“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble,” - John Lewis
Competency 2: Participate and Contribute
Policy Analysis
Public policy is very important as it governs the interactions that the public has with its government. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is one of the most transformative pieces of legislation in our nation's history. The Voting Rights Act expanded access to the franchise and helped secure our democracy. After the 2020 General Election, there has been much discourse about the state of election policy in America. In the Foundations of Public Policy course, we were tasked with analyzing a policy issue. Because of current events, I decided to investigate the historical and political contexts of the Voting Rights Act and evaluate what effect did those contexts have on the policy process. Another aspect of this assignment was to make policy recommendations for the policy area in the future. The John Lewis Advancement Act, is the current proposed legislation to enhance the Voting Rights Act and ensure Americans continued access to the franchise. In my recommendations, I recommend that our elected officials sign this bill into law. This assignment reaffirmed my understanding of how cyclical the policy process is and how much of an impact public opinion has on the policy formulation step of the policy process.
Rationale for Public Action by Government
In the Public Personnel Administration course, we were tasked with analyzing a policy issue that directly impacts the workplace. One national policy of contention is The Crown Act. The Crown Act was designed to protect individuals from workplace discrimination based on their hairstyles. This type of workplace discrimination has historically affected Black women; however, the legislation will provide this protection for all Americans in the workplace. This research project allowed me to learn and investigate the policy progress of this legislation across all 50 states and evaluate why this legislation is not a federal mandate. As a result of that research, I formulated an analysis of other workplace settings where similar policy has been adopted and was able to advocate for public action by government across the nation. Because of institutions such as federalism, states that have found this historical issue to be of protective cause have adopted this policy while activists continue to advocate for the passing of The Crown Act across the U.S. This assignment allowed me to contextualize the applicability of public versus workplace policy as well as investigate the policy process.
