Deck 15: Public Policy: Responding to Citizens

Question 1

Which of the following statements about environmental legislation in the U.S.today is LEAST accurate?

A)Despite recognition of threats to the environment, the U.S.government is reluctant to commit itself to international standards.
B)The U.S.government tries to balance the often conflicting needs of a healthy environment and a healthy industrial economy.
C)The U.S.government was one of the first signers and often the strongest supporter of the Kyoto Protocol and other international environmental initiatives.
D)Although the heyday of environmental regulation occurred in the 1970s, the U.S.government continues to enact new legislation to improve fuel efficiency.
E)Environmental initiatives are increasingly emerging out of state and local governments, rather than being the exclusive preserve of the national government.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The ________ is a market-based system of pollution control whereby individual businesses can buy and sell emission credits even while the total level of industry pollution is capped at some level.

A)cap and trade system
B)priority shift system
C)pollution credits transfer system
D)trade up system
E)None of these answers is correct.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

EPA regulations exemplify public policies that

A)widely disperse both costs and benefits.
B)concentrate both costs and benefits.
C)concentrate benefits while widely dispersing costs.
D)concentrate costs while widely dispersing benefits.
E)achieve widely dispersed benefits without levying any substantial cost.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of a policy whose benefits are widely distributed but whose costs are concentrated?

A)Social Security
B)funding for public schools
C)air pollution controls
D)agriculture subsidies
E)tax policy

Question 5

A milestone in the modern environmentalist movement was the publication of the book Silent Spring, by

A)John Muir.
B)John Audubon.
C)Rachel Carson.
D)Ralph Nader.
E)James Watt.

Question 6

What is the first step in the policymaking process?

A)policy formation
B)agenda setting
C)problem recognition
D)policy adoption
E)policy evaluation

Question 7

Many lawmakers remained reluctant until recently to involve government in devising solutions to climate change.This indicates a failure of

A)problem recognition.
B)agenda setting.
C)policy formation.
D)policy adoption.
E)policy evaluation.

Question 8

Which of the following statements about student loans is true?

A)College tuition costs have increased dramatically in the last decade.
B)Grants and scholarships have kept up with recent rises in college tuition.
C)Student loans can be erased by declaring bankruptcy.
D)Private universities usually charge lower tuition than public universities.
E)The overall level of student loan debt has decreased over the last decade.

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of a policy whose benefits and costs are both concentrated?

A)Social Security
B)funding for public schools
C)air pollution controls
D)agriculture subsidies
E)tax policy

Question 10

The first national parks in the United States were created by

A)George Washington.
B)Abraham Lincoln.
C)Theodore Roosevelt.
D)Franklin Roosevelt.
E)John Kennedy.

Question 11

Which of the following statements about the Environmental Protection Agency is LEAST accurate?

A)The agency has the authority to determine how much pollution a given industry can legally produce.
B)The agency has the authority to identify the source of pollution.
C)The agency has the authority to develop and enforce regulations to protect the country's natural resources.
D)The agency has failed to produce substantial reductions in pollution levels.
E)The agency's regulations have made it more expensive for many industries to function inside the United States.

Question 12

Which of the following definitions MOST completely expresses the meaning of the term "public policy"?

A)government actions that have a direct and tangible effect on a wide variety of citizens
B)anything the government chooses to do or not to do
C)government policies directed toward specific economic or social goals
D)any government policy that draws the support of the majority of the American people
E)government actions designed to benefit all of the American people, not just particular interest groups

Question 13

Policy evaluation is primarily carried out by

A)bureaucracies.
B)the president.
C)congressional committees.
D)interest groups.
E)the public.

Question 14

By 2014, the amount of private debt from student loans was about

A)$70 billion.
B)$130 billion.
C)$380 billion.
D)$520 billion.
E)$1 trillion.

Question 15

Following the BP spill, the president, Congress, and various government agencies had difficulty deciding on the correct actions to deal with the problem.This indicated a problem with

A)problem recognition.
B)agenda setting.
C)policy formation.
D)policy adoption.
E)policy evaluation.

Question 16

In 2013, President Obama set a standard of ____ miles per gallon for all new cars sold in the United States in 2025.

A)18.5
B)22.5
C)35.5
D)41.5
E)50.4

Question 17

Which of the following statements about the environment and environmental protection is MOST accurate?

A)Pollution on Ohio's Cuyahoga River was so bad that the river caught on fire in 1969.
B)Before the 1970s, the federal government had pursued no measures to protect the environment.
C)Environmental protections established in the 1970s have failed to prevent rising levels of pollution.
D)Although environmental protections established in the 1970s have prevented pollution levels from rising, they have failed to reduce pollution levels significantly.
E)Since an initial flurry of legislation in the 1970s, Congress has passed no new environmental legislation.

