Understanding Public Policy

by Dye, Thomas R.

• ISBN13: 9780131174528
• ISBN10: 0131174525
• Edition: 11th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

This leading introduction to public policy is designed to provide learners with concrete tools for not only understanding public policy in general, but for analyzingspecific public policies. It focuses onwhat policies governments pursue,why governments pursue the policies they do, and what theconsequences of these policies are. Very contemporary in perspective, it introduces eight analytical models currently used by political scientists to describe and explain political life and then, using these various analytical models--singly and in combination--explores specific public policies in a variety of key domestic policy areas. For individuals interested in a summary of current public policy in a variety of areas.

Table of Contents

Preface	xv
Policy Analysis: What Governments Do, Why They Do It, and What Difference It Makes	1	(10)
What Is Public Policy?	1	(2)
Why Study Public Policy?	3	(2)
What Can Be Learned From Policy Analysis?	5	(1)
Policy Analysis and Policy Advocacy	6	(1)
Policy Analysis and the Quest for Solutions to America's Problems	7	(2)
Policy Analysis as Art and Craft	9	(1)
Note	10	(1)
Bibliography	10	(1)
Web Sites	10	(1)
Models of Politics: Some Help in Thinking about Public Policy	11	(20)
Models for Policy Analysis	11	(1)
Institutionalism: Policy as Institutional Output	12	(2)
Process: Policy as Political Activity	14	(1)
Rationalism: Policy as Maximum Social Gain	15	(3)
Incrementalism: Policy as Variations on the Past	18	(2)
Group Theory: Policy as Group Equilibrium	20	(2)
Elite Theory: Policy as Elite Preference	22	(2)
Public Choice Theory: Policy as Collective Decision Making by Self-Interested Individuals	24	(2)
Game Theory: Policy as Rational Choice in Competitive Situations	26	(2)
Models: How to Tell if They are Helping or Not	28	(1)
Notes	29	(1)
Bibliography	30	(1)
Web Sites	30	(1)
The Policymaking Process: Decision-Making Activities	31	(29)
The Policy Process: How Policies Are Made	31	(1)
Problem Identification and Agenda Setting	31	(2)
Agenda Setting From The Bottom Up	33	(2)
Agenda Setting From The Top Down	35	(4)
``Nondecisions'': Deciding What will not be Decided	39	(1)
Agenda Setting and Mobilizing Opinion: The Mass Media	40	(2)
Formulating Policy	42	(1)
Interest Groups and Policymaking	43	(4)
Policy Legitimation: The Proximate Policymakers	47	(5)
Policy Implementation: the Bureaucracy	52	(3)
Policy Evaluation: Impressionistic Versus Systematic	55	(1)
Summary	56	(1)
Notes	57	(1)
Bibliography	58	(1)
Web Sites	58	(2)
Criminal Justice: Rationality and Irrationality in Public Policy	60	(32)
Crime in America	60	(3)
Crime and Deterrence	63	(2)
Does Crime Pay?	65	(2)
Police and Law Enforcement	67	(3)
Federalizing Crime Fighting	70	(1)
Crime and Guns	71	(3)
The Drug War	74	(5)
Crime and the Courts	79	(3)
RICO Versus Liberty	82	(2)
Prisons and Correctional Policies	84	(1)
Capital Punishment	85	(3)
Summary	88	(1)
Notes	89	(1)
Bibliography	90	(1)
Web Sites	91	(1)
Health and Welfare: The Search for Rational Strategies	92	(33)
Rationality and Irrationality in the Welfare State	92	(3)
Defining the Problem: Poverty in America	95	(1)
Who are the Poor?	96	(3)
Why are the Poor Poor?	99	(2)
The Preventive Strategy: Social Security	101	(2)
Evaluation: Intended and Unintended Consequences of Social Security	103	(2)
Social Security Reform?	105	(2)
The Alleviative Strategy: Public Assistance	107	(1)
Welfare Reform	108	(2)
Evaluation: is Welfare Reform Working?	110	(1)
The Working Poor	111	(1)
Homelessness and Public Policy	112	(1)
Health Care in America	113	(3)
Evaluation: Health Care Access and Costs	116	(3)
Health Care Reform Strategies	119	(2)
Summary	121	(2)
Notes	123	(1)
Bibliography	123	(1)
Web Sites	123	(2)
Education: The Group Struggle	125	(30)
Multiple Goals in Educational Policy	125	(1)
The Educational Groups	126	(2)
Battling Over the Basics	128	(3)
The Federal Government's Role in Education	131	(3)
``No Child Left Behind''	134	(2)
Controversies Over Testing	136	(1)
Parental Choice in Education	137	(2)
Battles Over School Finances	139	(1)
Public Policy and Higher Education	140	(2)
``Diversity'' in Higher Education	142	(3)
Groups in Higher Education	145	(2)
