A



A.P. GOVERNMENT

Public Policy

Studying for this part of the exam is very difficult because public policy is such a vast and varied topic. The best approach at this point is to focus on the following: (1) how an issue gets on the agenda (2) how issues of concern become policies (3) how policies are matters for political debate (4) examples of landmark legislation

I. Agenda Setting—“The agenda” refers to the issues about which the government is paying attention and attempting to make policy

Consider who sets the agenda and how:

• Members of Congress certainly have agenda goals (often related to their constituents’ needs or the interest groups who back them)

• The President is an agenda setter

• Interest Groups (e.g., environmental groups putting clean energy on the agenda; NRA challenging gun laws)

• Crises often bring new things to the agenda (consider the impact of 9-11 or the Newtown massacre)

• Individual citizens can act as ‘policy entrepreneurs’ to get something on the agenda (e.g., Ralph Nader’s book Safe at Any Speed & Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring put 2 issues, car safety and use of pesticides, on the agenda)

• Political parties—see issues as possible ‘winners’ in elections (e.g., the debt, gay marriage, abortion)

• The Media—coverage of issues (e.g., genocide in Sudan) puts things in public’s mind and perhaps on the mind of politicians; SHOWS ROLE OF MEDIA = agenda setter

Policy Areas:

II. Economic Policy:

A. General Points:

1. U.S. has a Mixed Economy—elements of capitalism (privately owned means of production, individuals/corporations get profits) with some government regulation

2. One of biggest political issues Government Regulations and impact of economy on voters’ perceptions

a. Regulations show the connection between bureaucracy and policy

Examples: Securities Exchange Commission—regulates stock fraud; Labor practices regulated by minimum wage, labor laws; Occupational Health and Safety Administration—regulates working conditions

b. State of economy affects voters evaluation of president’s job; ‘pocketbook voting’—if things going well, incumbent does well; if economy isn’t doing well, incumbent may be hurt

c. The political parties approach the economy differently

Democrats focus on employment; Republicans focus on inflation; See this impact their appeal to constituents—Democrats traditionally appeal to working class, poor, minorities, union members; Republicans appeal to professionals and business people; 2004 voters who were satisfied with the economy voted 4-1 in favor of Bush, those dissatisfied with economy 4-1 in favor of Kerry; saw same trends in 2008 & 2012 (Obama and focus on extending unemployment insurance; Romney—cut taxes)

d. Many bureaucratic agencies are important, especially Federal Reserve Board, Council of Economic Advisors, Treasury Department; Within Congress several committees matter on economic policy

B. Types of economic policymaking (DEFINITELY SHOULD KNOW THESE)

1. Monetary Policy: manipulation of the supply of money and credit in private hands (focus on things like interest rate and inflation)

Too much cash in circulation causes inflation (increase in price of goods)

The Federal Reserve Board = main agency when it comes to monetary policy (see bureaucratic agency list)

FED sets the ‘federal funds rate’ which is the interest banks charge for overnight loans ; buys or sells bonds from banks which determines whether banks have more or less money to lend out; more to lend, borrowing is cheaper

**interest rates, inflation, etc. all affected by FED

**Chair of the FRB has more power over the economy than anyone (so many interest groups try to influence him)

2. Fiscal Policy: how the federal budget (taxing, spending, and borrowing) affect the economy

The Federal Reserve Board is responsible for monetary policy, Congress and the President for fiscal policy

Constitutionally—Congress got most of power over fiscal policy (coin money, regulate trade, appropriate funds, etc); but President has gained power here (must run on their economic record, so are concerned about policy); consider the role each plays in the budget process (this is also an area that voters can more easily see and understand in their daily lives); THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO BRANCHES

Each party has own view about how to handle fiscal policy (Democrats revere Roosevelt, Republicans revere Reagan)

Two competing theories: Keynesian Theory vs. Supply Side Economics

Keynesian argues that government spending can help deal with ups and downs in the economy; spend more in bad times and less in good (focused on demand); this is where a stimulus package might come into play—in the 2008 recession, Obama and others suggested needed GOVERNMENT spending to stimulate the economy (passed a stimulus package)

