Chapter 13
Domestic and Economic Policy
The Policy Making Process
agenda building -- identifying a problem and
getting it on the agenda
policy formulation – the debate that occurs between
government officials,and between the public in
the media,and in campaigns
policy adoption – the selection of a strategy for
addressing a problem
policy implementation – the administration of the
selected policy (by bureaucrats,the courts,etc.)
policy evaluation – when the public,officials and
groups determine if the selected policy has the
desired impact
Major Government Assistance
Programs
o Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) –
replaced AFDC in 1996,this program uses federal funds
which are administered by the states to help needy families,
o Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – provides a
minimum income to the elderly and disabled who do not
qualify for Social Security benefits,
o Food Stamps – these coupons that can be used to purchase
food are now distributed to more than 28 million
Americans with little or no income
o Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – a tax credit used by
low income workers who get back part or all pf the their
Social Security taxes
Economic Policy Making
Fiscal Policy – the use of changes in government
spending or taxation to change national economic
variables,like the unemployment rate
- Keynesian Economic Theory posits that using fiscal
policy can alter economic variables (increasing
government spending during economic turn downturns,
for example)
Monetary Policy – the use of changes in the money
supply to change credit markets,unemployment
and the inflation rate
- Monetary policy is determined by the Federal Open
Market Committee (FOMC),part of the Federal
Reserve System
Budget Deficits and the Public
Debt
~ the deficit is when the government spends
more money than it receives in any given
year
~ the public debt is the total amount of debt
carried by the federal government,also
called the national debt
Hot Links to Selected Internet
Resources,
? Book’s Companion Site,
http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com/schmidtbrie
f2004
? Wadsworth’s Political Science Site,
http://politicalscience.wadsworth.com
? Project Vote Smart,http://www.vote-smart.org/
? U.S,Census Bureau,http://www.census.gov
? Social Security Online,http://www.ssa.gov
? Office of Management and Budget,
http://www.access.gpo.gov/usbudget