1013-009
Introduction POL to American Politics
Lecture #26 April 29th
Exam Review
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Today We Will...
Review all of the key material we have covered since Exam #3 Combined with:
readings Prior review lectures
Your
And you should do very well in next week's final, scheduled for May 8th at 10:30
The Fifty Or So Things You Need To Know To Guarantee Success
Domestic policy refers to all laws passed by Congress, government planning and government actions They are formulated and implemented by combined federal,state and local efforts Policymakers get much of their input about needed policy from interest groups and the mass media
Other Policy Issues
Domestic policy is usually a compromise from all proposals previously discussed Government programs are implemented by the bureaucracy, the courts and sometimes law enforcement
More Things to Know
Policy evaluation usually results in new policymaking to improve effort Income transfers means shifting wealth from the rich to the poor The number of people living below the property line has been growing since 2000
Much More to Know...
The federal government allocates about a sixth of its budget to support the poor Medicaid is one of the government's most successfully and efficient programs TANF mandates two and five year limits to participation
Even More Things to Know
Food stamps were originally designed to help farmers with surplus commodities
Administered by the Agriculture Department
One possible cause in the recent decline in violent crimes was the booming economy of the 1990s Federal economic decisions include:
Tax and spending policies Social Security Monetary policy
Taxation and Trade-offs
Policy trade-offs refer to costs borne by one group to the benefit of another The federal tax system is progressive in nature, with tax rates based on income
Still More Things Worth Knowing
Higher income level people have great incentive to find legal ways to avoid paying higher taxes The Social Security System was designed as a way to provide a minimum pension to all citizens It is a pay-as-you-go transfer system where today's workers pay for today's retirees
Social Security
The biggest problem is that the number of workers is declining relative to future retired people Major changes need to be made to avoid future funding shortfalls
We Never Run Out of Things
Proposed solutions to this significant policy dilemma include:
Raising SS taxes Eliminating the $91K cap Raising full eligibility to 70
Fiscal policy refers to changes in government expenditures and taxes to control economic growth, unemployment and inflation
Major Domestic Policy
Fiscal policy is controlled by the President and the U.S. Congress Monetary policy seeks to stabilize the national economy by changing the amount of money in circulation
It
is controlled by the Federal Reserve Board
Also Remember
When the Fed uses a tight money approach, it reduces circulating money, raising interest and rates slowing investment and spending The Fed and its chairman are totally independent of the president and congress In a deficit position, when the federal government borrows money it can crowd out private investment, reducing growth
Do Not Forget
Monetary policy is controlled by the federal reserve system Under fiscal policy when the nation is in recession, the government lowers taxes and/or spends more If the economy is expanding too quickly and inflation exists, it raises taxes and spends less Using monetary policy, the Fed fights recession by expanding the rate of growth in the money supply Easy money refers to the Fed lowering interest rates to induce consumer spending and business investment
Do Not Forget
That current international threats to the U.S. include the following:
Terrorism Rivalries with other powers Global economic competition
Foreign policy is the most significant tool used by nations to deal with global complexities Foreign policy includes a nation's goals as well as the techniques used to achieve them
On Foreign Policy
Foreign policy is carried out through some combination of:
Diplomacy
Economic
and technical assistance Military intervention
With diplomacy, state conflict are resolved peacefully
Through
negotiation
Diplomacy's success depends on the willingness of the parties to participate
Don't Forget This Either
Foreign policy includes both broad statements of goals and ideals, as well as comprehensive efforts to achieve defined goals National security policy is designed to protect the nation's independence and political integrity It's based on the recommendations of the Departments of State, Defense and the NSC Defense policy is influenced by Congress, but proposed by the SECDEF and military leaders
Certainly Worth Remembering
Political realism sees the world as a dangerous place and posits that we must base policy decisions on cold calculation Even though we are powerful, we are vulnerable to the threat of terrorism Al Qaeda attacked us on 9/11 hoping to persuade us to pressure our leaders to withdraw our forces from the Middle East One of the reasons the president is so powerful in foreign policy is his access to information from the intelligence community
Last But Not Least
Besides POTUS, the four policy-making sources in the executive branch are the Departments of State and Defense, the NSC, as well as the Intelligence agencies The military industrial complex refers to the alliance between the military, defense contractors and allies in congress The Cold War between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. was the dominant foreign policy issue of the late twentieth century
Today the main issue is international terrorism
For a Possible Essay Exam
Review some of the key points in the history of the U.S. involvement in the Middle East Recommend possible policy alternatives
Next Time...
We will take Final Exam, which will be comprehensive in nature That Exam will be in this room, on May 8th, at 10:30 a.m.