Deck 16: Social Policy

Question 1

An example of a less controversial policy issue that protects against risks and insecurities that most people face is

A)food stamps.
B)Social Security.
C)Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).
D)Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF).
E)Medicaid.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

A universally shared American ideal that all persons have the freedom to use whatever talents and wealth they have to reach their fullest potential is known as

A)equal protection under laws.
B)equality of condition.
C)equality of results.
D)equality of opportunity.
E)equality of distribution.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Social plans financed in whole or in part by taxation or other mandatory investments by their present or future recipients are described as

A)public trusts.
B)enterprise funds.
C)revenue sharing.
D)contributory programs.
E)means-tested programs.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following explains why the United States was one of the last Western democracies to enter into a realm of social policy?

A)The U.S.had a weaker, less competent central government.
B)Poverty was seen as a temporary condition that could be alleviated by moving westward to open land.
C)America's religious diversity led to competition between denominations to be the most generous to the poor.
D)Americans believed that poverty and dependence were problems inherent in the economy.
E)Able-bodied, unemployed adults were quickly drafted into the U.S.Army.

Question 5

The adjustment of Social Security benefits to account for changes in living costs is an example of the practice of

A)inflation.
B)benchmarking.
C)bracket creep.
D)benefit recalibration.
E)indexing.

Question 6

Presidential initiative is most important when the policy at issue is

A)regulatory.
B)distributive.
C)promotional.
D)redistributive.
E)monetary.

Question 7

Probably the greatest long-term threat to the viability of the Social Security system is the

A)pending retirement of baby boomers.
B)dramatic increase in health care costs.
C)declining political clout of senior citizens.
D)number of current workers choosing not to participate.
E)declining value of the Treasury bonds in which the Social Security trust fund is invested.

Question 8

Contributory programs are financed by taxation, which justifiably can be called

A)extortion.
B)blackmail.
C)forced savings.
D)taxation without representation.
E)inflation-protected investing.

Question 9

The traditional approach to social welfare policy with its severe distinction between deserving and undeserving poor and its domination by the private sector crumbled in response to the

A)Civil War.
B)Korean War.
C)westward expansion.
D)Industrial Revolution.
E)Great Depression.

Question 10

Cost-of-living adjustments for the Social Security system are based on changes in the

A)Consumer Price Index.
B)gross national product.
C)gross domestic product.
D)quarterly national living standards survey.
E)average real disposable income.

Question 11

Historically, Americans would most likely have applied the concept of undeserving poor to

A)widows.
B)orphans.
C)transients.
D)persons with disabilities.
E)injured veterans.

Question 12

Most spending on social welfare in the United States goes to such programs as

A)Social Security and medical insurance for the elderly.
B)Aid to Families with Dependent Children and food stamps.
C)Head Start and other educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth.
D)National Institutes of Health and other scientific research organizations.
E)Medicaid programs for the poor.

Question 13

What is the term for the $1 trillion in tax spending for miscellaneous tax credits and deductions?

A)invisible freedom
B)middle-class subsidies
C)supply-side welfare
D)Reagan's windfall
E)the hidden welfare state

Question 14

The foundations of the current American welfare state were established by the

A)Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.
B)Social Security Act of 1935.
C)National Labor Relations Act of 1935.
D)Landrum-Griffin Labor Management Act of 1959.
E)Great Society legislation of 1965.

Question 15

Since the late 1980s, the Social Security system has collected more payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits.The excess funds have been

A)invested overseas so that when the investment is cashed out it drains the economy of a foreign country.
B)used to buy gold bullion, which is stored in Fort Knox.
C)loaned to the federal government to pay for general spending.
D)invested in stocks and bonds by future recipients of the money.
E)used to purchase private real estate.

Question 16

What is the first goal of social policies?

A)to reduce crime
B)to encourage people to form into cohesive social groups
C)to enforce conformance to generally accepted moral standards
D)to protect against risks that most people face over the course of their lives
E)to protect the interests of the wealthy in society

Question 17

The Social Security payroll tax is best classified as a(n) __________ tax.

A)flat
B)regressive
C)progressive
D)incremental
E)sales

Question 18

The process of periodically adjusting social benefits or wages to account for increases in the cost of living is called

A)inflation.
B)benchmarking.
C)bracket creep.
D)benefit recalibration.
E)indexing.

Question 19

Efforts designed to alleviate poverty by distributing benefits based on demonstrated need are considered to be

A)regulatory.
B)contributory.
C)means tested.
D)intelligence screened.
E)regressive.