Reading, Writing, and Religion	147	(4)
Summary	151	(1)
Notes	152	(1)
Bibliography	153	(1)
Web Sites	153	(2)
Economic Policy: Incrementalism at Work	155	(22)
Incrementalism in Fiscal and Monetary Policy	155	(1)
Economic Theories as Policy Guides	156	(4)
The Performance of the American Economy	160	(1)
The Fed at Work	161	(2)
Incrementalism and Government Spending	163	(2)
``Entitlement'' Spending	165	(2)
Changing Budget Priorities: Challenging Incrementalism	167	(1)
Government Debt, Deficits, and Surpluses	168	(2)
The Formal Budgetary Process	170	(4)
Summary	174	(1)
Notes	175	(1)
Bibliography	175	(1)
Web Sites	175	(2)
Tax Policy: Battling the Special Interests	177	(20)
Interest Groups and Tax Policy	177	(1)
The Federal Tax System	178	(5)
Taxation, Fairness, and Growth	183	(3)
Tax Reform and the Special Interests	186	(2)
Return of the Special Interests	188	(3)
Replacing the Income Tax?	191	(3)
Summary	194	(1)
Notes	195	(1)
Bibliography	195	(1)
Web Sites	196	(1)
International Trade and Immigration: Elite-Mass Conflict	197	(20)
The Global Economy	197	(1)
Changing Elite Preferences for World Trade	198	(4)
Elite Gains from Trade	202	(3)
Mass Losses From Trade	205	(3)
Elite-Mass Differences Over Immigration	208	(2)
National Immigration Policy	210	(4)
Summary	214	(1)
Notes	215	(1)
Bibliography	215	(1)
Web Sites	216	(1)
Environmental Policy: Externalities and Interests	217	(23)
Public Choice and the Environment	217	(3)
Environmental Externalities	220	(6)
Interest Group Effects	226	(2)
The Global Warming Controversy	228	(3)
The Nuclear Industry Meltdown	231	(2)
Politicians and Bureaucrats: Regulating the Environment	233	(2)
Alternative Public Choice Solutions	235	(2)
Summary	237	(1)
Notes	238	(1)
Bibliography	238	(1)
Web Sites	239	(1)
Civil Rights: Elite and Mass Interaction	240	(33)
Elite and Mass Opinions and Race	240	(2)
The Development of Civil Rights Policy	242	(2)
Mass Resistance to Desegregation	244	(3)
Racial Balancing in Public Schools	247	(2)
The Civil Rights Movement	249	(2)
Public Policy and Affirmative Action	251	(2)
The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action	253	(3)
Mass Opinion and Affirmative Action	256	(3)
Public Policy and Hispanic Americans	259	(1)
The Constitution and Gender Equality	260	(2)
Public Policy and Gender Equality	262	(4)
Abortion and the Right to Life	266	(2)
Public Policy and the Disabled	268	(1)
Summary	269	(1)
Notes	270	(2)
Bibliography	272	(1)
Web Sites	272	(1)
American Federalism: Institutional Arrangements and Public Policy	273	(21)
American Federalism	273	(1)
Why Federalism?	274	(2)
Politics and Institutional Arrangements	276	(2)
American Federalism: Variations on the Theme	278	(4)
Money and Power Flow to Washington	282	(1)
Federalism Revived?	283	(2)
Comparing Public Policies of the States	285	(2)
Institutions and Public Policy	287	(3)
Summary	290	(1)
Notes	291	(1)
Bibliography	292	(1)
Web Sites	292	(2)
Defense Policy: Strategies for Serious Games	294	(22)
National Security as a Serious Game	294	(1)
Confronting Nuclear Threats	295	(1)
Arms Control Games	296	(3)
Missile Defenses: The Limits of Deterrence	299	(1)
NATO and European Security	300	(3)
When to Use Military Force?	303	(3)
Using Military Force	306	(3)
Determining Military Force Levels	309	(4)
Summary	313	(2)
Notes	315	(1)
Bibliography	315	(1)
Web Sites	315	(1)
Homeland Security: Terrorism and Nondeterrable Threats	316	(16)
The Nature of Terrorism	316	(1)
The War on Terrorism	317	(5)
The Department of Homeland Security	322	(1)
Fighting Terrorism With Intelligence	323	(4)
Security Versus Liberty	327	(3)
Summary	330	(1)
Notes	330	(1)
Bibliography	331	(1)
Web Sites	331	(1)
Policy Evaluation: Finding Out What Happens after a Law is Passed	332	(19)
Policy Evaluation: Assessing the Impact of Public Policy	332	(2)
The Symbolic Impact of Policy	334	(1)
Program Evaluation: What Governments Usually Do	335	(2)
Program Evaluation: What Governments Can Do	337	(2)
Federal Evaluation: The General Accounting Office	339	(1)
Experimental Policy Research	340	(2)
Program Evaluation: Why It Fails So Often	342	(1)
How Bureaucrats Explain Negative Findings	343	(1)
Why Government Programs Are Seldom Terminated	344	(2)
Politics As a Substitute For Analysis	346	(1)
The Limits Of Public Policy	347	(1)
Notes	348	(1)
Bibliography	349	(1)
Web Sites	349	(2)
Index	351

