1 POLICY ANALYSIS:What Governments Do,Why They Do It,and What Difference It Makes 1
What Is Public Policy? 1
Why Study Public Policy? 3
What Can Be Learned From Policy Analysis? 5
Policy Analysis and Policy Advocacy 6
Policy Analysis and the Quest for Solutions to America's Problems 7
Policy Analysis as Art and Craft 9
Note 10
Bibliography 10
Web Sites 10
2 MODELS OF POLITICS:Some Help in Thinking about Public Policy 11
Models for Policy Analysis 11
Institutionalism:Policy as Institutional Output 12
Process:Policy as Political Activity 14
Rationalism:Policy as Maximum Social Gain 15
Incrementalism:Policy as Variations on the Past 18
Group Theory:Policy as Group Equilibrium 20
Elite Theory:Policy as Elite Preference 22
Public Choice Theory:Policy as Collective Decision Making by Self-Interested Individuals 24
Game Theory:Policy as Rational Choice in Competitive Situations 26
Models:How to Tell if They are Helping or Not 28
Notes 29
Bibliography 30
Web Sites 30
3 THE POLICYMAKING PROCESS:Decision-Making Activities 31
The Policy Process:How Policies Are Made 31
Problem Identification and Agenda Setting 31
Agenda Setting From The Bottom Up 33
Agenda Setting From The Top Down 35
"Nondecisions":Deciding What Will not be Decided 39
Agenda Setting and Mobilizing Opinion:The Mass Media 40
Formulating Policy 42
Interest Groups and Policymaking 43
Policy Legitimation:The Proximate Policymakers 47
Policy Implementation:the Bureaucracy 52
Policy Evaluation:Impressionistic Versus Systematic 55
Summary 56
Notes 57
Bibliography 58
Web Sites 58
4 CRIMINAL JUSTICE:Rationality and Irrationality in Public Policy 60
Crime in America 60
Crime and Deterrence 63
Does Crime Pay? 65
Police and Law Enforcement 67
Federalizing Crime Fighting 70
Crime and Guns 71
The Drug War 74
Crime and the Courts 79
RICO Versus Liberty 82
Prisons and Correctional Policies 84
Capital Punishment 85
Summary 88
Notes 89
Bibliography 90
Web Sites 91
5 HEALTH AN D WELFARE:The Search for Rational Strategies 92
Rationality and Irrationality in the Welfare State 92
Defining the Problem:Poverty in America 95
Who are the Poor? 96
Why are the Poor Poor? 99
The Preventive Strategy:Social Security 101
Evaluation:Intended and Unintended Consequences of Social Security 103
Social Security Reform? 105
The Alleviative Strategy:Public Assistance 107
Welfare Reform 108
Evaluation:is Welfare Reform Working? 110
The Working Poor 111
Homelessness and Public Policy 112
Health Care in America 113
Evaluation:Health Care Access and Costs 116
Health Care Reform Strategies 119
Summary 121
Notes 123
Bibliography 123
Web Sites 123
6 EDUCATION:The Group Struggle 125
Multiple Goals in Educational Policy 125
The Educational Groups 126
Battling Over the Basics 128
The Federal Government's Role in Education 131
"No Child Left Behind" 134
Controversies Over Testing 136
Parental Choice in Education 137
Battles Over School Finances 139
Public Policy and Higher Education 140
"Diversity"in Higher Education 142
Groups in Higher Education 145
Reading,Writing,and Religion 147
Summary 151
Notes 152
Bibliography 153
Web Sites 153
7 ECONOMIC POLICY:Incrementalism at Work 155
Incrementalism in Fiscal and Monetary Policy 155
Economic Theories as Policy Guides 156
The Performance of the American Economy 160
The Fed at Work 161
Incrementalism and Government Spending 163
"Entitlement"Spending 165
Changing Budget Priorities:Challenging Incrementalism 167
Government Debt,Deficits,and Surpluses 168
The Formal Budgetary Process 170
Summary 174
Notes 175
Bibliography 175
Web Sites 175
8 TAX POLICY:Battling the Special Interests 177
Interest Groups and Tax Policy 177
The Federal Tax System 178
Taxation,Fairness,and Growth 183
Tax Reform and the Special Interests 186
Return of the Special Interests 188
Replacing the Income Tax? 191
Summary 194
Notes 195
Bibliography 195
Web Sites 196
9 INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND IMMIGRATION:Elite-Mass Conflict 197
The Global Economy 197
Changing Elite Preferences for World Trade 198
Elite Gains from Trade 202
Mass Losses From Trade 205
Elite-Mass Differences Over Immigration 208
National Immigration Policy 210
Summary 214
Notes 215
Bibliography 215
Web Sites 216
10 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY:Externalities and Interests 217
Public Choice and the Environment 217
Environmental Externalities 220
Interest Group Effects 226
The Global Warming Controversy 228
The Nuclear Industry Meltdown 231
Politicians and Bureaucrats:Regulating the Environment 233
Alternative Public Choice Solutions 235
Summary 237
Notes 238
Bibliography 238
Web Sites 239
11 CIVIL RIGHTS:Elite and Mass Interaction 240
Elite and Mass Opinions and Race 240
The Development of Civil Rights Policy 242
Mass Resistance to Desegregation 244
Racial Balancing in Public Schools 247
The Civil Rights Movement 249
Public Policy and Affirmative Action 251
The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action 253
Mass OPinion and Affirmative Action 256
Public Policy and Hispanic Americans 259
The Constitution and Gender Equality 260
Public Policy and Gender Equality 262
Abortion and the Right to Life 266
Public Policy and the Disabled 268
Summary 269
Notes 270
Bibliography 272
Web Sites 272
12 AMERICAN FEDERALISM:Institutional Arrangements and Public Policy 273
American Federalism 273
Why Federalism? 274
Politics and Institutional Arrangements 276
American Federalism:Variations on the Theme 278
Money and Power Flow to Washington 282
Federalism Revived? 283
Comparing Public Policies of the States 285
Institutions and Public Policy 287
Summary 290
Notes 291
Bibliography 292
Web Sites 292
13 DEFENSE POLICY:Strategies for Serious Games 294
National Security as a Serious Game 294
Confronting Nuclear Threats 295
Arms Control Games 296
Missile Defenses:The Limits of Deterrence 299
NATO and European Security 300
When to Use Military Force? 303
Using Military Force 306
Determining Military Force Levels 309
Summary 313
Notes 315
Bibliography 315
Web Sites 315
14 HOMELAND SECURITY:Terrorism and Nondeterrable Threats 316
The Nature of Terrorism 316
The War on Terrorism 317
The Department of Homeland Security 322
Fighting Terrorism With Intelligence 323
Security Versus Liberty 327
Summary 330
Notes 330
Bibliography 331
Web Sites 331
15 POLICY EVALUATION:Finding Out What Happens after a Law is Passed 332
Policy Evaluation:Assessing the Impact of Public Policy 332
The Symbolic Impact of Policy 334
Program Evaluation:What Governments Usually Do 335
Program Evaluation:What Governments Can Do 337
Federal Evaluation:The General Accounting Office 339
Experimental Policy Research 340
Program Evaluation:Why It Fails So Often 342
How Bureaucrats Explain Negative Findings 343
Why Government Programs Are Seldom Terminated 344
Politics As a Substitute For Analysis 346
The Limits Of Public Policy 347
Notes 348
Bibliography 349
Web Sites 349
INDEX 351