PS 1010 CSU How US Policies Work for The Government Discussion As you have learned in this course, politics are an inherent part of government and every ci

PS 1010 CSU How US Policies Work for The Government Discussion As you have learned in this course, politics are an inherent part of government and every citizen’s life. In this unit, we discussed the domestic, economic, and foreign policies utilized by the United States. In addition, we discussed how these policies affect the United States, both domestically and abroad. This is evidenced in part by the concepts of isolationism and internationalism.

In the Unit VIII Final Project, you will accomplish the following:

Select one type of policy covered in the unit, describe its purpose and goals, and explain the role each of the three branches of government in the development of the chosen policy.
Discuss how the policy you chose affects U.S. implementation of isolationism or internationalism, and describe how the media influences such action and decisions.
Explain how each level of government is or is not affected by the type of policy you have chosen.
Describe how one’s political party affiliation can affect his or her beliefs about the type of policy you have chosen.

Locate at least three academic articles that support your position.

Your paper should consist of at least three pages. Be sure to include an introduction in your paper. Any sources used should be cited and referenced properly using APA formatting. UNIT VIII STUDY GUIDE
Policy: Domestic, Economic, and Foreign
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VIII
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Describe the three branches of government.
4. Explain how the U.S. government functions at the federal, state, and local levels.
5. Identify the role of political parties in the United States political system.
6. Discuss how policies affect change.
6.1 Describe the purpose and goals of one type of policy in the United States.
6.2 Discuss how a specific policy might cause the United States to implement either isolationism or
internationalism.
7. Identify the impact of media on public opinion and politics.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
3
4
5
6.1
6.2
7
Learning Activity
Unit VIII Lesson
Reading: “An ‘Invitation to Struggle’? The Use of Force Against ‘Legislatively
Vulnerable’ American Presidents”
Reading: “11. Policy Making: Political Interactions”
Unit VIII Final Project
Unit VIII Lesson
Reading: “An ‘Invitation to Struggle’? The Use of Force Against ‘Legislatively
Vulnerable’ American Presidents”
Reading: “11. Policy Making: Political Interactions”
Unit VIII Final Project
Reading: “An ‘Invitation to Struggle’? The Use of Force Against ‘Legislatively
Vulnerable’ American Presidents”
Reading: “11. Policy Making: Political Interactions”
Unit VIII Final Project
Unit VIII Lesson
Chapter 17
Reading: “11a. Foreign Policy: What Now?”
Reading: “11b. Defense Policy”
Reading: “11c. Economic Policy”
Reading: “11d. Social and Regulatory Policy”
Unit VIII Final Project
Unit VIII Lesson
Chapter 17
Reading: “Lesson 4: The Great Debate: Internationalists vs. Isolationists”
Unit VIII Final Project
Unit VIII Lesson
Reading: “11. Policy Making: Political Interactions”
Unit VIII Final Project
PS 1010, American Government
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Reading Assignment
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
In order to access the reading from the OpenStax American Government textbook, please click the link below.
Chapter 17: Foreign Policy (Section 17.4)
To access the following resources, click the links below.
Foster, D. M. (2006). An “invitation to struggle”? The use of force against “legislatively vulnerable” American
presidents. International Studies Quarterly, 50(2), 421–444. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=http://search.ebscohost.com/logi
n.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=20656715&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11. Policy Making: Political interactions. Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11.asp
Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11a. Foreign policy: What now? Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11a.asp
Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11b. Defense policy. Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11b.asp
Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11c. Economic policy. Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11c.asp
Independence Hall Association. (n.d.). 11d. Social and regulatory policy. Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11d.asp
National Endowment for the Humanities. (n.d.). Lesson 4: The great debate: Internationalists vs. isolationists.
Retrieved from https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/great-debate-internationalists-vsisolationists#sect-background
Unit Lesson
Government is empowered to make political decisions that affect not only Americans but also other countries,
including both allies and enemies. Many things shape American public policy: political campaigns, world
events, court cases, media attention, and almost anything one can think of that can bring an issue to the
spotlight. Though the primary goal of setting policy is protecting the needs and interests of the United States
and its citizens, there are often policies and decisions that look at a larger global perspective. There is a
constant struggle between focusing on the United States and the United States being the global policeman.
Foreign Policy
Most United States citizens are willing to step up and protect their culture or way of life. Foreign policy is one
of the ways that Americans protect their national interests. To do this, the United States government makes
sure that the military is adequately prepared and that there are productive trade policies and relations. In
many ways, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s great isolationists versus internationalists debate stemming from his
Lend-Lease proposal remains a hot topic today. Is America better off immersing itself in world affairs,
