Deck 13: Domestic Policy

Question 1

Which of the following is a goal of American social policy?

A) the elimination of poverty
B) the promotion of equality of opportunity
C) closing the gap between rich and poor
D) promoting economic equality

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The best way for Federal Reserve Board officials to help boost a stagnant economy is to

A) raise interest rates so that banks can earn more money on the loans they provide to individuals and businesses.
B) lower interest rates so that banks can provide more loans at cheaper rates to individuals and businesses.
C) take money out of circulation so that the dollar becomes more valuable.
D) raise the reserve requirement, restricting the amount of cash and negotiable securities banks must have on hand.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which statement is the key argument of John Maynard Keynes?

A) Government can pull an economy out of a recession by stimulating demand and creating a cycle of increased production and jobs.
B) Government regulations during economic depressions must be lifted because they destroy the already slim profit margin.
C) The economy of size shows that monopolies are the most efficient way to distribute goods throughout a national marketplace.
D) Government can rectify a falling economy by regulating the money supply.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The power to raise or lower the tax rate is part of

A) fiscal policy.
B) monetary policy.
C) the contracting power.
D) budgetary policy.

Question 5

________ are government grants of cash or other valuable commodities, such as land, that are used to promote activities desired by government leaders.

A) Contracts
B) Business development funds
C) Categorical grants
D) Subsidies

Question 6

Which of the following statements about Social Security is true?

A) Social Security was established in 1965.
B) It is a program based on voluntary savings.
C) Contributors receive benefits in strict proportion to their contributions.
D) Social Security redistributes wealth from younger workers to older retirees.

Question 7

Which of the following played an important role in caring for the poor during the nineteenth century?

A) the military
B) the federal government
C) churches and religious organizations
D) the United Nations

Question 8

Between September 2007 and December 2008, the Federal Reserve

A) did not change interest rates at all.
B) raised interest rates from nearly zero percent to 4.75 percent.
C) raised interest rates from 4.75 percent to 9.5 percent.
D) cut interest rates from 4.75 percent to nearly zero percent.

Question 9

A way to reduce the disparities in wealth between the rich and poor is called a(n)

A) entitlement program.
B) tariff.
C) regressive tax policy.
D) policy of redistribution.

Question 10

While the Federal Reserve's decision to cut the federal funds rate is expected to ________ economic growth, its decision to raise the federal funds rate is expected to ________ economic growth.

A) speed up; slow down
B) slow down; speed up
C) have no effect on; speed up
D) have no effect on; slow down

Question 11

Social Security is a good example of

A) outdoor relief.
B) indoor relief.
C) a contributory program.
D) a noncontributory program.

Question 12

What is a key power of the Fed?

A) The power to change tax rates.
B) The power to lower the budget deficit.
C) The power to lower the total national debt.
D) The power to expand and contract the amount of credit available in the United States.

Question 13

Social Security was established in

A) 1929.
B) 1930.
C) 1935.
D) 1965.

Question 14

The Social Security Act of 1935 created

A) only one category of welfare program: contributory.
B) only one category of welfare program: noncontributory.
C) two separate categories of welfare: contributory and noncontributory.
D) the first system of regressive taxation.

Question 15

An officially expressed purpose or goal backed by a sanction is a

A) public policy.
B) regulation.
C) rule.
D) bill.

Question 16

During the New Deal, ________ theory that a government could boost employment by stimulating demand became quite influential.

A) Adam Smith's
B) Milton Friedman's
C) Friedrich Hayek's
D) John Maynard Keynes's

Question 17

The Federal Reserve Board is composed of ________ members.

A) 4
B) 7
C) 9
D) 11

Question 18

Why have politicians always favored using subsidies to promote certain economic activities?

A) They can be treated as benefits that can be widely spread in response to many demands.
B) They are generally cheaper than other forms of government support.
C) Recipients are always required to pay back the subsidies.
D) Congress does not have to pass legislation in order to provide subsidies.

Question 19

The federal funds rate refers to the

A) percentage of federal spending that is made up of "uncontrollables," budget items that cannot be controlled through the regular budget process.
B) percentage of federal spending on programs that are controlled through the regular budget process.
C) congressionally determined limit on the amount of national debt that can be issued by the U.S. Treasury.
D) interest rate on loans between banks.

Question 20

In 2016, each individual's required contribution to Social Security was

A) zero percent of his or her first $118,500 of income.
B) 1.45 percent of his or her first $118,500 of income.
C) 6.2 percent of his or her first $118, 500 of income.
D) 7.65 percent of his or her first $118,500 of income.

Question 21

Part of the reason welfare programs became so unpopular was that

A) many Americans came to believe that welfare recipients did not want to work.
B) the programs were completely taken over by the federal government rather than having input from state and local governments.
C) the programs were completely taken over by state and local governments rather than having input from the federal government.
D) federal judges frequently ruled them to be unconstitutional.

