Social Policy
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Policy Making Theories
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 Distributive Policies
 Public policies that provide benefits to individuals, groups,
communities, or corporations. Most common.
 Regulatory Policies
 Public policies that limit the activities of individuals and
corporations or prohibit certain types of unacceptable
behavior. Example: Land use
 Redistributive Policies
 Public policies that transfer resources from one group to assist
another group. Example: Welfare programs
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Policy-Making Process
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 Agenda Setting
 Deciding which issues is worthy of consideration
 Policy Formulation
 Identification of alternative approaches to addressing the
problem
 Policy Adoption
 The formal selection of public policies
 Policy Implementation
 The actual administration of public policies to their targets
 Policy Evaluation
 Policy effectiveness
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Policy Making Process
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 Routine Formulation
 The process of altering existing policy proposals or creating
new proposals within an issue area the government has
previously addressed.
 Analogous Formulation
 Handling new problems by drawing on experiences with
similar problems in the past or in other jurisdictions.
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Foundations of Fiscal Policy
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 Laissez-faire – Adam Smith’s Wealth of
Nation
"To leave alone" economic philosophy
 Keynesian Economics – Economic
approach by John Maynard Keynes
Believed spending by government could
stimulate growth faster than a free
market could.
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The Foundations of Fiscal
Policy
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 British economist John Maynard Keynes
 Argued that government could avoid recession
by stimulating demand, even if it caused
deficits
 Increasing demand would increase
employment, stimulating economic growth
faster
 Deficits are more palatable by cutting taxes
rather than increased government spending
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National Debt and Deficit
 National Debt
 Effect of Bush Administration tax cut, wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and bailout bills
 National debt reached $14.2 trillion in 2011
 Debt Ceiling
 Similar to a credit card limit
 Congress must vote to spend above it.
 Budget Control Act of 2011
 Authorized a series of automatic debt ceiling increases
 Triggered automatic spending cuts in 2013
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Federal Reserve System 1913
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 Organization in the US responsible for
managing money supply and interest rates,
stabilize prices and reducing unemployment
 Structure
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Federal Reserve Board
Federal Open Market Committee
12 Federal Reserve Banks
Other member banks
Board of Governors (7) – handles day-to-day management
 Dual Mandate
 Control inflation
 Limit unemployment
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Tools of Monetary Policy
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 Open market operations
 Buying and selling of government securities, or debt
 Reduces amount of money available for loans
 Discount rate vs Overnight Rate
 (DR) Rate of interest at which The Federal Reserve lends
money to member banks
 Lowering this rate encourages member banks to borrow
from FED & extend more loans at lower rates
 Differs from overnight rate or federal funds rate – rate at
which banks charge each other
 Reserve requirements
 Designate the portion of deposits that member banks must
retain on hand as backing for their loans
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The Evolution of Health Care
Policy
 National Marine Service (1798)
 First federal health care service
 New Deal efforts
 Opposed by the American Medical Association
 President Bill Clinton
 Universal Health Coverage defeated
 Number of uninsured rose dramatically
 President Barack Obama
 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
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Medicare
 Created in 1965
 People 65 and older
 Part A
 Covers hospitalization
 Part B
 Optional; covers doctor’s visits, outpatient services
 Part C
 Medicare Advantage, covers gaps
 Part D
 Optional drug benefit
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Medicaid
 Created in 1965
 For poor people and disabled
 Must meet eligibility requirements
 Low-income
 National and state government
 Federal block grants cover 50–75%
 66 million Americans covered in 2014
 More than $400 billion
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Public Health
 Tools to protect public health
 Immunizations, education, advertisements, regulation
 Gardasil debate
 Medical Research
 National Institutes of Health
 Obesity
 Public health priority: 2/3 of adults and 1/3 of children
are overweight or obese
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Primary & Secondary
Education Policy
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 Post-Revolutionary War
 Legitimizing democratic institutions through education
 Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
 Ended segregation of public schools
 Provided a roadmap for national standard for equality
 Outcome and Standards-Based Education
 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – employed high standards
and measurable goals. Replaced by Every Student
Succeeds Act
 Common Core – Multi-state approach to setting
standards that all students should achieve
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The No Child Left Behind Act
 Accountability
 Standardized tests, report cards, reorganization
 Flexibility
 Schools can tailor expenditures to meet their needs
 Proven methods for quality outcomes
 Best practices
 School Choice
 Vouchers for private or other public schools
 Charter schools – semi-public schools
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Effects of No Child Left
Behind Act
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Massive amounts of testing
“You-can’t-fail” mentality
Principals gaming the system
Students entering college lacking basic
skills
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Higher Education
 Title IX
 Of the Education Amendments of 1972
 Expanded education and athletic opportunities for
women
 Gender equity requirements
 Bars discrimination on the basis of sex in admissions,
financial aid or athletics
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