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Government Institutions and Policy Actors

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Policy stalemate and improving policy capacity. 3. Growth of Government ... bicameral system. committee system (division & specialization of labor) ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Government Institutions and Policy Actors


1
Government Institutions and Policy Actors
2
Outline
  • Growth of government
  • Structure of policymaking
  • federalism
  • separation of powers
  • subgovernments/policy subsystems
  • Public opinion and public policy
  • Interest groups
  • Policy stalemate and improving policy capacity

3
Growth of Government
  • Growth of nation and population
  • Increased complexity of society
  • Regulation of business
  • Protection of social welfare
  • Role of U.S. in the world
  • Citizen demands

4
Government Institutions and Policy Capacity
  • Complexity and fragmentation
  • Federalism
  • State variation and policy capacity
  • Separation of Powers
  • Legislative
  • Executive
  • Judiciary
  • Informal Actors
  • Public opinion
  • Interest groups
  • Subgovernments

5
Federalism
  • Evolution of federalism
  • dual federalism
  • cooperative federalism
  • Continuing controversies, especially over federal
    dollars and state expectations
  • State variation in policy capacity
  • The pros and cons of devolution of authority to
    the states

6
Separation of Powers
  • Power is shared among three branches
  • legislature, executive, and judiciary
  • Founders were concerned with possibility of
    government tyranny
  • Has added to the complexity of governing
  • Has added to the challenge of building consensus
    for policy action, especially between the
    legislature and executive

7
Separation of Powers Policymakers
  • Legislature lawmaking
  • bicameral system
  • committee system (division specialization of
    labor)
  • Executive law enforcing
  • president/bureaucracy involved in policy
    development
  • bureaucratic structure
  • Judicial law interpreting
  • reactive rather than proactive
  • judicial review

8
Organizational Formats
  • Legislative organizations (e.g., committees,
    individual members, party leadership)
  • Executive Office of the President (EOP)
  • executive departments (cabinet-level departments)
  • subagencies
  • independent executive agencies (e.g., EPA)
  • independent regulatory commissions

9
Informal Actors Public Opinion
  • Public opinion
  • is important in a democratic system
  • is fleeting
  • many people are inattentive to politics and
    policy
  • can be voiced in numerous ways
  • can have an impact, if people willing to take the
    time/effort
  • can lead to interest group formation and activity

10
Informal Actors Interest Groups
  • Important in politics, governance, and
    policymaking
  • Lobbying all branches, both for/against
    policies
  • money for elections
  • use of media
  • information (substantive and political)
  • litigation
  • direct contact w/policymakers

11
Informal Actors Policy Subsystems
  • Informal settings in which policies are made
  • Have been called many different things
  • subgovernments
  • issue networks
  • iron triangles

12
Iron Triangles
Bureaucratic Agency
Policy Support
Budget Programs
POLICY
Interest Group
Congressional Committee/Sub
Support Money
13
Policy Stalemate and Capacity
  • Why does stalemate occur?
  • Constitutional design and divided govt
  • Complex problems
  • Public opinion and consensus
  • Organized interests
  • Ineffective political leadership
  • Improving capacity
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