Smoking and Politics: Policymaking in the Federal Bureaucracy, Essay Example

Because of the fact that Congress knew that the economy in the past was mainly upheld by tobacco, it does not come as a surprise that tobacco industries were able to fight proposed regulations. In addition, tobacco was such a valuable crop that news agencies were completely dependent on the advertising of tobacco. Having said all of this, it goes without saying that tobacco was in a position where change would not be accepted. When individuals such as lobbying groups came together to try and put a stop to the tobacco industry, the tobacco industry decided to unite their efforts in order to make the industry prevail. Because of the manner in which they appeared pretty much unstoppable due to their unification, there was no way that lobbying groups would have been able to put a stop to such a great force.

 Despite the fact that both the tobacco industry and the government was cognizant of the actuality that tobacco was hazardous to the health of the individual, no one was choosing to say anything about this until 1964. This was the year in which the Federal Trade Commission decided to finally notify individuals that smoking tobacco could actually affect your health, contrary to what individuals knew. All of this affected policy change in such a way that it was proven that not the Congress nor the President did not have the ability to oversee every kind of service that was needed by the people. This is to say that, often times, the big industries would make the big decisions because of the fact that “the people” simply did not know any better because of the fact that they were not elected bureaucrats.

 The tobacco industry was able to prove the kind of power that certain industries can have if they are big enough.  Fritschler’s Case Study was also able to prove the fact that policy change can be brought about by one single industry. A personal observation that was made is that individuals will often pursue things that benefit them, regardless if it affects the health of others.

References

Fritschler, Lee. “Smoking and Politics: Policymaking in the Federal Bureaucracy – BYU Studies.” BYU Studies. Brigham Young University, n.d. Web. 27 May 2015.

Pillsbury, Harold. “Review of the Federal Trade Commission Method for Determining Cigarette Tar and Nicotine Yield.” National Cancer Institute – Cancer Control and Population Sciences. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2015.