question archive A Final Consideration: Politicians and Citizen Choice Generally speaking, those who follow a more liberal political ideology tend to support having federal programs instituted to help solve policy problems
A Final Consideration: Politicians and Citizen Choice Generally speaking, those who follow a more liberal political ideology tend to support having federal programs instituted to help solve policy problems
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A Final Consideration: Politicians and Citizen Choice
Generally speaking, those who follow a more liberal political ideology tend to support having federal programs instituted to help solve policy problems. In contrast, conservatives tend to be against greater government involvement and prefer to leave such policy problems to the free market and allow those in the private sector to compete in providing solutions. Where do you stand in this debate? Does it depend on the policy domain (i.e. foreign versus domestic policy)? Or perhaps is it more specific to a particular policy sphere (e.g., environmental versus economic versus agricultural policy, etc.)? Over much of the nation's history, politicians have debated over the amount of federal involvement in dealing with the nation's problems (in the next session, we will review these overtime changes in much more detail). Generally speaking, FDR did much to increase government involvement in the wake of the Great Depression and WWII during his tenure. From then until Richard Nixon's time in office, the country saw an increase in federal involvement. Once Nixon entered the White House, he sought to delegate much of the responsibilities and programs taken up the government in previous years down to the state and local governments, if not to simply doaway with certain federal programs so that the private and independent sectors could take over. More recently, former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have taken a slightly different path. George W. Bush, like Nixon, generally preferred less government involvement when possible (a major exception was with respect to the foreign policy arena after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which saw him institute the Homeland Security Department). For Obama, his general preference was to have greater government involvement where possible (though the economic recession at the start of his first term initially limited his options on several occasions). Their differences aside, what has also been interesting is that both Bush and Obama, in pushing their individual ideological preferences, have tried to do so by providing an alternative choice without wanting to completely doway with the status quo. For example, with regards to Bush's Social Security reform push, Bush sought to privatize the program but offered the idea as a choice—those who agreed would follow his advice while others could continue receiving retirement funds under the old program. The inability to pass the program into law left the debate moot, at least until another conservative leader (such as the new President Donald Trump or Senate leader Mitch McConnell) might attempt to institute a similar plan. After Bush's two terms, Barack Obama pushed for his health care plan, which sought to further increase government involvement with health care needs. Using a similar type of strategy as Bush did, Obama pushed for his health care bill by offering a government option or alternative but also telling the public that they could opt for private health care if they preferred. In Obama's case, as noted earlier, the bill passed into law and has persisted beyond his two terms, though not without controversy and a debate over the program that likewise continues to persist.
Self-Reflection and Understanding (Section C)
1. Given the examples just described, what do you think of this more recent strategy to offer an alternative (i.e. to offer a choice) rather than proposing to simply change things completely in one direction or another? Why did Bush and Obama both try to make changes by offering a choice? Do you think doing so makes new ideas easier or harder for people to accept? Why or why not?
2. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama aside, what have you observed from President Donald Trump and the current crop of legislators in the U.S. Congress in terms of what direction the country will likely go on this issue over the next term?
3. If you were president, which of the two policy issues, Social Security or health care, would you rather tackle? What kind of an approach would you take to provide policy solutions? Would you offer your plans as an alternative, new choice or would you seek to completely change the way the programs worked one way or the other?
