Week 1: Intro
What is the main purpose of public policy?
To address a public problem or achieve a public goal.
What stage occurs when a social problem gains government attention and is recognised as requiring action?
Agenda setting
Government ministries, parliament and public agencies are examples of what in the policy process?
Policy actors, Agents, etc.
What do we call individuals or groups that actively influence, shape or implement public policy?
Policy actors/Agents
Thomas Dye famously defined public policy in terms of what government chooses to do and......
....not to do.
In Lasswell's policy process, what stage involves gathering information about a problem?
Intelligence
What concept describes the interactions among government institutions, businesses, civil society and citizens in policymaking?
A policy ecosystem or policy network.
What type of group seeks to influence public decisions on behalf of a particular sector, profession or constituency?
An interest group.
What usually happens before a government creates a policy?
A problem is identified and placed on the political agenda.
In Easton's systems model, what are the decisions and actions produced by the political system called?
Outputs
Which structural feature of a policy ecosystem determines how responsibilities and authority are distributed between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government?
What is the separation of powers?
What three types of actors form a classic iron triangle?
Legislative committees, bureaucratic (Executive) agencies and interest groups.
The line between these two spheres is often very blurry; one a "shared domain" the other not.
Public and Private!
Which policy stage involves comparing alternative solutions and assessing their likely consequences?
Policy Formulation
What is the difference between formal and informal institutions in the policy ecosystem?
Formal institutions are codified rules and organisations, while informal institutions are unwritten norms, customs and practices that influence behaviour.
Why might interest groups or think tanks have more influence over public policy than ordinary citizens?
may have greater resources, specialised expertise and sustained access to policymakers, allowing them to influence decisions more consistently than ordinary citizens.
Why is defining public policy only as formal laws too narrow?
Because public policy also includes programmes, regulations, administrative decisions, resource allocations and deliberate government inaction.
A government introduces a fuel subsidy, citizens react to its effects, and their reactions influence future government decisions. Which model most simply explains this process, and why?
(All Models!, But Easton's model is the simplest)
What do we call the formal rules, organisations and arrangements through which public authority is exercised?
Institutions
Unlike a broad and shifting policy network, what two characteristics typically distinguish an iron triangle?
Stable relationships and mutually reinforcing interests among a small set of actors.