American Public Policy : Promise and Performance

by PETERS B. GUY

• ISBN13: 9781568029061
• ISBN10: 1568029063
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-12-01
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Author Biography

B. Guy Peters is the Maurice Falk Professor of American Government at the University of Pittsburgh.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures	xi
Preface	xv
PART ONE The Nature of Public Policy
1. What Is Public Policy?	3	(18)
Defining Public Policy	4	(2)
The Instruments of Public Policy	6	(8)
Law	7	(1)
Services	8	(1)
Money	9	(1)
Taxes	10	(1)
Other Economic Instruments	11	(1)
Suasion	12	(1)
The Effects of Tools	12	(2)
The Environment of Public Policy	14	(6)
Conservatism	14	(1)
Participation	15	(1)
Pragmatism	16	(1)
Wealth	17	(1)
Diversity	18	(1)
World Leadership	19	(1)
Summary	20	(1)
2. The Structure of Policymaking in American Government	21	(26)
Federalism	22	(5)
Separation of Powers	27	(3)
Subgovernments	30	(5)
Public and Private	35	(3)
The Size and Shape of the Public Sector	38	(4)
Summary	42	(5)
PART TWO The Making of Public Policy
3. Agenda Setting and Public Policy	47	(28)
Agenda Setting	47	(3)
Kinds of Agendas	50	(1)
Who Sets Agendas?	51	(4)
Pluralist Approaches	52	(1)
Elitist Approaches	53	(1)
State-Centric Approaches	54	(1)
From Problem to Issue: How to Get Problems on the Agenda	55	(7)
The Effects of the Problem	55	(2)
Analogous and Spillover Agenda Setting	57	(1)
Relationship to Symbols	58	(1)
The Absence of Private Means	59	(2)
The Availability of Technology	61	(1)
Policy Formulation	62	(12)
Who Formulates Policy?	63	(4)
How to Formulate Policy	67	(3)
Aids for Policy Formulation	70	(2)
Policy Design	72	(2)
Summary	74	(1)
4. Legitimating Policy Choices	75	(21)
Legislative Legitimation	79	(4)
Oversight	83	(1)
Regulations and the Administrative Process	84	(10)
Public Access to the Regulatory Process	86	(1)
The Processes of Writing Regulations	86	(4)
The Courts	90	(1)
Popular Legitimation	91	(3)
Summary	94	(2)
5. Organizations and Implementation	96	(31)
Dramatis Personae	97	(8)
Implementation	105	(5)
The Legislation	105	(1)
Policy Issues	105	(2)
Political Setting	107	(2)
Interest-group Liberalism	109	(1)
The Organizational Setting	110	(15)
Organizational Disunity	110	(2)
Standard Operating Procedures	112	(3)
Organizational Communication	115	(2)
Time Problems	117	(1)
Horseshoe-Nail Problems and Public Planning	118	(1)
Interorganizational Politics	119	(1)
Vertical Implementation Structures	120	(2)
Horizontal Implementation Structures	122	(2)
From the Bottom Up?	124	(1)
The Third Generation?	125	(1)
Summary	125	(2)
6. Budgeting: Allocation and Public Policy	127	(40)
Characteristics of the Federal Budget	128	(2)
An Executive Budget	128	(1)
Line Item	129	(1)
An Annual Budget	130	(1)
The Budget Cycle	130	(10)
Setting the Parameters: The President and His Friends	131	(3)
Agency Requests	134	(1)
Executive Review	135	(1)
Congressional Action	136	(2)
Budget Execution	138	(1)
Budget Control	139	(1)
Summary	140	(1)
Problems in the Budgetary Process	140	(12)
The Deficit	141	(1)
Uncontrollable Expenditures	142	(2)
Back-Door Spending	144	(1)
The Overhang	145	(1)
Intergovernmental Budget Control	145	(2)
Reprogramming and Transfers	147	(1)
Supplemental Appropriations	148	(1)
Accessing the Outcomes: Incrementalism or What?	149	(2)
Critiques of Incrementalism	151	(1)
Reforming Budgeting	152	(6)
Program Budgeting	153	(3)
Zero-Base Budgeting	156	(2)
From Scalpels to Axes: Budget Reform in the 1980's and 1990's	158	(7)
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings	159	(2)
The Balanced-Budget Amendment	161	(1)
The Line-Item Veto	162	(1)
Decrementalism	163	(2)
Is Budget Change Its Own Reward?	165	(2)
7. Evaluation and Policy Change	167	(24)
Problems in Evaluating Public Programs	168	(13)
Goal Specification and Goal Change	168	(3)
Measurement	171	(4)
Targets	175	(2)
Efficiency and Effectiveness	177	(1)
Values and Evaluation	178	(1)
Politics	179	(1)
Increasing Requirements for Evaluation	179	(1)
Summary	180	(1)
Policy Change	181	(7)
Summary	188	(3)
PART THREE Substantive Policy Issues
8. Economic Policy	191	(32)
The Goals of Economic Policy	193	(11)
Economic Growth	194	(2)
Full Employment	196	(2)
Stable Prices	198	(2)
A Positive Balance of Payments	200	(2)
Structural Change	202	(2)
The Instruments of Economic Policy	204	(17)
Fiscal Policy	205	(6)
Monetary Policy	211	(3)
Regulations and Control	214	(2)
Public Support for Business	216	(3)
Public Ownership	219	(1)
Incentives	220	(1)
Moral Suasion	221	(1)
Summary	221	(2)
9. Tax Policy	223	(23)
Public Opinion and Taxation	227	(5)
Fairness	228	(1)
Value for Money	229	(3)
Choices in Tax Policy	232	(4)
