course conclusion

• Policy


  The positions and/or actions that result when government takes a formal position on a matter at hand, or when it declines to do so
• Policy

  • Can be broad or specific (narrow)
  • Can be any combination of principles, promises, & action
  • Can be consistent or inconsistent
  • Can serve a select few or many
• Governments always produce policy, even by their silence or inaction
• How silence is a policy


  • It denies legitimacy to a cause & to its advocates
  • It leverages Americans' infamously short attention spans
  • Public attention can be manipulated in many ways (framing,
  • messaging, distracting, etc.)
  • An issue ignored can quickly become forgotten
  • If enough people forget, the status quo will not change
• How doing nothing is a policy


  • "All words and no action" = No actual change
  • Reasons can be partisan
  • "tossing a bone" to those demanding action
  • enabling credit-claiming & plausible deniability
  • or incidental
  • budget shortfalls, packed schedules, too many bills
  • Doing nothing also leverages Americans' short attention spans
  • Many examples of causes that had their "moments" but
  • public attention moved on
• Where policy comes from

  1. Elected officials

  2. Political parties

  3. Interest groups

  4. Donors

  5. Public
• How people shape policy


  1. Legislating

  2. Lobbying

  3. Contacting

  4. Donating

  5. Vetoing

  6. Voting

  7. Silence
• Policy impact people

  Policy impacts (me, us, them, winners, losers, how, to what degree, for how long)
• Areas of public policy

  
  

  States have broad powers to make laws for the general welfare of their communities.

  Primarily State responsibilities:

  • Housing & urban development
  • Transportation
  • Environment
  • Agriculture
  • Education
  • Criminal justice
  • Public health
  • Poverty & welfare
  • Economic development

  Others are shared with the federal government.
• The 88th Texas Legislature convened in January 2023 and had 4 special sessions in 2023
• The focus is now on the 2024 elections, including important federal elections (House, 1/3 of Senate, POTUS) and elections for the Texas House and 1/3 of the Texas Senate
• There is polarization and hyper-partisanship at all levels of government, as well as intra-partisan fights and fallout among Texas Republicans regarding issues like vouchers and the impeachment of the Attorney General
• The 89th Texas Legislature will "gavel in" in January 2025
• People shape Policies like...

  • Budgets
  • Laws
  • Rules
  • Court decisions
  • Executive action
  • Letting status quo stand