Deck 13: Public Policy: What Government Does

Question 1

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which attempts to protect the investing public from deception and fraud, engages in which policy?

A)distributive
B)material
C)substantive
D)symbolic
E)regulatory

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Policies which favor private, nongovernmental solutions to problems are often referred to as

A)social policies.
B)liberal policies.
C)conservative policies.
D)pluralist policies.
E)agenda policies.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The __________ agenda covers all issues that are generally recognized as deserving of public attention and are within the legitimate jurisdiction of government.

A)substantive
B)systematic
C)institutional
D)issue
E)political

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Professional organizations of physicians and lawyers establish licensing standards for their fields, a power that is delegated to these groups by state government.This is an example of

A)elite theory.
B)group theory.
C)corporatism.
D)subgovernments.
E)rational choice.

Question 5

Each of the following statements about public policy is true, EXCEPT

A)public policy does not include governmental inactivity.
B)public policy involves all levels of government.
C)public policy is not limited to formal actors, such as Congress and the president.
D)public policy includes decisions by courts.
E)public policy deals with real or perceived problems.

Question 6

What is the correct sequence in the stages of the policy-making process?

A)agenda setting, policy formulation, policy adoption, policy implementation, issue identification, policy evaluation
B)issue identification, agenda setting, policy formulation, policy implementation, policy evaluation, policy adoption
C)issue identification, agenda setting, policy formulation, policy adoption, policy implementation, policy evaluation
D)policy formulation, agenda setting, issue identification, policy implementation, policy adoption, policy evaluation
E)policy formulation, agenda setting, issue identification, policy adoption

Question 7

Within the context of policy making, public opinion is an example of

A)past policies
B)environmental factors
C)ideological conflict
D)budgetary conflict
E)foreign policy

Question 8

The government recently announced that increased tax revenues will be used to provide more welfare benefits for the poor. This is an example of a

A)regulatory policy.
B)distributive policy.
C)redistributive policy.
D)procedural policy.
E)implementation policy.

Question 9

Policy formulation is part of the policy-making process, which means that

A)consequences of the policy are measured.
B)policy is converted into a public program.
C)proposals are developed for dealing with the issue.
D)efforts are made to gain enough public support.
E)implementation occurs.

Question 10

The __________ agenda covers all issues that are being seriously considered by policymakers, such as a bill before Congress.

A)policy
B)issue
C)systematic
D)institutional
E)governmental

Question 11

The institution charged with implementing monetary policy through managing the nation's money supply is the

A)Federal Reserve.
B)Department of Treasury.
C)Office of Management and Budget.
D)Internal Revenue Service.
E)Comptroller of the Currency

Question 12

Which part of the policy process starts after a decision has been made and ends when the goals of the policy have been achieved?

A)agenda setting
B)policy adoption
C)policy implementation
D)policy formulation
E)policy representation

Question 13

Which public policy model believes policies are made by a relatively small group of highly influential leaders who share common outlooks and goals?

A)group theory
B)elite theory
C)corporatism
D)subgovernments
E)rational choice

Question 14

Societies made up of large numbers of social, ethnic, religious, and economic groups that put pressure on government to make policies that favor their interests illustrate

A)corporatism.
B)group theory.
C)elite theory.
D)subgovernments.
E)iron triangles.

Question 15

Social Security benefits for retired persons are an example of

A)regulatory policy.
B)distributive policy.
C)redistributive policy.
D)substantive policy.
E)foreign policy.

Question 16

Between 1993 and 1997, the nation's annual budget deficits

A)increased at first, then declined.
B)declined at first, then increased.
C)steadily increased.
D)steadily declined.
E)remained stable.

Question 17

When 40,000 people descend on Washington, D.C., to rally for tougher child support laws, this stage of the policy-making process is called

A)issue identification.
B)policy formulation
C)policy implementation.
D)policy evaluation.
E)policy coherence.

Question 18

Public policy is a product of competition among groups.This is an example of:

A)corporatism.
B)rational choice.
C)elite theory.
D)subgovernments.
E)group theory.

Question 19

When Congress convenes a hearing to study the effectiveness of its food inspection laws, this illustrates

A)issue identification.
B)agenda setting.
C)policy adoption.
D)policy evaluation.
E)policy implementation.

Question 20

Which one of the following suggests a high likelihood an issue will gain a place on the policy agenda?

A)if it is a policy evaluation
B)if it proposed by a president
C)if it is proposed by Congress
D)if it is a distributive policy
E)if it perceived as crisis or has strong support.

Question 21

Process and impact are two types of

A)policy evaluation.
B)policy formulation.
C)policy adoption.
D)policy implementation.
E)policy consideration.

Question 22

Keynesian economics state that during times of economic depression or recession, the government should intentionally

A)spend more.
B)spend less.
C)decrease its deficit.
D)lower taxes.
E)do nothing.

Question 23

The rational choice model of policy making means problems are approached in a
well-ordered sequence.

Question 24

Which one of the following correctly describes trends in welfare enrollment since the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996?

A)the number of people on welfare rolls increased by 29 percent between 1996 and 2006.
B)the number of people on welfare rolls increased by 4 percent between 1996 and 2006.
C)there has been no change in the number of people on welfare rolls between 1996 and 2006.
D)the number of people on welfare rolls decreased by 38 percent between 1996 and 2006.
E)the number of people on welfare rolls decreased by 61 percent between 1996 and 2006.