Excerpts

Policy analysis is concerned with "who gets what" in politics and, more importantly, "why" and "what difference it makes." We are concerned not only with what policies governments pursue, but why governments pursue the policies they do, and what the consequences of these policies are. Political science, like other scientific disciplines, has developed a number of concepts and models to help describe and explain political life. These models are not really competitive in the sense that any one could be judged as the "best." Each focuses on separate elements of politics, and each helps us understand different things about political life. We begin with a brief description of eight analytic models in political science and the potential contribution of each to the study of public policy: Institutional model Process model Rational model Incremental model Group model Elite model Public choice model Game theory model Most public policies are a combination of rational planning, incrementalism, competition among groups, elite preferences, public choice, political processes, and institutional influences. Throughout this volume we employ these models, both singly and in combination, to describe and explain public policy. However, certain chapters rely more on one model than another. We attempt to describe and explain public policy by the use of these various analytic models. Readers are not only informed about public policy in a variety of key domestic policy areas; they are also encouraged to utilize these conceptual models in political science to explain the causes and consequences of public policies in these areas. The policy areas studied are: Criminal justice Health and welfare Education Economic policy Taxation International trade and immigration Environmental protection Civil rights State and local spending and services National defense Homeland Security Any of these policy areas might be studied by using more than one model. Frequently our selection of a particular analytic model to study a specific policy area was based as much on pedagogical considerations as on anything else. We simply wanted to demonstrate how political scientists employ analytic models. Once readers are familiar with the nature and uses of analytic models in political science, they may find it interesting to explore the utility of models other than the ones selected by the author in the explanation of particular policy outcomes. For example, we use an elitist model to discuss civil rights policy, but the reader may wish to view civil rights policy from the perspective of group theory. We employ public choice theory to discuss environmental policy, but the reader might prefer studying environmental problems from the perspective of the rational model. In short, this volume is not only an introduction to the study of public policy but also an introduction to the models political scientists use to describe and explain political life. The new 11th Edition ofUnderstanding Public Policybrings policy studies into the post 9/11 world. The chapter on "Defense Policy: Strategies for Serious Games" has been extensively revised to include issues surrounding the use of military force in fighting terrorism, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A new chapter, "Homeland Security: Terrorism and NonDeterrable Threats," describes the goals and methods of terrorists, the U.S. response to the 9/11 attack, the role of the intelligence community in fighting terrorism, and the Patriot Act and the problems it poses for individual liberty. The 11th Edition also includes expanded discussions in educational policy, including the controversy surrounding the "No Child Left Behind Act" and its emphasis on pupil testing. The heated issue of "diversity" in higher