Public Policy: Origins,
Practice, and Analysis
Chapter 2.2
Origins of Public Policy
● Around the fourth millennia BCE, Sumerian monarchs
enacted public policy decisions to protect their cities
● The Magna Carta (1215) brought change to how
monarchies made their decisions as it placed limits
● In the late 18th century, the ‘Age of Revolution’
proposed the idea that the power of the government
should be derived from the consent of the governed
● Written constitutions have been used as a way to
identify and restrain the policy making powers of the
government
● The U.S. government was created in order to improve its
ruling system from its previous ruling system
● This new ruling system would be based on state power to
prevent big government rule
● The first ruling system showed to be incompetent and a new
system was created which allowed a new federal government
Articles of
Confederation
Stephanie, Tatiana, Parveen
Note
Confederate government - Local (state) governments hold
the power to establish policies
Unitary government - National government holds the
power to establish policies
Confedera Unit
te ary
- In a confederate system, an alliance is - In a unitary system, power is
formed for the purpose of pursuing the will centralized and is in no way dispersed
of the members. among local governments
-Historically, the above countries had a - The central government will control the
confederacy at some point in time. local governments.
The Main Question…
Why did the Articles of Confederation make it difficult for a centralized government
to make policy?
Although a Confederate government was ideal in the beginning, there was too
many loose ends and was proven inadequate to benefit the united nation our
leaders are thriving for. It was simply getting too difficult to pass policies and to
communicate in an efficient way.
Policy 2.4
continued…
Madison & Ernie
Constitution & Federalism
HOW PUBLIC POLICY & THE CONSTITUTION CORRELATE
- In article 1 the Legislative process is outlined as members of the senate and
house of representatives propose and vote on bills
- a system of laws, regulatory measures, courses of action, and funding priorities
concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its
representatives.
CONSTITUTIONAL POLICY RIGHTS
the right to freedom of speech, the right to vote regardless of race or sex, the
right to vote at the age of 18, and the right to bear arms
How we interact with Federalism
● Federalism is a power sharing relationship between our federal
government and individual state governments. The system
distributes power between our National Government and our State
Government through the constitution.
● We see federalism carried out in our nation through
implementations such as the regulation of interstate commerce,
the shared ability to make and enforce laws, and a state's ability to
control their police force.
● We separate these powers with Enumerated powers being
exclusive to the federal government, concurrent powers being
those that the federal and state governments share, and reserved
powers being exclusive to state governments
Chapter 2.4
U.S. Constitution &
Federalism
Celeste Calvillo & Kylie
J o hns on
Main Points
➢ Problems the Framers of the Constitution faced: power
➢ Seen the negative impacts of an over-centralized gov’t.
➢ But understood the need for a balance of power within the
government that wouldn’t be tyrannical or hinder individual liberties
➢ Federalism represents a combination of unitary and confederate
governments
➢ Enumerated Powers: necessary for security & prosperity of the
Republic
➢ Implied Powers: were not specifically enumerated in constitution for
the federal government
Types of Powers
Enumerated Concurrent
Concurrent
Enumerated
Powers Powers
Powers
Powers
Reserved
Reserved
Powers
Powers
Chapters 2.5-
2.5.1
By: Amneek Chalotra and Diego Nunez
2.5 Progression of Federalism and Governmental Oversight
Late 18th Century-1930’s Post Great Depression & World War II
● New expectations for Federal
Government
● Minimal Federal Oversight ● Responsible for Economic Regulation,
● State Governments hold a more significant Protection of Minority and
Underprivileged Rights, Social Safety
role in policy
Nets
● Regulation of Natural Monopolies
The New Deal
Background: Slower consumer spending in 1929 resulted
in the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Administration: President Franklin D. Roosevelt
New Deal: policy that increased federal government powers
and presence in American life.
- Regulated prices, jobs, banks, and secured rights of
labor
- Ex: minimum wage, retirement income through Social
Security Act, and unemployment compensation
Date: 1933-1939
Who are Bureaucrats?
• They are non-elected
government officials
responsible for handling
policies.
• Max Weber defines them as
having, 1.) specific divisions
of labor; 2.) an
organizational hierarchy; 3.)
formal rules over
professional actions; 4.)
record maintenance; 5.)
impersonal approach to
work; 6.) meritocracy in
hiring.
How effective are they?
• They influence policy-making
since bureaucracy has
become more about
interpreting laws rather than
implementing them.
• Non-elected officials are
ideally more versed in policies
than elected officials. The
former’s knowledge allows
them to finely tune a policy
before it goes into effect.
Also…
• Their merits allow them to be kept
accountable and informed on their
actions.
• Also believed to be more positive
influences on elected officials, rather
than lobbyists or interest groups.
What is voting?
• Voting is one of the most effective ways for the public to exercise its
political power over the elected branches of government.
• Voting allow citizens to have direct impact on the policy process by
installing elected leaders into office who align with citizen policy
preferences.
How do citizens influence policy process?
● Their opinions are especially influential in a liberal democracy like the
U.S
● Also, citizen can influence public policy decisions by taking direct action
which is protect by the first amendment.
Chapter 2.7-2.7.1
Esmeralda
Marsha
Eddy
2.7 - The Three Branches of Government
Our Constitution created three branches of government to balance the powers of the other
branches and attempt to form a government relatively free of tyranny and corruption.