Collectibility	232	(1)
Fiscal Neutrality	233	(1)
Buoyancy	233	(1)
Distributive Effects	234	(1)
Visibility	235	(1)
The Politics of Tax Reform	236	(9)
Tax Reform in the 1990's and Beyond	238	(2)
Tax Reform in the Bush Administration	240	(2)
Proposals for Further Fundamental Reform	242	(3)
Conclusion	245	(1)
10. Health Care Policies	246	(40)
Problems in Health Care	250	(13)
Access to Medical Care	251	(5)
Cost	256	(4)
Quality	260	(3)
Public Programs in Health Care	263	(7)
Medicare	263	(3)
Medicaid	266	(2)
Health Maintenance Organizations: Managing Managed Care	268	(2)
Health Care Regulation	270	(6)
Hospital Costs	270	(1)
Health Care Quality	271	(2)
Drug Regulation	273	(2)
Summary	275	(1)
The Pursuit of National Health Insurance	276	(8)
"Play or Pay"	278	(1)
Canadian-Style Comprehensive Coverage	278	(1)
The George H.W. Bush Administration	279	(1)
The Clinton Administration Plan and Its Alternatives	280	(2)
Summary	282	(2)
Conclusion	284	(2)
11. Income Maintenance: Social Security and Welfare	286	(40)
Social Insurance	288	(16)
Problems in Social Security	292	(5)
Social Security and the Economy	297	(1)
Financing Social Security	297	(3)
Reforming Social Security	300	(2)
Radical Reforms	302	(2)
Summary	304	(1)
Means-Tested Programs	304	(16)
AFDC and PRWORA: From Welfare to Workfare	305	(3)
The Family Support Act	308	(1)
The 1996 Reforms	309	(3)
Implementing Workfare	312	(1)
Alternatives for Further Reform of Income Support	313	(3)
The War on Poverty	316	(3)
Other Means-Tested Programs	319	(1)
The Persistence of Poverty in the United States	320	(4)
The Homeless	321	(2)
Private Social Programs	323	(1)
Summary	324	(2)
12. Educational Policy	326	(33)
Background	327	(14)
The Federal Government's Role in Education	330	(1)
The George H.W. Bush Administration	331	(1)
The Clinton Administration	332	(1)
Local Financing and the Federal Role	333	(1)
Higher Education	334	(2)
Funding for Higher Education	336	(1)
Elementary and Secondary Education	337	(4)
Issues of Educational Policy	341	(17)
Quality of Education	342	(1)
Vouchers and "Choice"	343	(4)
Competency Testing	347	(1)
Testing Teacher Competence	348	(1)
School Facilities	349	(1)
The Separation of Church and State	350	(2)
Unionization and Management	352	(1)
Equalization of Resources	353	(2)
Desegregation and Busing	355	(2)
Higher Education Costs	357	(1)
Summary	358	(1)
13. Energy and the Environment	359	(34)
Energy: Problems and Policies	360	(1)
Energy Sources	361	(7)
Natural Gas	362	(1)
Coal	363	(1)
Nuclear Power	364	(2)
Other Energy Sources in Use	366	(1)
Unconventional Energy Sources	366	(2)
Policy Options	368	(5)
The States and Energy Policy	371	(1)
Hard and Soft Energy Options	372	(1)
Environmental Policies	373	(14)
The Politics of Pollution	374	(4)
The Legislation	378	(6)
Toxic Waste	384	(3)
Endangered Species Act	387	(1)
Implementation of Environmental Controls	387	(6)
Alternatives to Regulation	390	(3)
14. Protective Policies: Defense and Law Enforcement	393	(34)
Defense Policy	394	(9)
The Environment of Defense Policy	395	(4)
Technology	399	(1)
Public Opinion	400	(1)
U.S. Force Configurations	401	(2)
Problems of Defense Policy	403	(11)
Military Procurement	403	(3)
Updating the Strategic Deterrent	406	(1)
The All-Volunteer Military	407	(2)
Other Personnel Issues	409	(1)
Conventional Forces and Strategies	410	(2)
Defense and/or Jobs	412	(2)
Law Enforcement	414	(4)
Federal Law Enforcement	414	(3)
Federal Support to State and Local Governments	417	(1)
Issues in Law Enforcement Policy	418	(8)
The Causes of Crime	418	(1)
Gun Control	419	(1)
The Death Penalty	420	(2)
The Rights of the Accused	422	(1)
Youth Crime	423	(1)
The Clinton Crime Bill	424	(2)
Conclusion	426	(1)
15. Culture Wars in American Politics: Regulating Social Life	427	(20)
Abortion and Reproductive Rights	430	(5)
The Rhetoric of Abortion Politics	431	(1)
Political and Policy Reactions to Roe and Doe	432	(3)
Gay Rights: Politics Comes out of the Closet	435	(4)
Gay Rights and Public Policy	436	(3)
The Separation of Church and State: School Prayer and Other Issues	439	(4)
Summary	443	(4)
PART FOUR Policy Analysis
16. Cost-Benefit Analysis	447	(15)
Principles of Cost-Benefit Analysis	448	(2)
Doing Cost-Benefit Analysis	450	(10)
Determining Costs and Benefits	451	(1)
Assigning Value	452	(3)
Discounting	455	(3)
Choosing among Projects	458	(2)
Extensions	460	(1)
Criticism and Modification	460	(2)
17. Ethical Analysis of Public Policy	462	(17)
Fundamental Value Premises	463	(15)
The Preservation of Life	463	(5)
The Preservation of Individual Autonomy	468	(2)
Lying	470	(3)
Fairness	473	(3)
The Concept of Desert	476	(2)
Ethics and Public Policy: Alternatives to Utilitarianism	478	(1)
Endnotes	479	(60)
Index	539