The three-step process to making
public policy consists of problem recognition, policy formation, and
policy implementation. During problem recognition issues begin to
emerge, normally from conditions of society such as employment rate,
quality of schools, security of nation, and street safety. Policy
formation is the process of actually formulating and enacting policy
responses to the problem. Only during policy implementation is the
public policy actually carried out. Policy implementation is normally
left to the bureaucrats and sometimes even includes policy evaluation
in order to determine whether policy has its expected effect.
Although regulation has it's benefits, such as environmental regulation leading to dramatic improvements in
air and water quality, this very regulation can ironically also sometimes be the very cause of environmental issues. Back during the BP Oil in 2010, when the idea of an underground oil pipe was being pursued, a leak in the pipe lead to an overflowing excess of oil getting released into the ocean, both damaging
ecological disasters and the native animal species in that area.
Often seen to be ineffective at promoting the interests of the people, the government does play an exceptionally essential role in promoting economic interests. For example, the government provides traditional
services such as education, transportation, and defense to businesses. Without the professional workforce from universities and transportation from roadways, waterways, and airports, businesses could not function. The government used to be quite
hostile toward labor, going to point of using police and soldiers to break up
strikes. However, after Great Depression attitude
towards labor began to change. The government began to support general privileges and rights including minimum wage, maximum work house guarantees, unemployment benefits, better working conditions, and nondiscriminatory hiring practices. Today, farmers receive billions of dollars of assistance each year from the government. The Homestead Act of 1862 even made government-owned
lands accessible for settlement. Often neglected in the past, farmers are now the most heavily subsidized individuals in the world thanks to Congress's five-year $300-billion farm bill that would put farmers in line for hefty government assistance. The bill went through many tests of rejection and approval, but was nonetheless accepted in the end.
While the U.S has a much stable economy
state compared to other nations in the world, poverty is still remain
to be very big issues disturbing the U.S. There are two different
ways to categorize poverty. Absolute poverty measures poverty through
a poverty line, and if certain families or individuals fall below
this poverty line, they are considered to lack the resources and
basic needs in having a healthy life, along with insufficient income
for food, shelter, and clothing. U.S poverty line is about is
arguably low at 11670 for a single individual or 23850 for a family
of four. Relative poverty deems individuals as poor when they have
significantly less income and wealth compared to other people of
society, the U.S relative poverty rate being at 24%.
Initially, the U.S social welfare
policy had little federal government activity or influence. The
commonly held outlook was negative government, where the government
governs by staying out of the lives of people. Later on, following
the aftermath of the Great Depression, the U.S turn towards more of a
positive government model, when the government intervenes in other to
enhance personal liberty and security during times of difficulty.
The federal government has helped the
U.S economy grow through a variety of social insurance programs.
Social security is the means of paying for retired persons through
the means of payroll taxes on employees and employers' salaries.
Therefore, the amount of retirement money is direct proportional to
the amount of money put into the system when working. The long term
issue with social security is that as people can now live longer
lives, the amount of money made through the workers (young) cannot
sufficiently pay for retirees (old). Especially with the baby boomer
generation now retiring, it is especially hard for workers to pay for
a generation much larger than theirs.
Likewise, there are also a number of
public assistance programs, all of which require a means test (test
to prove that applicant are poor enough to receive the benefits) in
order to be eligible. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides
public assistance to the blind and disabled. The Food Stamps programs
provides an in-kind-benefit (not a cash related benefit), food
stamps, that can be spent on grocery items. Head Start, a program of
LBJ's Great Society, offers free preschool education to low-income
children.
Modern day Americans believe that
society can run well without the aid of welfare. The result is a
welfare system that is both inefficient (much of the money spent on
welfare never reaches the intended recipients) and inequitable (most
of the social welfare spending does not go to the ones who need it
the most). Eligibility for benefits can be hard to pinpoint since
overlapping needs can conflict with each other. A person making $495
a month can be eligible for a certain benefit whereas someone making
$500 a month isn't.
Today, Americans endorses the idea of
equality of opportunity, the idea that people should have a
reasonable chance to succeed if they make the effort. This has been
demonstrated several times the American education system. In order
to ensure proper education opportunity of every student in America,
President Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act, which makes
standardized testing mandatory in all schools in order to access the
education quality students receive. Schools with less improvement
will then therefore receive federal aid. The idea of school choice
gives students the option of leaving poor performing schools for
better ones. With the growth of charter schools and school vouchers,
students can almost “shop around for schools” to find which one
suits their needs best.
Ever since World War II, the U.S
acquired the position and the world leader, possibly because of it
switch over from an isolationist to internationalist
(deeply involved in world affairs) country overview. During the cold
war, international power was bipolar, with the U.S pitted up against
the Soviet Union. Later on as the Soviet Union began to collapse from
its heavy expenditures and inefficient centralized economy, with all
of its Soviet republics declaring their independence and splitting
away, the U.S soon became the unrivaled single international power
and initiate a unipolar international structure.
Following the aftermath of the Cold
War, President George H.W Bush sought to have a multilateralist
society, the idea that major nations should act together in response
to problems and crises, leading to the creation of organizations such
as the UN and NATO. This was successfully demonstrated during the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, when the U.S intervened and drove the Iraqi
tops out of Kuwait, thus ending the war. Later on during President
George W. Bush's reign, multilateralism was abandoned, and Bush (jr)
instead chose to focus more on a “war on terrorism” approach,
which aimed towards making national security the main priority of the
nation. Following the transnational terrorism (terrorist attacks on
the national borders including attacks on nonmilitary targets)
attacks of 9-11, American soon began to narrow it's enemy to al
Qaeda.
Just like national security, global
trade is also a very important goal of the U.S. The U.S is a
supporter of free trade, the idea that barriers to
international trade should be kept to a minimum. The World Trade
Organization (WTO) was created just for this reason: to promote
global free trade through reductions in tariffs and protections for
intellectual property. However, there are also many U.S policymakers
that disagree with the idea of free trade and instead argued for
protectionism, the idea that domestic producers should be
protected from foreign competition. Trade with China can be
frustrating, as although China still remains to be a frequent trading
partner with the U.S, providing it inexpensive goods in return for a
marketplace for its goods, America's trade deficit with China has
increased up to over $250,000 each year.
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