A Study Guide on Public Policymaking in the United States
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2024
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This Study Guide assists students learn about public policymaking in the United States. The guide will introduce you to, or bring you up to speed on, or refresh your memory on some basic, and at times nuanced, terms and concepts used in the public policymaking process in the U.S. The guide is meant for any student at any level of higher education taking a public policymaking course, be it in health, education, social service, business, economics, or environment, among others. The guide is especially helpful to those who don’t have a strong background or experience with Civics or did not take an American Government course in college.
The scope and sequence of the Study Guide is arranged in four logical parts.
- It begins by introducing students to the philosophical foundations of why societies form governments and what the Founders believed, and thus presented, in our founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and The Federalist Papers. These documents explain the founding principles of what some have called from the beginning of this country: A Grand Experiment.
- Part II of the Study Guide gives students the anatomy and physiology, so to speak, of the structure and the roles and responsibilities of governments in the US (federal, state, and local).
- Part III covers the players and the dynamics of the policymaking process.
- Part IV is likely to be an area with which students are least familiar: Public Policy Analysis and Programs and Services Evaluation.
The guide presents 53 “Briefings” that first provide a figure to aid your memory of the terms and concepts presented. A brief narrative explanation of important terms and concepts on the topic at hand follows each figure. The text provides references to supporting sources from credible sources that have a long shelf life. By design, the text is lightly referenced. There is a list of “Words You Should Know” at the end of the guide.
The Guide is a straightforward, easy to read presentation of terms and concepts that leaves the context and contemporary examples of public policymaking in the US, especially the “political circumstances,” to the instructor who serves as the subject matter expert in the course.
About the Author
Introduction to this Study Guide
Part I Philosophical Foundations and the Founding Principles of the US Government
Briefings
1 The Enduring Fundamental Questions in Life
2 Why Have Government?
3 The Dilemma of the Public Good
4 Thumbnail Definition of Politics
5 The Nature of the Relationship that the People have with their Government via a “Social Contract” Varies
6 Three Sectors in American Society
7 Fraternity is a Part of the American Character
8 Fundamental Precepts of Our Constitution
9 The Federalist Papers
10 The Social Contract
11 Three Branches of Government with Checks and Balances
12 Federalism
13 Civil Liberties vs. Civil Rights
14 The American Character
15 The American Identity
16 Natural Law and Human Nature
Part II The Structure and Roles and Responsibilities of Governments in the United States
Briefings
17 The Legislature
18 United States Congress
19 An Administrative Bureaucracy
20 The Executive Branch of the United States
21 The Bureaucracy, Bureaucrats, and the Administrative State
22 The US Judicial System
23 “All politics is local”
Part III The Policymaking Process
Briefings
24 Three Phases in the Policymaking Process
25 Behold the Iron Triangle!
26 Interest Groups
27 Three Streams of Influence in the Policy Formulation Process
28 Policy Formulation—Agenda Setting
29 Public Policymaking and Public Salience
30 The Epistemic Challenge to Defining the Problem
31 The Media as the Fourth Estate
32 Clipping for Success
33 Advocacy
34 Framing Your Message
35 Issue Networks
36 The Political Power of Public Policy Issues Debate
37 The Contrasting Policy Worlds for Most Formal Interest Groups
38 Implementing Laws via the Administrative Branch
39 Setting the Rules and Regulations from a Law
40 The Rational Approach to Implementation
41 Why Things Don’t Get Done in Organizations
42 The Deep State
43 Compliance Fosters Quality Assurance
Part IV Policy Analysis and Policy/Program Monitoring, Evaluation, and Modification
Briefings
44 Policy Analysis: An Eightfold Path
45 Define the Problem
46 Assemble Some Evidence
47 Be Open to Alternative Policies
48 The Confluence of Variables to Policy Decisions
49 Coming to Terms with Terms Related to Policy Outcomes
50 Monitoring Policies Passed and Implemented
51 Components of Program Evaluation
52 Stages/Steps in the Policymaking Process
53 A Systems Model of Politics and Policy
Brief Summary and Conclusion
Words You Should Know
Stephen F. Gambescia, Ph.D., M.Ed., M.B.A., M.Hum., M.L.S., MCHES
Stephen F. Gambescia is professor of health services administration and Director of the Doctor of Health Science program in the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. He has 40 years of being a student of and practicing concepts and strategies in the public policymaking process as an analyst, advisor, or advocate. He has been teaching healthcare and public health policy courses at all three levels at a university since 2006 (undergraduate, master’s, doctoral). He draws from his experiences in research and writing about several public policies, which naturally demands a close following of a range of areas in the policymaking process—from studying political actors and interest groups, to the dynamics between and among these groups, to the policies they create, and in the monitoring and evaluation process of programs and services.
Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Gambescia held several educational leadership roles, eventually serving as a vice president in a metro and multi-state division for two of the largest national voluntary health agencies (American Cancer Society and American Heart Association). He is co-editor of the book The Healthcare Nonprofit: Keys to Effective Management.
Dr. Gambescia is active in state and national public health professional associations. He has been the president of the national Society for Public Health Education. For his academic achievement, he gained the honor of Distinguished Fellow of the Society. He has been a member of a Board and a Commissioner for the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing, including chair. In June 2022 he was awarded the American Hospital Association Excellence in Teaching Health Policy Award by the Association of University Programs in Healthcare Administration. He has served on several community, civic, educational, and religious boards and committees ranging from a trustee for Delaware County Community College to the 10th Synod of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Frequently published commentaries in metropolitan daily newspapers have played an adjunct role in his broad interests in health, education, and social policies; media studies; political philosophy; and leadership. Some of his commentaries have been syndicated. He has had robust academic formation earning degrees in the areas of sociology, business administration, political science, education, humanities, communication arts, and legal studies.
