Blog 5B
07/29/23
Domestic policies are guidelines that address issues within the country. It focuses on various aspects, such as environmental, social, and economic, aiming to improve the living condition of citizens. Public policy looks at the larger picture, digging deeper to make sure all parties are working together to produce policies that affect citizens and their community. Public policy is designed for an extended period, and domestic policy does not occur by accident. While politicians, courts, and the media give us an idea of a component part of their system, it is different for public policy which deals with issues concerning a large segment of society or covers issues that indirectly affect the community as a whole.
For example, during the pandemic, a lot of people lost their jobs, unable to pay their rent and mortgages. The unemployment system was overloaded with applications. The government decided to provide some relief to the people by giving stimulus checks, offering daily meals, delivery of essential groceries, and finally agreed to a six hundred dollars unemployment weekly allowance, regardless of their previous pay. Except the outcome the government expected backfired, many people decided not to return to work, and save their unemployment income instead of wasting it, so the money did not go back into the economy as expected to keep the economy from crashing.
Regarding the several types of domestic policy, the one I find interesting is the “re-distributive policy.” That policy is like a Robin hood effect, the idea is to transfer income and wealth from one group to another. This redistributed resource can be used to facilitate students with funds for their education such as grants and loans. Improve the healthcare system, more and provide more insurance coverage for low income workers. Cost is concentrated and so are the benefits. It will be suitable for another group to bear and enjoy these benefits. To say the least, domestic policy strengthens the country’s infrastructure, addresses systemic inequality, safeguards the environment, and improves the overall quality of life for citizens.
1 reply on “Domestic policy”
A great post, Melissa! One point I should mention, as it’s not really covered in your reading, is that the divisions Lowi uses to classify different types of public policy are contested (or, if you’ll pardon my language, crap). He lists unemployment and assistance to low income individuals as redistributive, but in some sense, all of the policies he’s talking about are redistributive. Infrastructure or education projects (like building and maintaining roads or funding schools) benefit specific constituencies (like drivers and young people) despite being paid for by everybody. He distinguishes these because he argues EVERYONE indirectly benefits from roads and schools, even if they don’t use them personally. To which his critics reply, everyone benefits indirectly from unemployment and assistance to low income individuals too!