【正文】 s the mass opinion. 3. Decision makers respond to news because they think it is the opinion of the people. D. Opinion Polls Pollsters produce opinions because no one admits when they don’t have an opinion on a subject. E. Instability of Opinion 1. Public opinion tends to be unstable. 2. Never real changes, just appear as such F. Wording of Questions 1. Opinions vary according to the wording of the question 2. Can word things to elicit approval or disapproval G. Communicating with Policymakers 1. Decision makers can misinterpret opinion because of elite bias in information. 2. Congress world of opinion is self reinforcing 3. Those who write or call senators are usually more informed III. Identifying Policy Issues: Elite Opinion A. Elite preferences are more likely to be in accord with policy than mass opinion. B. Can be argued that decision makers are acting rationally to their argument? IV. Agenda Setting and Nondecisions A. Creating an issue, dramatizing it, calling attention to it, and pressuring government to do something about it are important political tactics, they are tactics of agenda setting. B. “Nondecision making: It occurs when influential individuals or groups or the political system itself operates in society. ? It happens when officials hide an issue because they fear it will not be in their best interest. ? When political candidates and office holders feel elites will not favor it. ? The political system itself is structured in such a way as to facilitate resolution of some issues and to obstruct others. C. “Mobilization of bias: A set of values which operate systematically and consistently to the benefit of others. V. Agenda setting and mobilizing opinion: The mass media A. Television is where a reported 2/3 of American people get their information B. Media power: ? Media is a player and referee in politics ? It sets the agenda of public discussion ? It concentrated with a small number of people ? Not much diversity in news reporting C. Newsmaking: It involves important decisions on what is news and what is worthy of reporting ? Media attention can create personalities and issues. ? It provides cues to audience on the importance of an issue, personality, or event ? Media event arranged primarily to attract coverage and thus attention D. Media Effects: ? Identifying issues and setting the agenda for policymakers ? Influencing attitudes and values toward policy issues. ? Changing behavior of voters and decision makers ? Power of TV lies in setting the agenda for decision making VI. Formulating Policy A. Policy formulation is the development of policy alternatives dealing with problems on the public agenda. B. The White House: President and the executive branch are expected to be policy initiators and Congress the arbitrators C. Interest groups: Formulate their own policy or do so in association with Congress members D. Legislative Staffs: Reflect the general view of their bosses, the research issues, schedule legislative hearings, line up expert to testify and write and rewrite bills E. Think Tanks: Policy planning anizations are central in coordinating points in policymaking。 they bring together corporate and financial institutions, mass media, government officials, and intellectuals to reach a consensus on what action should take place. ? Brookings Institute ? American Enterprise Institute ? The Heritage Foundation ? Council on Foreign Relations VII. Policy Legitimation The proximate policymakers A. The president, congress, congressional mittees, White House Staff, and interest groups are main focus B. The open, public, stage of policymaking C. Conclude it is a process of bargaining, petition, persuasion and promise D. Decisions of the policymakers center around means rather than ends of policy VIII. Party Influence on Public Opinion A. It makes relatively little difference in the major direction of public policy whether Democratic or Republic dominate the political scene B. They are more mitted to winning office than advancing policy positions IX. Policy Implementation: The Bureaucracy A. The implementation is the continuation of politics by other means B. Implementation and Policy making: All the activities designed to carry out the policies enacted by legislative branch. Create new anizations, assign responsibilities. These anizations translate laws, spend money, and perform tasks, etc. Much of the actual policymaking occurs within these anizations. C. Regulation and Policymaking: develop formal rules and regulations ? Publish rules in the Federal Register( see p331 for list of requirements) D. Adjudication and Policymaking: Bureaucrats decide whether a person, firm, corp., ply with the laws E. Bureaucratic Discretion and Policymaking: Most bureaucracy is performing routine tasks but they decide how to apply these tasks. F. Policy Bias of Bureaucrats: Personal beliefs inspire bureaucrats to expand powers, functions, and budgets of their agencies X. Policy Evaluation: Impressionistic vs Systematic A. Systematic (Sophisticated) model: A feedback link that identifies problems, and set the process in motion again systematic rarely occurs B. Impressionistic: model: It es from interest groups plaints, legislative hearings, media stories, and citizens plaints stimulate reform Chap 4: Criminal Justice Crime fighting strategy is deterrence: To make cost of mitting crime greater than benefits mitting the crime. Deterrence Strategy focuses on: ? certainty crime= costly punishment ? swiftness justice must be swift ? severity it has to be harsh Author argues that