English for Social Scientists

Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas

UNIT 4

UNIT 4

The role of government and public policies

General objectives

In this lesson, you will learn how different Governments react to public policies. You will also learn how to
express ideas related to these matters.

Specific objectives

1. Describe public policies in different countries

2. Review basic grammar aspects related to the main general objectives: present and past continuous
3. Use the present and past continuous to express opinions about facts that were happening in the past
and are going on now

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 English for Social Scientists
Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

PART 1. READING AND WRITING SKILLS

1. INTRODUCTION

According to the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies (http://ips.jhu.edu/pub/public-policy),

“public policy is the action taken by government to address a particular public issue. Local, state,
federal, and international government organizations all craft and implement public policy to protect
[...] their populations”. Virtually all political issues can be addressed by public policy: crime, food
security, environmental protection, education, health, social services, et cetera. The public policy
process can be structured in stages or steps: (1) Agenda setting (definition of the problem); (2)
Formulation (translation of the agenda item in a decision); (3) Implementation (enforcement of the
policy); (4) Evaluation (assessment of the impacts of the policy). Thus, public policymaking implies
deciding what is and is not a problem, choosing which problems to solve, and deciding on solutions.

The public policy process includes many actors (governments, political parties and interest groups),
who define the problems differently and support distinct solutions. They often have to negotiate and
agree on decisions taking into consideration institutional constraints.

The timeline for a new policy to be put in place can range from weeks to several years, depending on
political and economic circumstances as well as on the complexity of the issue. Public policy is
nowadays a significant subfield of political science.

ACTIVITIES
READING PRACTICE 1

1. Read The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

2. Read the text “Economic governance: the organization of cooperation” - https://goo.gl/gMyK25

Read this extract from Robert Dahl’s seminal book Who Governs (1961)
“In a political system where nearly every adult may vote but where knowledge, wealth, social
position, access to officials, and other resources are unequally distributed, who actually governs? […]
The question is peculiarly relevant to the United States and to Americans. In the first place, Americans
expose democratic beliefs with a fervency and unanimity that have been a regular source of
astonishment to foreign observers [... such as] de Tocqueville and Bryce […].
In the political system of the patrician oligarchy, political resources were marked by a cumulative
inequality: when one individual was much better off than another in one resource, such as wealth, he
was usually better off in almost every other resource –social standing, legitimacy, control over
religious and educational institutions, knowledge, office. In the political system of today, inequalities
in political resources remain, but they tend to be noncumulative. […]

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 English for Social Scientists
Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

First, among all the persons who influence a decision, some do so more directly than others in the
sense that they are closer to the stage where concrete alternatives are initiated or vetoed in an explicit
and immediate way. […]
Second, the relationship between leaders and citizens in a pluralistic democracy is frequently
reciprocal: leaders influence the decisions of constituents, but the decisions of leaders are also
determined in part by what they think are, will be or have been the preferences of their constituents.
[…]
In American politics, as in all other societies, control over decisions is unevenly distributed; neither
individuals nor groups are political equals.”

Questions:
1. Robert Dahl is one of the best known political scientists writing on democratic government. What
is his main intellectual concern in Who Governs?
2. Why wouldn’t he accept the answer “It’s only the government which governs”?
3. What is the difference between governing in a patrician oligarchy and a democracy?
4. The government depends on individual-based decisions. Decisions are very much related to
modern economics. Can you explain why?
5. The policymakers implement public policies based on their potential voters, rather than on public
benefits. Comment this sentence critically.

Read the press release of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in relation to the award of the Nobel Prize
2009 to Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson.

Elinor Ostrom has demonstrated how common property can be successfully managed by user
associations. Oliver Williamson has developed a theory where business firms serve as structures for
conflict resolution. Over the last three decades, these seminal contributions have advanced economic
governance research from the fringe to the forefront of scientific attention.
Economic transactions take place not only in markets, but also within firms, associations, households,
and agencies. Whereas economic theory has comprehensively illuminated the virtues and limitations
of markets, it has traditionally paid less attention to other institutional arrangements. The research of
Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson demonstrates that an economic analysis can shed light on most
forms of social organization.
Elinor Ostrom has challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and
should be either regulated by central authorities or privatized. Based on numerous studies of user-
managed fish stocks, pastures, woods, lakes, and groundwater basins, Ostrom concludes that the
outcomes are, more often than not, better than predicted by standard theories. She observes that
resource users frequently develop sophisticated mechanisms for decision-making and rule