Supply Side (touted by Reagan)—job of government is to stimulate supply of goods, not demand for them; big government” is bad for the economy (makes up too much of the GDP); Government shouldn’t tax, spend, or regulate too much

CUT TAXES IS KEY (even if you cause deficits); some argue the ‘trickle down theory’—if the wealthy have more money to spend, the benefits trickle down to lower income people

3. Conclusions:

**Presidential power over the economy is limited BUT voters still consider the state of the economy when voting (and blame or credit those in power)

**Law mandates so much spending already (mandatory/uncontrollable spending) that it’s hard to change much in the budget (or affect spending much)

**biggest restraint on the government’s control of the economy is the capitalist system; Private Sector is MUCH larger than public sector SO consumers and businesses make the most decisions that affect the economy; US doesn’t support a socialist system (with more govt control)

**impact of the World Economy makes U.S. politicians’ attempt to control our economy even more difficult

C. Interest Groups & Economic Policy

Economic Interest Groups:

Those dealing with economic issues outnumber others; business, consumers, and labor are 3 main groups when it comes to economic policy

Business lobbyists are most well-organized and well-funded; usually focus on having few regulations and low business related taxes

Government also provides protections and incentives—copyright, patent, Small Business Administration (advises, counsels, loans money), fund research, tax incentives for certain activities (e.g., a business might get a tax break for ‘going green’)

Consumer Groups: focus on protecting the interest of consumers (often hard to get many consumers to contribute to their efforts because of the free rider problem)

First policy to protect consumers was the U.S. Food and Drug Act 1906; now the FDA has regulatory powers over many aspects of manufacture and sale of food and drugs (safety, effectiveness, etc)

60s’ and 70’s flood of consumer protection laws; 1972 Consumer Product Safety Commission created with powers to ban unsafe products

Federal Trade Commission—deals with truth in advertising (as well as regulating trade practices); handles Consumer Credit Protection Act (must get statement with interest must pay when borrow $)

Recently created Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (as a result of some of the activities that contributed to the economic downturn)—shows how Executive Branch can address consumer concerns about economy

Labor—until 1914 the federal government helped destroy, rather than protect labor unions

New Deal brings greater support for labor movement with National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) which guarantees right to collective bargaining and union representatives involved in negotiating contracts

Post WWII policy tilts away from supporting labor and prohibiting unfair acts by unions (Taft-Hartley Act); president gets power to halt strikes with a court injunction and allows for right-to-work laws

Success of unions—right to unemployment compensation; minimum wage (still an issue that divides the parties)

**unions have declined in membership and political power; no longer do union members vote solidly Democratic, but are more evenly split; hard to unionize some workers and some companies (like Walmart) primarily hire non-union

We’ve seen recent instances of State governments trying to limit the power of unions

Current Issues:

Debate over focus on debt vs. focus on unemployment; some Democrats argue need to focus on increasing employment, even if that means government spends money BUT that perspective is not currently popular.

The politics surrounding the fiscal cliff and the sequester demonstrate how the President and Congress focus on aspects of economic policy (particularly spending) and the 2 parties approach it differently

ADDITIONAL TERMS:

Unemployment: those seeking work who can’t find it (not just those who aren’t working)

Inflation: the rise in prices for consumer goods (use consumer price index which measures change in cost of buying a fixed basket of goods and services); not a perfect measure

Laissez-faire—theory that government should not mess with the economy; let market forces dictate what happens

III. Tax Policy:

A. Income vs. wealth

Income= basically your paycheck; how much you earn

1. U.S. high per capita income (not the highest), but also among the biggest extremes in income distribution (bigger gaps between rich and poor than other western countries)

2. Disparity has grown since 1960--1960 richest 5th of population made 42% of all income, 2009 50% for top fifth, 3.4% for bottom; Average income of top earners has gone up dramatically over last 10 years, while that of lowest earners has remained stagnant or gone down

