60 likes | 266 Views
Domestic Policy. Last time: Get Out the Vote campaigning Today: the politics of domestic policy. GOTV and Nathan Henderson-James. What did we learn from Nathan’s presentation?
E N D
Domestic Policy Last time: Get Out the Vote campaigning Today: the politics of domestic policy
GOTV and Nathan Henderson-James • What did we learn from Nathan’s presentation? • Project Vote’s labor-intensive approach seems to work quite well, at an estimated cost of ~$15-$20 per voter turned out • personal contact and personalized telephone contacts are effective; depersonalized contacts are not • Are these voters “permanently” mobilized?
Domestic policy • the text refers to several types of policy: • distributive: benefit allocations from a common pool of (renewable) “found” resources • regulatory: command-and-control policies governing economic and social interactions, using the police powers of the government to shape incentives • redistributive: transfers of wealth or income from members of one group to members of another group
Presidents and domestic policy • distributive policies: prez can help MCs negotiate logrolls; reversion pts usually are remote (annual bills) • regulatory policies: to what degree can the prez manage the bureaucracy and the courts? • redistributive policies: reversionary policies usually are not remote (permanent authorizations/appropriations; entitlements)
Presidents and bureaucrats • What do bureaucrats want? • What do prez & Congress want vis-à-vis bureaucrats? • If prez and Congress have different interests, MCs may abdicate control over parts of the bureaucracy • can MCs be held collectively responsible for macro-economic or social outcomes? Not easily. But prez can be. • blame game: MCs may prefer to position-take rather than actually try to control policy outcomes • Delegation problems: hidden info, hidden action; Madison’s dilemma • Managing delegations: • screening and selection mechanisms • contract design • monitoring and reporting requirements • institutional checks
Prez management tools • Signing statements: rhetorical device to interpret legislative intent • why should anyone treat as credible statements made by the prez at this stage? • Appointment powers • Executive orders: quasi-legislative statements about leg. intent or decree-like, policy-making devices • under what conditions should bureaucrat action be shaped by E.O.s?