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 English for Social Scientists
Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

enforcement to handle conflicts of interest, and she characterizes the rules that promote successful
outcomes.
Oliver Williamson has argued that markets and hierarchical organizations, such as firms, represent
alternative governance structures which differ in their approaches to resolving conflicts of interest.
The drawback of markets is that they often entail haggling and disagreement. The drawback of firms
is that authority, which mitigates contention, can be abused. Competitive markets work relatively well
because buyers and sellers can turn to other trading partners in case of dissent. But when market
competition is limited, firms are better suited for conflict resolution than markets. A key prediction of
Williamson's theory, which has also been supported empirically, is, therefore, that the propensity of
economic agents to conduct their transactions inside the boundaries of a firm increases along with
the relationship-specific features of their assets.

Questions:
1. How can Ostrom’s and Williamson’s theoretical contributions be used to make an argument against
too much government intervention?
2. Are Ostrom’s and Williamson’s theories virtually the same? How would you distinguish them from
one another?
3. Ostrom and Williamson were awarded the Noble Prize in Economics because of the study of out-of-
the-market activities. The concept of market is, however, critical for the understanding of
economics. How can you explain that the Swedish Academy gave these two scholars this
prestigious award?
4. Economic analysis can shed light on political and social phenomena. What could be the possible
reasons behind this? Relate your answer with Ostrom and Williamson’s award.

ACTIVITIES
1. Read the following article from The Economist, a British weekly news publication targeting highly
educated readers and supporting free markets and free trade.

Spain’s government
Another blow
The ruling conservative party is shaken by a damaging corruption scandal

A chorizo is a spicy Spanish sausage, best accompanied by a glass of Rioja, though often sliced and
served in a doughy “ bocadillo”, or sandwich. Chorizo is also slang for a swindler or cheat. At
protests against Mariano Rajoy’s government demonstrators have taken to wave loaves aloft and
shouting: “There isn’t enough bread for so many chorizos!”
Now the allegations have touched Mr Rajoy directly. “Never, ever have I received or handed out black
money,” he insisted on January 21st. But revelations from Spain’s two main newspapers, El País and El

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Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de
Empresas UNIT 4

Mundo, claim otherwise. They allege that slush money flowed liberally through the headquarters of
Mr Rajoy’s Popular Party (PP) for at least two decades. Some of it supposedly went straight into the
pockets of the party’s leaders. “Envelopes with cash were handed out as salary top-ups to certain top
party officials,” said Jorge Trías Sagnier, a former PP deputy and the only whistleblower so far to go
on the record.
The allegations, although denied by almost everyone who has been implicated, have turned into a
full-blown scandal. The most serious evidence, contained in secret ledgers purportedly kept by the
party’s chief accountant, show Mr Rajoy receiving €25,000 ($34,000) a year for a decade. On February
3rd, standing by Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, at a press conference in Berlin, a nervous Mr
Rajoy protested that “except for a few bits” the ledger entries were false.
The pivotal character in the scandal is Luis Bárcenas, a party administrator for two decades, whom the
party made a senator in 2004 and Mr Rajoy himself promoted to treasurer in 2008. Court began
investigating Mr Bárcenas four years ago amid allegations that he was among the beneficiaries of a
backhander scheme run by local party members in Madrid and Valencia. Mr Rajoy stood by his man
and the PP paid for his defense. But Mr Bárcenas eventually stood down, as both treasurer and
senator. Rumors spread that he had taken away incriminating documents.
The bombshell came last month when court investigators discovered that Mr Bárcenas had a €22m
Swiss bank account. He also admitted using tax amnesty last year to declare €10m of hidden money.
The 14-page ledger, published by El País, is said by some handwriting experts to be in Mr Bárcenas’s
hand. It appears to show that much of the PP’s secret fund came from construction magnates who
received public contracts and helped inflate Spain’s disastrous real-estate bubble. Regular cash-in- hand
payments to the PP’s leaders supposedly carried on even while they held public office, continuing
until 2009, five years after Mr Rajoy became leader.
Some recipients of loans and other payments acknowledged having received money, but said that
they were entirely legal. They include Pío García-Escudero, the senate president. Press reports agreed
that the slush fund was shut down several years ago. For the rest, the evidence is either confusing, of
unknown provenance or both. Certainly, Mr Rajoy and the rest of his party deny it all. The prime
minister’s denial of self-enrichment deserves credence, as this is the first suggestion that he is
anything less than squeaky clean.
On the other hand, El Mundo has quoted five unnamed sources who spoke of regular cash-in-hand
payments to party leaders. And voters are beginning to latch on to the idea that Mr Rajoy ran a party
which hid, distributed and lied about dirty money. Four out of five Spaniards believe the PP’s
leadership should resign en bloc. Just over half want a snap general election.