Question 22

Which program was designed to help augment the benefits to the aged, blind, and disabled?

A) Medicaid
B) Medicare
C) food stamps
D) Supplemental Security Income

Question 23

In most states, unemployment benefits last for a maximum of ________ weeks.

A) 4
B) 26
C) 36
D) 52

Question 24

Which of the following social policies is currently the most costly to the government?

A) Social Security
B) food stamps
C) public housing assistance
D) Medicare

Question 25

A(n) ________ benefit is one where potential recipients must document their genuine need.

A) indexed
B) contributory
C) means-tested
D) in-kind

Question 26

The average benefit provided to a family with children by the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2013 was

A) $1,286.
B) $3,074.
C) $7,984.
D) $17,543.

Question 27

Social Security provides a vital role for younger people by providing

A) survivor benefits to those whose parents die or become disabled.
B) unemployment compensation for those who lose their jobs.
C) health care benefits to those whose jobs do not provide it.
D) food stamps for those who fall under the poverty line.

Question 28

The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program is administered by the

A) federal government.
B) states, with uniform benefit levels set by the federal government.
C) states, with benefit levels varying between states.
D) federal government, with benefit levels varying between states.

Question 29

How did the Great Depression change American attitudes about welfare?

A) It showed that the government could efficiently distribute public assistance.
B) It demonstrated that the government could choose between the deserving and undeserving poor in a more objective manner than private charities.
C) It revealed that poverty could be caused by a flawed economic system, not just by personal irresponsibility.
D) It showed that government was not as capable of taking care of the poor as private charities.

Question 30

The periodic adjustment of benefits or wages that takes into account the increased cost of living is called

A) means testing.
B) indexing.
C) graphing.
D) economic tabulating.

Question 31

President ________ vowed "to end welfare as we know it."

A) Richard Nixon
B) Ronald Reagan
C) George H. W. Bush
D) Bill Clinton

Question 32

Currently, the average monthly Social Security payment is ________ per month.

A) $325
B) $757
C) $1,000
D) $1,335

Question 33

Most unemployed workers receive approximately ________ percent of their previous wages through unemployment insurance.

A) 100
B) 75
C) 50
D) 25

Question 34

In 2016, each individual's required contribution to Medicare was ________ percent of all earnings.

A) 0
B) 1.45
C) 6.2
D) 15

Question 35

Which of the following programs provides an in-kind benefit?

A) Social Security
B) Medicaid
C) Veterans benefits payments
D) Supplemental Security Income

Question 36

Monthly Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits

A) exceed the amount of the federal poverty line in every state.
B) exceed the amount of the federal poverty line in all but 10 states.
C) exceed the amount of the federal poverty line in only 20 states.
D) do not exceed the amount of the federal poverty line in any state.

Question 37

The Earned Income Tax Credit allows

A) elderly and disabled people to receive exemptions from Social Security and Medicare taxes.
B) unemployed people to request waivers that exempt them from federal payroll taxes.
C) working people whose annual income falls below a certain level to file for an income supplement through their tax returns.
D) business owners to receive income supplements for each additional employee they hire in a given calendar year.

Question 38

Unemployment insurance is a ________ program that is funded by the ________.

A) noncontributory; federal and state governments
B) noncontributory; state governments only
C) contributory; federal and state governments
D) contributory; state governments only

Question 39

Poor Americans had strong incentives to establish their eligibility for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in the 1970s because AFDC recipients

A) were exempted from the military draft.
B) were immediately enrolled in Medicare.
C) received a waiver on sales taxes.
D) automatically received Medicaid and food stamps.

Question 40

As of 2016, a provision in the Affordable Care Act

A) eliminated Medicare taxes for households earning more than $250,000 a year.
B) lowered Medicare taxes for households earning more than $250,000 a year by 0.9 percent.
C) lowered Medicare taxes for households earning more than $250,000 a year by 5.4 percent.
D) increased Medicare taxes for households earning more than $250,000 a year by 0.9 percent.

Question 41

There are considerable disparities in benefits from state to state in noncontributory programs because

A) many state constitutions prohibit state governments from accepting money for noncontributory programs from the federal government.
B) state governments are given grants-in-aid from the federal government to establish and operate their own programs rather than having one uniform national program.
C) the federal government specifies different levels of assistance to each state based on means testing and indexing.
D) some states choose to only employ contributory programs.

Question 42

Medicare was established in

A) 1888.
B) 1933.
C) 1942.
D) 1965.

Question 43

The Supreme Court ruled that the "individual mandate" of the Affordable Care Act was

A) unconstitutional under the Tenth Amendment.
B) unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment.
C) constitutional under the commerce clause.
D) constitutional under Congress's taxing powers.

