and the State Legislatures  Inputs:  Protestant Church goers  Maine Prohibition Law (1851), 13 states by 1855  Women’s Christian Temperance Union (1873)  Prohibition Party (1869), won a seat in U.S. House in 1890 o 21st Amendment (Ratified in 1933): Repealed Prohibition  Institution: Congress adopts resolution to repeal the 18th Am.  Inputs:  Great Depression (external feedback)  Black market, bootlegging, and organized crime  Public opinion most important  Herbert Hoover and F.D. Roosevelt in 1932 platforms

Designing a Political System: Which would you rather have…  

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A: A political system with the most political democracy possible, that is, one that translates popular wants into laws and policies as efficiently as possible, or A political system that gives elected officials considerable latitude to do what they wanted for felt was best, without having to worry too much about public opinion A: A political system that could quickly make major policy changes, or B: A political system where major changes in policy are very hard to effect and happened only rarely

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A: A political system with power centralized in one place, to allow coherent and consistent policy across an entire nation B: A political system with power decentralized, to represent the needs and wants of various localities

Designing a political system: Answers  All “Bs” is what we have in the U.S. o B: We have a republic, with very little direct democracy. o Major policy change is difficult to accomplish, slow moving. o We have a federal system, where political power is split between multiple levels of government.

Next Week  Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations (IGR)  Homework o Discussion link on ICON  Choose a debate topic from the Issues for Debate book  Choose an APP topic  Complete assignment by midnight on September 2, lest I assign one for you!

Week 2 (Sept. 3): Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations A moment for theory…  Theories of Policy Making Take One o Institutionalism  Focuses on the traditional organization of government institutions  Considers constitutional provisions, laws, and judicial decisions

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Focuses on formal arrangements such as federalism or process Form follows functions Example: U.S. Congress  Make-up of seats  Committee structures  Rules  Specified powers of Article One of the Constitution

Using the “F” words  Factions and Federalism o What was James Madison arguing for specifically in Federalist #10?  How do we get rid of factions? Allow them to exist. Creates competition between them he argued.  Argues for a representative democracy. Another level of federal government to be a buffer between bureaucracy and special factions.  What were “factions” to Madison, and what are they today?  Faction = interest groups  Faction (Washington) = parties  Why a republic, and not a democracy?  What is the tie made by Madison in Federalist #10 and federalism?  Would Madison be happy today with factions and federalism? Remember this from last week? Designing a Political System: Which would you rather have?  A: A political system with power centralized in one place, to allow coherent and consistent policy across an entire nation  B: A political system with power decentralized, to represent the needs and wants of various localities The Federal Framework  Governments can organize the balance of power between the central and regional governments in a variety of ways: o Confederations – Where the states are really strong, the federal government is really weak. o Federal Systems o Unitary Systems – Power is highly centralized at the high point of power. Federalism: A system of government in which power is divided, by a constitution, between a central government and regional governments Unitary systems tip the balance of power in favor of a stronger central government; in unitary systems, lower levels of government have little power independent of the central government. Confederations like the Articles of Confederation, reserve a great deal of power to lower levels of government.

Federal systems Under the Constitution, the United States has a federal system of government in which the national government shares power with lower levels of government. Federal, Confederal, and Unitary Relations: The States  Federalism describes the relationship between the federal government and the states. Much more on this to follow.  Confederal describes relations between states. There are some guidelines given to states relations in the federal Constitution, but most states are empowered with the power to negotiate their own relations with one another.  Unitary describes relations between state governments and local governments. Here, the states hold the upper hand, thus state-local governments are unitary. Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations  So, how did the Framers assure, or at least attempt to assure, that the federal-state relationship would look like what they wanted it to look like?  In other words, what does the U.S. Constitution have to say, specifically, about federalstate relations?  Answer: Through the Constitution, customs, and norms. Federalism in the Constitution  Consistent with the framers’ desire to divide the powers of government, the Constitution’s federal division of power can be understood as an attempt to limit the power of the national government. 

With expressed powers, the Constitution grants specific powers to the national government and reserves the rest for the states.