Legislative Branch: The House and the Senate represent the people of their districts and
propose and create laws
Executive Branch: The President is chosen by delegates and by the people, and with his
Cabinet executes the laws created by the Legislature
Judicial Branch: The State, District, Circuit, and Supreme Courts are chosen by the
President and Confirmed by the Legislature. They analyse the laws challenged by lawsuits
and rule whether they are constitutional or not, balancing the power of the legislature and
president.
Congressional Powers
● Congressional approval for the creation of all
executive branch departments and agencies
● Power of the purse
○ Appropriates all revenue spent by the federal
government
● Oversees actions of the executive branch
● Creates and passes laws
● The origination of all revenue- raising bills has to be
from the House of Representatives
Question: Why did the framers of the constitution place so much policy making power in the legislative
branch? Can you think of any contemporary examples of congress exercising policy making power?
Answer: The Framers of the
new republic intended for
congress to be the epicenter
of policy making and gave the
legislative branch more policy
making powers than the
executive and judicial
branches combined
The Courts
By: Jesus, Nebiat, & Esmeralda
Judicial review
- The judicial branch is responsible for overseeing executive and legislative
actions
- They decide if there actions were constitutional
- This was established in Marbury v Madison in 1803
- This gives the federal court major power over:
→ individuals liberties
→ Public policy
Judicial Restraint
- The belief that the court could not push
its own preference or views on other
branches of government.
- this encourages judges to limit the
exercise of their power
- It calls for less direct Judicial influence
on public policy
Judicial Activism
● Definition: Act of judge to strike down
governmental actions regarding
constitutional issues
○ Within judicial activism, the court is
viewed as a member in the policy
making process
● Judicial Activism v. Judicial Review
○ Judicial Review: Judiciary power
determines validity of the law and
order
○ Judicial Activism: Direct approach of Brown v. Board of Education
judicial power to articulate and (1954)
enforce overlooked policy problems
Court ruled racial segregation of children
in public schools as unconstitutional
Chapter 2 Section 7
By: Tarandeep Singh & Connor Horne
Domestic Powers
- The president is tasked with ensuring that the laws are faithfully enforced
- President has “executive powers”. Use of this broad language has lead to an
expansion of the president’s power of the original intent of Article Two.
- President’s use executive orders to establish rules and regulations that act
like a law but do not have to get congressional approval
Foreign Policy
- In charge of receiving foreign ambassadors
- Serves as head of state and government
- Shares foreign policy making decisions with the Senate
- ⅔ vote is required for the ratification of treaties
- If Senate does not approve, they can make executive agreements with other governments
- Can be rescinded by future administrations
Executive Branch Cabinet Departments
1. State Department
2. Treasury
3. Defense
4. Justice
5. Interior
6. Agriculture
7. Commerce
8. Labor Secretary of Treasury
Attorney Secretary of
State Antony
9. Health and Human Services Janet Yellen General
Blinken
Merrick
10. Housing and Urban Development Garland
11. Transportation
12. Energy
13. Education
14. Veteran Affairs
15. Homeland Security
Interest Groups and the
Media.
Presenters:Samuel Chang, Mackenzie German, Marco Florez
Med
Educating ia
Influential
Introduction
Interest groups are organizations that
seek to influence the government to
enact certain policies.
The media such TV news networks and
other online news sources can also
influence public policy as they are the
ones who present new information to the
people.
How Interest Groups Influence Public policy.
Interest groups have two ways to
influence public policy. The first way is
lobbying which may involve interest
groups directly meeting policy makers
and attempting to sway these policy
makers. Or by making campaign
donations to the policy maker’s election
campaign. Interest groups can also sway
public policy is to provide information to
political candidates.
How Media can Shape Public Policy
The media can shape public policy in
three ways. The first is presenting
information about political candidates
which allows people to make their
choice when elections take place. The
second is watchdog actions where the
media exposes government wrongdoing
to the public. And the third is selecting
what issues are covered by the media
which draws the public’s attention to
these issues.
Section 2.8.2-2.8.3 Conclusion
Interest groups and the media can
shape public policy in many ways.
Interest groups can lobby policy makers
and provide information to policy
makers to sway public policy. The media
can shape public policy by presenting
information on candidates, exposing
government wrongdoing, and selecting
what is covered by the media.
2.9 Case Study:
The Origins of
U.S. Healthcare
Policy
Obama and Trump Admin
Obama (2008-2016)
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010)
- Acceptance of pre-existing conditions
- 26 age limit to parental insurance
- Mandatory insurance coverage
- Ended lifetime coverage limitations
Trump (2016-2020)
- Attempted to replace the ACA
- Proposed American Healthcare Act in
2017, but failed despite republican
majorities in both houses of congress
- Limited funding to the ACA’s enrollment
and outreach programs and eliminating
the individual mandate
U.S. Healthcare Policy
● NFIB and 26 state governments challenged the Affordable Care Act on two provisions:
○ Individual mandate requiring individuals to purchase healthcare insurance or
pay a penalty
○ State governments’ expansion of Medicaid to include all individuals at/below
138% of the poverty level
● The Supreme Court’s decision upheld
Congressional power to create the mandate from the
power to tax enumerated in Article 1 in the
Constitution.
○ Did not go violate the 1st or 10th Amendments
● Allowed the Medicaid expansion program to
continue if state governments volunteered to
participate.
