2305+-+Public+Policy+and+Sub-Governments

Power Points



Description: The term "public policy" refers to the actual things that governments decide to do and how they implement it. There are many of these. Examples include drug policy, education policy, crime policy, foreign policy, trade policy, defense policy and many many others. A subgovernment refers to the network of actors that form around those policies, generally with the intent of preserving those policies, but ensuring that they benefit those actors.

The purpose of this section is to outline basic aspects of public policy, the public policy process, the various actors involved in the public policy process and the relationship between them. Doing so should prepare us to look more fruitfully at specific aspects pf publci policy in later sections.

Goals: After reading through the material above, you should be able to address the following questions:

- What is "public policy" and how can it be defined? - What policies are designated to which levels of government in our federal system? - Where is there overlap between the different levels of government? What factors have led to that overlap? - Why might a government choose to focus on one public policy issue rather than another? - What are the steps in the public policy process? - Which institutions are involved in the public policy process? What issues are unique to each step in the process? - What is an iron triangle and who are the members of a typical iron triangle? - What factors help develop the relationship between these groups?