National Government Powers  Expressed powers o Collect taxes o Coin money o Declare war  Implied powers o The “necessary and proper” powers the national government has from their implication in the Constitution o McCollough v. Maryland (1819)  McCollough was a teller at a national bank. State of Maryland wanted to tax those national (federal) banks.  Power of the national bank is to coin and distribute money. Restricts expressed powers of federal government by the states, states don’t have authority to tax national bank. o Commerce

State Government Powers  Reserved powers o Police powers (the powers to regulate the health, safety, and morals of its citizens)  “State Amendments” o 9th Amendment  The powers that are not given to the federal government belong to the people. o 10th Amendment  The powers that are given to the federal government are those three expressed powers, everything else belongs to the states or the people.  Barron v. Baltimore (1833)  Owned a wharf in the city of Baltimore, city decided they were going to dredge out construction in the area where Barron’s wharf was.  Ruined his wharf, sued city for confiscation of property without just confiscation.  Didn’t work out in his favor, courts ruled his rights weren’t protected yet under state amendments versus federal. Too bad it wasn’t fed. gov. who did construction.  Selective incorporation via the 14th Amendment  Selective incorporation of rights of citizens of the United States versus rights as citizens of the various states.  First important clause: Due process clause o When you enter into a lawsuit, you are entitled to due process: speedy trial, jury trial, etc.  Second important clause: Equal protection clause o Meaning that what protection you have in one state has to be equal in another state.  Powers we have at state level and federal level created a “dual citizenship” o Managed by state constitution and federal constitution. Citizen and State Rights as Amendments.  9th Amendment o “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” 

10th Amendment o “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Confederal Relations: U.S. Constitution  The Constitution establishes another type of federal relationship: the obligations of states to one another.

o The “full faith and credit” clause compels states to honor the public acts and judicial proceedings of other states o The “comity clause” promotes national unity by claiming that citizens of any state would be entitled to the “privileges and immunities” provided to citizens in other states.

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There have been four faces of federalism throughout American history.

Stage 1: Dual Federalism (1789-1937) 1. Central government focused on the promotion of commerce and distribution of resources. 2. States retained most remaining powers. Stage 1: Dual Federalism  National government powers set forth in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, including the commerce and necessary and proper clauses, could be interpreted to expand national power.  In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), for example, the Supreme Court held that a congressional power to charter a national bank might be “implied” by Congress’s expressed powers “To lay and collect taxes… To borrow money… [and] To regulate Commerce.” Stage 2: Cooperative Federalism  Building on its power over time, the national government expanded its role in matters that had previously been reserved to states, seeking to ensure state cooperation with federal policies by offering grants-in-aid.  Block grants are given to states for general purposes and allow state officials greater discretion over how funds will be spent.  Categorical grants are given to states for more specific purposes, and most of the discretion remains in the hands of federal officials and officeholders.  Although states and ideological conservatives resisted encroachments by the national government into states matters under the banner of states’ rights and citing 10th Amendment protections for their positions, the 20th century witnessed a broad expansion of national government power.

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States’ acceptance of and eventual reliance on national government grants-in-aid transformed the more or less strict separations of dual federalism into more complex cooperative federal relationship.

Stage 3: Regulated Federalism (1960s-?)  Once state and local governments were depended on grant-in-aid support, the national government further intervened in state government decision-making by threatening to withhold such grants. This is also known as Coercive Federalism.  To regulate speed limits within states, the national government threatens to withhold federal transportation dollars thus coercing states to comply with federal mandates.  Seeking to increase control and impose more uniform national standards, the national government expanded its reach into what had traditionally been state matters.  Through preemption, the national government can override state and local actions in certain policy areas.  The transfer of federal power is probably best exemplified by unfunded mandates, whereby the national government compels state and local government action but does not provide funding for that action. Stage 4: New Federalism and State Control (1969—2008?)  The waning in some respects of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal coalition and programs sparks a counter—federal trend, known as New Federalism, which begins to return discretion to the state and local governments.  The new federalism trend of returning discretion to the states began in the executive branch as the Nixon, Carter, and Reagan administrations gave states a larger role in administering federal policies.  These administrations evinced a greater use of block grants rather than categorical grants and even instituted a process of general revenue sharing, whereby the national government yields tax revenues to state and local governments to spend as they wish.  Beyond the White House o In the 1990s both Congress and the federal courts joined the New Federalism revolution.

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The Republican takeover of Congress after the 1994 elections led to a series of policies where the federal government devolved power to the states. Welfare reform is a good example of such devolution

Ad hoc Federalism  The process of choosing a state-centered or nation-centered view of federalism on the basis of political or partisan convenience. No core philosophical commitment to either state or federal. Federalism Under Obama  Obama: Shift aggressively back to federal powers o Immigration: Executive orders and Jan Brewer o Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Expansion of Medicaid o s: Community College initiative, Pell grants, Common Core o Executive Orders Federalism Under Trump  Proposed budget o Devolution o Federal Tax Cuts o Shrinking Federal Bureaucracy o Block Grants for Infrastructure States and Local Governments  States, then, receive funding from the federal government for certain commitments and priorities, particularly for mandatory spending such as Medicaid.  Dillion’s Rule: (From 1868 S. Ct. case originating in Iowa: If state law is silent about a particular local power, the presumption is that the local level lacks power.

