American Public Policy: Promise and Performance

342 Pages·1986·88.846 MB·English

by  B. Guy Peters (auth.)

American Public Policy
Promise and Performance
SECOND EDITION
B. Guy Peters
Maurice Falk Professor
of American Government
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
M
MACMILLAN
EDUCATION
© B. Guy Peters 1982, 1986
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission
of this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied
or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance
with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to
this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and
civil claims for damages.
This edition first published 1986.
Published by
MACMILLAN EDUCATION LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER
BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Peters, B. Guy
American public policy : promise and
performance.-2nd ed.
1. United States-Politics and
government-1981-
1. Title
320.973 JK261
ISBN 978-0-333-41591-7 ISBN 978-1-349-18388-3 (eBook)
DOl 10.1007/978-1-349-18388-3
Contents
Part One: The Nature of Public Policy
1 What Is Public Policy?
3
Defining Public Policy. The Instruments of Public Policy.
The Environment of Public Policy.
2 The Structure of Policymaking in American
Government 16
Federalism. The Separation of Powers. Subgovernments. Public
and Private. The Size and Shape of the Public Sector. Summary.
Part Two: Making Public Policy
3 Agenda Setting and Public Policy 39
Agenda Setting. Kinds of Agendas. Who Sets Agendas? From
Problem to Issue: How to Get Problems on the Agenda. Policy
Formulation. Summary.
4 Legitimating Policy Choices 63
Legislative Legitimation. Summary.
5 Organizations and Implementation 77
Dramatis Personae. Implementation. Interorganizational Politics.
Summary.
6 Budgeting: Allocation and Public Policy 103
Characteristics of the Federal Budget. The Budget Cycle.
Problems in the Budgetary Process. Reforming Budgeting.
7 Evaluation and Policy Change 133
Problems in Evaluating Public Programs. Policy Change.
Summary.
Part Three: Substantive Policy Issues
8 Making Economic Policy 155
The Goals of Economic Policy. The Instruments of Economic
Policy. Tax Policy. Summary.
9 Health-Care Policies r83
Problems in Health Care. Public Programs in Health Care.
The Pursuit of National Health Insurance. Summary.
10 Income Maintenance: Social Security and Welfare 209
Social Insurance. Means-Tested Programs. The Persistence
of Poverty in the United States. Personal Social Services.
Summary.
11 Educational Policy in the United States 234
The Federal Government's Role in Education. Issues in
Educational Policy. Summary.
12 Energy and the Environment 252
Energy: Problems and Policies. Environmental Policies. The
Politics of Pollution. Summary.
13 Defense Policy 2 7 4
The Environment of Defense Policy. The Strategic Balance.
The Development of Nuclear Strategies. Arms Control.
Problems in Defense Policy. Summary.
Part Four: Policy Analysis
14 Cost-Benefit Analysis 297
Principles of Cost-Benefit Analysis. Doing Cost-Benefit Analysis.
Criticism and Modification.
15 Ethical Analysis of Public Policy
Fundamental Value Premises. Ethics and Public Policy:
Alternatives to Utilitarianism.
Glossary
Index 337
Tables
2.I Percentages in Public Employment, Selected Policy Areas 27
2.2 Growth of Public Employment and Expenditures 29
2.3 Shifts in Public Employment and Expenditures 30
3·I Kinds of Policy Formulation 56
4·I Confidence in Government 64
4·2 Kinds of Legitimation 65
5·I Examples of Employment in Federal Organizations 79
6.r Executive Controllability of Federal Expenditures II3
6.2 Federal Spending II4
8.r Major Economic Indicators, Selected Countries I 56
8.2 Unemployment in the United States 159
8.3 Sources of Revenue 174
8.4 Tax Exemptions and Deductions 175
9·I Major Health Programs 184
9-2 Infant Mortality I85
9·3 Changes in Medical-Care Costs Compared with
Consumer Price Index r88
IO.I Costs of Income Maintenance Programs 2IO
I0.2 Social Insurance Beneficiaries 2!2
10.3 Increasing Rates of Social Security Taxation 213
!0.4 Replacement Ratios of Earnings in Social Security
by Income Groups 214
!0.5 Characteristics of AFDC Recipients 223
ro.6 Changes in Poverty Rate 230
!0.7 Alternative Definitions of Poverty 231
II. I Property-Tax Revenues 237
13.1 Defense Expenditures 275
13.2 Strategic Nuclear Forces, United States and USSR 277
I3·3 Conventional Weapons, NATO and Warsaw Pact Nations 278
I3·4 Naval Forces, NATO and Warsaw Pact Nations 279
I4·I Costs and Benefits of Dam Project 300
J4.2 Hypothetical Costs and Benefits of Dam Project
for Twenty Years
Costs and Benefits of Alternative Projects
Choosing a Package of Projects by Net Benefit Ratio
Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die?
Figures
3·I A Decision Tree on Evacuation 59
6.r Relation of Budget Authority to Outlays-r987 Budget rr6
Preface to the Second Edition
