Deck 20: Governing: the policymaking process and policy instruments

Question 1

What term describes a course of action or inaction chosen by public authorities to address a given problem or interrelated set of problems?

A)public policy
B)policy instruments
C)symbolic response
D)regulation

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The War Measures Act was invoked during a severe flooding in Manitoba.

Answer 2

False
The War Measures Act was not invoked during that time, however the armed forces were called in to assist.

Question 3

The state-centred approach assumes that whatever the formal phases of the policymaking process, the political system ultimately responds to the demands of the corporate elite.

Answer 3

False
The class analysis approach assumes that whatever the formal phases of the policymaking process, the political system ultimately responds to the demands of the corporate elite.

Question 4

The principal players involved in any policy community are sometimes called stakeholders.

Question 5

Deliberate inaction on the part of the government on an issue can be categorized as a symbolic response.

Question 6

Taxation has the effect of constraining behaviour in actually taking something tangible away from the individuals and corporations on whom it is imposed.

Question 7

What type of management best describes coordination among the many federal government departments?

A)vertical
B)administrative
C)policy coordination
D)horizontal

Question 8

Which group is typically NOT involved in the initiation stage of the policymaking process?

A)election platform
B)caucus
C)the judiciary
D)royal commission

Question 9

Air Canada used to be a crown corporation that has since been privatized.

Question 10

What are minimum wage laws, highway speed limits, building codes, rent controls, and bilingual labelling examples of?

A)exhortation
B)regulation
C)neoconservatism
D)public expenditures

Question 11

Since the mid-1980s, governments have increasingly been engaged in nationalization.

Question 12

The government loses revenue because of tax credits and tax exemptions as in the example of RRSPs.

Question 13

What best describes the policymaking process in Canada?

A)priority-setting, initiation, policy formation, legitimation, implementation, interpretation
B)initiation, priority-setting, policy formation, legitimation, implementation, interpretation
C)initiation, priority-setting, policy formation, implementation, legitimation, interpretation
D)priority-setting, initiation, policy formation, implementation, interpretation, legitimation

Question 14

Which economic theory suggests that the government should intervene with increased spending, even to the extent of borrowing, in order to transfer to individuals?

A)Keynesian economics
B)laissez-faire
C)neo-conservatism
D)neo-liberalism

Question 15

The federal and provincial governments have started to move beyond the neo-conservative era of the last 15-20 years.

Question 16

What term describes the different techniques of government intervention in society?

A)policy communities
B)policy approaches
C)policy initiatives
D)policy instruments

Question 17

Which of the following is NOT considered a policy instrument?

A)tax expenditures
B)referendum
C)regulation
D)state of emergency

Question 18

What institution is most involved in the policy formulation phase?

A)bureaucracy
B)House of Commons
C)prime minister
D)courts

Question 19

Which political party imposed a carbon tax on heavily polluting companies, as part of their Green Shift initiation?

A)Conservatives
B)NDP
C)Green Party
D)Liberals

Question 20

When the prime minister and Cabinet decide which of the proposals they have previously selected for consideration are worthy of adoption, they are engaged in policy formation.

Question 21

In terms of government intervention, explain how the role of the state has evolved over the last 100 years.

Question 22

What are stakeholders and what is their role in determining public policy?

Question 23

Explain the six phases of the policymaking process.

Question 24

Explain the advantages and disadvantages for citizens of governments' use of tax expenditures.

Question 25

Describe and explain the significance of policy instruments?