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16: Domestic Policy

  • Page ID
    284347
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    • 16.0: Introduction
      This page discusses the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, citing threats to cultural sites and treaty violations. It outlines the tribe's lawsuits against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the ensuing legal battles across two presidential administrations.
    • 16.1: What Is Public Policy?
      This page explores public policy as a government strategy to address societal issues through debate and stakeholder involvement, emphasizing its long-term impact over temporary legislative measures. It illustrates the evolution of policies like healthcare reform and discusses their complex effects, including benefits and drawbacks.
    • 16.2: Categorizing Public Policy
      This page educates readers on categorizing goods and key public policy areas in the U.S., contrasting liberal and conservative approaches to government intervention. It defines types of goods: private (excludable), public (non-excludable), and toll goods (pay-access).
    • 16.3: Policy Arenas
      This page covers key aspects of public policy, social safety nets, and regulation of U.S. business. It emphasizes the historical context of social welfare policies, such as Social Security and Medicare, which aim to uphold equity and combat poverty. The dual objectives of the educational system are also discussed, including state responsibilities and federal intervention for equity.
    • 16.4: Policymakers
      This page summarizes the public policy process through the lens of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), highlighting the roles of policy advocates and analysts. It describes the four stages of the policy process: agenda setting, policy enactment, implementation, and evaluation.
    • 16.5: Budgeting and Tax Policy
      This page explores the evolution of U.S. fiscal policy from laissez-faire to Keynesianism, focusing on budget allocation and the balance between mandatory and discretionary spending. It highlights the challenges of budget cuts to entitlement programs, contrasting tax policies favored by Keynesians and supply-siders.
    • 16.6: Key Terms
      This page outlines concepts in public policy and economics, defining key terms such as bottom-up/top-down approaches, budgetary elements like debt and deficit, and types of government spending. It covers programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, explores tax structures and economic theories like Keynesian and free-market economics, and identifies roles like policy advocates and analysts.
    • 16.7: Summary
      This page discusses public policy as a strategic government approach to societal issues, influenced by debate. Policies are assessed by outcomes, including unintended effects, and are classified into distributive, regulatory, and redistributive types. Key areas include social welfare, education, and business regulation, with policymakers consisting of advocates and analysts following a cyclical evaluation process. Fiscal policy aims for balanced budgets but frequently encounters deficits.
    • 16.8: Review Questions
      This page discusses public policy through a series of questions focusing on definitions, classifications, challenges in policy implementation, and types of goods. It explores social welfare program purposes, key aspects of the policy-making process like agenda setting, and government responses during economic downturns, along with the effects of various policy types on citizens.
    • 16.9: Critical Thinking Questions
      This page explores critical questions about government policies and their impact on issues like poverty, regulation of the private sector, and budget balancing. It defines the poverty line, suggests government programs for citizens, and examines the feasibility of budget balance. It also addresses pressing policy issues, potential Social Security solutions, and compares the roles of policy advocates and analysts in democracy, highlighting key stages in the policy process.
    • 16.10: Suggestions for Further Study
      This page lists academic books on political science, public policy, and economics, featuring notable authors like Alberto Alesina, Frank R. Baumgartner, and John W. Kingdon. The works explore themes such as partisan politics, agenda-setting, and policy innovation, highlighting the relationship between public perceptions and policy-making. Together, these texts enhance understanding of how political dynamics and economics influence public policy development.


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