Shared Flashcard Set

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Public Policy
Midterm
59
Political Studies
Undergraduate 3
03/01/2012

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Cards

Term
Agency Capture
Definition
When agencies operate in the interest of the industries that they are supposed to regulate rather than the interests of the general public.
Term
Bounded rationality
Definition
Realization that individuals may aim to make choices consistent with their self-interest, but are limited by the information they have and their ability to consider all potential options/outcomes
Term
Causal story
Definition
A theory about what causes a problem and how particular responses would alleviate that problem
Term
Collective action problems
Definition
When the result of individually-rational actions produces unintended negative consequences for society as a whole
Term
Condition
Definition
An underlying phenomenon with the potential to develop into a problem as evidenced thorough indicators that measure the underlying phenomenon
Term
Direct government
Definition
When the government performs services/benefits (e.g.: garbage collection, street repairs, welfare, etc) directly rather than through a third party.
Term
Electoral incentives
Definition
The way in which officials are elected may produce encourage them to posture to public attention, enact policies with concentrated benefits and diffuse costs, focus on "hot topics" of the day rather than solving long term important issues, and to "logroll" by distributing benefits across geographic units.
Term
Fees
Definition
When an amount of money is charged to offset the cost of a program or discourage people from doing something that the government wants people to do less often. Also called charges
Term
Fragmentation
Definition
The way in which our policymaking process is divided across levels of government, branches of government, and specific policy issue networks
Term
Free riders
Definition
Those who receive benefits without paying for them
Term
Government failure
Definition
When government intervention causes a more inefficient allocation of goods and services than would have occurred if government had not intervened.
Term
Grants
Definition
An award of cash or goods to an organization for which a service or performance is expected.
Term
Incrementalism
Definition
A process of policy change that consists of on-going, small refinements in current policy
Term
Information failure
Definition
Term
Information failure
Definition
When markets or government are less efficient than they could be if everyone involved had full information
Term
Issue networks
Definition
Groups or individuals share common beliefs who integrate their efforts for a specific purpose such as gaining information or achieving a goal
Term
Market distortion
Definition
When government intervention causes the proper functioning of markets to shift out of balance - usually by providing a competitive advantage to some firms over others
Term
Market failure
Definition
When the private market is not efficient which is often due to monopolies, externalities, information failures, or underproduction of public good or merit goods
Term
Monopoly
Definition
A persistent market situation in which there is only one provider of a product or service
Term
Negative externalities
Definition
The costs resulting from a market transaction that reduce the welfare of a third party who was not involved in or consulted regarding the original market transaction (e.g., air pollution, noise, second hand smoke)
Term
Underproduction of public goods
Definition
The insufficient production of a good that is provided collectively for users whose use is not precluded by others
Term
Target populations
Definition
The individuals or groups who a policy is supposed to effect (both positively and negatively)
Term
Serial processing
Definition
When policy is addressed in either a sequential approach - dealing with one issue at a time
Term
Social construction
Definition
The process of defining problems and of selling a broad population on this definition
Term
Subsidies
Definition
Funding paid by a government to an enterprise which benefits the public. The enterprise receiving the subsidy can be private, public, an individual or another government.
Term
Symbols
Definition
Anything that stands for something else and whose meaning depends on how people interpret it, use it or respond to it
Term
Rational decision making
Definition
An organized, comprehensive, step-by-step process by which policymakers weight all possible outcomes and choose the one that best maximizes well-being
Term
Rationality
Definition
Assumption that individuals know what they want (self-interest) and are capable of choosing the best alternative available to them
Term
Regulation
Definition
A type of formal policy making established through the adoption of rules and standards that must be followed.
Term
Public goods
Definition
Goods that satisfy a collective want of the society and from which, if any one member of the group receives the benefit, all members of a group benefit (e.g., roads, mass transit, education, clean air, drinking water)
Term
Public information
Definition
Activities where the purpose, design, and plan intends to provide a benefit through the delivery of information to the public or various publics
Term
Parallel processing
Definition
When many policy areas are advanced at the same time with different units focusing on each area
Term
Perverse incentives
Definition
When government intervention encourages individuals to take actions that are not in the collective interest of the government policy
Term
Policy benefits and costs
Definition
The distribution of wins and losses as a result of a policy
Term
Policy problems
Definition
Issues that are elevated in the public eye enough to necessitate governmental action
Term
Policy tools
Definition
Policy tools
Term
Positive externalities
Definition
The benefits resulting from a market transaction that increase the welfare of individuals who were not involved in the market transaction (e.g., clean parks, safe schools)
Term
Private goods
Definition
Goods that are both excludable (it is possible to prevent those who have not paid fro the good from consuming it) and rivalrous (use by one consumer prevents simultaneous consumption by other consumers).
Term
Punctuated equilibrium
Definition
A model of policy change in which policy is characterized by long periods with little or no change interspersed with short periods of rapid or dynamic change
Term
Politics
Definition
Who gets what, when and how
Term
Distributive Policy
Definition
Granting benefit to a certain group (Farm Subsidies).
Term
Regulatory Policies
Definition
Regulate Business Conduct
Term
Competitive Regulatory Policy
Definition
Compete for Licenses (Radio & TV)
Term
Protective Regulator Policy
Definition
Protect Public from negative from private
Term
Redistributive Policy
Definition
Intended to manipulate allocation of wealth, property and civil rights (Title 1, Welfare)
Term
Prohibitive Policy
Definition
Prohibits stuff
Term
Prohibitive Policy
Definition
Prohibits stuff
Term
Protective Policy
Definition
Ex: Tariffs
Term
Promotive Policy
Definition
Promote specific behavior (Propaganda)
Term
Provide Policy
Definition
Benefits directly to citizens
Term
Log Rolling
Definition
Help with each others policy
Term
Subsidies
Definition
Tax Credits
Term
Policy Tools
Definition
Direct Govt
Subsidies
Regulation
Public Info
Grants
Fees
Term
Search Goods
Definition
Minimal inspection to determine quality of goods
Term
Experience Goods
Definition
Have to use good before you know how to use it
Term
Post Experience Goods
Definition
No idea of quality until long after
Term
Market Failure Examples
Definition
Producing public goods (Underproduction)
Monopolies
Negative Aspects (N. Externalities)
Limited Info
Term
Examples of Govt Failure
Definition
Imperfect Info
Electoral Pressure
Short term solutions
limited competition
market distortion
disincentive effect
incentives for evasion
high cost of admn
Term
Narrative Stories
Definition
Highly simplified, stories about decline helplessness
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