Power Of Public Policy Making Essay

Power is the ability of an individual to produce intended and foreseen effects on people. Forms of power include economic power, intellectual power, political power, and military power. Power influences the control of material resources through institutions and formal rules. Power relates to a social class displaying dominance over others in the society. Power operates the dominant values that shape people’s preference and identities. The legitimacy of power translates to authority. The wealthy social class in America is the powerful given their disposable high income. The wealthy and highly status access the power structure more readily. In America the upper class, closely work with the nonprofit organization to debate on the opinions. The basis of power lies in the agencies that control it such as the politicians and other institutions. The occupants of power sit in the decision-making meetings to deliberate the policies. A powerful group has the capacity of dominating over the other and influences the policies. Policy making in America involves not only the wealthy but also the nongovernmental organization that collaborate. Policymaking entails interaction that shape decisions in the society. The policy makers remain vulnerable to the state agency power to affect the decision made in the meetings.
The ability to make decisions as regards policies displays the effect of power. Power rests in the hands of the decision maker. A wise policy maker will make good decision that have the capacity of bringing good results and affect people positively. The powerful have to have an understanding of decision making since they hold the key to success. Some people have the capacity of thinking on a problem to check on different alternatives before making a decision. People in powerful position have the ability to think abstractly before making decisions concerning complex problems.
When comprehending power through non-decisions it is difficult to determine the powerful in society since everything behaves as non-decision. The actors of non-decision use renunciation, abstention, and nonparticipation. The powerful can abstain from making a decision due to apathy or even laziness. The powerful may fail to have political inclination and in this case, the decision makers are the specialists. The powerful make non-decision in the event of opposition. According to logistical research, the power of non-decision is not conclusive.
In United States, the congress, state agencies, media and the political parties closely work together to make policies in the nation. The media is powerful and has pervasive effect to influence the opinion of the public. The media has a strong influence on the policy agenda as regards the content created. The government makes effort to notify the public regarding set regulation that includes natural catastrophes, health and social issues in the society. The public policy takes the following steps: identifying the problem, agenda setting, formulating the agenda and finally the implementation stage.
The government has to prioritize the problem that needs attention in the agenda setting stage. The public inform the government as regards different issues to initiate the public policy. The state officials and all key stakeholders meet to discuss and deliberate on a number of alternatives. Before formulation, different political parties appear in the deliberation meetings to identify with the situation and state their opinion. The process is bound to influence in favor of one decision that gains acceptance over the others. Congress passes the adopted policy to law as the president ascents the bill. At the implementation stage, the administrative agencies and the courts closely work together to implement the policy. The courts punish the errant members in the society who fail to comply with the policy. The administrative agency uses the media to notify the public concerning the public policy. At the evaluation stage, the policy makers determine the success of the policy and the need for correction or change. In case of a problem, the process can begin again to make the necessary change. The public policy is a vital tool that addresses various issues in the society.
Schattscneider argues that mobilization of bias embodies a constructivist theory of politics. Schattscneider pressure the American elite and mobilizes the middle and low classes. Organization is prone to democratic impulses that mobilize participation to exploit a kind of bias. The United States pressure group politics is rational since it mobilizes people in a democratic way. The country has two political parties that allow competitive election through mobilize participation. This ensures that the electorate eliminates non-rational biases. Recently, the Democratic Party won the elections using the approach of mobilization of class in the nation. The nation’s politics demands the electorate to make objective and rational decision to facilitate mobilization of bias.
In the recent decade, the United States Treasury borrows trillions of dollars from the foreign investors to promote the nation’s fiscal stimulus. The Treasury in absence of the congress raises the debt limit and takes measures towards the debt repayment. The government can raise new debt as long as it continues to run a budget deficit. The government has already hit the debt limit but the treasury takes up more debt.