3. Income distribution not debated in policy arena BUT used as a charge against policies (now see talk of ‘class warfare’)

Wealth—total value of assets one owns (stocks, bonds, houses, etc) Wealth is more unevenly distributed (1/3 wealth held by top 1%; 1/3 by next 9%; 1/3 by remaining 90%)

**Significance to politics—greater polarization in politics, one issue is divided over ‘who gets what’ (liberals and conservatives answer this differently)—concerns about redistribution of wealth

B. How does policy affect income? TAXES and EXPENDITURES

Taxes:

3 types of taxes:

1. progressive—takes higher percent from people with larger incomes

2. regressive—takes higher percent from those at lower income levels

3. proportional—takes same percent from everyone

Some taxes are regressive; like sales tax, which seems proportional, but since poor spend more on necessities, if they are subject to taxes, the poor pay higher percent of income in taxes than rich

FEDERAL taxes are primarily progressive; rich pay higher percent tax rate

IV. Social Welfare:

A. Social welfare policies=programs that provide some form of assistance to groups of people; such policies often viewed negatively in public mind because erroneously associated with going overwhelming to the poor; but most money under social welfare policy goes towards programs that are universally available

1.key distinction: entitlement programs vs. means tested programs

a. Entitlement programs: government benefits that certain people are entitled to regardless of need (“social insurance programs”—programs you or your employer contributed to in the first place); Examples: Social Security and Medicare (biggest); unemployment; **These programs are popular and politically difficult to change

b. Means-Tested programs: provide benefits only to people with specific need; particularly those under the poverty line; people have to qualify for them; Examples: Medicaid (medical care for the very poor), food stamps, TANF, SSI, CHIP ;**these are politically controversial and fodder for challenges; many people feel these are not needed because poverty is a problem that should be solved by the individual (because it’s caused by the individual—linked to American individualism)

Less is spent on many means-tested programs than is cost in revenue from deductions (for example, people who own homes can write off the interest payments on their mortgages, so they don’t have to pay as much in taxes; but the poor typically don’t own houses, so they don’t get that write-off; so $18 billion is spent on food stamps vs. $67 billion it costs in government revenues for tax breaks on mortgage interest)

Expenditures—money government spends on programs that benefit people

Example: transfer payments—benefits government gives directly to individuals

Like Social Security payments, food stamps, low interest school loans;

in-kind payments—not cash directly given to the person, but something like loans or food stamps

4. Who’s poor?--Relative poverty—compared to other nations, poor in America aren’t as bad off; Poverty line—used to count number of poor people; 2003 family of 3 fall below poverty if annual income is below $14,824/year; Underestimates number of poor, because some drop in and out of poverty; most of the poor actually work; Poverty is more common among African-Americans, Hispanics, unmarried women, and inner-city residents; Poverty now most common among women and children (rather than the elderly)= ‘feminization of poverty’

B. WELFARE: (Public Assistance Programs)—different from social insurance programs because based on need and funded by general tax revenues; established by means test (must prove poor enough to qualify); much less support for these; most of these programs are established by federal law, administered through the states, funded by state and federal governments (SO COOPERATIVE & FISCAL FEDERALISM); cost much less than social insurance programs (are discretionary spending & can be cut in the budget; all of these programs make up 14% of the budget)

History:

AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) = welfare system before the 90’s; federal government established uniform standards for states and subsidized their attempt to help families with no breadwinner (states given ability to set own benefit levels); Johnson’s War on Poverty boosted federal and state support for means-tested programs (including food stamps)---programs collectively called welfare

**ISSUE divided Republicans and Democrats; over time many on both sides of the aisle suggest welfare was failing—many argued it created a system of dependency and the way it was set up discouraged people from getting off welfare

**became a media issue…depicted ‘deadbeat dads’ and ‘welfare queens-- people abusing the system; very negative public perception (PUBLIC OPINION POLLS PRESSURE TO REFORM); much of the media presentation focused on black welfare recipients creating the impression that poverty was a black problem (reality most participants over time have been white; they make up larger portion of overall population); Reagan persuaded Congress to cut welfare benefits and lower the number of people receiving them

