1. Public Policy
AP Government

2. What is it?
Government action to address a specific challenge.

3. What are today’s
challenges?

4. Politics and
Policy

5. Types of Public
Policy
 Distributive policy (new
benefits are given to all
citizens)
 Redistributive policy
(resources taken from one
group and given to
another—zero sum game)
 Counterdistributive policy
(resources taken from
everyone to solve a specific
problem—Social Security)

6. The Eight
Steps in
Making
Public
Policy
1. Making assumptions about the
world
2. Setting the agenda
• Nondecision
• Policy agenda
• Think tanks
3. Deciding to act
4. Deciding how much to do
• Incremental policy
• Punctuating policy
• Iron triangles
• Issue networks

7. The Eight
Steps in
Making
Public
Policy
5. Choosing a tool
 Federal spending
 Use of taxes
 Providing goods and services
 Guarantee protection against risk
 Regulations and rules
 Provision of both material and symbolic benefits
6. Deciding who will deliver the goods or services
 Federal government
 “Third-party government”
 Private businesses
 Colleges and universities
 State and local governments
 Charities
7. Making rules for implementation
 Federal Register
8. Running the program

8. Pages in the
Federal
Register

9. Policy-Making
Alliances
IronTrianglesFederal department or
agency
Interest groups
House and/or Senate
authorizing committee
Issue Networks
Federal department
or agency
House and/or Senate
authorizing committee
= Small,
highly
specialized
interest
groups