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o 411 Pension mandate to the cities Dillon’s Rule is quite different from the 10th Am. Home Rule: Iowa has been a home rule state for the last 50 years. Home rule states that if you exercise that power and the state doesn’t tell you you can’t do it, then you can assume you have that power.

Relations in Iowa: Federal and Unitary  Iowa follows the trend in terms of states dictating to local authorities (i.e., cities and townships.)  Web of federalism: “Local governments are the dominant providers of public education. But they operate under mandates from state governments that are responding to national legislation.” o EPA meets IDNR meets Indianola WWTP.  Mandates, funded and otherwise. (NCLB legislation)  Preemption (Arizona’s driver’s license law)  A love-hate relationship o Iowa gets about $1.10 for each $1.00 sent to the federal government Next Week  Political culture, ideology, and Iowa.  Tomorrow: Debate and APP Assignments posted

Week 3 (Sept. 10) Political Culture, Current Events, and that Old Time Religion A Moment for Theory: Process Model of Public Policy  Views public policy as a political activity. o Who: Voters, interest groups, legislators, presidents, bureaucrats, judges, and the like. o How: Identify the problem, set the agenda, formulate policy proposals, legitimize polices, implement policies, and evaluate policies. o Implications and assumptions: Who participates has a critical and determinant impact on the process. o Not much of a feedback loop like David Eastman’s model of inputs/outputs of public opinion. Liberal Democracies  Classical Liberalism: A belief in the supreme value of the individual, who is seen to have natural rights that exist independently of government, and who must therefore be protected from too much government.  Economic Liberalism: is a belief in limiting the role of government in the marketplace, emphasizing respect for private property, keeping regulation to the minimum, and promoting a free market driven by supply and demand. (aka capitalism)  Political Culture: How willing are we to allow the government to step in and control our civil liberties???

A Liberal Democracy is…  A state that is liberal in the sense of believing in limits on the powers of government;  It is democratic in the sense of believing that power derives from the governed  It has built a durable state structure;  And it has a diverse and advanced service-based economy.  Moreover, it is a state whose people enjoy a high standard of living, and which – because of these qualities – enjoy more influence in the world than its less democratic, less stable, and poorer neighbors. Chapter 2 of BV  Broad agreements across cultures and ideologies on what is important in America. o Individualism, freedom, private property, democracy, equality o Contrasted with other countries  Public opinion shapes political culture o Decline of Democrats, increase in Republicans, explosion of Independents o Politicians take note  Political culture shapes public policy o Relatively less outlays in social services o Less active role of government in the economy o Shapes opinion on the role of the Federal Reserve, too!  Compared to other nations, fairly homogenous Looking at culture another way…  Measuring political culture: o Almond and Verba’s The Civic Culture (1963)  Parochial – A: Didn’t know about government; B: Didn’t participate in government. 3rd world/underdeveloped world  Subject – A: Citizens know about government; B: Cannot participate in government. 2nd world/developing world  Participant – A: Citizens who know about government: B: Can and do participate in government. 1st world/ developed world  Fit in nicely with the push to quantify, and rational choice theories that were appearing about now. Regional Political Culture  What are some common contemporary political culture distinctions?  Are these fair? o Any out-of-state or international students notice differences in political culture? o Frequent travelers?  How might we measure political culture in the US? Dr. Daniel Elazar  American Federalism: A View From the States (1966)  American political culture is composed of three subcultures:

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o Traditionalist o Individualist o Moralist Attributes these forms of political culture to a region’s primary settler origin Fairly imprecise, but empirically grounded by Sharkansky (1969) as well as in subsequent editions Traditionalist o Government’s primary role is to maintain existing social and economic order o Ordinary citizens not expected to be very involved in policy-making (or to even vote) o Leaders from society’s elite – familial ties to other leaders commonplace o Mainly English agrarians that settled in the South Individualist o Minimal government – used as a means to facilitate market mechanisms o Politics is dirty business – corruption to be expected o Highly partisan approach emphasizing wins over compromise o Primarily English and German settlers to the Middle Colonies Moralist o Government is there to advance public interest and viewed as a positive influence in people’s lives o Higher levels of participation to be encouraged by the commonwealth o Corruption was not to be tolerated o Early settlers were Puritans, whose views were reinforced by later waves of Scandinavian and northern Europeans

So, how might political culture shape public policy?  18th Amendment  Voter registration laws

 Ballot access  Role of government in welfare  And the list goes on… Religion and public policy: A case study of inputs “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” – Matthew 22:21  The Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment has been interpreted by the Court to separate church and st...