american government and politics today chapter 15 domestic policy
TRANSCRIPT
The Policy-Making Process
Agenda Building: identifying a problem and getting it on the agenda.
Policy Formulation: the debate that occurs among government officials and the public in the media, in Congress, and through campaigns.
Policy Adoption: selection of a strategy for addressing the problem from among the solutions discussed.
Policy Implementation: the administration of the policy adopted
Policy Evaluation.
Health Care
The Rising Cost of Health Care Advanced Technology The Government’s Role in
Financing Health Care Medicare Medicaid
Why has Medicaid spending exploded?
Medicaid and the States
Health Care (cont.)
The Uninsured The Uninsured Employed Shifting Costs to the Uninsured
National Health Insurance The Canadian System
Health Savings Account
Poverty and Welfare
Income transfers, transfers of income from some individuals in the economy to other individuals. This is generally done by way of the government.
The Low-Income Population The Antipoverty Budget
Poverty and Welfare (cont.)
Basic Welfare Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
(TANF) Welfare Controversies Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Homelessness
Immigration
The Continued Influx of Immigrants More than a million people a year immigrate
to this country. Minority Groups will constitute the
“majority” of America by 2060. Some point out the positives of immigration
—offsetting the low birthrate and aging population.
Attempts at Immigration Reform
2006 Congress initiated, but did not pass, sweeping legislation that would make all illegal immigrants in the United States felons.
Questions for Critical Thinking
Presuming that national health insurance is off the table in the United Sates, what else could be done to protect the uninsured population from catastrophic medical costs?
How important is income in children’s achievement? What things can money buy that can help children achieve? What can it not?
Crime in the 21st Century
Crime in American History Crimes Committed by Juveniles The Cost of Crime to American Society
The United States has the highest incarceration rate among major world nations measured by the number of prisoners per 100,000 residents.
Crime in the 21st Century (cont.)
Federal Drug Policy Money spent on federal drug interdiction
programs has not met with much success, as illegal drug consumption in the U.S. has remained steady. State and local governments, however, have been attempting new remedies to curtail the drug problem.
Confronting Terrorism Counter-terrorism strategies will necessarily
be a part of federal government policy for years to come.
Environmental Policy
Environmentalism Conservation was a policy under which
natural resources should be used, but not abused.
Preservation called for natural preserves that are isolated from the effects of human activity.
The Environmentalist Movement Ecology
Cleaning Up the Air and Water
The National Environmental Policy Act Curbing Air Pollution
The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1963 constitute a comprehensive policy mandating cleaner air in urban areas.
Water Pollution The Clean Water Act sought to make waters
safe for swimming, protect fish and wildlife, and eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the water.
Cost-Effective Solutions
One method of supporting cost-effective solutions was part of the Clean Air Act of 1990. The act capped overall national sulfur dioxide emissions but also permitted free trade in “rights” to emit sulfur dioxide. As a result, the sulfur dioxide emissions are made by the companies that reap the greatest economic advantage from their right to emit.
As a result of legislation, air and water pollution is down dramatically from what it was three or so decades ago. Lead content in the air is 3 percent of what it was. Sulfur dioxide is down by four-fifths.
Other Environmental Issues
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) Global Warming
The Kyoto Protocol The Global Warming Debate