Deck 8: Policy Design, Policy Tools, and Decisions

Question 1

Deborah Stone defines efficiency as

A)a means to an end goal.
B)the goal of public policy itself.
C)the only neutral criterion on which we can assess policies.
D)the major impediment to improved public policy.

Answer 1

a means to an end goal.

Question 2

The economic definition of efficiency is

A)getting the greatest output a given level of input.
B)getting a given level of output for a lesser level of input.
C)both A and B are economic definitions of efficiency.
D)neither A nor B are economic definitions of efficiency.

Answer 2

both A and B are economic definitions of efficiency.

Question 3

The process of comparing the outcomes with achieving a goal with the resources used to achieve the goal is known as

A)lateral thinking.
B)alternative selection.
C)cost-benefit analysis.
D)choice-objectivity.

Answer 3

cost-benefit analysis.

Question 4

Which is not considered an appropriate view of the roles of policy analysts, according to Weimer and Vining?

A)Client's advocate
B)Issue advocate
C)Regulatory actor
D)Objective technician

Question 5

When we discuss the outcomes of policies we are concerned with

A)the substantive accomplishments of the policies.
B)the amount of money the government spends to implement a policy.
C)the number of people employed in enacting the policy.
D)the influence of the policy on congressional elections.

Question 6

The rational actor model includes all of the following assumptions EXCEPT that

A)decision makers clearly understand the problems and goals before them.
B)decision makers are set to solve the problem.
C)decision makers collect all possible information.
D)decision makers consider multiple options, including not acting at all.
E)decision makers take their own personal values and goals into account when making policy.

Question 7

Which concept relates to the belief that we can alter people's self-propelled progress toward their goals by changing the obstacles and opportunities they face?

A)collective action
B)inducements
C)diffuse costs
D)concentrated interests

Question 8

Which of the following is an explanation of policy failure discussed by Ingram and Mann?

A)the impact of changing circumstance.
B)partisan opposition
C)lack of focus
D)insufficient motivation
E)none of the above

Question 9

Which of the following would not be considered a theory of decision making?

A)incremental theory
B)rational comprehensive theory
C)agenda setting theory
D)all of the above are decision making theories

Question 10

What role does ambiguity play in politics?

A)Confuses political actors and voters.
B)Enables the transformation of individual intentions and action in to collective results and purposes through persuasion and compromise.
C)Allows politicians to change their policy positions quickly.
D)Causes iron-triangles to open up.

Question 11

The idea that one must be willing to surrender some liberty to gain greater security is most closely associated with which theorist?

A)Benjamin Franklin
B)John Locke
C)Jean-Jacques Rousseau
D)Thomas Hobbes

Question 12

Poor causal theory results in

A)policy failing to meet its goals or desired outcomes.
B)a focus on measuring outputs, rather than outcomes.
C)difficulty in linking outputs to outcomes .
D)all of the above.

Question 13

A policy tool is

A)the law that compels action on the part of implementers.
B)a method through which government seeks to achieve a policy objective.
C)the equipment government uses to address problems, such as computers, police cars, or medicines.
D)an agent of the government whose job it is to implement policy.

Question 14

Coercive policy tools are generally characterized by

A)high compliance, and high administrative costs.
B)low compliance, and low administrative costs.
C)high compliance, and low administrative costs.
D)low compliance, and high administrative costs.

Question 15

Noncoercive policy types are generally characterized by

A)high compliance, and high administrative costs.
B)low compliance, and low administrative costs.
C)high compliance, and low administrative costs.
D)low compliance, and high administrative costs.

Question 16

Which decision making model describes how decision-makers seek to act as rationally as possible within certain bounds or limits?

A)Rational-comprehensive
B)Incrementalism
C)Bounded rationality
D)"Garbage can model"

Question 17

Examples of hortatory policy tools include

A)the 55 mph speed limit.
B)tax credits for buying hybrid cars or installing solar panels on houses.
C)laws that criminalize activities such as drug dealing.
D)policies that seek to persuade people to prevent forest fires or quit smoking.

Question 18

Which of the following is a significant critique of cost-benefit analysis?

A)Cost-benefit analysis is very unpopular, and is therefore avoided.
B)It is very hard to value both costs and benefits in monetary terms.
C)No one really knows how to do cost-benefit analysis very well.
D)All of the above are significant critiques of cost-benefit analysis.

Question 19

According to Lindblom, we engage in small, incremental changes to policy because

A)our constitution is biased against big changes.
B)the information costs of small steps is small, because we have a lot of accumulated experience.
C)American political culture works against major policy change.
D)incrementalism usually leads to the "best" policy.

Question 20

What is the difference between outputs and outcomes of the policy system?

Question 21

Why might the study of policy analysis be considered a "proto-discipline?"

Question 22

Values and preferences play a role in rationalist notions of cost-benefit analysis.

Question 23

Explain why rational-comprehensive decision making would be very difficult to do under "real world" conditions. Explain what those real world conditions and constraints are.

Question 24

Explain the important elements of policy tool selection.

Question 25

Explain the difference between "economic" and "political" models in the choice of policy tools.

Question 26

List three of the five elements of policy design.

Question 27

What is one problem, or critique of the rational-comprehensive decision making model?

Question 28

When selecting a policy tool, policy designers must consider its political feasibility.

Question 29

Explain how a good causal model can help link outcomes to efforts.

Question 30

What is a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), and how does an analyst use this tool?

Question 31

Explain why efficiency as a goal of public policy is hard to prove or accomplish.

Question 32

Explain why it's more difficult to assess government agencies' efficiency than it is to assess the efficiency of private sector firms.

Question 33

Why does goal ambiguity promote policy adoption?.

Question 34

Do you agree that greater security must come with less freedom? Explain, and base your argument in the debate over the USA Patriot act described in the case study in Chapter 8.

Question 35

According to Deborah Stone, we can use economic notions of the market to effectively model the political system and policy choices.

Question 36

Designing a policy is not as important as doing something about it in the first place.

Question 37

It's easier to measure outcomes than outputs.

Question 38

Policy goals are nearly always clear and unambiguous.

Question 39

The public sector is by all measures less efficient than the private sector.

Question 40

There is a clear distinction between wasteful administrative activity and the services government should be performing.

Question 41

Deborah Stone argues that the causes of problems are very complex and hard to determine.

Question 42

Incrementalism describes how policy is made in small steps, rather than in big sweeping changes.

Question 43

The bounded rationality decision making model allows decision makers to adjust policies as they learn from their successes and failures.

Question 44

It is more difficult and expensive to eliminate a problem than it is to simply make the problem less severe.

Question 45

Interest groups can have the same goals but have very different means of achieving these goals.

Question 46

Outcomes are easier to measure than outputs.

Question 47

Policy goals are often unclear, so that many people might support a policy because of their perception of the policy's goals.

Question 48

Decision makers gather all the possible information they can on the problem with the rational decision making model.

Question 49

The rational-analytic model of problem definition states goals/ objectives explicitly and precisely.

Question 50

There is usually a strong relationship between a casual theory and the policy devised to address the problem.

Question 51

Vague goals in statutes allow legislators to vote for a law and pass the conflicts on to an administrative agency for interpretation.