The Policymaking Process

1
The Policy-making Process

• Sausage and Simulation

2
The Players

• Constituents
• 2 pro, 2 con
• Interest groups/lobbyists
• 1 pro, 1 con, 2 members each
• Members of Congress and Staff
• 3 groups of 2
• The Media
• 3 reporters

3
The Game

• Objective Navigate institutional and political
  constraints in order to enact (or block)
  legislation favorable (or unfavorable) to your
  interests

4
The Rules

• You must adopt the role of your assigned player
• Players should act rationally (maximize your
  interests within the policy environment)
• Players must operate within resource and
  information constraints
• Players must conform to ethical standards
  (whatever that means)

5
The Issue Smoking in Public

• Political and policy environment many states
  have banned smoking in public places. Now there
  is a move for localities to ban smoking outdoors,
  in common areas. For example, there is no
  smoking allowed on the beaches in Malibu, CA and
  there is a movement to ban smoking on the Ithaca
  Commons.

6
The Issue Smoking in Public

• Should Congress act to ban smoking outdoors on
  the National Mall?

7
The Process

• Identifying the Problem
• Agenda Setting
• Policy Formulation
• Policy Legitimation
• Policy Implementation
• Policy Evaluation

8
Identifying the Problem

• Who is involved?
• What are the issues?
• What are the tactics?

9
Agenda-Setting

• Bottom-up or Top-down or BOTH?
• Why bring this up (or keep it down)?
• Does this issue get on the agenda?

10
Policy Formulation and Legitimation

• Introduction to the Formal Process
• Focus on the Committee Structure
• Introduction to the Informal Process
• Getting Support
• Deciding on the Boundaries
• Getting Information
• What is the Goal?
• Who is at the Table?

11
Policy Implementation

• Filling in the Blanks
• Rules and practice
• The Capitol Police?
• Who is paying for this, again?

12
Policy Evaluation

• You be the judge (who are you, again?)
• Can it be done?
• Reality in action or inaction
• Should it be done?
• Hidden benefits and consequences

13
Your Task

• Identify your interests
• Identify stages of the process where you may have
  influence
• Think about the interests of others playing the
  game
• Research your position
• Formulate a strategy to further your interests
• WIN

14
Constituents

• Pro
• Samantha Delia sdelia_at_wells
• Chris Van Wert cvanwert_at_wells
• Con
• Derek Wheeler dwheeler_at_wells
• Kelsey Stafford kstafford_at_wells

15
Interest Groups/lobbyists

• Pro
• Jacqueline Johnson jjohnson_at_wells
• Levi Velez lvelezreed_at_wells
• Con
• Caroline Bates cbates_at_wells
• David Hicks dhicks_at_wells

16
Members of Congress and Staff

• Pamela Conway pconway_at_wells
• Rachel Murdock rmurdock_at_wells
• Nicole Gottschall ngottschall_at_wells
• PH Copeland tcopeland_at_wells

17
Media

• Roena Williams rwilliams_at_wells
• Don Gori dgori_at_wells