As Kerwin points out, the US is a representative democracy, but with lawmaking granted as a power to the government, rulemaking becomes a profound dilemma. Rulemaking is a tool that the government can use to be responsive to the increasing demands of the people (Kerwin). Rules tend to be forward-looking because they are to be implemented at a future date. Rosenbloom identifies three general types of rules: legislative, procedural, and interpretive rules. Legislative rules regulate, conduct, and impose standards on products and processes. Procedural rules are drafted to guide the agency’s internal organization and operations. Lastly, interpretative rules are policy statements that guide the agency’s mandate. From these classifications, rules can also have general or specific applications. They can be used to regulate a wide activity or aspect of the society or facilitate a single event or process (Rosenbloom). Public policy in the US largely depends on …show more content…
administrative rulemaking. It regulates the smallest to largest needs of the public, from food to healthcare, and all other needs (Rosenbloom). If properly and effectively implemented, rulemaking can also relieve that Congress from the burden of maintaining and managing numerous people to refine operating standards of the government’s wide array of projects. Rulemaking has to be clearly linked to public participation for the rule to be rational, ready for implementation and enforcement, and faithful to legislative intent. First, administrative rulemaking needs to be participative because the interested parties should be able to present facts and arguments to ensure that the rule makers make the most rational decision. According to Kerwin, the purpose of participation in rulemaking is to enhance authority and credibility of the rule. After all, the benefit of a rule depends on the accuracy and completeness of the information use when it is being made. In real life, agencies rely on the public when gathering information needed to formulate policies. They get information from the comments made by the public to understand the conditions in the public sector. This is especially true when the population being addressed by the rule is an unfamiliar one. Hence, if participation is to be hindered by hostility, lack of transparency, conflict, and incompetence on the part of the agency, then the policy will be deprived of relevant information that will make it a legitimate one. In this regard, the Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act to allow the private citizens to review the way officials make their decisions. In the course of history, the government implemented more efforts to encourage direct participation from the public during the rulemaking process (Kerwin). If the government agency is able to acquire all the available information available about the rule they are developing and the population that will be affected, it is most likely that it can also come up with the most rational decision. Second, participation is needed for rulemaking to foster a critical bridge between planning and implementation of the rulemaking. Through participation, agencies can determine the degree of acceptance and resistance in the affected communities of the rule being developed. This information is critical in terms of the succeeding steps after planning. Public participation helps agencies monitor and enforce effective implementation of the rule. If the affected population has positive comments about the rule, then the agency can rely on self-reporting and low-key means of checking compliance. On the other hand, however, if the population opposes the new rule and compliance will be difficult, then the agency needs to implement a more aggressive compliance enforcement program. Comments from the public also guide the agency to predict the likelihood of emerging lawsuits to challenge the rule before or during the implementation. Through public participation, a lawsuit will not come as a surprise (Kerwin). Hence, public participation is relevant to rulemaking not only in the planning stage, but also during its implementation and monitoring. The results derived from public participation would dictate the level of monitoring and enforcement policies that would support the rule being developed. Third, rulemaking needs to be participative in order to remain faithful to legislative content. Rules should avoid gross deviations from statutory intent or criteria because this difference leads to problematic rule of law and democracy. Unelected administrators often face questions about their legitimate role for rulemaking. In this scenario, legislative intent and statutory standards may be vague. Hence, there is a need to discover new knowledge, conditions, and technology (Rosenbloom). In this regard, participation can help the agency to derive useful knowledge, make sense of the relevant conditions, and maximize relevant technology for the rulemaking. The voice of the public needs to be heard to confer legitimacy on the mandates contained within the rules. Government agencies are not well-informed as they need the public’s participation to guide them in their responsibilities and expectations and remain true to democratic intent. The public or the people have vast access to expertise held by the interest groups. According to Kerwin, “Public participation is not… a trivial symbolic exercise but one often essential if agencies are going to function with the best and most current information when writing rules.” However, public participation remains a critical symbol to remain true to the legislative intent of a federal democracy. However, despite the strong need for public participation in rulemaking, it does not come automatically. In fact, opportunities to participate do not necessarily guarantee that participation will actually occur. Furthermore, the act of participation does not guarantee the participant’s success and the rule’s success. To ensure the desired condition, participation in rulemaking has prerequisites. For one, the participants must be aware of the existence of a rule being formulated, understand how the rule may affect their interest, be familiar with the opportunities for participation in the rulemaking, and possess the resources and expertise required to respond to the inquiries of the government agency. The presence of these prerequisites led to questions whether or not public participation really occurs in the United States. Nevertheless, according to the case studies revealed by the Federal Register, the notion of active participation in rulemaking is real. Even though this conclusion is not universal and that the success of public participation largely depends on the simplicity or complexity of the rule being developed, interest group community had always been active to encourage participation in rulemaking (Kerwin). Public participation in rulemaking can enhance the quality, acceptability, and ultimate success of the rule.
