Unit: Political Competence, political science homework help

Unit: Political Competence

On April 9, 2003 the U.S. congressional Subcommittee on Health (part of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce) heard testimony from various witnesses on the topic “Strengthening and Improving Medicare.”

Since that time, the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA ) was passed to extend the life of Medicare programming. Part of this legislation involved the passage of Part D (Prescription Drug Insurance). Another significant part of this legislation involved various Pay For Performance (P4P) incentives.

Senior executives from a variety of organizations are often called to testify about health policy issues (about the U.S. congressional hearing). It is in the organization’s best interest if these executives are both politically competent and good corporate citizens.

• In general terms, what knowledge, skills, and individual behaviors must an executive have to be politically competent and to be good corporate citizens?
• Think about a person (e.g. Marilyn Moon, Mr. Tom Scully, Walton Francis) who was a witness at the U.S. congressional hearing. Did he or she demonstrate political competence? Explain.
• Think about a particular health care organization’s corporate citizenship. How would you describe it (e.g., “good,” “average,” or “poor”)? What did the organization do (or not do) to achieve this level of corporate citizenship?