Identity and Power
Certain aspects of who we are become more important or visible depending on context.
What is identity salience?
Identifying issues that need government attention.
What is agenda-setting?
Policymaking that happens beyond a single nation-state, involving many actors.
What is global public policy?
Switching Flint’s water source without proper treatment or oversight, then ignoring residents’ concerns.
What policy failure caused the Flint Water Crisis?
Identity shapes how people experience, access, or are affected by policy.
What connects identity and policy?
Identity influences whose voices are heard, whose needs are prioritized, and how problems are defined.
How does identity connect to public policy?
The stage where lawmakers debate possible solutions.
What is policy formulation?
A loose network of officials, NGOs, firms, and experts sharing ideas across borders.
What is a transnational policy community?
To protect undocumented youth (“Dreamers”) from deportation and allow temporary work authorization.
What was the goal of DACA when created in 2012?
Policymaking determines who gets what, when, and how.
Why can politics be described as “who gets what, when, and how”?
Institutional, personally mediated, and internalized.
What are the three levels of racism according to Camara Jones
Putting a policy into practice through agencies or organizations.
What is policy implementation?
A group of experts with shared beliefs who influence policy through data and research.
What is an epistemic community?
It revealed deep disparities in healthcare, employment, and safety for communities of color and low-income workers.
What inequity did the COVID-19 pandemic expose in the U.S.?
They determine whose voices influence decisions and whose needs are met.
What roles do power and legitimacy play in policymaking?
Silence protects oppression; speaking builds change and community.
How did Audre Lorde describe the danger of silence?
Poor coordination, lack of funding, or unclear laws.
What is one reason policies fail during implementation?
When a policy idea spreads from one country or region to others.
What is policy diffusion?
The stage of implementation failed, as disaster response was delayed and unequal.
During which policy stage did the government fail in Hurricane Katrina?
Both rely on negotiation, compromise, and uneven power dynamics.
How does global policy mirror local policy?
Housing policies may benefit homeowners (mostly white/middle class) while harming renters or low-income groups.
What is an example of how power and privilege affect policymaking?
It measures whether a policy works and finds unintended consequences.
Why is evaluation an important stage in the policy cycle?
Unequal power, resources, and legitimacy among actors make coordination difficult.
According to Stone, what challenge do transnational policy communities face?
Marriage was affirmed as a constitutional right under the 14th Amendment.
What constitutional principle was upheld in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)?
It helps reveal inequities, compare perspectives, and support evidence-based solutions.
How does research support equitable policymaking?