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 English for Social Scientists
Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

Will the scandal bring down Mr Rajoy’s government? It has a comfortable parliamentary majority and
three years until the general election. Spain’s courts proceed slowly. They have only just started
hearing the trial related to a ring of world-ranking cyclists and other athletes who allegedly doped
themselves at the Madrid clinic of a doctor first arrested in 2006.
Yet the damage to Spain cannot be measured by the fate of a single party at the next general election.
Spaniards have lost respect for their politicians. Other parties, especially the Convergence and Union
coalition, which runs Catalonia, are knee-deep in allegations of corruption. The opposition Socialists
have cases rumbling, too, especially in places where mayors and real-estate developers seemingly fell
into a toxic embrace. Polls show that 96% of Spaniards believe many politicians are on the take.
Support for the main parties has tumbled over the past year, as a double-dip recession deepened, and
unemployment climbed to 26%. The king’s son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, and his business partner
were recently told to post a €8.1m bail after being investigated for corruption charges that also
involve regional PP governments.
A recent poll gave the two big parties, which have run Spain for the past three decades, only 46% of
the vote. The political settlement Spaniards agreed on as they emerged from dictatorship in the
1970s gave huge power to the parties to solidify democracy. This may have backfired. “Having
created the monster, we are being devoured by it,” says Antonio Argandoña at IESE, a business
school.
In 2011, the country’s legion of “ indignados” took over city squares, shouting: “They don’t
represent us”. They have even more reason to be indignant now.

Activities and questions

1. Summarize the content of this article in less than 100 words using the following words and

expressions:
Black/dirty/slush money
Corruption
Scandal
Salary top-ups
Cash-in-hand payments
Public opinion polls
Newspaper revelations

2. How does corruption affect the government’s legitimacy to support public policies that imply
social expenditure cutbacks or reductions?
3. There are several dimensions (ethical, legal, social, sociological, political, etc.) affected by
corruption. Can you describe from an economic point of view what corruption is and some of its
consequences in terms of incentives?

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Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

4. Answer these questions:

a. What kind of translation does the author give for chorizo?
b. What’s the singular of loaves?
c. Give a synonym of hand out.
d. What is a ledger?

5. Note how Spanish words are reproduced in italics and in the original language. This is how foreign
words are included in a text in a different language.

6. Look for follow-up references on this issue in The Economist website - http://goo.gl/8tBPVg

7. Write a three-paragraph comment on these facts in relation to the present Spanish situation of
reduction in public policy spending.

PART 1. USE OF LANGUAGE

Remember that the Language that you are going to practice within each unit is just a review or
reminder of the general grammar that you already know, but related to the topic of each lesson.

Ø This symbol will be used for THEORY

v This symbol will be used for PRACTICE

Ø PRESENT AND PAST CONTINUOUS OR PRESENT AND PAST PROGRESSIVE

Ø We use the present continuous:
- To talk about temporary events and actions in progress at the moment of speaking: The train is
coming.
- To talk about repeated events over a specific period of time: The trains aren’t stopping at the
station this week.
- To talk about trends and changing situations: The cinema is getting really expensive.
- To talk about near future: I am meeting some friends after work.

Ø Time expressions

We use the present continuous tense with time expressions such as now, at the
moment, currently, today, this week, nowadays, etc.

