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Public policy analysis paper
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Public policy is the organizing framework of government programs that work with societal problems and or programs enacted and implemented by the government (375). Most citizens may think they comprehend public policy and assume it is to the solution to problems, but it is not quite that simple. Moreover, various problems arise in public policy implementation because of the number of agencies following their own agenda and the fact that we do not know what is going to happen in the future, which makes it difficult to create policy (376).
There is about 87,000 state and local governments (376). With so many governments and different opinions, it is extremely difficult to find a one-fits-all policy for every single government. Even with most policies, citizens are more likely to pay attention to the ones that will directly affect their lives and most policies probably do not (377). For example, most citizens have a vague knowledge of foreign policy because it does not have much effect on their daily
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Welfare programs are an example of this type of policy. Redistributive policies usually cause controversy amongst citizens and usually are subject to protest during legislative deliberations (377). Likewise, it is usually difficult to implement these types of policies because of the backlash and they begin to lose their redistributive character along the way because of basic laws already in place such as tax exemptions, lower taxes rates, income shelters, and other loopholes (377). Redistributive policy is obviously known to start controversy, but it also forces bureaucracies to enter into the mix as well, possibly causing tension at the local or state level (377). To combat the issues, agencies with jurisdiction over redistributive policies have taken the lead in maintaining them
I had a Political science professor that once said “Political survey answers depend more on how a question is asked than on what the question is asking.” I read and reread the above question. I have to admit that even after 15 weeks of topic discussions, PowerPoint, text chapters and Google; I am still confused about how tax expenditure works. The nearest I can figure out and in plain English, it is simply a tax break. That being said, this question is very methodically asked. The term “anti-poverty programs” is a gentle, non threatening term that will be met with compassion and kindness among more than 85% of (surveyed) US citizens. Second “tax expenditures” is a confusing term associated with the mean IRS that must have something to do with the government taking hard earned money and doing something with it, but what? Who knows? The final term is the big, bad anti-conservative term that only about 11% of surveyed Americans actually greet with any positivity. So the question in our subconscious mind flows something like: “What are the advantages and disadvantages of helping people who need it with your tax money instead of giving it to people who don’t want to work?” But that’s not what the question is asking. Because I know that my subconscious takes into consideration, the information it believes is true. First anti-poverty programs, such as Medicaid, are in most people’s minds still welfare. Before the New Deal many of the anti-poverty programs, as well as welfare (utility assistance, help purchasing groceries, etc.) were funded completely through private charities....
The prospect of the welfare state in America appears to be bleak and almost useless for many citizens who live below the poverty line. Katz’s description of the welfare state as a system that is “partly public, partly private, partly mixed; incomplete and still not universal; defeating its own objectives” whereas has demonstrates how it has become this way by outlining the history of the welfare state which is shown that it has been produced in layers. The recent outcomes that Katz writes about is the Clinton reform in 1996 where benefits are limited to a period of two years and no one is allowed to collect for more than five years in their lifetime unless they are exempted. A person may only receive an exemption on the grounds of hardship in which states are limited to granting a maximum of 20% of the recipient population. The logic behind this drastic measure was to ensure that recipients would not become dependent upon relief and would encourage them to seek out any form of employment as quickly as possible. State officials have laid claim to this innovation as a strategy that would “save millions of children from poverty.” However, state officials predict otherwise such as an increase in homelessness, a flooding of low-waged workers in the labour market, and decreased purchasing power which means less income from tax collections. The outcomes of this reform appear to be bleak for many Americans who reside below the poverty line. How does a wealthy country like America have such weak welfare system? Drawing upon Katz, I argue that the development of the semi-welfare state is a result of the state taking measures to ensure that the people do not perceive relief as a right and to avoid exploiting the shortfalls of capitalism ...
Jeff Grogger, Lynn A. Karoly, Jeff Grogger. Welfare Reform: Effects of a Decade of Change. New York: Harvard University Press, 2005.
Policy in my perspective illustrates as a decision making, planning and or action taken to achieve a certain specific goal within our society. According to Longest B. (2010), his definition stated in his text book states that a policy is defined as ” authoritative decisions made in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches of government that are intended to direct or influence the actions, behaviors, or decisions of others.” In developing a policy, certain steps need to be taken in act to implement the policy. The crucial steps in implementing a policy are: recognizing the problem, agenda setting, formulating the policy, and finally implementing the policy (N.A., 2015).