regardless of the risk to American citizens and land, or are Americans better served by remaining neutral and
avoiding involvement in other countries’ affairs? Such is the basis of American foreign policy.
The State Department, headed by the secretary of state, coordinates foreign relations through embassies
located in countries across the world. In order to do their work well, State Department officials and staff must
have access to the most up-to-date intelligence available. This intelligence is gathered mostly through the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and other agencies lightheartedly
referred to as the “Alphabet Soup Agencies” due to their use of their acronyms rather than their full names.
PS 1010, American Government
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During the Spanish-American War, the United States branched out into world UNIT
affairsxfor
a time.GUIDE
Prior to and
STUDY
following World War I (WWI), the United States became a more isolationist country
Title (“Isolationism”, n.d.).
Americans were more intent on building their infrastructure and consolidating their colonies than worrying
about Europe and its ongoing disagreements. During World War II (WWII), Americans came to believe that,
with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States could no longer keep blinders on and pretend that what
happened in Europe did not affect them (“Isolationism”, n.d.). As a result, the United States became an
internationalist country.
From the end of WWII until 1991, the Cold War between the United States and Russia dictated foreign policy
with a focus on containing communism. Fighting the spread of communism was the biggest push of American
foreign affairs. For most of the Cold War, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the United
States did not directly engage in combat, but instead moved behind the scenes diplomatically and militarily in
various countries. The hottest parts of the Cold War were the Korean Conflict during the 1950s, the Vietnam
War, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Ronald Reagan was credited with expediting the collapse of the
USSR, which occurred in December of 1991, in no small part because of its massive amount of defense
spending. This collapse would mark the end of the Cold War and the rise of American hegemony. In addition,
the United States would begin to be viewed by the world as a global largest superpower (Ngara, 2017).
With the collapse of the USSR, the United States began to call for other countries to increase participation
and respond collectively to problems around the world. This multilateralism was seen during the first Gulf War
as well as with the United States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces used in Bosnia when
the Serbs were committing genocide.
World Trade Center after the 9-11 attacks
(Tourtellotte, 2001)
Since the attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, America has
been fighting a war on terrorism. While this war on
terrorism at first manifested in the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, it is indeed a battle of many places
and faces. The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)
has cost much in not only money but in the sense
of security, safety, and human life. Terrorism has
changed the way people travel, think, and live. The
problem with fighting terrorism is that fighting takes
place with many faces and in many locations rather
than a country with defined borders. Because of
this new kind of war, the United States has sought
to change its military into small and highly mobile
combat units that can fight wherever and whenever
needed (Berkowitz, 2002). About 7,000 military
members have given their lives in the war on
terrorism (Jenkins, 2016).
Economic Policy
In spite of fighting terrorism and people doing evil things, the United States also lives and trades with the
world. No longer can any country be an island unto itself, particularly one whose economy has become a
global economy. The United States has the strongest economy in the world (Bajpai, 2018). There is one
significant question: “Does the government direct the economy, or does the economy direct itself?”
(Independence Hall Association, n.d.-b, para. 1).
Spanning two broad categories of fiscal and monetary policy, U.S. economic policy has four major goals:
stable markets, economic prosperity, business development, and protecting employment (Federal Reserve
System, n.d.). Monetary policy refers to the government’s policy of controlling the money supply. Too much
money in circulation leads to inflation, while too little leads to deflation or can even lead to a recession
(Independence Hall Association, n.d.-b). Until the 20th century, the United States operated under a laissezfaire economic policy that required an open market (Independence Hall Association, n.d.-b). During the Great
Depression, the concept of Keynesian economics emerged. This policy was the opposite of the laissez-faire
strategy with a primary tenet that it was the government that should manage the economy (Independence Hall
PS 1010, American Government
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Association, n.d.-b). The debate over which strategy is best remains, as current
policy
lies somewhere
UNIT
x STUDY
GUIDE
between the two strategies.
Title
The American economy depends heavily on international
commerce. When one country falters in paying its debts, it
starts to drag down all of the others. Since 2008, many
countries, such as Greece and Cyprus, came close to
defaulting on their loans only to be bailed out by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that the world’s
economy could stabilize. Internationalism and
multilateralism on a grand scale have been illustrated by
the European Union (EU), though the manifestation of the
potential negative effects of both have also become
increasingly evident. Rising conflict regarding policy led to
the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, known as Brexit, in
2016 (“Eight Reasons Leave Won,” 2016).
Brexit
Domestic Policy
(Kroschel, n.d.)
The domestic policy-making process involves six primary steps:




realization of a problem;
setting an agenda to solve the problem;
creating a policy to deal with the problems; and
adopting, implementing, and evaluating the policy (Independence Hall Association, n.d.-a).
Domestic policy involves any policy related to actions and issues of national importance that occur within our
borders. Some examples of domestic policy issues are healthcare, education, welfare, insurance, and labor.
The United States uses a federalist form of government with a constitutionally expressed separation of state
and federal governments. More often than not, the lines become blurred when it comes to jurisdiction. In April
of 2010, the states of Arizona, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Michigan, and Illinois
decided to enact their own immigration laws. These states were protesting a federal government that was not
protecting the borders from illegal aliens who were putting financial and systemic strains on their economies.
As a result, individual plaintiffs, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, filed lawsuits seeking to stop
Arizona’s SB 1070 law, which added additional state requirements, crimes, and penalties related to the
enforcement of immigration laws (Morse, 2011).
In an analysis of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Arizona’s immigration enforcement laws, Ann Morse, the
program director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, made the observation that SB 1070 is
preempted specifically by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). This preemption was a
result of U.S. foreign policy and federal law. Based on research of similar cases and laws, Morse noted that
the laws violated at least two clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the Supremacy Clause and the Commerce
Clause (Morse, 2011).
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a portion of the Arizona SB 1070 law, but struck down other aspects. The
majority opinion stated that although Arizona has legitimate frustrations with illegal immigrants, the state
cannot create policies that undermine federal laws. Because of the unconstitutionality of portions of SB 1070,
Morse (2011) noted that the U.S. Department of Justice filed injunctions before those portions could take
effect.
Regulatory policy is a large component of American domestic policy. Regulatory bodies regulate everything
from what one can eat to what one can buy and where and how the purchase is made. There are three basic
categories of federal regulations: business, labor, and environment and energy. Regulatory policy has
stemmed directly from the preamble to the Constitution where “promoting the general welfare” was prescribed
(Independence Hall Association, n.d.-c).
PS 1010, American Government
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Public policy in America is a necessary but controversial subject, particularly inUNIT
the land
of theGUIDE
free where
x STUDY
citizens often cite such freedoms as their right to ignore policy altogether.
Title
References
Bajpai, P. (2018, August 16). The world’s top 20 economies. Retrieved from
https://www.investopedia.com/insights/worlds-top-economies/
Berkowitz, B. (2002, July 30). Fighting the new war. Retrieved from http://www.hoover.org/research/fightingnew-war
Eight reasons Leave won the UK’s referendum on the EU. (2016, June 24). Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36574526
Federal Reserve System. (n.d.). Conducting monetary policy. Retrieved from
https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/files/pf_3.pdf
Independence Hall Association. (n.d.-a). 11. Policy making: Political interactions. Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11.asp
Independence Hall Association. (n.d.-b). 11c. Economic policy. Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11c.asp
Independence Hall Association. (n.d.-c). 11d. Social and regulatory policy. Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/gov/11d.asp
Isolationism. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1601.html
Jenkins. B. M. (2016, September). Fifteen years on, where are we in the “War on Terror”? Retrieved from
https://ctc.usma.edu/fifteen-years-on-where-are-we-in-the-war-on-terror/
Kroschel, S. [Pixaline]. (n.d.). Brexit [Image]. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/brexit-united-kingdom-euexit-1485004/
Morse, A. (2011). Arizona’s immigration enforcement laws. Retrieved from
http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/analysis-of-arizonas-immigration-law.aspx
Ngara, C. O. (2017). America’s global hegemony since the collapse of the Soviet Union: Implications for
Africa’s development. Global Journal of Social Sciences Studies, 3(3), 113-121. Retrieved from
http://www.onlinesciencepublishing.com/assets/journal/JOU0015/ART00197/1509341475_GJSSS2017-3(2)-113-121.pdf
Tourtellotte, J. (2001). World Trade Center 6 after the 9-11 attacks [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_Trade_Center_6_after_the_9-11_attacks.jpg.
PS 1010, American Government
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