Welfare Reform:

Clinton in ’92 focused on reforming welfare in his campaign; Gingrich and Republican majority from ’94 also supportive of change; Democrats opposed the bill, Clinton relied heavily on Republicans

’96 Welfare Reform Bill: each state get fixed amount of money to run welfare programs, people on welfare get benefits for 2 years, then must find work, lifetime maximum of 5 years on welfare

***EXAMPLE OF DEVOLUTION—GIVING STATES FEDERAL MONEY TO RUN WELFARE PROGRAMS; GIVES THEM DISCRETION***

Replaced AFDC cash payments (benefit went directly to family from federal government) with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Assessing the reform: Worked in that it got people ‘off’ welfare; fewer people receiving benefits; Those who leave welfare often have very low wages; lack access to childcare; didn’t resolve issues of poverty or what to do with people who are in need(this kind of discretionary spending is on the chopping block & many state budgets are strapped, so cut these programs)

Current Public Assistance Programs:

• Medicaid—healthcare for poor already on welfare; based on need and funded by general tax revenues

• Food Stamps—assistance for purchasing food; in-kind benefit, qualify based on need; new restrictions under Welfare Reform of ’96 limited benefits

• Subsidized Housing—help for poor in paying for housing; typically rent vouchers (in-kind benefit); cost of this program is much less than tax breaks for homeowners cost the government in lost revenue (costs 3 times more than subsidized housing)

• Supplemental Security Income— benefits for disabled, blind, elderly (not typically criticized)

C. Social Insurance Programs

Social Security:

History of the program: Prior to its enactment in 1935, there were no federal provisions for the people who become or are born disabled, the elderly who didn’t have savings; so many under these conditions lived in poverty Social

Security Act of 1935: created Social Security and programs for some of the poor; post Depression became clear that poverty was a social problem that couldn’t just be handled by charities; there needed to be a safety net

Current Concern—‘Baby Boomers’ will break the system

**most expensive policy in U.S. BUT popular because people contribute into it & everyone receives it

How works: government taxes workers and employers; this is put into Social Security Trust Fund (payroll tax--FICA on paycheck); The Trust Fund (where the money is put)—currently more going in than coming out, but that will change; money in trust fund can only be invested in US treasury bonds (not other stocks)

Put in a certain percent up to a maximum (so someone making $90,000 pays same as Bill Gates); 2008 percent was 6.2% for both employee & employer (maximum was around $102,000); Run entirely by federal government, they collect the taxes & distribute the checks directly to the individuals

Problem: As # of workers to recipients decreases, cost to each worker will increase; Average benefits increase over time to keep pace with cost of living increase; By 2035 payouts will exceed income AND Congress will have to use regular appropriations to pay beneficiaries; money that would have gone to other programs will HAVE TO go to Social Security (especially if don’t raise taxes)

Options: cut benefits to retirees or raise taxes on workers or raise retirement age—NONE IS POLITICALLY POPULAR; **elderly Americans are well-organized and politically active so hard to touch Social Security

Proposals: Bush and Republicans suggested take a portion of contributions (2% of the 6.2% individual contribution) and put it in private retirement funds—each individual would be given the chance to put that money into a retirement fund (private account, stocks, bonds) =

‘privatization of social security’; some argue it would deplete the fund faster than already happening

Was a Presidential commission to Strengthen Social Security—its warnings about Social Security were serious and it suggested some privatization; Concern with privatization is that diverting money from the Trust Fund would merely bankrupt it earlier; concern also that if Stock Market falls then people would slip into poverty

When Stock Market did slump, support for privatization waned

**As noted eslewhere—Social Security is a mandatory expenditure; people have paid into the system and all who are eligible must get their checks

Medicare: another social insurance program

Post-WWII, Truman proposed a government-paid health insurance program; the American Medial Association rallied against it; same thing happened to Kennedy when he proposed it; ’64 election brought liberals to Congress (and Johnson had support), so Medicare passed in ‘65

