Understanding Public Policy

Putting Out Fires... Literally and Figuratively

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 17:48:14 GMT

Hi all, and welcome to our last episode on the course material! In this podcast, we will cover disaster and emergency management with a focus on the emergency management approach, data on different natural disasters, and review of a whole host of challenges that we can and do experience when we handle a disaster or emergency (things like fragmentation, the issue-attention cycle, and the Samaritan's dilemma). As you listen to the episode and work through the slides, I'd like for you to think about the ways we approach natural disasters (like floods or hurricanes) and how we approach man-made disasters (think here about things like terrorism or events like a nuclear meltdown). Should we approach these in the same way? And why or why not? Thanks to you all for sticking with this podcast--I hope it has helped to walk you through US public policy!

Safety and Security Pt 2

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 21:10:56 GMT

Howdy all, I hope you are doing well and gearing up for the last days and weeks of this class! Today's episode is all about criminal justice, or as I like to think of it the system of order we have for inside our borders. When it comes to criminal justice, we have lots of problems (hate crimes, recidivism, etc.) but we also have some fundamental misunderstandings (particularly about crime rates). In this episode we'll start by reviewing data on different criminal justice problems as well as how we know what we know (with sources like the UCR and NCVS). This episode will also walk through different punishment philosophies and an incredibly brief overview of the system, to provide more background to you. Our big finale this week is thinking about how we can explain the policy of the War on Drugs using our decision-making models from early in the course. Questions? Let me know and I'll get back to you ASAP!

Safety and Security Part 1

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 15:22:19 GMT

Hi all, and welcome to one of our last 3 episodes on American Public Policy! In this episode we are going to dive into the topic of national defense/security policy. What we are really considering here is how to keep the country safe and secure from threats that exist outside of our borders--so how do we engage in international relations in order to ensure peace (or at least the successful completion of war). We have some big-picture theories on this, namely realism and liberalism that can offer some guidance. This episode will review all of these topics and a bit more on the issue of terrorism as well as discuss more in terms of game theory and rational choice theory. It's a lot to tackle (and a fairly long episode) but if you have questions or concerns, email me anytime!

Pollution and Power Baby!

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 16:23:18 GMT

Hi all, and welcome back to one of our last podcast episodes! We only have a few more left to go, and in this episode we'll be covering environmental and energy policy. It seems to me that with both of these topics, we don't do too much until we run into big problems (aka externalities like pollution or extremely high bills for electricity or gasoline). Our policies in these arenas seem to come after we tend to experience disasters... and in those situations we often also encounter problems with coming up with an answer that everyone can work on together. In short, these topics face what are known as collective action problems. As you work through these chapters and slides, I'd like for you to consider how we can effectively address those problems and issues like free riders. How can we resolve that ever-present problem known as the group project?!?!

"Let's Vote, and Then We'll Fight"... or Vice Versa

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 18:44:31 GMT

Howdy all, welcome to yet another episode on US public policy! Today's episode is going to walk directly into that fiery pathway known as social values policy. These are all the topics that engage and enrage: abortion, rights for different groups (specifically LGBTQ+ and transgender individuals and groups), the line we draw between religion and government (e.g. church and state separation), and the legalization movements we've seen in relation to marijuana and to a lesser extent psilocybin (aka, mushrooms). A large portion of this episode will be devoted to updating on the status of laws on these topics around the US as well as giving a more direct description of what the Supreme Court has said in each of these areas. That court has played a particularly prominent role in social values policy of late... what do you think about using the non-majoritarian approach to resolve questions on these topics?

What Have We Learned?

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 16:27:20 GMT

Hi there, and welcome back to our public policy podcast--in this episode, we will cover the general field of educational policy. It's a bit hard to really talk about this topic as most of what falls into educational policy is determined by local and state decision-makers (think school boards here) but at the national level there is quite a bit that is done to supplement state and local initiatives. Our conversation will cover data on literacy, reading comprehension, math performance, and much more as well as describe the federal-level initiatives that have had significant effect on general educational policy (like No Child Left Behind). This episode ends with discussion of issues like school safety, vouchers, and the changes we're seeing with educational policy in 2025. I hope this episode proves helpful with better understanding this complicated field!

Health-y Problems and Approaches

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:12:14 GMT

Hello all, and welcome to our podcast episode about health care! In this episode, we're going to being by looking at how we define health care problems (is it good health or good medical care?), spend a great deal of time looking at data (on mortality rates, aging populations, insurance, costs, etc.), and then consider what is known as the public health approach to addressing problems (including problems that aren't typically identified as a health care issue). This episode wraps with a review of the levels of causality and a practice application of our decision-making models using the Affordable Care Act policy as a way to apply those models. Let me know if you run into challenges with understanding the material or applying the models and I'll get back to you right away!

Midterm Time! Breathe In, Breathe Out... :)

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 12:53:05 GMT

Alright everyone... it's midterm time! I've put together a very brief episode for this week including a few tips for you on how to approach the exam as well as laying out the policies and guidelines you need to follow for this test. I wish you all good luck on the exam!

The Social Safety Nets We've Created

Sat, 07 Jun 2025 12:31:20 GMT

Hello all, and thanks for joining me again on our investigation of public policy in the US! In this episode, we will delve into the topics of social security and welfare, which are some of the largest programs we have at the national level. It will be important for you to understand the difference this week between what are known as entitlement programs versus what we call means-tested programs. I'd strongly encourage you to do some research for this module on any program you choose (TANF, SNAP, SSI, etc.) to get a better sense of what these programs actually do and their requirements as we often don't talk much about those topics. In addition, please think critically about the levels of causality introduced at the end of this episode... it's definitely material you'll see on the midterm!