Question 20

Social Security is an example of a __________ program.

A)contributory
B)noncontributory
C)monetary
D)phasing
E)means-tested

Question 21

Proponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act argued that which of the following would occur if it was signed into law?

A)The law would lower health care costs by imposing greater efficiencies on providers and reducing fraud.
B)The law would represent a huge expansion of federal government power.
C)The law would expand the Democratic Party's base of support.
D)The law would be enormously expensive.
E)The law would expand the power of federal agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Question 22

Why does Medicare's structure contribute to its spiraling costs?

A)Medicare is a single-payer system, so the government both provides the health care and the payment.
B)Medicare operates as a third-party insurer, so it cannot prevent patients, doctors, or hospitals from incurring costs ahead of time.
C)Medicare provides a health care voucher to every beneficiary, and senior citizens lobby to increase the size of their vouchers.
D)Medicare receives a fixed amount of funds every year, so at the end of the year the program spends all of its remaining money rather than return it to the Treasury department.
E)By law, Medicare cannot verify the age of its recipients, so there are lots of people who sign up long before they are actually eligible.

Question 23

Which of the following is an example of a means-tested program?

A)Medicaid
B)Medicare
C)farm subsidies
D)Social Security
E)home mortgage interest deductions

Question 24

Which of the following helps explain the escalating costs associated with Medicare?

A)The payment formula for Medicare benefits is rigged to increase faster than the rate of inflation.
B)The housing crash of 2007-09 meant that more senior citizens qualified for Medicare because they lacked income or assets.
C)In 2007 Congress reduced the age of eligibility for Medicare, so the number of recipients increased.
D)In 2003, Congress added a prescription drug benefit to Medicare without any offsetting cost savings.
E)Most baby boomers have a long history of drug abuse that drives up the cost of their care.

Question 25

If tax revenues become inadequate to fund Social Security, Congress can

A)cover any deficit by eliminating the foreign aid budget.
B)order the U.S.Mint to print more money to cover the deficit.
C)reduce cost-of-living adjustments.
D)raise the age for benefits eligibility.
E)force states to pay the benefits instead.

Question 26

In 1996, Congress abolished the AFDC and replaced it with the

A)Job Training and Partnership Act (JTPA).
B)Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
C)Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.
D)Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant.
E)food stamps program.

Question 27

The Medicare spending bill passed by President George W.Bush and a majority-Republican Congress in 2003

A)diminished the long-term cost of Medicare.
B)decreased the range of services offered under Medicare.
C)dramatically decreased the premiums for Medicare coverage.
D)increased government spending on Medicare.
E)increased the reimbursements to doctors treating Medicare patients.

Question 28

The food stamp program (or SNAP) is an example of a program that

A)is contributory.
B)is non means tested.
C)has in-kind benefits.
D)has cash benefits.
E)provides universal benefits.

Question 29

Until 1996, what was the most important noncontributory public assistance program?

A)the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)
B)the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program
C)the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program
D)the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)
E)the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program

Question 30

An example of a noncontributory program is

A)Social Security.
B)Medicare.
C)old-age insurance.
D)Medicaid.
E)unemployment compensation.

Question 31

Noncash goods and services provided to needy individuals and families by the federal government are called

A)virtual benefits.
B)in-kind benefits.
C)direct benefits.
D)commodity assortments.
E)product assortments.

Question 32

The procedure for determining eligibility for government public assistance programs in which a potential beneficiary must show a need and an inability to provide for it is called

A)gap analysis.
B)means testing.
C)dependency ratio.
D)vulnerability formula.
E)needs assessment.

Question 33

Coupons provided to needy persons by the federal government that can be exchanged for food at most grocery stores are called

A)food stamps.
B)market coupons.
C)nutrition certificates.
D)commodity vouchers.
E)WIC checks.

Question 34

The largest single expansion in contributory programs after 1935 was the establishment in 1965 of

A)Medicare.
B)Medicaid.
C)food stamps.
D)the School Lunch program.
E)Aid to Families with Dependent Children.

Question 35

The most generous TANF benefits are approximately

A)three times the federal poverty line.
B)twice the federal poverty line.
C)equal to the federal poverty line.
D)below the federal poverty line but nonzero.
E)zero.