Question 25

According to Keynesian economic theory, during times of economic depression the government should

A)collect more taxes.
B)collect less taxes.
C)collect the same amount of taxes.
D)raise taxes.
E)do nothing.

Question 26

What operates mainly through the raising and lowering of tax rates and levels of public expenditure?

A)fiscal policy
B)monetary policy
C)supply-side economics
D)economic regulatory policy
E)political economic policy

Question 27

In 2006, the Congress passed the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Act, which

A)provided more than $100 million in emergency assistance to rural farmers.
B)established new education programs for welfare recipients.
C)required states to increase job participation for those receiving welfare.
D)reflected a dramatic decline in the number of Americans requiring assistance from the federal government.
E)shifted control of welfare administration from the states to the federal government.

Question 28

Subgovernments, or iron triangles, are coalitions of members of Congress, the federal bureaucracy, and interest groups.

Question 29

Presidents Reagan, George H.W.Bush, Clinton, and George W.Bush have all supported what policy?

A)increase taxes
B)raising interest rates
C)increase trade tariffs
D)lowering tariffs, free trade
E)lowering interest rates

Question 30

What approach to providing social welfare deals with individuals who are already poor and attempts to help them improve their situation?

A)curative
B)punitive
C)alleviative
D)incomes
E)revision

Question 31

Fiscal policy is most closely associated with

A)Milton Friedman
B)F.A.Hayek
C)Ronald Reagan
D)Herbert Hoover
E)John Maynard Keynes

Question 32

What area of public policy stresses the importance of reducing inflation at all costs through control of the money supply?

A)fiscal policy
B)monetary policy
C)economic development policy
D)economic regulatory policy
E)trade and tariff policy

Question 33

What are the two broad sets of tools for managing the economy?

A)fiscal policy and monetary policy
B)economic development policy and economic regulatory policy
C)monetary policy and economic development policy
D)fiscal policy and economic regulatory policy
E)foreign policy and domestic policy

Question 34

A policy agenda is a list of issues that government and nongovernmental agents are giving serious attention to at any given time.

Question 35

Pluralism believes that policy is shaped by a minority with great political and economic power.

Question 36

Whose administration was characterized by large-scale deregulation of the American economy?

A)Richard Nixon's
B)Ronald Reagan's
C)George H.W.Bush's
D)Bill Clinton's
E)Franklin Roosevelt

Question 37

The economic policy of the Reagan administration can be described as

A)reducing taxes and encouraging spending, thereby increasing employment, productivity, and tax revenues.
B)reducing the budget deficit through significant long-term resolutions in federal government spending.
C)increasing consumer spending, thereby increasing inflation, which is controlled by increasing tax rates.
D)using the government's taxing and spending powers to influence economic productivity and the business cycle.
E)raising taxes, declaring war, and increasing consumer spending, thus reducing unemployment.

Question 38

Policy implementation is the final step in the policy-making process.

Question 39

What is a provision of the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act?

A)Childless adults aged 18 to 50 are limited to three months of food stamps during a three-year period.
B)Lifetime benefits are limited to 12 years.
C)Legal immigrants may receive welfare benefits in the same manner as U.S.citizens.
D)Public welfare is a federal responsibility.
E)Welfare recipients may collect benefits for only one year.

Question 40

The Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement of federal clean air and water laws is an example of redistributive policy.

Question 41

Differentiate between fiscal policy and monetary policy.Which one of the two approaches is more appropriate, in your view? Explain.

Question 42

The redistributive policy provides tangible benefits to individuals and groups in a noncompetitive manner.

Question 43

Describe the four models that are used to classify and analyze public policies.Be sure to give examples of each model.

Question 44

Supply-side economics is based on the idea that reducing taxes has the effect of benefiting society as a whole.

Question 45

Economist Milton Friedman believed that in times of economic recession, the government should intentionally spend more and accept an increase in its budget deficit.

Question 46

Welfare is a relatively old idea that covers a wide range of social and economic programs of government.

Question 47

Supply-side economics strongly influenced decision making in the Reagan administration.

Question 48

The United States suffered a serious economic downturn in 2000 that has lasted until the present day.

Question 49

The number of workers who are contributing to the government pension program is rapidly increasing.

Question 50

Evaluate the efforts to reform welfare and their effectiveness.

Question 51

The government may use symbolic policies to divert public attention from more important issues or to satisfy the public's demands without actually providing any substantive benefits.

Question 52

Ideological conflict between liberals and conservatives over the nature of governmental action is an environmental factor in the context of policy making.

Question 53

Describe the state of the American economy from January 2008 to the present and explain some of the steps the government has taken to address recent economic problems.

Question 54

The deregulation of airline fares in the late 1970s marked the beginning of the move by government to loosen regulatory control.

Question 55

Welfare programs first began in the United States.

Question 56

Describe the process whereby public policy is formed, being sure to identify the key stages of the public policy process.

Question 57

Keynes believed that during times of economic depression or recession the government should intentionally spend more and accept an increase in its budget deficit.

Question 58

By money supply we mean the amount of money in its various forms that is circulating in the economy at any time.

Question 59

The 1996 welfare reform law limits lifetime benefits to five years.

Question 60

The preventive approach to social welfare is based on the assumption that individuals are poor because of their own moral and character defects.