Question 44

What important noncontributory program was abolished by Congress in 1996?

A) food stamps
B) Medicaid
C) Aid to Families with Dependent Children
D) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

Question 45

Which of the following can be concluded from the results of the 1996 welfare reforms?

A) The reforms have done little to eliminate welfare dependency.
B) The reforms have reduced the number of people on welfare but have done little to reduce poverty.
C) The reforms have led to an increase in the number of welfare recipients.
D) The reforms did not change anything.

Question 46

Which of the following is a program of forced savings?

A) Medicaid
B) Medicare
C) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
D) food stamps

Question 47

Which of the following was a key part of the overhaul of No Child Left Behind?

A) a proposal that states could apply for waivers that would exempt them from some of the requirements of No Child Left Behind
B) a proposal to change the criteria for allocating $14 billion in federal assistance to schools from a system of competitive grants to a per-pupil formula
C) mandating a single nationwide standardized test to be taken by all students
D) providing an unprecedented amount of federal funding for school vouchers, allowing parents more freedom in choosing where their children attend school

Question 48

Which of the following statements about American's health care views is most accurate?

A) Americans universally reject the idea that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care.
B) Although a majority of Americans reject the idea that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care, there is widespread agreement that government should adopt the "public option" system.
C) Although a majority of Americans believe that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care, there is considerable disagreement about how to deliver such benefits and how to pay for them.
D) A vast majority of Americans strongly favor government-run health care but only if state and local governments are placed in charge of administering all health care programs.

Question 49

Charter schools are best described as

A) schools that a district uses as the median by which to judge test scores.
B) private schools that are funded with tax vouchers.
C) public schools that are free to design special curricula.
D) private schools run by large corporations.

Question 50

When did the American welfare state begin?

A) the 1890s
B) the 1920s
C) the 1930s
D) the 1960s

Question 51

Congress's 2003 Medicare reform bill

A) added a prescription drug benefit to the package of health benefits provided to the elderly.
B) eliminated a prescription drug benefit to the package from health benefits provided to the elderly.
C) increased the minimum age of Medicare recipients from 65 to 75 years old.
D) decreased the minimum age of Medicare recipients from 75 to 65 years old.

Question 52

What event brought federal attention to elementary school education?

A) the fear that the Soviets were winning the Cold War through better technology
B) low levels of literacy in America's inner cities
C) the return of veterans at the end of World War II
D) the Great Depression

Question 53

A cost-of-living adjustment is based on the

A) financing approved by Congress during each session.
B) rate of inflation.
C) relationship between the level of the federal deficit compared to the nation's gross national product.
D) changing needs of each recipient.

Question 54

The main change in welfare policies since 1996 is

A) increased use of noncash assistance.
B) increased benefits.
C) decreased use of means testing.
D) decreased use of job-training programs.

Question 55

Which of the following statements about noncontributory programs, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and Medicaid, is most accurate?

A) The federal government provides all of the funding for these programs, and, as a result, citizens in each state receive exactly the same level of benefits.
B) The federal government does not provide any funding for these programs, but state governments have all agreed to provide exactly the same level of benefits to citizens across the country.
C) The federal government provides only some of the funding for these programs, and, as a result, citizens in each state receive exactly the same level of benefits.
D) The federal government provides only some of the funding for these programs, and, as a result, citizens receive very different levels of benefits in different states.

Question 56

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

A) cut federal funding for school districts that performed poorly on the Department of Education's measures of student success.
B) guaranteed that 10 percent of all federal revenue would be spent each year on elementary and secondary education.
C) required that all school districts devote at least 200 hours of instruction to students each year using federally approved curriculum.
D) offered federal aid for education by allocating funds to school districts with substantial numbers of children from unemployed or low-income families.

Question 57

The Supreme Court's decision in King v. Burwell (2015), was significant because it

A) upheld the federal government's ability under the Affordable Care Act to provide subsidies to people using the federal health insurance exchange.
B) struck down the federal government's ability under the Affordable Care Act to provide subsidies to people using the federal health insurance exchange.
C) required employers to provide health insurance programs that cover all forms of contraception, including birth control methods they opposed on religious grounds.
D) allowed state governments to opt out of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion without fear of losing their existing Medicaid funds.

Question 58

The "individual mandate" of the Affordable Care Act refers to

A) the requirement that Medicare cover all individuals living in the United States by 2014.
B) a tax credit that is given to all people who are unemployed and do not have health insurance coverage.
C) the requirement that uninsured individuals purchase health insurance.
D) the requirement that health insurance companies accept all applicants, regardless of preexisting conditions.

Question 59

Medicare is a ________ program; Medicaid is a ________ program.

