Deck 14: Congress, Budgets, and Domestic Policy Making

Question 1

What was the central issue of disagreement during the budget battle and government shutdown of 2019?

A) funding to build a wall on the southern border
B) introduction of new environmental regulations
C) spending on the Pentagon and other defense items
D) tax breaks related to education and home mortgages

Answer 1

A

Question 2

All of the following are typical steps in the policymaking process EXCEPT ______.

A) setting the agenda
B) fund-raising
C) formulating policy
D) implementation

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of an activity that would occur during the agenda-setting stage of policymaking?

A) President Obama signs the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act into law.
B) The Energy Committee holds several hearings on renewable energy.
C) A landslide election shifts attention to the nation's mounting deficit and debt.
D) A blue-ribbon commission is appointed to explore possible solutions to climate change.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of an activity that would occur during the policy formulation stage of policymaking?

A) The Food and Drug Administration approves a new drug for over-the-counter sales.
B) Events in Ferguson bring attention to the issue of demilitarizing the police.
C) President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act into law.
D) Congress funds several pilot projects testing various types of school vouchers.

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of an activity that would occur during the policy adoption stage of policymaking?

A) President Bush signs No Child Left Behind into law.
B) The Senate holds hearings on the implementation of the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act.
C) A policy entrepreneur tries to get other members to consider legislation addressing climate change.
D) The Agriculture Committee writes a report on farm subsidies.

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of an activity that would occur during the implementation stage of policymaking?

A) The US Department of Health and Human Services rules that birth control will be covered as a preventative service under the Affordable Care Act.
B) The Senate votes in favor of the Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act after a lengthy filibuster.
C) The Homeland Security Committee holds hearings on Pentagon funding.
D) A landslide election shifts attention to the nation's mounting deficit and debt.

Question 7

Which of the following is an example of a distributive policy?

A) a regulation providing for the testing of new drugs before they are sold
B) a bill establishing new national parks and historic sites
C) an increase in taxes for individuals earning over $100,000
D) spending on Medicaid

Question 8

Which of the following is an example of a regulatory policy?

A) earmarks
B) funding for academic research at MIT
C) a prohibition on deceptive advertising
D) spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of a redistributive policy?

A) a limit on the amount of pollutants a factory can produce
B) funding to build a bridge
C) regulations of the banking industry
D) an increase in taxes for individuals earning over $100,000

Question 10

Which of the following is an example of an unfunded mandate?

A) No Child Left Behind
B) Iraq War Resolution
C) creation of the Environmental Protection Agency
D) a bill raising taxes on the top 1 percent of earners

Question 11

Which of these is an example of mandatory (or entitlement) spending?

A) funding for the FDA
B) Social Security
C) No Child Left Behind
D) child nutrition programs

Question 12

Which of the following is accomplished by a budget resolution?

A) cuts taxes
B) limits the funds that can be allocated to entitlement spending
C) establishes spending priorities
D) reduces the national debt

Question 13

Which of these is an example of a tax expenditure?

A) salaries for federal judges
B) funding for the Human Genome Project
C) food stamps
D) the home mortgage interest deduction

Question 14

A budget resolution acts as a "fiscal blueprint" for Congress by establishing the context of congressional budgeting.

Question 15

The Congressional Budget Office is a nonpartisan office that prepares economic forecasts for Congress.

Question 16

Budget resolutions do not need the president's signature because they have no binding legal effect.

Question 17

Policy implementation is usually the first step in the policymaking process.

Question 18

Entitlements make up about two thirds of all federal spending.

Question 19

Redistributive policies are typically the least controversial and result in little partisan conflict.

Question 20

Sequestration is a process by which Senators can hold budget proposals "hostage" until their demands for earmarks are met.

Question 21

Earmark reform led to the elimination of pork and other earmarks in congressional legislation.

Question 22

Congressional oversight is typically part of the implementation stage of policymaking.

Question 23

Appropriation bills are constitutionally required to start in the House of Representatives.

Question 24

What happened to the surpluses from 1998 to 2002?

Question 25

What is the difference between PAYGO and CUTGO?

Question 26

What is reconciliation? Why is it particularly important in the Senate?

Question 27

What are tax expenditures and who is most likely to benefit from them?

Question 28

Why is interest on the national debt a budget problem, and why has it been so difficult to solve?

Question 29

What is symbolic policymaking and why does Congress make this type of policy?

Question 30

What were the most important features of the 1974 Budget Act?

Question 31

Why has Congress relied on continuing resolutions to fund government in recent years?

Question 32

What is a policy window? Give a specific example of one policy window.

Question 33

What is the difference between discretionary and mandatory spending?

Question 34

Identify and describe the four stages of policymaking.

Question 35

What are the three major categories of domestic policies? Give a specific example of each.

Question 36

What was the purpose of earmark reform? Was it successful?

Question 37

What are some of the costs and benefits of earmarks?

Question 38

How does bicameralism influence congressional decision-making?

Question 39

Trace a recent policy through each of the four steps of the policymaking process. Which hurdle seemed to be most difficult to overcome for this policy to actually take effect? (Note: Depending on the level of the students, the professor may wish to provide a list of possible policies to choose from.)