When participation is present, the rulemaking process and the resulting rule becomes rational, readier for implementation and enforcement, and faithful to legislative content. However, despite the strong promises of public participation in rulemaking, it does not occur automatically. If it occurs, the success of participation generally depends on the presence of perquisites such as awareness of the rule, correct identification of the effects of the rule to the interest groups, familiarity with the opportunity for participation, and possession of the necessary resources to respond appropriately. Overall, public participation in a democratic society is challenging in the sense that it makes the process more complicated and prone to conflicts; but it also makes the rule develop strong foundation because it is based on real information derived from the population with whom the rule is being directed
to.
This book also elaborates on the study of rulemaking by giving examples through cases, studies, loads of government documentation and interviews with policy makers. Following the information and chapters is really easy. The book is illustrated with clear tables, charts, and figures. Each chapter is clearly defined and tables/figures are clearly marked after the table of contents.
National lawmaking: the creation of a policy to address the problems and needs of the entire nation
Governing a society of people and achieving a justice presents a challenge regardless of the form. While the American Republic government has leant itself to many flaws when it comes to justice, it still embodies a stronger checks and balances to achieve justice that are limited in Platonic or Aristotelian government forms. We have a strong belief and precedent in achieving justice by way of our people from protests, boycotts to our election process. The activity level is important in combatting challenges in the justice system.
The fundamental of policymaking consists of a lengthy time process that goes through many steps in becoming a Bill. The process of policymaking is introduced in the beginning step of the Policy Formulation Phase, as the problem goes through a Legislation it goes into the Policy Implementation Phase, which than forms into a law or vetoed. Many policies do not become a Bill’s, but the certain ones that do they achieve the goal to guide the society with immense decision making and balanced outcomes.
The Federal Bureaucracy is comprised of nearly every department, committee, and agency that makes up the Federal Government. The function of the bureaucracy is to implement laws and policies, define the rules and regulations of how a law works, and institute examinations, permits and licenses. Congress makes the laws and policies in a broad manner and the bureaucrats flesh out the details and minutia of the intent of that law’s maker. The bureaucrats of the specific department etc. may be appointed officials, civil service employees or other federal employees. The persons are typically specialized in a specific field that relates to the committee’s duties and responsibilities and possess more knowledge than the lawmakers, which allows policies
2. Federal Regulation – the expansion of the federal government into almost all aspects of people’s lives
Government regulation hits our pocketbooks as surely as taxes do, but there is little information available about its cost. At a time when deficit spending is out of favour, and there is little appetite for tax increases, this lack of accountability makes regulation a tempting way for governments to achieve their goals without increasing their spending. Between 1975 and 1999, over 117,000 new federal and provincial regulations were enacted, an average of 4,700 every year. Over this twenty-four year period, federal and provincial governments have published over 505,000 pages of regulations contained in volumes that measure 10 stories when stacked.