This Study Guide assists students learn about public policymaking in the United States. The guide will introduce you to, or bring you up to speed on, or refresh your memory on some basic, and at times nuanced, terms and concepts used in the public policymaking process in the U.S. The guide is meant for any student at any level of higher education taking a public policymaking course, be it in health, education, social service, business, economics, or environment, among others. The guide is especially helpful to those who don’t have a strong background or experience with Civics or did not take an American Government course in college.
The scope and sequence of the Study Guide is arranged in four logical parts.
- It begins by introducing students to the philosophical foundations of why societies form governments and what the Founders believed, and thus presented, in our founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and The Federalist Papers. These documents explain the founding principles of what some have called from the beginning of this country: A Grand Experiment.
- Part II of the Study Guide gives students the anatomy and physiology, so to speak, of the structure and the roles and responsibilities of governments in the US (federal, state, and local).
- Part III covers the players and the dynamics of the policymaking process.
- Part IV is likely to be an area with which students are least familiar: Public Policy Analysis and Programs and Services Evaluation.
The guide presents 53 “Briefings” that first provide a figure to aid your memory of the terms and concepts presented. A brief narrative explanation of important terms and concepts on the topic at hand follows each figure. The text provides references to supporting sources from credible sources that have a long shelf life. By design, the text is lightly referenced. There is a list of “Words You Should Know” at the end of the guide.
The Guide is a straightforward, easy to read presentation of terms and concepts that leaves the context and contemporary examples of public policymaking in the US, especially the “political circumstances,” to the instructor who serves as the subject matter expert in the course.
About the Author
Introduction to this Study Guide
Part I Philosophical Foundations and the Founding Principles of the US Government
Briefings
1 The Enduring Fundamental Questions in Life
2 Why Have Government?
3 The Dilemma of the Public Good
4 Thumbnail Definition of Politics
5 The Nature of the Relationship that the People have with their Government via a “Social Contract” Varies
6 Three Sectors in American Society
7 Fraternity is a Part of the American Character
8 Fundamental Precepts of Our Constitution
9 The Federalist Papers
10 The Social Contract
11 Three Branches of Government with Checks and Balances
12 Federalism
13 Civil Liberties vs. Civil Rights
14 The American Character
15 The American Identity
16 Natural Law and Human Nature
Part II The Structure and Roles and Responsibilities of Governments in the United States
Briefings
17 The Legislature
18 United States Congress
19 An Administrative Bureaucracy
20 The Executive Branch of the United States
21 The Bureaucracy, Bureaucrats, and the Administrative State
22 The US Judicial System
23 “All politics is local”
Part III The Policymaking Process
Briefings
24 Three Phases in the Policymaking Process
25 Behold the Iron Triangle!
26 Interest Groups
27 Three Streams of Influence in the Policy Formulation Process
28 Policy Formulation—Agenda Setting
29 Public Policymaking and Public Salience
30 The Epistemic Challenge to Defining the Problem
31 The Media as the Fourth Estate
32 Clipping for Success
33 Advocacy
34 Framing Your Message
35 Issue Networks
36 The Political Power of Public Policy Issues Debate
37 The Contrasting Policy Worlds for Most Formal Interest Groups
38 Implementing Laws via the Administrative Branch
39 Setting the Rules and Regulations from a Law
40 The Rational Approach to Implementation
41 Why Things Don’t Get Done in Organizations
42 The Deep State
43 Compliance Fosters Quality Assurance
Part IV Policy Analysis and Policy/Program Monitoring, Evaluation, and Modification
Briefings
44 Policy Analysis: An Eightfold Path
45 Define the Problem
46 Assemble Some Evidence
47 Be Open to Alternative Policies
48 The Confluence of Variables to Policy Decisions
49 Coming to Terms with Terms Related to Policy Outcomes
50 Monitoring Policies Passed and Implemented
51 Components of Program Evaluation
52 Stages/Steps in the Policymaking Process
53 A Systems Model of Politics and Policy
Brief Summary and Conclusion
Words You Should Know
Stephen F. Gambescia, Ph.D., M.Ed., M.B.A., M.Hum., M.L.S., MCHES
Stephen F. Gambescia is professor of health services administration and Director of the Doctor of Health Science program in the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. He has 40 years of being a student of and practicing concepts and strategies in the public policymaking process as an analyst, advisor, or advocate. He has been teaching healthcare and public health policy courses at all three levels at a university since 2006 (undergraduate, master’s, doctoral). He draws from his experiences in research and writing about several public policies, which naturally demands a close following of a range of areas in the policymaking process—from studying political actors and interest groups, to the dynamics between and among these groups, to the policies they create, and in the monitoring and evaluation process of programs and services.
Prior to working in higher education, Dr. Gambescia held several educational leadership roles, eventually serving as a vice president in a metro and multi-state division for two of the largest national voluntary health agencies (American Cancer Society and American Heart Association). He is co-editor of the book The Healthcare Nonprofit: Keys to Effective Management.
Dr. Gambescia is active in state and national public health professional associations. He has been the president of the national Society for Public Health Education. For his academic achievement, he gained the honor of Distinguished Fellow of the Society. He has been a member of a Board and a Commissioner for the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing, including chair. In June 2022 he was awarded the American Hospital Association Excellence in Teaching Health Policy Award by the Association of University Programs in Healthcare Administration. He has served on several community, civic, educational, and religious boards and committees ranging from a trustee for Delaware County Community College to the 10th Synod of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Frequently published commentaries in metropolitan daily newspapers have played an adjunct role in his broad interests in health, education, and social policies; media studies; political philosophy; and leadership. Some of his commentaries have been syndicated. He has had robust academic formation earning degrees in the areas of sociology, business administration, political science, education, humanities, communication arts, and legal studies.