13) Policy-making

Question 1

What are distributive policies?

Answer 1

Relating to measures, which affect the distribution of resources from government to particular recipients.

Question 2

What are redistributive policies?

Answer 2

Based on the transfer of resources from one societal group to another.

Question 3

What are regulatory policies?

Answer 3

Specify conditions and constraints for individual or collective behavior.

Question 4

What are constituent policies?

Answer 4

Create or modify the states’ institutions.

Question 5

What does the institutional model say on policy-making?

Answer 5

Politics are formulated and implemented exclusive by institutions.

Question 6

What does the rational model say on policy-making?

Answer 6

Government update their beliefs on the consequences of policies with all available information about policy outcomes, and choose the policy that is expected to yield the best results.

Question 7

What does the incremental model say on policy-making?

Answer 7

Governments engage in information-gathering activity but do not scan all available experience; instead they use analytical shortcuts and cognitive heuristics to process information.

Question 8

What does the group model say on policy-making?

Answer 8

Policies are the result of an equilibrium reached in group struggle, which is determined by the relative strength of each interest group.

Question 9

What does the elite model say on policy-making?

Answer 9

Policy-making is determined by the preferences of governing elites.

Question 10

What are the main charateristics of policy-making?

Answer 10

Multiple constraints.
Various policy processes.
Infinite cycle of decisions and policies.

Question 11

What are the first stage of the policy cycle?

Answer 11

Agenda setting.

Question 12

What are the second stage of the policy cycle?

Answer 12

Policy formulation.

Question 13

What are the third stage of the policy cycle?

Answer 13

Policy adoption.

Question 14

What are the fourth stage of the policy cycle?

Answer 14

Implementation.

Question 15

What are the fifth stage of the policy cycle?

Answer 15

Evaluation.

Question 16

What does the stage ‘agenda setting’ inclued?

Answer 16

The identification of a societal problem requiring the state to intervene.
Three policy initiative models:
- Outside (citizens gain public support).
- Mobilization (government place initiatives in public).
- Inside (influental groups present proposals).

Question 17

What does the stage ‘policy formulation’ inclued?

Answer 17

The definition, discussion, acceptance or rejection of feasible courses of action for coping with policy problems.
Dominant role of executives.

Question 18

What does the stage ‘policy adoption’ inclued?

Answer 18

Refers to the formal and final acceptance of a policy.

Question 19

What does the stage ‘implementation’ inclued?

Answer 19

The conversion of new laws and programmes into practice.

Question 20

What does the stage ‘evaluation’ inclued?

Answer 20

Evaluation of whether the output of the decision-making process has attained the intended goals.

Question 21

What are the role of institutions according to a rationalist perspective?

Answer 21

Institutions can structure the interaction of actors, and avoid the suboptimal solutions they are given by the prisoner’s dilemma.

Question 22

What are the role of institutions according to a sociological perspective?

Answer 22

Institutions can support cooperation through the provision of moral or cognitive templates.

Question 23

What are cognitive frames?

Answer 23

Refers to the shemes through which actors view and interpret the world.

Question 24

What are normative frames?

Answer 24

Refers to values and attitudes that shape the actors’ view of the world.

Question 25

What are policy styles?

Answer 25

Refers to the routines and choices of actors involved in policy-making and implementation.

Question 26

What defines policy diffusion?

Answer 26

The socially mediated spread of policies across and within political systems, including communication and influence processes which operate both on and within populations of adopters.

Question 27

What defines policy transfer?

Answer 27

Processes by which knowledge about policies, administrative arrangements, institutions and ideas in one political system is used in the development of policies, administrative arrangements, institutions and ideas in another political system.

Question 28

What are the some of the international sources that affect domestic policy-making?

Answer 28

Imposition.
International harmonization.
Regulatory competition. 
Transnational communication. 
Emulation.

Question 29

What does ‘imposition’ inclued?

Answer 29

Occurs whenever an external political actor forces a government to adopt a certain policy.

Question 30

What does ‘international harmonization’ inclued?

Answer 30

Refers to a situation in which member states voluntarily engage in international cooperation, and hence corresponds to ‘negotiated transfer’.

Question 31

What does ‘regulatory competition’ inclued?

Answer 31

The competitive pressure arises from (potential) threats of economic actors to shift their activities elsewhere, inducing government to lower their regulatory standards.

Question 32

What does ‘transnational communication’ inclued?

Answer 32

Consists of a number of mechanisms, which are purely based on communication among countries.

Question 33

What does ‘Emulation’ inclued?

Answer 33

Transfer of ideas behind the programme.