A) noncontributory; contributory
B) contributory; noncontributory
C) contributory; contributory
D) noncontributory; noncontributory

Question 60

Which of the following statements about K-12 education spending is most accurate?

A) The vast majority of spending for K-12 education comes from the state and local governments, while the federal government contributes a relatively small amount.
B) The vast majority of spending for K-12 education comes from the federal government and local governments, while state governments contribute a relatively small amount.
C) All spending for K-12 education comes from the federal government.
D) All spending for K-12 education comes from state governments.

Question 61

Which of the following is the best example of the shadow welfare state?

A) soup kitchens supported by local churches
B) food stamps
C) workplace medical insurance
D) cost-of-living adjustments

Question 62

________ is the single-largest medical insurance program in the United States.

A) PhP
B) Anthem
C) Cigna
D) Medicaid

Question 63

Which of the following statements about the No Child Left Behind Act is true?

A) It was the signature education act of Bill Clinton.
B) It decreased the role of the federal government in education policy.
C) It requires that students be tested every year in grades 3-8 for proficiency in math and reading.
D) It prohibited student transfers away from poorly performing schools.

Question 64

How did deregulation of the mortgage industry in 1999 help produce the housing crisis of 2007 and 2008?

A) It drove housing prices down by preventing too many qualified people from obtaining the mortgages needed to purchase homes.
B) It allowed many new mortgage companies to form, offering "predatory" loans that people could not afford to repay.
C) It made foreclosures almost impossible under the law and allowed many people to stop paying their mortgages with no monetary penalties.
D) It eliminated most mortgage companies and forced potential homeowners to pay cash for their homes.

Question 65

________ are programs where the government provides a tax deduction for spending on health insurance and other benefits by both employers and employees.

A) Noncompulsory benefits
B) Tax expenditures
C) Direct services
D) Earned income tax credits

Question 66

The American welfare system has evolved considerably over time. Describe some of the key moments in this evolution. In your answer, be sure to discuss (1) the social welfare system before the Great Depression, (2) the Social Security Act of 1935, (3) Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and (4) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

Question 67

Which of the following groups receives the most benefits from government's social policies?

A) the middle class
B) the working poor
C) children
D) racial and ethnic minorities

Question 68

Between 1959 and 2012, the percentage of elderly Americans living in poverty went from about ________ percent to about ________ percent.

A) 50; 35
B) 35; 10
C) 65; 25
D) 40; 30

Question 69

The feminization of poverty refers to the fact that

A) women are more likely to be poor than men.
B) women benefit more than men from federal government antipoverty programs.
C) women have become less likely over time to fall below the federal poverty line.
D) the wage gap between men and women has become much larger over the last 50 years.

Question 70

AARP has a membership of approximately ________ members.

A) 10,000
B) 750,000
C) 1 million
D) 40 million

Question 71

In 2007 and 2008, the government faced a housing crisis caused by

A) sharp rises in house prices.
B) foreclosures.
C) a scarcity of affordable housing.
D) shortages in the timber industry.

Question 72

The term shadow welfare state refers to

A) the government benefits that people obtain by fraudulently claiming eligibility for programs for which they would not otherwise qualify.
B) the federally subsidized social benefits that private employers offer to their workers.
C) social benefits that are provided by private individuals rather than by government agencies.
D) social benefits that state and local governments provide without including the costs in their official budgets.

Question 73

Which of the following programs most benefits the working poor?

A) earned income tax credits
B) Medicaid
C) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
D) subsidized student loans

Question 74

There are three broad techniques available to policy makers in their attempt to achieve their goals. Discuss these three techniques and give examples of each.

Question 75

The U.S. Public Health Service was founded in

A) 1798.
B) 1866.
C) 1936.
D) 1942.

Question 76

Why is it difficult to lobby for the interests of poor children?

A) There are no longer enough poor children to make a difference.
B) Children cannot vote.
C) There are no interest groups devoted to poor children.
D) American political values tend to discount the needs of youth.

Question 77

Which of the following groups receives the LEAST benefits from government's social policies?

A) the middle class
B) children
C) the elderly
D) the wealthy

Question 78

Which of the following is the strongest factor in predicting which groups in society receive the most benefits from government's social policies?

A) groups that make up the largest percentage of the population
B) groups that are the most politically powerful
C) groups that have the largest membership
D) groups that are made up of people who cannot help themselves, like children or the elderly

Question 79

Since the welfare reforms of 1996, what is the primary reason for receiving federal cash assistance if one is nonworking and able-bodied?

A) The recipient is caring for children.
B) The recipient has been means tested.
C) The recipient has been considered deserving.
D) The recipient is actively looking for a job.

Question 80

About ________ percent of America's children live in poverty.

A) 6
B) 13
C) 22
D) 40