the outputs & outcomes of the political system. nature of public policy outputs: authoritative...
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THE OUTPUTS & OUTCOMES OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Nature of Public Policy
Outputs: authoritative decisions that government makes
Outcomes Policies or outputs are chosen to promote
different end results End results are outcomes Different policy instruments may be more or less
efficient ways in which to reach the outcomes that policy makers want
Functions of the Political System
Relationships among Relationships among Hurricane Tracking - responds to the demand
for safety
Hurricane Tracking - responds to the demand
for safety Political demands Outputs of process
functions Outcomes of policy
implementation
POLITICAL RESPONSIVENESS
Public Policies
Public policies may be summarized and compared according to outputs classified into four headings: Distribution Extraction Regulation Symbolic outputs
From the Night Watchman State to the Welfare State
Night Watchman State: a Lockean state, which primarily sought to regulate just enough to preserve law, order, a good business climate, and the basic security of its citizens
Police State: regulates much more intrusively and extracts resources more severely than the night watchman state
Regulatory State: evolved in all advanced industrial societies as they face the complexities of modern life
Welfare State: found particularly in more prosperous and democratic societies, distributes resources extensively to provide for the health, education, employment, housing, and income support of its citizens
Welfare State
First modern welfare state programs introduced in Germany in the 1880s Bismarck: social insurance programs that protected workers
1930s to 1970s most industrialized states have adopted and expanded welfare policies
1980s and 1990s the welfare states in advanced capitalist countries continued to grow albeit at a somewhat slower rate
Mixture between social insurance and social redistribution In part paternalistic and in part Robin Hood
Challenges to the Welfare State
Ability of future generations to pay Growth of senior citizens/dependency ratios
Some welfare states give citizens few incentives to work. Norway and Sweden
Chesapeake Tunnel Bridge Chesapeake Tunnel Bridge Quantity
Available resources usually depend of domestic extractive capability
Areas of human life touched by benefits Welfare Infrastructure National security
Welfare state as a distributive ideology
Public Policies: Distribution
Extractive Policy
Services (military duty,jury duty)
Taxation (extractions that have no immediate or direct benefit)
Borrowing Issues of efficiency and
equity are always associated with making and implementing extractive rules
Extraction: Services
Compulsory military service
Jury duty Compulsory labor imposed
on those convicted of a crime
Extraction: Economic
Direct extraction of services Compulsory military service, jury duty, or compulsory labor
imposed on those convicted of crime Direct resource extraction
Taxation Direct taxes Indirect taxes
Progressive tax structure Regressive tax structure
The tax profiles of different countries vary both in their overall tax burdens and in their reliance on different types of taxes.
Differ in how they collect their revenues
Regulative Policy – Use of Compulsion
Coercion Protect property rights Crime prevention/fighting
Material of financial inducements Mortgage write-off Environment
Protection of civil liberties/rights
Symbolic Policy - used by government to exhort citizens to desired forms of conduct
Appeals to values Comply with the law more faithfully Accept hardship, sacrifice, danger
Employs symbols Holiday parades Public buildings Patriotic indoctrination
Enhances aspects of system’s performance
Outcomes: Domestic Welfare
How do extractive, distributive, regulative, and symbolic policies affect the lives of citizens?
Sometimes policies have unintended and undesirable consequences.
To estimate the effectiveness of public policy, we have to examine actual welfare outcomes as well as governmental policies and their implementation. Measures of economic well-being
Nigeria and India - severe problems Income distribution tends to be most unequal in medium-income developing
societies, such as Brazil, and more equal in advanced market societies as well as in low-income developing societies, such as India.
Kuznets Curve Health outcomes Education and information technologies
Domestic Security Outcomes
Crime rates have been on the increase in many advanced industrial societies until recently as well as the developing world. Russia, Brazil and Mexico- high rates of crimes England, France (has had an increase), and Germany have a small fraction
of the U.S.’s crime numbers China has low murder rates; Japan even lower.
Much crime found in urban areas. Causes are complex. Migration increases diversity and conflict. Pace of urbanization explosive; severe problems of poverty and
infrastructure Inequality of income and wealth, unemployment, drug abuse, hopelessness
of big city life Crime rates have come down in the U.S.
Stronger economy; increased incarceration time; decrease in youth
Warfare Warfare TerrorismTerrorism
International Outputs and Outcomes
International Outputs and Outcomes
Increased assistance to poor countries
Domestic populations accept the costs of pursuing international policies when they perceive a direct threat to their national security
Political Goods and Values
If we are to compare and evaluate public policy in different political systems, we need to consider the political goods that motivate different policies. System goods: Citizens are most free and most able to act
purposefully when their environment is stable, transparent, and predictable.
Process goods: citizen participation and free political participation; democratic procedures and various rights of due process
Policy goods: economic welfare, quality of life, freedom and personal security
Final Thoughts
-- if the political goods being produced fail to live up to expectations the government will lose support
-- if this condition persists over a long period the political regime will lose legitimacy