▪ medical assistance for retirees—pays for hospital/nursing home, but recipient must pay portion of expenses (can apply for government to pay if can’t afford)

▪ most of program funded by payroll taxes

▪ like Social Security, is popular

▪ 2003—prescription drug program added (program began 2006), if eligible for Medicare, eligible for drug program (no income, health requirement); subsidizes (meaning government pays for) part of the person’s prescription drug costs; the person must enroll to get covered

▪ will run out of money without some changes, such changes are politically difficult (Paul Ryan, Chair of House Budget Committee, made recent proposals to make changes, which were blasted)

▪ new health care bill includes increase on Medicare taxes for people making more than $200,000 for individual, $250,000 for joint filers (.9% increase, making it 2.35%); will also allow taxation of investment income of those in the same bracket (investment income is money made from stocks, etc.—previously not taxed for Medicare)

▪ Medicare ‘donut hole’ refers to a gap in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program—plan covers $2,700 in prescription drugs/year & then stops until costs reach $6,100 (after which plan covers costs); so the person has to cover the costs between those thresholds out of pocket; this creates a big burden on those with fixed incomes

▪ run by federal government; a single-payer healthcare system for elderly (very popular among elderly so hard to get rid of); the AARP is well-organized and mobilizes to oppose changes

Other Programs:

• Unemployment Insurance—1935 Social Security Act provided for workers who lost job involuntarily; jointly administered by federal and state; federal government collects payroll taxes, states set tax rate, conditions of eligibility, benefit level; benefits are low & for limited time

• State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)—matching federal funds to states for health insurance programs for kids; covers uninsured kids in families too poor for Medicaid, but in need of assistance; under Social Security Act, states have flexibility w/broad guidelines from federal government (dual & fiscal federalism); George W. Bush failed to reauthorize parts at end of his term, Obama passed in reauthorization & expansion in 2009; shows federalism

Compared to other Nations: Many other Western countries provide more benefits, have larger social welfare systems BUT their taxes are much higher; In America these problems often seen as individual responsibility/issue; Europeans see more as government responsibility

**”The Welfare State” is a tag line that can be used to criticize social welfare policies (also charges of ‘communism’)

Administration of Social Welfare Policy: How are these programs run? Who is responsible?

• Some are examples of dual federalism—federal government pays for some/all & states run (some states feel burdened when programs are expanded because costs don’t cover those expansions)

• Social Security Administration—an independent government agency (so not a cabinet position) administers Social Security, Supplemental Security Income

• Department of Health and Human Services administers Medicare and Medicaid

• Other cabinet departments have a hand in some programs

• Within Congress various committees would handle relevant legislation (policy area committees, ways & means, budge, appropriations)

• Legislation often establishes a program or expands it (or sets levels of eligibility) & then the bureaucracy creates ways of enforcing or carrying out that legislation (through regulations)

• Because of the impact of these programs on the budget, all policymakers are concerned about them (at the state-level, too)

D. Healthcare Policy—provides a good illustration of how an issue gets on the agenda, gets debated and torn apart in Congress, gets pushed by the President and others, gets reactions from the public, and becomes policy. It also illustrates issues associated with implementing policy (p. 657-658 in textbook).

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) demonstrates several important concepts: the role played by a president and Congress in passing legislation, the difficulty a president faces when trying to ‘control’ his own party (if Democrats weren’t fully on board, could it get passed), the backlash a Congress can face (the Democratic losses in the 2010 midterm; the ‘town hall meetings’ where voters yelled at members of Congress about their views on the bill), the role of public opinion on policymaking (as parts became less popular, the support in Congress waned), the role interest groups and the media play; the challenges in Court used to check Congress and the President; states challenging the federal mandate (issue of federalism)

Departments of Health and Human Services and Education are important—shows role of burearcracy

V. Foreign and National Security Policy

A. Tools of Foreign Policy—military, diplomatic, economic

B. Actors in foreign policy: Nations; International Organizations (e.g., U.N., NATO); multinational corporations, NGOs (non-governmental orgs)