Question 36

The Supplemental Security Income program is an example of a

A)means-tested program that is contributory.
B)means-tested program that is noncontributory.
C)non-means-tested program that is contributory.
D)non-means-tested program that is noncontributory.
E)discretionary social support program.

Question 37

Social Security revenues and expenditures can be reconciled in a number of ways.Which of the following is an example of a policy option supported by the Republican Party?

A)Reduce benefits received by wealthier recipients.
B)Increase taxes on the wealthy.
C)Use the Social Security surplus to offset the cost of income tax breaks.
D)Increase the full retirement age.
E)Increase benefits for low-income earners.

Question 38

A program financed from general revenues that provide uniform minimum monthly income to people who demonstrate financial need and are age 65 or older, blind, or disabled is

A)Medicaid.
B)Medicare.
C)Social Security.
D)Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
E)TANF.

Question 39

The Obama administration brought about a major expansion of federal health care policy when it passed the

A)State Children's Health Insurance Program.
B)Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
C)prescription drug program known as Medicare Part D.
D)Medicaid program.
E)Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA).

Question 40

The Department of Agriculture administers the largest in-kind benefits program, called the

A)Farm Credit program.
B)Food Stamps program/SNAP.
C)Commodity Distribution System.
D)Emergency Food Assistance program.
E)Women, Infants, and Children program.

Question 41

The primary catalyst for the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958 was the

A)Soviet launch of Sputnik.
B)buildup to the pending Vietnam War.
C)sudden and dramatic decline in SAT and ACT scores.
D)publication of Rudolf Flesch's bestselling book, Why Johnny Can't Read.
E)the revolutionary report A Nation at Risk.

Question 42

As fiscal policy, the welfare system serves as one of the

A)causes of inflation.
B)automatic stabilizers.
C)regulatory protections.
D)sources of deficit reduction.
E)factors driving down demand for higher education.

Question 43

Public expenditures for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) have not increased as much as Social Security since the mid-1990s because

A)many state governments choose not to participate.
B)eligibility qualifications were severely tightened.
C)TANF benefits are not automatically readjusted for inflation.
D)economic expansion brought more people above the poverty line.
E)the rate of inflation has been so low.

Question 44

Which of the following explains why both Democrats and Republicans agree that entitlement programs are in danger of failure in the future?

A)Many millennials may choose not to contribute to the programs.
B)The contributory programs fail to account for demographic factors, with a ratio of workers to retirees approaching two to one.
C)The Social Security and Medicare trust funds were invested in real estate funds that went bankrupt in 2007-09.
D)Many people from around the globe retire in the United States to take advantage of the generous Social Security and Medicare benefits.
E)The welfare state is an automatic stabilizer.

Question 45

What was the most important national policy aimed at postsecondary schooling?

A)GI Bill of Rights of 1944
B)Northwest Ordinance of 1787
C)Education Standards Act of 1913
D)Enhanced Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)
E)College Affordability Act of 1936

Question 46

The paternalistic nature of the welfare system is seen by some as a virtue of the system because

A)it increases freedom for the poor to emerge from poverty.
B)Americans notoriously do not save enough.
C)it makes the system more capitalistic.
D)it leads individuals to take responsibility for their own situation.
E)it prohibits people from investing in risky securities.

Question 47

One argument against the welfare system is that it lays most of the blame for society's woes on

A)racism.
B)the economic and political system.
C)the program.
D)the individual.
E)divorcees.

Question 48

Each and every title in the original Social Security Act creating the welfare system identified a particular imperfection of

A)capitalism.
B)government.
C)the finance industry.
D)not-for-profit charities.
E)Marxism.

Question 49

Congress established land-grant colleges and universities through the

A)Land Ordinance of 1785.
B)Morrill Act of 1862.
C)Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
D)Huggins Section Allocation Act of 1889.
E)College Affordability Act of 1936.

Question 50

People who take much less care to prevent their cars from being damaged or stolen because their vehicles are insured serve as examples of

A)Russell's paradox.
B)origination risk.
C)progressive peril.
D)boomerang jeopardy.
E)moral hazard.

Question 51

The federal role in education policy was substantially increased in 2001 by President George W.Bush's signature education law, called

A)No Child Left Behind.
B)Teach Johnny to Read.
C)Students for a New Millennium.
D)School Accountability and Choice.
E)Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Question 52

In 1983, the Department of Education issued an influential report titled __________ that identified low educational standards as the cause of America's declining international economic competitiveness.

