Chapter 2: Government Institutions and Policy Actors
Exercises
1. Exploring a Federal Agency
Chapter 2 provides some general information in regard to the different federal agencies responsible for implementing public policy. These agencies are extremely important in the policy process because their actions often directly affect our daily lives. There are numerous ways to access government agency Web sites. In fact, many agency Web sites have addresses that correspond to their acronyms. In addition, all government sites end with ".gov." So, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency is www.epa.gov and the Food and Drug Administration is www.fda.gov. For this exercise, you will again use the FirstGov site to get started.
- The purpose of this exercise is to examine two different agencies, one that is a cabinet-level agency (executive department) and then one other agency. Go to the FirstGov site. Select the "Federal Executive" link. Scroll down to the "Executive Department" list and select an agency. Click on the department's home page. What is the mission of this department? What is its primary role in terms of policy? Who is its secretary? What other offices or bureaus report to it? Most agency sites have an area that discusses current events, hot topics, or both. Select one of these and summarize an issue.
- Return to the FirstGov site. Click on "Federal Executive" and scroll down the listing of departments. Select an agency that is not an executive department (you could start by selecting the "Independent Agencies and Government Corporations" link). Click on the agency. What is its mission? What is its primary role in terms of policy? Who is its head, and what is that individual's official title? As above, select a current event or hot topic at the agency's site and summarize the issue.
2. Exploring Public Opinion Data
Opinion polls can have a significant effect on policy decisions. Through news programs and paid advertisements, the general public is inundated with polling results, especially during election years, but few people look at the actual data. This exercise allows you to explore a major poll conducted by the American National Election Studies (ANES). Go the NES Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior. You are provided with a list of nine topics.
- Examine the data for the partisan make-up of the population by choosing "Partisanship and Evaluation of the Political Parties" and then "Party Identification 7-Point Scale." The scale shows how strongly people identify with a particular party. On one side you see "strong Democrat" and on the other "strong Republican." The middle represents someone who is "independent." Take a look at the "Question Text" below the table to get a sense of how the question was asked. The numbers in the table represent the percentage of people who responded with a specific label. What can be said about the population's party preferences in the most current year shown? Are more people Democrat or Republican? How do Democrats tend to identify themselves? What about Republicans? Do members of these parties tend to characterize themselves as strong, weak, or independent? What trends do you see in partisanship--that is, how have people identified with a particular party--over the past ten years? For instance, look at the "strong Democrat" row from 1990 to 2000. Have the percentages remained the same, or have they changed? If so, in what way? Study the other rows as well and note any changes found in them.
- Now return to the nine topics and click on "Public Opinion on Public Policy Issues," and then choose "Government Health Insurance." What did the public say in the most recent study available in regard to its support for a government-sponsored insurance program? How has this opinion changed since 1984?