U.N.—created 1945; members agree to renounce war and respect human or economic reform; some doubt the effectiveness of the U.N. (sometimes political debate about our inovlement)

C. The Policymakers

A. The President

1. Chief Diplomat—negotiates treaties (formal power)

2. Commander in Chief of armed forces (formal power)

3. Give official recognition to other countries (formal power)

4. policy made through formal mechanisms—treaties or executive agreements Executive agreements don’t need presidential approval so presidents often prefer (most not controversial, but Vietnam War ended with one)

5. Advantages: Constitutional powers AND access to information, ability to act with speed and in secrecy

B. Diplomats

1. State Department and Secretary of State—typically key foreign policy advisor

a. U.S. Ambassadors engage in diplomacy

b. 30,000 State Department employees (includes appointees and members of the Foreign Service)—help formulate and execute policy

c. Many presidents have relied more heavily on special advisors (like National Security Advisor), rather than State Department

C. National Security Establishment

1. Defense Department (Pentagon) ; Secretary of Defense—main civilian advisor to president on defense matters

2. Joint Chiefs of Staff—commanding officers of each of the armed services; sometimes more conservative regarding use of force than civilian advisors

3. National Security Council—formed in 1947 to coordinate foreign and military policy; includes president, vice president, secretary of defense, secretary of state; national security assistant manages NSC staff

4. Conflict w/in the establishment is common

--sometimes conflict over policy

--sometimes engage in actions that others aren’t aware of (1986 covert operations to sell missiles to Iran in return for help in releasing hostages in Lebanon; money from the sale used to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua

5. Central Intelligence Agency—coordinate information and intelligence gathering

--provides information to help set policy

--use of espionage to collect information

--controversial when their tactics are used to gather information on Americans (done during the Civil Rights Movement, Anti-War Movement)

--involvement in other nations’ internal affairs—support coups in certain countries; provide aid to certain groups

Now CIA must make Congressional committees aware of covert operations (OVERSIGHT)

**criticized for failure to predict 9/11 and assertion that Iraq had WMDs; recent criticism over some actions in Pakistan

6. National Security Administration—use of electronic eavesdropping to gain information (came under fire with warrantless wiretaps used by Bush administration); CIVIL LIBERTIES ISSUE

7. major re-organizations post-9/11

D. Congress—shares Constitutional authority over foreign and defense policy

1. Declare war, raise and organize armed forces

2. appropriate funds for national security activities

3. ratify treaties and nominations

4. “power of the purse” and oversight

--carefully examine defense budget

--often able to challenge presidential action due to the powers of Congress, but will initially defer to president (see in both Bush’s actions after 9/11 and Obama’s actions with Bin-Laden, Libya, etc.)

Current Foreign Policy Issues:

“War on Terrorism”—use of “defensive intervention” and less reliance on alliances; New doctrine focuses on U.S. military preeminence and unilateral action, if necessary-- U.S. invasion of Iraq follows this idea— designed to preempt future strikes. Bush administration’s use of preemptive warfare and attempt to ‘spread democracy’ were a departure for traditional conservatives (often called ‘neo-conservatives’)

Obama inherits 2 wars and focus on security; emphasizes re-building alliances; economic concerns become important, which limits ability to engage in foreign policy action; drop in support for wars shows how public opinion limits what a president can do

U.S. response to Arab Spring and other ‘hot spots’ around the world is tied to impact of our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan—Is there public support for more involvement? What do we do about places like Syria or North Korea? What if it costs more money? How should we use drones? All of these current issues are relevant to the politics of foreign policy. Public Opinion ties into how these issues are addressed (or, at least, framed).

