POLSC221: Introduction to Comparative Politics

6.2: The Public Policy Cycle

• The Independence Hall Association: "Policy Making: Political Interactions" URL

  Read this article on the key stages of the policymaking process.
  

• American Government and Politics in the Information Age: "Section 16.2: "Making Public Policy" and "Section 16.4: Policy Making and Domestic Policies in the Information Age" URL

  Read sections 16.2 and 16.4 on policymaking in the United States.
  

• John's Hopkins University: William Brieger's "Policy Making and Advocacy" File

  Read this presentation on policymaking and advocacy as it relates to global public health initiatives.
  

• 6.2.1: Evaluation and Feedback

  • The London School of Economics and Political Science: Kathryn Oliver, Simon Innvaer, Theo Lorenc, Jenny Woodman, and James Thomas' "Negative Stereotypes About the Policymaking Process Hinder Productive Action Toward Evidence-Based Policy" URL

    Read this article on the challenges of assimilating evidence-based research into the policymaking process. What factors have contributed to lack of rigorously established objective evidence informing public policy?

• 6.2.2: The 'Iron Triangle': Legislators, Bureaucrats, and Interest Groups

  • Wikipedia: "Iron Triangle" URL

    Read this article. Iron triangles are often criticized for creating beneficial public policies in favor of corporations and other special interest groups. What types of governmental reforms would help to break the dynamics of this relationship between Congress, special interest groups, and bureaucratic agencies?

  • American Government and Politics in the Information Age: "Section 9.3: Interest Groups and the Political System" URL

    Read this section on the role of interest groups in government. What are the levels of influence that interest groups can possess in their relations with policymakers?

  • Wikipedia: "Military-Industrial Complex" URL

    Read this article, which discusses the background and current issues related to the military-industrial complex. After President Dwight Eisenhower used the phrase in his 1961 farewell address, it entered the political lexicon to signify the notion that an oligarchy of corporate interests encompassing the Pentagon and its military producers was on the verge of controlling the U.S. government. How true do you think Eisenhower's warning ring today? Can you cite specific examples of the military-industrial complex's role in U.S. national defense policies and practices?