Question 18

Which of the following is an example of a policy whose benefits and costs are both widely distributed?

A)Social Security
B)funding for public schools
C)air pollution controls
D)agriculture subsidies
E)tax policy

Question 19

What is the last step in the policymaking process?

A)policy formation
B)agenda setting
C)policy implementation
D)policy adoption
E)policy evaluation

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of a policy whose costs are widely distributed but whose benefits are concentrated?

A)Social Security
B)investment bank regulations and investigations
C)air pollution controls
D)public colleges
E)tax policy

Question 21

Welfare payments to needy families exemplify public policies that

A)widely disperse both costs and benefits.
B)concentrate both costs and benefits.
C)concentrate benefits while widely dispersing costs.
D)concentrate costs while widely dispersing benefits.
E)achieve widely dispersed benefits without levying any substantial cost.

Question 22

Economic periods known as recessions are generally marked by

A)high rates of unemployment and reduced demand for goods.
B)high rates of unemployment and high demand for goods.
C)high rates of unemployment and high prices on goods.
D)low rates of unemployment and high prices on goods.
E)low rates of unemployment and reduced demand for goods.

Question 23

In a 2014 case about the ability of the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, the Supreme Court ruled that

A)the EPA can regulate all emitters of greenhouse gases.
B)the EPA can regulate only major emitters of greenhouse gases.
C)the EPA cannot regulate any greenhouse gas pollution without further congressional authorization.
D)the EPA cannot regulate any greenhouse gas pollution without a constitutional amendment allowing such action.
E)greenhouse gases have no role in climate change and thus cannot be considered a form of pollution.

Question 24

Which of the following statements about international instances of carbon dioxide emissions is MOST accurate?

A)Although the United States emits the second-highest level of carbon dioxide globally, it is not among the top 10 highest polluters in per capita rate of carbon dioxide emissions.
B)The United States produces three times as much carbon dioxide as the entire continent of Africa.
C)The per capita rate of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States is the highest in the world.
D)The total carbon dioxide emissions of the United States is projected to double by 2035.
E)With the help of EPA restrictions, the total carbon dioxide emissions of the United States are expected to drop by 30 percent by 2035.

Question 25

The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act

A)requires only those actually employed to have health insurance.
B)provides financial assistance to those who cannot afford premiums.
C)does not involve state governments in its implementation.
D)was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012.
E)was supported by most Republicans in Congress.

Question 26

President George W.Bush's faith-based initiative

A)allowed faith-based groups to distribute aid to the poor, but did not allow them to make use of federal funding to do so.
B)maintained a strict separation of church and state by preventing discriminatory practices by the faith-based partner groups.
C)was praised on the campaign trail by Barack Obama, who then ended the program and prevented the establishment of any similar programs with an executive order.
D)was ended with the presidency of Barack Obama, who outright banned discriminatory practices by faith-based partners.
E)was criticized on the campaign trail by Barack Obama, who then established a similar program once he became president.

Question 27

Which nation produces the highest absolute levels of carbon dioxide emissions?

A)Brazil
B)China
C)Japan
D)United States
E)Mexico

Question 28

In the 2000s, the great majority of those without health insurance were in

A)rich families.
B)upper-middle class families.
C)families of government employees.
D)working families.
E)families on welfare and Medicaid.

Question 29

Which of the following statements about welfare in the United States is LEAST accurate?

A)Despite the name, not everyone who qualifies for an entitlement program is entitled to receive benefits; the determination is made by the availability of funding during the time period in which benefits are applied for.
B)Federal welfare was largely nonexistent before the Great Depression, and poverty was addressed primarily by local governments and private charities.
C)The 1960s witnessed an increase in welfare programs with the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid, among other initiatives.
D)In the 1990s the principal program for aiding poor families, AFDC, was reformed to impose work requirements and time limits on recipients.
E)Currently, states distribute welfare to needy citizens from funds the states receive from federal block grants.

Question 30

The 2007 recession was triggered primarily by

A)a steep drop in the stock market that caused the savings of many ordinary Americans to evaporate.
B)bad loans made by the government and private banks to large but inefficient companies.
C)an unwillingness of American consumers to borrow money.
D)poor government regulation of a banking industry that made mortgage loans to people who couldn't repay them.
E)problems with major European economies that lessened the ability of American companies to export goods to Europe.

Question 31

Which of the following was NOT a contributing factor in creating the Great Depression of the 1930s?