A)The Declining Generation
B)The Global Challenge
C)Beyond Dick and Jane
D)Why Johnny Can't Read
E)A Nation at Risk

Question 53

People who push the envelope with higher speeds and faster turns because their cars are better equipped with safety features serve as examples of

A)Russell's paradox.
B)origination risk.
C)progressive peril.
D)boomerang jeopardy.
E)moral hazard.

Question 54

The greatest success of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program has been that

A)more individuals have taken advantage of the assistance offered.
B)out-of-wedlock births have been reduced under program participants.
C)former welfare recipients are more successful at finding and keeping jobs.
D)most families under the program have been paid well enough to be lifted out of poverty.
E)the number of abortions among families below the poverty line has decreased.

Question 55

Roughly half the people on welfare at any one time are off it within

A)one week.
B)one month.
C)six months.
D)one year.
E)five years.

Question 56

The danger or probability that a policy will encourage the behavior or bring about the problem that the policy is supposed to prevent in the first place is known as

A)Russell's paradox.
B)origination risk.
C)progressive peril.
D)boomerang jeopardy.
E)moral hazard.

Question 57

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act restricts individual entitlement to assistance to a lifetime limit of __________ years.

A)two
B)five
C)seven
D)twelve
E)fifteen

Question 58

In 1996, President Clinton signed into law a welfare reform bill called the

A)Reinventing Welfare as We Know It Act (RWWKA).
B)Public Assistance Reform and Control Act (PARCA).
C)Consolidated Omnibus Benefit Reconciliation Act (COBRA).
D)Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA).
E)Welfare to Work Program (W2W).

Question 59

What major increase in welfare benefits did President Clinton achieve?

A)the increase of the Earned Income Tax Credit
B)the increase of the Supplemental Security Interest Rate
C)the increase of the number of individuals covered under AFDC
D)the increase of the number of single mothers receiving welfare assistance
E)the increase of the number of people above the poverty line receiving TANF

Question 60

The president who promised to "end welfare as we know it" was

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

Question 61

Publicly funded schools that are free from the bureaucratic rules of the school district in which they are located and are thus able to innovatively use resources to design specialized curricula are called __________ schools.

A)home
B)charter
C)magnetic
D)intrepid
E)alternative

Question 62

After a social policy is adopted, it tends to remain extremely vulnerable to being rescinded at any time.

Question 63

Which of the following households qualifies as below the official poverty line?

A)household income of $13,260 for one resident
B)household income of $20,160 for a family of three
C)household income of $24,260 for a family of four
D)household income of $43,160 for a family of four
E)household income of $55,060 for a family of four

Question 64

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is only available to Americans over the age of 65.

Question 65

Social Security is a radical approach to welfare.

Question 66

Social policies are redistributive policies.

Question 67

Social Security was founded by the Republican Party to care for Civil War veterans.

Question 68

Because of the potential redistributive effect of social policies, it is extremely difficult to get them on the agenda of the president and Congress.

Question 69

Government social programs make up about what percentage of the U.S.economy (gross domestic product)?

A)5
B)10
C)20
D)30
E)50

Question 70

A tiny increase in Social Security benefits for those with the lowest incomes can result in a quite significant transfer of income from the upper-income brackets to the lower.

Question 71

The federal government defines poverty as which of the following?

A)the lack of goods and services most people take for granted
B)entitlement programs
C)goods and services provided to needy individuals and families by the federal government
D)the process of periodically adjusting social benefits to account for increases in the cost of living
E)a moral hazard

Question 72

According to the text, the fact that women are more likely to be poor than men is attributable to

A)higher rates of crime victimization.
B)higher rates of female gambling.
C)the death of chivalry.
D)outdated labor laws.
E)their lower interest in money.

Question 73

A tiny increase in the tax liability of the top income earners can result in a quite significant transfer of income from the upper income brackets to the lower.

Question 74

Most Americans favor some governmental action in the area of education.

Question 75

Most spending on social welfare in the United States goes to such programs as TANF and other efforts to alleviate poverty.

Question 76

Americans have a relatively long history of taking public responsibility for inequalities of opportunity.

Question 77

Social Security is a rather conservative approach to welfare.

Question 78

In order to receive food stamps (or SNAP benefits), one must have low income and few financial assets.

Question 79

During the Great Depression, Americans abandoned their traditional distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor.

Question 80

Relative to the rest of the American population, which of these groups tend to be economically less well off?

A)Asian Americans
B)gays and lesbians
C)Caucasians
D)environmentalists
E)African Americans