UGS 303 Lecture 1: UGS #1
Document Summary
Policy: principles and courses of action adopted and pursued by established gov or group as well as by various units within societies-- everything gov decides to do or not to do. Why some issues get attention in the policy process and others do not. Problems- the way social conditions became defined. Policies - the ideas generated to solve them. Politics- political factors: national mood, who holds office, interest groups etc. Two streams need to converge at a critical moments or at policy windows . Windows of opportunity when there is possibility for change. Distortion of reason through the prism of myth and ignorance. Rooted in consciousness in the cognitive process that attributes social significance to the arbitrary fact of skin color. Process of being influenced by subjective factors. Knowledge= from actual interracial experience rather than stereotype. Distortion in thinking (prejudice) translates to practice. Disparate treatment based on the irrational thoughts of differences.