Defense Spending—influenced by budgetary limitations, ideology, political concerns

A. Historically many argue that must choose between defense and domestic spending (“guns or butter”)—but evidence of this is limited; these kinds of spending seem to be independent of each other

B. Conservative ideology supports more defense spending

C. Liberal ideology typically focuses on domestic issues, but some shift after 9/ 11 & War on Terrorism

D. Debates over proper level of spending; but U.S. still spend more than next 15 or 20 biggest spenders combined, has nuclear superiority, and dominant armed forces

E. Where money goes

1. personnel—1.4 million on active duty and 860,000 national guard and reserves; rely more heavily on national guard and reserves than in the past

2. weapons

3. foreign aid

IV. Education Policy

Education policy—typically left to states, but more federal involvement over the years (good illustration of cooperative federalism)

Legislation:

Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965)—first significant federal legislation—dealt with access, quality, etc.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990)—covers much Special Education law

No Child Left Behind major piece of legislation—requires states to show Adequate Yearly Progress is student performance or can lose funds (example of federalism and some say unfunded mandate);

Obama’s Race to the Top—funds tied to Recovery Act and states had to compete and agree to certain requirements (teacher quality, assessments)

***All of this provides good examples of how the federal government pushes policy goals onto states in an area formerly left to states by using funds (grants) and mandates

V. Environmental Policy:

Environmental Policymaking

U.S. political system affects how it’s carried out

--more adversarial than Europe (competing interests fight over policy; get fight between industry and environmentalists)

--lots of bureaucracy

--impact of federalism

States must handle most compliance with programs, increases adversarial nature

--Separation of Powers—anyone who has a concern about the policy can gain access at some entry point (Courts, Congress); so groups can push for legislation or sue if legislation isn’t enforced

--many varied interest groups interested in this policy area (environmental groups, business groups, farm groups, unions, consumer groups)---use of all methods to pursue policies (lobbying, litigation, public pressure, campaign finance)

Endangered Species Act

Passed 1973—puts certain animals on the list and they can’t be bought, sold, or killed and economic activity that harms such species can be stopped (like building dams, etc); protects habitats of animals; Federal regulations establish whether activity interferes with species

Has public support, but criticized by those who must comply with regulations

Clean Air Act 1970 put tough restrictions on automobile emissions; initially public demand for it (show role of interest groups); INVOLVES FEDERAL MANDATES

Involved requirements on cars producing pollution; also attempted to require states to improve air quality through transportation rules and emission standards; part of it would have put restrictions on use of cars (including bans and gas rationing) **popular opposition to measures to affect consumer use of cars failed SO deadlines for emissions standards delayed by Congress (never came to fruition)

Fight over new kinds of cars also stalled policy—people didn’t like costs or loss of horsepower; United Auto Workers Union concerned about impact on U.S.auto industry

1990 Clean Air Act revised—new tougher auto emission controls, but pushed back deadline for compliance; the Environmental Protection Agency makes and enforces regulations (example of role of bureaucracy)

Compliance for getting rid of smog in worst cities set 20 years later

***PUBLIC SUPPORTS TOUGH ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS AS LONG AS THEY DON’T HAVE TO PAY (either with cost of car or loss of use of car)

So, cost-benefit analysis/impact affects support for policy

Costs low to public (like requiring environmental impact statement from federal agency attempting to do something that will affect the human environment), public will support; Costs high to public (like increase in gas taxes to discourage driving), not likely to support

**Clean Air Acts allow for citizens to sue to enforce the law—that’s unusual

**good example of Federalism—it’s a federal law BUT states must do much of the work to carry it out

**the Act has evolved and been amended over the years

Recent Policy: (p. 661-667 in textbook might be helpful)

Bush proposed the Clean Skies Initiative (and the Clear Skies Act developed later but never passed out of committee)—this was an attempt to alter requirements on industry for limiting pollution (and allow some degree of market control over the limits); the act was opposed by environmental groups (and somewhat supported by industry)

Obama—campaigned on promise that he would push for stronger environmental legislation and make addressing climate change and alternative energy a priority; focus on Healthcare and other issues early in his term limited his ability to address climate change, so environmentalists have become critical of him (especially his willingness to support nuclear energy, ‘clean coal,’ and off-shore oil drilling). His lack of support for the Keystone Pipeline (from Canada thru U.S. to Gulf coast) was supported by environmentalists (but criticized by Republicans and others); he may change is mind on that

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