A)bank failures
B)industrial underproduction
C)over-speculation in the stock market
D)international trade restrictions
E)low wages

Question 32

The 2013 rollout of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act

A)was delayed by the Supreme Court.
B)took place in only a few select states.
C)had serious problems.
D)was a moderate success.
E)was a major success.

Question 33

Inflation is caused when

A)supply cannot keep pace with demand.
B)supply and demand achieve near balance.
C)taxes are raised too high.
D)high rates of unemployment prevent consumers from buying goods.
E)the government artificially curbs demand for goods and services.

Question 34

Ronald Reagan's policy of supply-side economics focused on

A)putting Keynesian principles into actual practice.
B)raising taxes to combat excessive inflation.
C)decreasing industrial regulation so that companies could sell goods more cheaply.
D)providing government subsidies to private businesses that met certain regulatory standards.
E)increasing government spending in order to stimulate the economy.

Question 35

Auto companies were hit particularly hard in the most recent recession when compared to foreign competitors, because of the additional burden of

A)a greatly deteriorated industrial infrastructure.
B)lack of access to foreign markets.
C)the inability to get a piece of government stimulus money.
D)a lack of government subsidies.
E)paying for health care and pensions.

Question 36

The second-largest source of federal revenue is

A)excise taxes.
B)individual income taxes.
C)payroll taxes.
D)corporate income taxes.
E)customs duties.

Question 37

The largest source of federal revenue is

A)excise taxes.
B)individual income taxes.
C)payroll taxes.
D)corporate income taxes.
E)customs duties.

Question 38

Social safety net expenditures currently constitute approximately what percentage of the federal budget?

A)90 percent
B)81 percent
C)67 percent
D)52 percent
E)24 percent

Question 39

Which nation will probably produce the highest absolute levels of carbon dioxide emissions fifteen years from now?

A)Brazil
B)China
C)Japan
D)United States
E)Mexico

Question 40

Which of the following statements about poverty in the United States is LEAST accurate?

A)The poverty rate today is less than half of what it was in the 1950s.
B)The group with the highest absolute numbers of people living in poverty is white adults between the ages of 18 and 64.
C)The current poverty threshold for a family of four is slightly under $22,000.
D)There are far more adults over the age of 64 living in poverty than adults below the age of 64.
E)The highest rates of poverty occur among racial and ethnic minorities.

Question 41

Describe the measures the federal government has adopted to protect the environment.How do these measures distribute costs and benefits? Do they place onerous burdens on American businesses or do they allow those businesses too much latitude? Can local governments adequately address environmental problems, or do these problems require international solutions?

Question 42

One means by which the Fed affects the American economy is by

A)drafting the budget for the federal government.
B)requiring banks to hold a specific sum of money in reserve.
C)printing new money when supply runs low.
D)imposing new taxes on American citizens.
E)investing the national reserves in blue chip stocks.

Question 43

The Troubled Asset Relief Program was designed to

A)purchase large amounts of foreclosed homes on behalf of owners that could not pay adjustable-rate mortgages.
B)purchase large insurance companies deemed "too big to fail."
C)stabilize interest rates.
D)put money into the hands of homeowners in threat of foreclosure.
E)infuse money to help stabilize the banking system.

Question 44

FMOC-implemented changes in the federal funds rate generally affect which of the following?

A)the amount of reserve cash a bank must keep on hand
B)consumer loans for things like automobiles and credit card purchases
C)the ease with which manufacturers can borrow money for investment in their own businesses
D)corporate loans for investment in the bond market
E)the rate at which the federal government can repay its debts

Question 45

What steps have been taken at the national and international level to address the threat of climate change? What are the political difficulties faced by policymakers in this struggle?

Question 46

During the recent financial crisis, Fed chairman Bernanke implemented quantitative easing, a procedure by which the Fed

A)floods the markets with additional reserves it creates.
B)lowers interest rates.
C)lowers the reserve requirement ratio.
D)raises the discount rate.
E)buys government securities.

Question 47

Describe the general process of public policy formation.How does public policy evolve from the recognition of a problem to the implementation of an effective solution? Can a system of public policy formation be perfected? How can the government adequately assess all potential problems and manage its resources to deal with as many as possible? Must the government necessarily overlook or underfund certain problems? To put it another way, do Americans expect too much from the national government?

Question 48

Discuss the state of antipoverty programs in the United States today.What is the history of these programs and how have they changed in recent years? Have these changes been effective? What areas of social need have not been adequately addressed? What are the financial costs of maintaining the current social safety net? What would be the social cost of removing it or reducing it?

Question 49

Discuss the challenges presented by an increasingly global economy.Should the United States commit itself to free trade, or should it provide protections for the domestic industries on which its citizens depend? How much say should international organizations such as WTO have in determining America's economic policies? Do the trends of economic globalization and possible environmental catastrophe make it inevitable that the United States will have to forfeit some degree of its sovereignty in the near future?