Democracy has been the root of a limited government, the system of which government powers are distributed so that one group of leaders do not have too much influence. The limited government has been structured to keep peace amongst all parties that are involved in the government. And under the U.S. Constitution, citizens are given ultimate power by their right to choose their representatives through the democratic process of voting. Each levels of the government are limited as they have their own responsibilities. The city government has the most local level of government as the residents elect a city council and mayor to represent their interest at the city level. All city governments establish housing and health regulations, and are responsible
The United States government braces its power among three powerful branches, legislative, executive and judicial. These branches interact with one another to establish authority that is strong, yet equal to have power over the country. Each branch pursues certain responsibilities and duties to operate in an efficient and effective manner in which society upholds. The executive, legislative and judicial branches all interact amid each other to validate accuracy of the nation’s most powerful law of the land, the Constitution. It is important to know how these branches interact with each other to learn how a bill becomes a law. Reflecting on how the three branches promote a balance of power that is constructive to include the agendas and electoral roles that also plays a vast part in the government’s operation.
running, and do the same to cool down."A warm up prepares your body for exercise by gradually incrementing blood flow and raising core muscle temperature," verbalizes Jerry Napp, Tampa Bay running coach. "The cooldown may be even more consequential. Ceasing suddenly can cause leg cramps, nausea, dizziness, or fainting."The Exception: It takes less than 10 minutes to rev up on warm days.5. The 2-Day Rule If something hurts for two straight days while running,take two days off.Two straight days of pain may signal the commencement of an injury. "Even taking five days of consummate rest from running will have less hit/effect on your fitness level," verbalizes Troy Smurawa, M.D., team medico for USA Triathlon.The Exception: If something hurts for a fortnight,even if you've taken your reposal days, visually perceive a medico.6.
The federal bureaucracy exists to perform specific duties related to the function of government in society. The Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution grants the federal government permission to create specialized corporations. The Department of Energy (DOE) is one of these corporations, and it has several offices within its breadth. The Department of Science operates within the DOE, and has numerous functions related to research and development in science. Recently, the Department of Science released its annual budget request. The Department of Science receives federal funding to carry out research and maintain pristine facilities in an effort to keep the United States competitive within the global scientific community. Another government corporation is the United States Department of
In a majority rule the basic concept of democracy is that the people ultimately rule. The Government passes laws that appear to be the “deliberative will” of the people. However, Government doesn’t do everything the people wants. It takes in information absorbs it and comes with a solution for the majority. In order for the people to be heard they have to get out and participate in the political process. It is our constitutional right to vote, speak and contribute in the selection of our representative in a majority.
The topic on participation is an in depth and long topic to get into. Overall, participation can be divided into 8 levels. A common visual is the Arnstein Ladder, created by Sherry R. Arnstein. Each rung on the ladder represents the degree which the citizens’ power affects the outcome. The bottom two rungs called Manipulation and Therapy, represents a nonparticipation that is miscalled as a form of participation. This the permits government to “enlighten” and “redress” people who participate. Tokenism enters the scene with Informing and Consultation, rungs 3 and 4 allow the less privileged to absorb information and have a voice in government. However, there is still no power to reinforce their viewpoints presented to representatives, therefore
While it can seem like nothing passes through congress, many regulations become bills, executive orders, etc. We view many of these regulations as commonplace because we have been manipulated by the bureaucracy to prefer certain things. We have been taught to prefer order and when things have clean cut lines. Scott gives the example of a forest. If we were to look at two pictures, one with a natural forest, the other engineered for the lumber industry.
In true democracy, there is no doubt that voices will rise against the ideas for public participation. Over the past years, certain visible feature relating to public participation and the increase and there had been a rise on the decision making process where citizens get involved. The public participation in the policy process, to truly implement the principles of democracy of the public process should aim to be rational and fair to achieve effectiveness.