Blau, J. (2004). The dynamics of social welfare policy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Programs like Unemployment, Medicare, and Social Security increase the number to roughly fifty percent. Granted that some of these programs are paid in programs, the number of people that are relying on government assistance is too high. In total, there are thirteen categories that fall under the title of Welfare (Federal Safety Net). These programs are put into place to provide things like cash, food, housing, medical benefits, social services, child services, and training. The main target of these programs is low-income Americans. Firstly, the unfair distribution of funds is a problem in more than one way. Individuals of families who are in real need may be receiving government assistance, but they would be getting more sufficient help if funds and resources were not so loosely spent. Another way in which funds are being unfairly distributed is the products and services obtained by recipients on welfare
Public policies are developed in response to the existence of a perceived problem or an opportunity. The analysis delves into a public issue or problem and assesses a set of proposed government action for addressing the issue. The job of the analyst is to describe the background and status of an issue and then, using research and analysis, determine a proper government action to resolve the issue. By comparing options and weighing their expected benefits, the analyst should conclude with a recommended course of action or inaction to addressing the issue.
Universal programs tend to receive greater funding, because taxpayers are incentivized to do so in exchange for future benefits. However, Skocpol fails to entertain the idea that if states increase their revenues, they may be able to provide more services via targeted programs. Lane Kenworthy cites Denmark as an ideal example of a state that can redistribute effectively through targeting. Targeted programs like TANF, SNAP and CHIP are underfunded, but I argue that the US may not be doing its utmost unlike nations such as Denmark. Social welfare programs like TANF and CHIP, are usually funded by either the federal government, the state government or a mixture of both. The amount of money the government can spend on transfers depends on the size of the government’s budget which depends on its tax revenues. In Denmark the top tax rate is 60.4% and its tax revenue(s) is approximately 49% of its GDP. In the US, the top tax rate is 39.6% while its tax revenue(s) is only 25.4% of its GDP. As a result, Denmark can, proportionally, provide more services than the US, but combined with the fact it has a smaller welfare pool than the US, it’s evident where the US is
In They Say Cutback, We Say Fight Back!: Welfare Activism in an Era of Retrenchment Ellen Reese provides a detailed account of welfare policy in the aftermath of the great recession. She specifically examines how welfare recipients and grassroots organizations organized towards creating welfare reform from the bottom-up. After the pass of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in 1996, and after many states started re-organizing their welfare system from an entitlement-based to a work-based one, advocacy groups embarked on efforts to lobby officials at the different government and state levels against some of the most sever cuts and policies that these states started to adapt in the different states. Reese argues that these efforts were more successful when there were broad coalitions that cut across race and class. Similarly, she showed that the level of success of these efforts differed from state to state, and even within the state, based on the already existing labor laws and policies in that given state. The book track these strategies and difficulties in two different states, California and Wisconsin, and it
Welfare programs are an important part of American society. Without any type of American welfare, people will starve, children will not receive the proper education, and people will not receive any medical help simply because they do not have the resources available to them. Each of the three aspects of the American welfare system are unique in their own ways because they are funded differently and the benefits are given to different people. While support for these welfare systems has declined in the more recent years, the support for it when it was created was strong. There are three aspects of the American Welfare System that include social insurance programs, public assistance programs, and private or sector welfare.
Public Administration involves the development, implementation and management of policies for the attainment of set goals and objectives that will be to the benefit of the general public. Since Public Administration involves taking decisions that affect the use of public resources there is often the question of how to utilize public resources for maximum public good. The National Association of Public Administration has identified four pillars of public administration: economy, efficiency, effectiveness and social equity. These pillars are equally important in the practice of public administration and to its success. This paper seeks to explain the role of each of the pillars in the practice of public administration.
Rabin, J. (2003). Encyclopedia of public administration and public policy: K-Z. United States: CRC press.
...ot function properly. Politics and administration should be seen as very interconnected. It is worth reiterating just as the structure of governments has changed over the years, the structure and role of public administration have also changes dramatically. Furthermore, it is important to state that public administration has grown from its traditional role of merely implementing policies adopted by the “political” branches of government to playing very significant role in the formation of public policies. This is definitely more evident in regards to professional expertise bureaucratic officials provide during problem identification, agenda setting, policy formulation, and evaluation that shape the content of public policy today. Overall, the idea that Wilson has proposed gives an accurate idea of what the relationship should be between politics and administration.
Public Managers have to participate in the policy making process. Previously, according to scholars, “policy process” was considered “decision making” (Wu, Ramesh, Howlett, & Fritzen, 2010). Under such pretense, public managers considered their role merely with policy implementation. However the recent theories that define public policy, have demarcated public policy as an activity that involves a broad range of activities ranging from defining problems, ensuring the defined problems to make it to agenda, developing alternative solutions of addressing these issues, implementing the results and evaluating the outcomes.
Public policy can be defined as “What ever governments choose to do or not do” (Dye, 2008, p 2). In the context of this essay, public policies are a set of actors by the government in order to reach out to the masses. The ministries and departments are mandated to deliver specific mandates in the form of public goods and services.