a policy recommendation on a topic
ete08
pa513.docxPA 513
Assignment
Due date: 29th of Augst
Unit 1-Discussion:
Discussion (25 points) - Required – • Discussion: During this semester you will be developing a policy recommendation on a topic that is of interest to you. Identify three potential topics that you may explore.
• Discussion response: Respond to two of your classmates and indicate any reactions you have to any of the topics they are considering.
And respond to thos students :
A-
Through the Evaluation processes and policies the government can guard against a declining economy ,health care ,and improve the community. I am excited to research about : 1-The violence in US: Mental health treatment for people with mental conditions. Sensible gun laws. Reduce exposure of children to violence in US.
2- Health Care for the aging in KSA Increased Eldercare and improve the health care in ksa. Increase in the retirement age for different professions .
3- Crisis Housing in US: The Obama Care these policies could be used to make housing more affordable in the US. Lower interest rates. Lower interest rates will lead to cheaper mortgages. Credit easing as a remedy to housing crisis
B-
1. One of my interests is in assisting low-income families by improving their housing situation. Another is in improving household energy efficiency. I would like to develop a program/policy that provides incentives for low-income homeowners and landlords that rent to low-income people to invest in making their home energy efficient. If successful, the household energy consumption of low income people would decrease. I would do this with tax incentives for the property owners. For landlords I would offer tax credits for energy improvements for each year they rent to low income people. For low-income owners it would be necessary to develop up front financing, or to tap into some of the mechanisms that have recently been developed. To measure, energy use can be tracked through the power provider.
2. Development in cities has tended to create sprawl. I think you could discourage sprawl by making it more costly to build in suburban areas by requiring these projects pay higher costs for the public infrastructure that must be installed to service new areas. On the flip side of this, you could encourage development where it is more appropriate by offering tax incentives and//or lower costs for infrastructure improvements. If successful, there would be fewer permits issued in suburbs and more issued for work in urban areas. The development activity could be measured by permits issued, fees collected, or tax incentives used.
3. I heard on NPR recently that for kids in the KCMO school district there are only 30% of families with internet access. I would like to put wireless access points in low income areas of KC, so all kids have access. To accomplish this, I would require internet providers in the city to install access points in low income areas, with the number they provide determined by the proportion of the KC market covered by each company. I would partner with schools to provide netbooks, and someone else to provide internet service affordably. I need to find out how the NPR report came up with their stats so I could see if that source is available to measure progress. Perhaps census data is available.
Unit 2 - Governmental Structure and Roles - Discussion
Assignments • Discussion (25 points) - Required –Discussion : Identify one issue that you see as a national policy issue, one that you see as a state policy issue, and one that you see as a local policy issue. And indicate the involvements that you see at other levels of government that would tend to say there is not a pure issue. • Discussion Response : Review the issues identified by your colleagues and find two where you can amplify further on the cross-level involvement. Include specific information if possible.
And respond to thos students :
A-
National Policy Issue:
I consider Food Security as one of the major national policy issue in many nations today, indicated by the high growth of foodstuffs industry and one of the major issue is how a nation can grow enough food and ensure that there is sufficient supply of food and also it reaches everyone. In order to feed a growing population, the nation need to increase its food production by 70%. However, in a nation, women are the lot that forms the majority of the agricultural workforce. But the problem is how they can access various agricultural requirements like land, water, seeds, credit and finally markets. This policies are considered by the Federal or National Parliament level of governance.
- State Policy Issue:
I view budget and spending decisions by governments as a state policy since it affect the entire state. These decisions have often a serious and immediate influence on the people and hence a major state issue. The State or the territory parliaments are the government level responsible for this policies.
- Local Policy Issue:
Education; the expand access to quality and standard education for all is a local policy issue that needs to be assessed by all the levels of government since it addresses the achievement gaps by the process of ensuring excellent resources and learning institutions. This policies are mend by the local councils which are also referred to as shires or municipalities.
