Deck 13: Issues in Public Policy: Politics, Principles, Priorities, and Practices

Question 1

What protects citizens in the U.S. against the abuse of police power?

A) The First Amendment
B) The Second Amendment
C) The Fifth Amendment
D) The Fourth Amendment
E) The Sixth Amendment

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 mandated a balanced federal budget, but what changed to allow Congress to ignore it?

A) 2008 recession
B) 9/11
C) European Monetary Collapse
D) Rise in interest rates
E) Supreme Court declaring it unconstitutional

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The national government can use the power of prior restraint at any time to prevent the press from reporting negative things that it does not want to be made public.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

What did Thomas Hobbes believe was the main responsibility for government to provide?

A) Prosperity in moderation
B) Justice for all
C) Safety from harm
D) Racial equality
E) Limited privacy

Question 5

The United States is the only postindustrial society in which private ownership of handguns is considered normal and private arsenals are not unusual.

Question 6

The exclusionary rule holds that when evidence has been illegally obtained, it may not be used in court.

Question 7

In the Bakke reverse-discrimination case, the Supreme Court held that all affirmative action programs were unconstitutional.

Question 8

Although liberals and conservatives agree that equality is important in some sense, they do not agree on what kind of equality is necessary or how much inequality is desirable.

Question 9

In the United States, corporate income is taxed heavier than individual income.

Question 10

The various provisions of the U.S. Patriot Act apply only to people suspected of engaging in terrorism.

Question 11

Compared to all European nations, the income tax of Americans is much higher.

Question 12

The United States has ratified and follows the Kyoto Protocol.

Question 13

Major issues of public policy demonstrate that the five core values of security, prosperity, equality, liberty, and justice often come into conflict with one another.

Question 14

If we legalize pot, many people fear that it will lead to more addicts and relaxed moral standards.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a provision of the U.S. Patriot Act?

A) It is not limited to terrorism.
B) It allows government to strike first and ask questions later.
C) It authorizes the use of "sneak and peek" search warrants.
D) It reduces government accountability.
E) It expands the ability of state and federal government to conduct surveillance of U.S. citizens.

Question 16

Under due process of law, alleged criminals can be tried more than once for the same crime if new evidence becomes available.

Question 17

No industrialized state has ever decriminalized both drugs and prostitution.

Question 18

Former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote that, over time, Americans have become less willing to accept violence and crime.

Question 19

The United States continues to give high priority to national defense as illustrated by its accounting for half the
world's arms expenditures every year.

Question 20

Which U. .S President famously campaigned on (and failed to keep) a promise not to raise taxes?

A) Jimmy Carter
B) Ronald Reagan
C) George H.W. Bush
D) Dwight D. Eisenhower
E) Bill Clinton

Question 21

Which Supreme Court decision upheld racial segregation as constitutional?

A) Civil Rights Cases
B) Dred Scott v. Sanford
C) Shelly v. Kraemer
D) Plessy v. Ferguson
E) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Question 22

What was the pretense for the Bush administration's subpoenaing of U.S. hospitals and clinics for patient records in the early 2000s?

A) The government wanted to verify Medicare and Medicaid bills were accurate.
B) The government was routing out fraud.
C) The government was seeking to ensure safe and legal practices were being conducted.
D) The government was seeking information about patients who had had abortions.
E) The government was looking for people who had had blood tests in states permitting gay marriage.

Question 23

The Supreme Court would likely view all of these actions as violating the constitutional right to free speech EXCEPT

A) organizing a terror strike against our government.
B) burning a replica of the American flag.
C) asking for a list of names of all organizers and participants of an anti-government rally and then investigating them.
D) wiretaps of individuals without their knowledge and without a warrant.
E) Ku Klux Klan rally designed to start a riot against the minorities.

Question 24

What attempt to reform and improve the American educational system has been widely criticized as problematic from the start?

A) The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
B) The charter school initiative
C) No Child Left Behind
D) The private school voucher program
E) The Crisis in Education Act

Question 25

The Emissions Trading Scheme is designed to reduce the carbon footprint of who?

A) The European Union
B) The United States
C) China
D) Japan
E) Australia

Question 26

Which postindustrial modern state does NOT consider health care a basic human right?

A) Canada
B) France
C) England
D) United States
E) Sweden

Question 27

Under the legal concept of Affirmative Action, all of these groups can and have requested preferential treatment based on past discrimination EXCEPT

A) women.
B) White men.
C) gays.
D) Arab Americans.
E) Native Americans.

Question 28

Which of the following is true with regard to health care in the United States?

A) The U.S. population is aging and thus requires increasing public expenditures for Medicare and Medicaid.
B) The cost of health care is increasing at a lower rate than inflation.
C) Most Americans receive adequate health insurance through their employers.
D) All Americans are adequately covered by private health insurance policies.
E) The U.S. population is growing so prosperous that it will not require Medicare or Medicaid.

Question 29

The richest 15 percent of Americans control approximately of financial assets in America?

A) 50 percent
B) 60 percent
C) 70 percent
D) 80 percent
E) 90 percent or more

Question 30

All of these are among the four "P's" of public policy EXCEPT

A) principles.
B) power.
C) politics.
D) priorities.
E) practices.

Question 31

Which of the following have American courts allowed under the First Amendment?

A) Speech that constitutes a direct personal provocation
B) Clergy to offer nondenominational prayers at public high school graduations
C) Polygamy, as long as it is part of traditional religious practice
D) Schools to require children who are Jehovah's Witnesses to salute the flag
E) Schools to exempt Amish children from public education requirements

Question 32

Which statement about health care in the United States is FALSE?

A) Health care facilities in the U.S. are among the best in the world.
B) U.S. citizens spend more on medical expenses than people in other countries.
C) The federal government spends less on medical research than other modern nations.
D) The Affordable Care Act was upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
E) Federal government expenses for Medicare and Medicaid exceed those related to defense.

Question 33

What did the Civil Rights Cases of 1883 accomplish?

A) Prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations
B) Held that the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to prohibit both state and private discrimination
C) Virtually ended racial segregation in the South
D) Helped legitimize a social system in which blacks were subject to discrimination
E) Created a punishment system for those who discriminated against others

Question 34

What do conservatives argue about the middle class in America?

A) That it is disappearing
B) That it remains large and essential to the U.S. economy
C) That government needs to enact new legislation to protect and assist the middle class
D) That the tax burden falls disproportionately on the middle class
E) That the middle class's share of the nation's prosperity has fallen since the 1970s

Question 35

When can government outlaw religious practices?

A) If the religion is not approved beforehand
B) If the religion is too small
C) If the religion moves overseas
D) If the religion poses a threat to society
E) If the religion obscures or misinterprets the words of God