Summary
Contents
Subject index
Why do policymakers select certain problems for attention and ignore others? Why do some policy ideas fail and other succeed? In addition to the President, Congress and Supreme Court what other institutions are influential in shaping public policies? How do policymakers design and implement policies? How do those policies ultimately influence the nation? Providing answers to these and other questions are the focus of this book. The practice of politics and policymaking is complicated, involving thousands of people in government institutions and the private sector. Although each public law and public policy has a unique history, Politics and Public Policy is designed to help students understand the larger patterns of the policy making process.
Institutional Performance
Institutional Performance
Politicians and ordinary citizens in the United States believe that properly structured political institutions are essential to freedom, democracy, and prosperity. The Constitution reflects this view in that it prescribes certain relationships among these institutions, and between them and the citizens. Characteristic of the political culture of the United States is an unquestioning support for the election of legislatures and chief executives, an independent judiciary, and federalism. Despite the symbolic reverence for government institutions, they are continually examined and criticized by citizens and politicians alike. Explanations and evaluations of the government's performance are another political tradition. Negative evaluations of institutional performance have rarely been more widespread than in recent years.
The principal observations and conclusions offered in chapters 3 through 8 provide ...
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