Government Study
- Public policy issues like federal amusement park ride regulation raise debates about the government’s role in public safety. For this situation, the main problem of public policy is whether the federal government should get involved in controlling amusement park rides, especially those owned by big companies like Disney and Universal. A policy fight with competing values is clear when supporters of federal regulation, like Senator Edward Markey, stress the need for tighter safety oversight to stop accidents that could put people’s health at risk (Kraft & Furlong, 2021). However, big theme parks argue against government involvement, saying that accidents are uncommon, risks are very low, and visitors’ health and behavior cause many incidents. Within a capitalist society, the industry’s call for self-regulation and the government’s duty to protect public safety are in conflict. This problem highlights this tension. Finding the balance between the risks to people and the industry’s desire to keep workplaces safe is challenging because of the competing values.
- Due to subjectivity and contextuality, equity is sometimes overlooked in public policymaking in favor of effectiveness, efficiency, and political viability. Policymakers struggle to define and measure fairness or justice in resource and result distribution, making equality a more elusive and complex criterion (Kraft & Furlong, 2021). Recently, Congress has been discussing tax reform, an example of a policy where fairness might not be the central worry. Many of the time, economic efficiency, the usefulness of bringing in money, and political viability are the main topics of these discussions. For example, policymakers might put these factors before making sure that people with different incomes pay the same taxes. Due to the difficulty of weighing and comparing different ideas of what is fair in taxation, lawmakers often focus on other, more concrete, measurable factors, putting equity outside their thinking when making policy and decisions.
- Two significant 1960s and 1970s events also drove activity against traditionalism and party loyalty. The Democrats gained African American voters after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, and an extreme backlash overtaking a New Nation’s Party Republican to pursue their southern methodology won white voters battling for these reforms (Kernell & Smith, 2019). On the other hand, Republicans used the Southern Strategy to get white voters who were against these changes. Additionally, the Vietnam War made people angry about the war, which grouped Democrats with young people and anti-war activists, while Republicans marketed themselves as the party of law and order. These events completely changed the Democratic and Republican parties, causing significant changes in the candidates and their supporters.
- Regarding government priorities, climate change is firmly on the agenda but has not yet made its way onto the decision-making agenda. An important issue that needs to be addressed right away is climate change, which is often talked about but not taken seriously because of its many factors, including how complicated it is and how long it takes for its effects to show (Kingdon, 2009). The multifaceted nature of the problem, competing interests, and difficulty reaching an agreement on specific measures make things more difficult. These issues make it harder for climate change to move smoothly from setting the agenda to making decisions in the government.
- In Chapter 2, Kingdon presents civil servants as significant participants in public policy formulation, with specialized knowledge and experience essential to efficient governance. He stresses their importance in shaping policy options and suggestions and serving as a reference for policymakers. Kingdon emphasizes the importance of bureaucratic knowledge, but the idea of a “deep state” is not directly supported by his work. On the contrary, it shows civil workers as essential to the government’s work, providing critical information to policymakers (Kingdon, 2009). While claims of a “deep state” imply a hidden, long-lasting influence that works independently of elected governments, Kingdon’s description of the influence of civil servants is more in line with their proper and necessary role in helping policymakers make decisions based on good information.
References
Kernell, S., & Smith, S. S. (2019). Principles and practice of American politics: classic and contemporary readings. Thousand Oaks, California: Cq Press.
Kingdon, J. W. (2009). Agendas, alternatives, and public policies (2nd ed.). New York; Munich: Longman.
Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2021). Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Cq Press.