Thomas A. Birklands: Policy Process

What is government? Government is the governing body of nation, state, or community. Government determines the way any group of people are ran. There a several different types of government used all around the world. In the United States for example, uses a type of government that has three different branches of power. The Legislative Branch is the law making branch. The Judicial branch is the courts and the low enforcement. Lastly, the Executive branch is the presidential branch. “Each has its own responsibilities and at the same time they work together to make the country run smoothly and to assure that the rights of citizens are not ignored or disallowed.” (Osborne) Usually, governments break up the responsibilities into two or more groups. Two very influential writers wrote about their views on government; Lao-tzu and Machiavelli. These writers were in very different times which makes it very interesting to compare their views. Lao-tzu and Machiavelli had very different views on the ultimate purpose of government, the obligations of government leaders, and the main work of the state.

Every government in the world has basic functions that they provide for their citizens. “The preamble, to the constitution, alludes to two basic kinds of services that cannot easily be accomplished without government, and their provision accounts for two functions of every government of the world.” (Maltese 11) The two functions are providing and maintaining order and safety, and providing public goods, such as national defense. Governments can also provide any functions that they see fit to help promote the general welfare of their citizens. These government functions are designed to keep countries from becoming too chaotic, while still not completely controlling the people. While these are the main functions that governments perform they can do many other things, and often once a government is in place, the people will want to be provided with other services. However there are also people who believe

When looking up the definition of a government it says, “the governing body of a nation, state, or community”(dictionary.com). This helps to understand it a bit more, but what is the purpose of a government. Government has many purposes that keep its people safe and protected, this includes to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. There are so many ways that the government is use and there are so many sub categories and even those have categories. So when one is faced with a question like this there any number of responses, and but the main purpose of a

Policymaking is a political process which is affected by various social and economic factors (Hofferbert, 1974) and media systems play an integral role in shaping the social context in which policies are developed. Through the media, citizens learn how government policies will affect them, and governments gain feedback on their policies and programs. Media systems act as the primary channels between those who might want to influence policy and the policymakers '' controlling the scope of political discourse and regulating the flow of information. Textbook policymaking follows an orderly sequence where problems are identified, solutions devised, policies adopted, implemented, and lastly evaluated (Mazamanian & Sabatier, 1989). In reality,

The role of the government in our country is defined in our Constitution as to, "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the

Government, the thing that makes our lives function everyday has countless roles they play in running a country. Some of these roles consist of listening to the citizens, providing safety and controlling the money aspect of the country. The purpose of government is to provide safety, control the money of the country and listen to the citizens because throughout history it has been proven that they have been the most crucial and effective parts of a government.

The government’s role for the people is to challenge them like how contestants from “The Amazing Race” or “Fear Factor” are challenged. Government should be like a reality competition show filled with adventure and danger (Amazing Race, 2003) (Fear Factor, 2005). Just like the government in “The Hunger Games” (Collins, 2008). People should compete for rights and liberties. The competitions can be held under the government’s supervision. These competitions can involve multiple life daring tasks and only the ones that survive win. The losers or the ones not so fortunate die in the process, a true fight to the death. Government works from a federal standpoint and does not get involved in local affairs.

The language of the article is politically based, and there are vocabulary words that are not common knowledge. The article is broken down by headings, which makes the document easily navigated. The graphics within the article give the readers a visual break, but they also show the text in picture form, which is sometimes easier to understand. The graphs that the author uses are prevalent in the field of political science, however they are not always helpful to non-intellectuals’ because they are data driven. A benefit of this article is that it is relatively concise and does not have many unnecessary phrases. A downside of this article is that it is formatted with text in columns, which decreases comprehensiveness and

The role of a government is to control a state or community using just values which benefit the general population. There are a multitude of perspectives one could take as to what extent the government is justified in its ruling of a people. Both John Steinbeck and David Thoreau write on the American government and where it falls short of it’s duty as a governing force. Steinbeck in Chapter 17 of The Grapes of Wrath focuses on the families which have taken the role of government into their own hands, forming communities which abide by their own rules. Thoreau in On The Duty of Civil Disobedience writes on the injustices of the American government at the time and expresses his belief that people should primarily adhere to their own morals and

In Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (Stone, 2011), the author uses two versions of the political world (the polis and the market) to highlight the paradoxes in political action while also showing the ineffectiveness of many political theoretical frameworks. Stone describes the market as being comprised of individuals who pursue their own personal welfare through their interactions with others; rationality rules in this theoretical construct and people’s decisions can be easily deduced based on what will most benefit them. In contrast to the rational model of politics outlined in the market, Stone asserts that true politics is far more complex. Voters and politicians in the polis are not always well-informed on an issue. They do not always make decisions that would be considered “rational” and most highly benefitting themselves. They have loyalties and compassion for others and their decisions are based on a number of social interactions with other groups and individuals. For me, the biggest claim that Stone makes throughout the book is that other political models are too simplistic in describing the political environment and the human interaction that takes place within it.

The role of government has developed throughout the years changing the way we view and act in society today. For example, the national government ensure that the citizens of the United States are all treated equally, applies law and order, and provides opportunities. The government has changed dramatically since we now have social media, newspapers, and the radio. However , not only has the government provided a strong impact in society in a positive way, but it has also impacted the society in negative ways. As a nation the public has found many imperfection in our government that they want to change. Public opinion has caused negative feedback through media and political participation . The government is trying to help the people by

Kingdon has identified the problem, policy, and political as the three streams as to where the problems originated (Jansson 2014). The three streams are what finally changed public policy that created the momentum to moved the “government agenda” box to the “decision agenda” box that made it necessary to place an issue on the public policy agenda (John Kingdon’s “Three Streams” 2016). When persuading a policy decision maker to pay attention to one problem over the other is the process of problem stream (Evaluation Based on Theories 2016). How proposals are generated, debated, revised, and adopted for serious consideration is the policy stream process (Evaluation Based on Theories 2016). What influenced the agendas, political climate or mood, and the voices of

This has been in my thoughts as I’ve been drafting my way into my own dissertation ideas. My background in critical social studies means I am very familiar with building arguments, so some of this uncertainty is expected. AT the moment, I know enough to say I am on the right track with my research ideas and know that public administration, and public policy in particular, is the right field for me.. However, I also feel rather critical of the policy process literature. It has been claimed, “public administration exists to realize the governance of society” (Raadschelders, 1999, p. 288). Yet, what society believes policy to be, and for whom, changes over time and across place. I feel at this moment public policy in the United States will change dramatically and I worry that our field is ill equipped to deal with these changing views of policy. Consequently, most of my underlying thoughts and reflections have been on understanding how can we adapt to this changing atmosphere.

The theoretical framework guiding this study conceptualizes policy analysis as a multidisciplinary inquiry aimed at the creation, critical assessment and communication of policy-relevant information. Policy analysis is a problem-solving discipline. To solve practical problems, the analysis draws on social science methods and theories (Dunn, 2012).

Have you ever wondered about the role of government in society? Henry Cloud, a leadership expert and psychologist, claims that “every human being must have boundaries in order to have successful relationships or a successful performance in life” (Cloud). However, on the broader spectrum, can this message also apply to our government? Even if you have not considered these two questions, you will certainly have expectations from the government, which may be related to your wellbeing and/or the society’s wellbeing. Since each individual has different expectations, it is easier to analyze the role of government by considering societal expectations. Societal expectations are commonly shared views about the role of an exceptional government, which would include security, right to equal opportunity, and economic prosperity. Thus, the role of a government is to ensure that the country is moving towards economic prosperity along with providing security to its residents. However, does this mean that all of the government’s decisions are directed towards this responsibility? Unfortunately, this is not always the case; there are many times of when a government oversteps its boundaries by hindering economic progress or sacrificing domestic security. One example of this would be the USA’s decision to send its military aid to Pakistan for fighting terrorism. Nonetheless, there are also many times of when a government acts within its boundaries by ensuring the protection of its residents.