Government Institutions and Policy Actors 36

Growth of Government 39

Government Institutions and Policy Capacity 42

Federalism 45

The Evolution of Federal-State Relations 47

State Variation in Policy Capacity 48

Separation of Powers 51

Legislative Branch 52

Executive Branch 55

Judicial Branch 59

Informal Policy Actors and Policy Capacity 61

Public Opinion and Policymaking 61

Interest Groups, Nonprofits, and Public Policy 65

Media 68

Improving Policy Capacity 71

Conclusions 73

Discussion Questions 74

Keywords 74

Suggested Readings 75

Suggested Websites 75

Notes 76

Theories of Politics and Public Policy 82

Elite Theory 82

Group Theory 83

Institutional Theory 85

Rational Choice Theory 86

Political Systems Theory 88

The Policy Process Model 89

Problem Definition and Agenda Setting 91

Policy Formulation 98

Policy Legitimation 100

Policy Implementation 102

Policy Evaluation 104

Policy Change 105

Instruments of Public Policy 107

Regulation 108

Government Management 109

Taxing and Spending 109

Market Mechanisms 110

Education, Information, and Persuasion 110

Policy Typologies 111

Conclusions 113

Discussion Questions 114

Keywords 114

Suggested Readings 114

Suggested Websites 115

Notes 115