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 English for Social Scientists
Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

Ø We use the past continuous:

- To express that the action was in progress in the past, but it has already finished: They were
laughing at the situation.
- Routine action that happened in the past: Yesterday morning, from 8.00 to 9.00 I was running.

Ø It is normally used with the past simple to explain that two actions happened at the
same time. An action in the past continuous was in progress at the time the action in the
past simple happened: When I arrived, everyone was laughing.

v Practice 1

Make sentences with the following words. Use the present continuous form.
1. for / look / I / glasses / my / .
2. you / read / kind / what / book / of / ?
3. Pamela / why / cry / ?
4. you / work / Jennifer / as / for / company / same / the / ?
5. Sunday / have / I / party / a / next / .

v Practice 2

Choose the correct verb form: Simple Past or Past Continuous.

1. We ___________ at the breakfast table when the doorbell ___________.

a) were sitting/rang b) sat/rang c) was sitting/were ringing d) were sitting/was ringing
2) He ___________ a lot of friendly people while he ___________ in California.
a) was meeting/was working b) met/was working c) met/worked d) were meeting/were working
3) When they ___________ the museum, the sun ___________.
a) was leaving/shone b) were leaving/was shining c) left/was shining d) left/shone
4) The students ___________ cards when the teacher ___________
in.
a) were playing/came b) played/was coming c) was playing/was coming d) played/ came
5)When I ___________ the door, it ___________.
a) opened/rained b) were opening/rained c) was opening/rained d) opened/was raining

v Links for extra practice and self-evaluation

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/presentcontinuous.html
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastcontinuous.html
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-50862.php
http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omexercise/tiemposverbales/unit12.htm

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 English for Social Scientists
Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

Ø FREQUENCY ADVERBS

Always = 100% of the time

Frequently = about 90% of the time

Usually = about 80% of the time

Often = about 70% of the time

Sometimes = about 50% of the time

Occasionally = about 40% of the time

Seldom = about 20% of the time

Rarely = about 10% of the time

Never = 0% of the time

(Note: The percentages here are rough estimates only)

Ø POSITION OF FREQUENCY ADVERBS

- Frequency Adverbs come BEFORE most verbs.

Ex: I always help the other students.

Ex: My brother usually comes late to school.
Ex: Jenny and Susan often study in the library after class.
- Frequency Adverbs come AFTER forms of the verb TO BE (am, is, are, was, were, etc.).

Ex: I am always a good student.

Ex: My brother is usually late to school.
Ex: Jenny and Susan are often in the library after class.

v PRACTICE 1
Write the frequency adverb in the right position:
1. He listens to the radio. (often)
2. They write letters by hand. (sometimes)
3. We are on time. (always)
4. My mother gets angry. (never)
5. She is smiling at work. (always)
5. My children are hungry. (often)
6. I drink milk for breakfast. (usually)
7. I smoke when I am with my kids. (seldom)
8. I go to the mountains. (frequently)

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 English for Social Scientists
Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

v Links for extra practice and self-evaluation

http://www.tolearnenglish.com/english_lessons/adverbs-of-frequency-exercises

http://www.language-worksheets.com/adverbs-frequency-elementary.html

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.frequ.i.htm

Bibliography

Reinicke, W. (1998). Global Public Policy: Governing without Government. Massachusetts: The Brooking Institution.

Wade, R. (1990). Governing the Market. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Now you should think about what you have learned in this unit and what you need to revise. Please, tick the
appropriate box.

Vocabulary I can do it very well I can do it well I need to improve

I know vocabulary
related to public policies
and government.

Grammar I can do it very well I can do it well I need to improve

I know the difference

between present and
past continuous.

I know what a frequency

adverb is and how to
insert them in sentences.

Reading I can do it very well I can do it well I need to improve

I am able to understand
critical texts related to
public policies and
government.

Margarita Goded Rambaud and Lourdes Pomposo Yáñez, revised

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 English for Social Scientists
Grados en Ciencia Política y de la Administración, Sociología, Economía y Administración y Dirección de Empresas
UNIT 4

Writing I can do it very well I can do it well I need to improve

I am able to summarize
and write critical short
essays.

EXTRA ACTIVITIES

- Check the extra bibliography.

- Complete the grammar and vocabulary activities provided in the links.

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