Question 50

When the Fed sells a bond, it

A)removes money from circulation equivalent to the value of the bond.
B)deposits the money it receives from the sale in one of its member banks.
C)invests the proceeds in the stock market to aid economic development.
D)increases the amount of money available to make loans and buy goods.
E)uses the profits to decrease the federal debt.

Question 51

Which of the following statements about American budgetary deficits is MOST accurate?

A)Foreign investors are legally prohibited from purchasing U.S.securities.
B)Over the past thirty years, the deficit has risen sharply when Democrats controlled the White House and dropped precipitously when Republicans controlled it.
C)The government currently spends over half of its revenue paying interest on its debt.
D)The current deficit is substantially lower than it was in 2009.
E)Treasury bonds are increasingly difficult to sell, as they provide low returns, and the government has defaulted on them repeatedly in the past forty years.

Question 52

Discuss the role of the Federal Reserve in the American economy.What are the Fed's specific functions? What are the tools at its disposal? How did the Fed originate and how is it staffed? Should an institution that is not controlled by the people, and which is not fully an instrument of government, be allowed to wield as much influence as the Fed does?

Question 53

Which of the following statements about the Federal Reserve is MOST accurate?

A)It rarely has any contact with Congress or any other representative body.
B)It was created during the Great Depression as part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program.
C)It was created shortly after the ratification of the Constitution.
D)It is one of the few branches of government fully controlled by the people.
E)It is better equipped to respond to inflation than to reverse a recession.

Question 54

Which means does the Fed MOST frequently employ to regulate the money supply?

A)changing the reserve requirement ratio
B)changing the discount rate
C)engaging in open market operations
D)changing the fed funds rate
E)printing new money

Question 55

Use the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to illustrate the different steps of the policymaking process.First describe the spill itself, and then describe the specific steps taken by President Obama and Congress to deal with the disaster.

Question 56

Which of the following statements about America's federal monetary policy is LEAST accurate?

A)The officials most responsible for determining America's monetary policy are neither elected by the people nor directly accountable to them.
B)Every bank chartered by the federal government or by a state must belong to the Federal Reserve System.
C)Banks that join the Federal Reserve receive access to a number of benefits, including the right to borrow money at attractive rates.
D)The Federal Reserve controls the supply of money in the American economy, increasing it to combat recession, shrinking it in response to inflationary trends.
E)The Federal Reserve System has a complex structure that includes a seven-member Board of Governors and twelve regional banks.

Question 57

Which of the following statements about global economic policy is LEAST accurate?

A)With the ratification of NAFTA, the United States became part of the world's largest free trade zone.
B)Many economists argue that once-popular protectionist policies are harmful to both the international and domestic economies.
C)Protestors have argued that globalization, especially as directed by international organizations such as WTO, undermine regional sovereignty and representative democracy.
D)The United States currently runs a large trade deficit, buying more goods from foreign countries than it sells abroad.
E)Among the chief proponents of free trade policies is organized labor, which believes that opening more markets to American goods will create more jobs for low-skilled American workers.

Question 58

The International Monetary Fund

A)is responsible for keeping international credit markets operating.
B)is responsible for adjudicating international trade disputes.
C)is responsible for negotiating international trade agreements.
D)makes loans to help promote economic growth in developing nations.
E)monitors compliance with existing international trade agreements.

Question 59

A significant problem with the implementation of supply-side economic policies under both Reagan and George W.Bush is that

A)government spending was allowed to increase despite declines in government revenues.
B)promised tax cuts were never delivered, leading to a decline in consumer confidence.
C)decreased government spending lowered the demand for goods, offsetting the effect of tax rebates.
D)the American people are not generally supportive of lowering taxes.
E)the federal deficit was allowed to drop too low, resulting in an inflationary economy.

Question 60

Under which of the following presidents did the federal government actually have a government surplus?

A)Ronald Reagan, a Republican
B)George H.W.Bush, a Republican
C)Bill Clinton, a Democrat
D)George W.Bush, a Republican
E)Barack Obama, a Democrat

Question 61

Wealth and income inequality is an important issue in America.How do the rich, the middle class, and the poor compare in terms of wealth and income? How has this changed in recent decades? Has one group done comparatively better than the others? Finally, how does this wealth and income inequality measure up to key American values?

Question 62

What caused the recession that began in 2008? How did the Federal Reserve, the president, and Congress attempt to deal with the most serious economic downturn since the Great Depression? How successful were these attempts? What changes were made to prevent a similar recession in the future?