Everyone's Favorite 5-Letter Word: Taxes!

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 18:00:52 GMT

Howdy to all of you and welcome to the most engaging discussion of taxes you've had all week (ha)! This episode is going to take us through the basics of tax policy, including definitions of taxes (such as estate or excise taxes), data on how much the national government brings in with taxes (particularly the income tax), data on the different rates of taxes across all 50 states, and finally a discussion of how we have changed our approaches to taxes over time. Today's episode doesn't include a slide on critical thinking questions, but I'd encourage you to consider just how much taxes affect different groups (depending on whether they are progressive or regressive) and how we can think about taxes in relation to our larger economic policy concerns as laid out in the last episode.

Money, Money, Money, Money... Money!

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 20:31:23 GMT

Hello all; welcome to our Public Policy introduction to Economic Policy! Today's episode walks through both the basics of economic policy (fiscal policy and monetary policy), the institutions that have been created to support economic development or avoid economic crashes (such as the FDIC and SEC), a bit more on the history of the problems that have led to these institutions, and data galore! We've got data on GDP, recessions, unemployment, inflation, and much much more! I hope this episode clarifies anything that you've got questions on but as always do email me at jemille1@wsc.edu and I will help you as best I can!

Get 'er Done! And Did We?

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 16:48:52 GMT

Hi there and welcome to the fifth episode on Understanding Public Policy! In this episode we will tackle the last two elements of the stages model: implementation and evaluation. Our discussion of implementation is going to start with the basic definition and a discussion of the bureaucracy but a lot of what we need to know about that part of the process are the challenges we face when trying to put something into action. So most of the episode will focus on those issues. At 30 minutes in, we will delve into evaluation and discuss what a logic model is, the types of evaluation (e.g. developmental, formative, etc.), and we'll wrap with a definition of policy analysis. Next time, it's on to substantive economic and tax policy!

Getting Others on Board

Wed, 28 May 2025 15:06:22 GMT

Hi all, and welcome to our fifth episode on Public Policy! This episode is going to delve into the issues around policy legitimation, or in other words getting people to support the decisions we've made about how to address or resolve a problem. I'm certain that you've experienced this in real life... think about the last time someone convinced to eat at a place you weren't sure of. How did they do it? Well, this episode is all about how people either buy into government decisions (maybe because they trust government) or the processes we use to make those decisions. Focus on this chapter and episode on understanding what populism is and the difference between majoritarian and non-majoritarian... these items will be key for our upcoming exam!

Prioritizing and Planning

Wed, 28 May 2025 14:05:59 GMT

Hello and welcome back for our fourth episode on understanding public policy! In this episode we will spend time talking about agenda-setting and policy formulation. Both of these terms are pretty technical but at the core what we are covering is how we get a problem on the list of things we need to work on and the ways we come up with plans to address the problem. There are quite a few "breakdowns" in this chapter for both of these topics and I'd ask you to focus on those as you read and work through this podcast. In addition, please take your time with key concepts like public goods, externalities, and the punctuated equilibrium model. Email me anytime at jemille1@wsc.edu with questions or concerns and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

Models Wherever You Look!

Fri, 23 May 2025 16:20:25 GMT

Howdy all, and welcome to our third episode on US public policy! This week is a doozy as we are going to tackle what are known as the decision-making models. The models we'll be considering are basic explanations of how we make decisions on any topic... be that crime, or abortion, or healthcare, or environmental laws. This is a bit of a dense episode as it covers a total of 9 models in-depth, but I do hope that it serves to help you understand everything from constructivism to game theory to the public choice model. I'll ask you to engage with a critical thinking activity at the end so if you're not very familiar with the War on Drugs I would suggest taking a bit of time to research it so you can apply each model, I hope you enjoy the episode!

"Structures" of Public Policy

Wed, 21 May 2025 16:52:28 GMT

Hi all, and welcome to our second podcast episode on understanding public policy in the US! This episode is going to delve into a few key topics that shape policy--in essence, we are talking about the larger environment in which we make decisions about things like Social Security, gun control, or healthcare. Our focus will be on a few key topics: federalism, separation of powers (briefly), subgovernments, and the split between public and private (is it the government making the policies or private entities and individuals?). This episode will also focus on supplementing the chapter with data regarding how states have challenged the federal government, data on who works for government (and how that has changed over time), and what we spend money on at the national, state, and local levels. Enjoy and as always email me (jemille1@wsc.edu) with any questions you have!

Course and Public Policy Introduction

Tue, 13 May 2025 19:49:43 GMT

Hello everyone and welcome to our podcast on Public Policy! In this first episode, we will get an introduction to this course and in particular to the course Canvas site. Some of the most critical tools you will need to navigate this class are the Weekly Roadmap pages which are discussed early on. We will spend about 15 minutes on that (and getting a brief introduction to the instructor) and then will delve into the first chapter materials from our text. Our focus is on general concepts like public policy, the "levels" of policy, policy "instruments", and the larger policy environment in the U.S. I'm very happy to have you joining this course and look forward to 'speaking' with you for the next several weeks!