Understanding public policy in the United States of the r98os is a rather grand
undertaking, although limited by both time and space. In a political system
as large and as complex as that of the United States, understanding policy
making necessitates an explanation of the complex political system. Policymak
ing is not strictly a political undertaking, however; it also involves the skills
and biases of economists, philosophers, engineers, and many other professionals
outside the field of political science. To understand public policy in the United
States the student must first have a firm grasp of what policy is and must under
stand the basic institutional and value structures in which it is made. Almost
all the numerous definitions of public policy have some validity. In this book
I attempt to focus on the effects that policy statements, declarations, and pro
grams have on citizens, but I look too at more formal definitions of policy.
Also, because policies are made within a set of institutions that limit their op
tions and shape their outcomes, students must understand these institutions.
Public policy is also made by means of a complex, subtle, and not always
formal process. That is, many agents who do not show up on any formal chart
of government organizations may nevertheless influence the shape of policy,
perhaps even more than many formal institutions do. The process of making
policy begins in the mass society as problems and issues are defined, goes into
the formal institutions for some policy decisions, and then is returned to the
broader society for implementation and, eventually, evaluation.
All too often, the close connection between state and society, between the
formal and informal actors in the policymaking process, is forgotten by both
analysts and citizens, and the reality and subtlety of the relationships are re
duced. It is also important to realize that policy problems are rarely if ever
"solved"; solutions may be offered, but in all probability before long the prob
lems will require new solutions. This is in part a result of changing circum
stances and in part a result of the fallibility of policymaking institutions.
Understanding public policy also requires some knowledge of specific pol
icy areas. The policy process is generic, but it varies substantially between policy
areas. The technological, social, and institutional frameworks in which policies
Vll
AMERICAN PUBLIC POLICY
are made will influence their outcomes, and it is important to understand some
of those differences. To that end, I have included chapters on specific policy
areas. These have been selected because of my interests and expertise and be
cause of the likelihood of significant modifications of the policies during the
r98os. Also, the policy areas that have been selected represent a variety of types,
in terms of the technological and professional influences on policymaking.
These policy areas are all domestic, and most lie in the broad area of social
policy. But within that seemingly narrow set of policies is sufficient variation
to demonstrate the importance of understanding the particular framework of
each policy.
Finally, there must be some means of evaluating policies after they are made
or proposed. This can be done on the basis of economic costs and benefits
or on the basis of "softer;' more humane values. I discuss both kinds of eval
uation and, to some degree, the differences between them. As in many areas
of policymaking, neither kind of evaluation is entirely right or entirely wrong;
both are necessary to understanding policy in the fullest.
This second edition represents no major departures from the first, although
it does contain a good deal of new material. Most important, it contains a
chapter on defense policy, to balance the dominant concern of the book (and
the author) with domestic and especially social policies. Also, the chapter on
economic policy has been revised to take into account both the greater interest
in an industrial policy in the United States and the centrality of tax policies
in the mid-r98os. Finally, the impact of the Reagan administration on Amer
ican public policy, at least during its first term, has been discussed and to some
degree assessed.
As with the first edition, there are a number of people who should be
thanked for their contributions to this volume. Again, my family had to put
up with the inevitable pressures arising from the need to complete a manuscript.
Again, students who have heard much of this provided a number of useful com
ments, although at times there were only dazed looks. Many colleagues in the
profession provided useful feedback. Sandra Mathews typed the manuscript
quickly and accurately-even the dreaded footnotes. If there are any differences
in quality between the first and second editions, they may be attributed to hav
ing to listen to the Pirates rather than the Yankees.
Vlll
PART ONE
The N
a tore of
Public Policy