B-
National Policy Issue: Minimum Wage Laws can be viewed at the national policy level. Currently the federal policy has set the national minimum wage at 7.25; however there have been, albeit unsuccessful, pushes from the President to increase this to $9.00 per hour (website). This issue has a great deal of push back because of the effect that it has on business owners.
State Policy Issue: The death penalty is a state level policy issue. Interestingly, these occur in federal prisons; however states are able to decide the legality of capital punishment within their own state. Currently, 31 states still utilize (at least in theory) the death penalty, while 19 states have deemed it illegal (deathpenalty.procon.org).
Local Policy Issue: Although rather uncommon, dry town policies are local policy issues. Ocean City, New Jersey is an example of a dry town. A dry town is where the laws in place make it illegal for all public drinking. Local governments might have several reasons for initiating these types of policies, including reduction in alcohol related accidents and underage intoxication.
Cross governmental involvement can be found in each of the above policies, yet most obviously in the state and national level policies. The most obvious involvement is with the national policy of minimum wage. Involvement in this policy comes out with the states and local government having their own minimum wage standards, typically higher than that of the national policy. Additionally, sub governments as discussed by Peters (31-38) could play a strong role this type of policy making because of the increased funding requirements from private businesses and from governments. Some states, such as California, and cities, have adopted plans to increase minimum wage over the next five years in order to account for increased living costs.
The death penalty crosses governmental involvement as well through the courts and through special interest groups. Capital punishment is America has gone through several changes over the years. At one point, there was a moratorium of the death penalty in the United States and all states had legislation against it. For many states though, the death penalty was reinstated after 1972. Supreme Court standings at the national level or a constitutional amendment could always reverse the current status which takes some of the policy making process away from the states. Locally, district attorneys can also make the decision not to press for capital punishment which adds another layer into this policy issue.
References:
“31 States with the Death Penalty and 19 States with Death Penalty Bans.” Updated August 13, 2015. http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=001172
Unit 2 - Governmental Structure and Roles - Written
Writing Assignment (90 points) - Required - Assignment: Explicitly describe a problem or puzzle that you face in your field of interest or that interest you. Write a short paper (at least 4 pages in length, but no more than 8) which describes the policy issue you are planning to pursue this semester and identify the major resources that are going to be called on while implementing the policy change. This is a policy issue that you will use for a writing thread this semester. This is the first element that we will put in place toward a final project that will take your policy issue and identify solutions, expected outputs and outcomes and then the evaluation model you would propose to use. Post your written assignment. All unit writing assignments are due by midnight on the Sunday of the week that contains the assignment page.
Unit 3 - Principles of Policy Development - Discussion
Discussion (25 points) –
• Discussion: With the Affordable Care Act, President Obama took a bold move and sought to develop a solution that was not incrementalism. Indicate whether you feel that was necessary as a means to respond to the general outcry that we needed to fix the health care system.
• Discussion Response: React to the thoughts of two of your colleagues.
Initial original post due by midnight, Wednesday, CT. Respond to two or more classmates by midnight, Saturday, CT.
Unit 4 - Setting the Policy Agenda - Discussion
Discussion (25 points) - Required -
· Discussion: We are starting to hear some discussion of policy areas that are going to be discussed in the next presidential election cycle. Identify one of such policy initiatives and who you think are going to be the organizational players that will weigh in during the discussion.
· Discussion Response: React to the thoughts of two of your colleagues.
Initial original post due by midnight, Wednesday, CT. Respond to two or more classmates by midnight, Saturday, CT.
Unit 4 - Setting the Policy Agenda - Written Assignment
Writing Assignment (90 points) - Required – Written assignment: With the feedback that has been provided on the first paper, re-present your program theory and its justification. Post written assignment to Dropbox. All unit writing assignments are due by midnight on the Sunday of the week that contains the assignment page.
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