Exam 1

Question 1

Public policy

Answer 1

• Action and inaction

- “Government action or inaction to address social problems”

Question 2

Example of public policy

Answer 2

Obama standing down on the Colorado weed legalization

Question 3

Why public policy (and not private policy)

Answer 3

• There are a lot of social problems where fixing them does not generate profit
• Need government interaction

Question 4

Market Failures definition

Answer 4

• A situation in which the government must get involved

- Where the allocation of goods and services are inefficient

Question 5

4 types of market failures

Answer 5

1. Monopolies
2. Externalities/spillovers
3. Informative failure
4. Problem of “public goods”

Question 6

Market failure: Describe monopolies

Answer 6

• One or several persons dominate the market
• Can control or manipulate the price of good
• Government must bust up corporations

Question 7

Market failure: Describe Externalities

Answer 7

• (+/-)
• List positive and negative externalities
• Negative externality: 3rd party harmed by a transaction
• ex. Neighbor lets their yard go to shit and it lowers your property value
• Positive externality: 3rd party benefits from the transaction
• ex. business moves in, value of neighborhood goes up

Question 8

Market failure: Describe Information failure/Information asymmetry

Answer 8

• When one party has more information than the other
• To have perfect competition, buyers and sellers must have full information
• But this is often not the case - sellers often times have more information than the buyers

Question 9

Market failure: Describe Problem of “public good”

Answer 9

• The private market will not go near this because you cannot generate a profit
• Table!

Question 10

Fill out the table for problem of public good

Answer 10

Fill out table for problem of public good

Question 11

Rivalrous

Answer 11

I consume it, you cannot

Question 12

Excludable

Answer 12

I can stop you from using it

Question 13

Example of common pool resource

Answer 13

Study space on the quad

Question 14

Example of private good

Answer 14

ISU coffee mug - walk into a store and buy it

Question 15

Example of public good

Answer 15

public lecture in the one student center/telecast

Question 16

Which goods will not be provided through private sector

Answer 16

public goods

Question 17

Why would the private sector not provide a public good?

Answer 17

no profit

Question 18

Essay: Policy capacity

Answer 18

• the ability of a govt to identify, assess, & respond to public problems
• All governments have a level of policy capacity.

Question 19

Policy outputs

Answer 19

• formal action taken to pursue a goal

- affect on the social problem

Question 20

Policy outcomes

Answer 20

• effects the actions have on society

- The effect it had on the social problem

Question 21

Policy outputs & outcomes: Affordable Care Act

Answer 21

• Output: 1. individual mandate, 2. Medicaid expansion, 3. Regulation of private insurance - cost
• Outcomes: Fewer uninsured

Question 22

REAL ID

Answer 22

Counter-terriorism for drivers license

- unfunded mandate - state opposition to it

Question 23

Devolution

Answer 23

Federal government turns over policymaking power to states; fewer national mandates
- 1996 the federal government turned over welfare policy to the state

Question 24

Five theories of policymaking

Answer 24

1. Elite: What the elites want the elites get
2. Group theory: More competitive (for every group there is a counter group) - nobody wins all the time
3. Institutional theory: The rules of the game matter (how the rules of the game shape policy)
4. Rational choice
5. Systems theory

Question 25

Formal policy actors in the U.S.

Answer 25

Power is shared by three branches of government at all levels: 1. Executive - sign/vetoes "bully pulpit" 2. Legislative - Passes legislation 3. Judicial - Rules on constitutionality

Question 26

Informal policy actors in the U.S.

Answer 26

- The public - public opinion - Interest groups - More than one individual with shared attitudes or believes - Interest networks - Sub-government or iron triangle

Question 27

5 dimensions of public opinion

Answer 27

1. Direction - Liberal or Conservative 2. Cohesiveness - Unified or Polarized 3. Salience - How important is the issue 4. Intensity - How strongly is opinion held 5. Stability - Has opinion recently flip-flopped

Question 28

What is a theory

Answer 28

- A casual explanation for some phenomenon - A "story" used to explain something - Components: Dependent variable (effect) & Explanatory (cause)

Question 29

Policy Process Model

Answer 29

1. Problem definition & agenda setting 2. Policy intervention 3. Policy legitimation 4. Policy implementation 5. Policy Evaluation and change CYCLICAL NOT LINEAR

Question 30

Lowi Policy Typology

Answer 30

- The general ways policies dress a problem 1. Distributive policy: we all pay; we all gain ex. Road improvements 2. Redistributive policy: Some pay; others gain ex. Welfare policy 3. Regulatory policy: Government restriction of choice; practice ex. Licensing of radio

Question 31

How does bureaucracy make public policy?

Answer 31

Policy implementation done mostly by executive branch through regulations