Deck 1: Public Policy: An Introduction

Question 1

The reason(s)for studying public policy is (are):

A)Theoretical
B)Practical
C)Political
D)All above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Three reasons for studying public policy are:

A)policy adoption, implementation, analysis
B)policy advocacy, analysis, implementation
C)theoretical, practical, political
D)theoretical, analytical, political

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Frustration with the expansion of the role of public policy is due to

A)Circumscription of our freedoms
B)Balancing of the needs of others
C)Impersonal principles and rules
D)None of the above
E)All of the above

Answer 3

E

Question 4

The Coleman Report found that the solution to academic achievement was

A)"No Child Left Behind"
B)Educated parents
C)"Race to the Top"
D)Greater equality of academic achievement

Question 5

An intentional course of action followed by a government institution or official for resolving an issue of public concern is called

A)Public policy
B)Policy analysis
C)Policy advocacy
D)All of the above

Question 6

Public policy is defined by three necessary qualifications.Which of the following is NOT a necessary qualification?

A)that official actions be sanctioned by law or accepted custom
B)Laws or official regulation should not be mistaken for the whole realm of policy
C)policy always meets intended goals
D)intentional course of action includes decisions made not to take a certain action

Question 7

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is an example of the principle of unnecessary complexity in the implementation of policy decreases the likelihood of failure of that policy

Question 8

Liberalism,Conservatism,and other ideology groups strongly agree about the range of private good that is appropriate for government to distribute.

Question 9

Who is NOT responsible for developing and implementing public policy at the federal level?

A)Congress
B)The President
C)Appointed bureaucrats
D)Political Action Committee

Question 10

Which of the following is NOT an example of public policy?

A)Environmental regulation
B)National defense
C)The Beer summit
D)Stimulus package

Question 11

Public policy is an intentional course of action followed by a government institution or official that includes,but is not limited to making laws and is defined in terms of

A)negative spillover effects
B)civil issues
C)problems of government
D)a common goal or purpose

Question 12

Public policy can be measured by the percentage of Gross Domestic Product in the public sector

Question 13

Which is NOT a reason for the frequent failure of policies to achieve their intended impact?

A)no plausible scenario on which the parties can agree
B)no socially acceptable solution exists
C)policies and laws only permit strict interpretations
D)disagreement about what constitute a social or political problem that must be addressed by the policy makers

Question 14

Passage of various government regulations from the Food & Drug Administration illustrated the federal government's commitment to

A)environmental conservation
B)workers' rights
C)business competition
D)consumer protection

Question 15

The attributes of the civil service or public bureaucracy are

A)An elaborate set of impersonal rules
B)Division of labor
C)Hierarchical structure
D)Predictability
E)All of the above

Question 16

The growth of public policy is primarily

A)due to politics
B)because of increased prosperity
C)a consequence of modernization
D)All of the above

Question 17

Public Policy is rooted in

A)Public statements
B)Official regulations
C)Law and in the authority and coercion associated with law
D)Widely accepted and publicly visible patterns of behavior

Question 18

The requirement that official action be sanctioned by law or accepted custom is because officials

A)Sometime take bribes
B)Exceed their legal authority
C)Step outside of public policy
D)All of the above

Question 19

Public policy is rooted in law and in the authority and coercion associated with law.

Question 20

In a zero-sum society,the allocation of values to members of one underrepresented group requires that members of other groups will not have to pay the costs.T/F

Question 21

Which of the following is not assessed by policy evaluation?

A)Have goals been met?
B)Are there unintended consequences?
C)Which agency is responsible for the policy?
D)What are the costs?

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT one of the processes involved in changing and terminating policies?

A)executive order
B)agenda setting
C)problem definition
D)evaluation
E)adoption

Question 23

Ideological and interest groups compete to broaden the agenda to include their issue or to exclude issues they don't want considered.Which of the following is NOT one of these groups?

A)Elected officials
B)Public interest groups
C)President's cabinet
D)Bureaucrats responsible for policy administration

Question 24

The Institutional model addresses the structure of America's constitutional.This structure includes

A)Bureaucracy
B)Legislatures
C)Executives
D)Judiciary
E)All of the above

Question 25

The public choice model thinks of those active in policymaking as actors attempting to choose option to maximize their self-interest.

Question 26

Which is NOT a distinct stage of the policy process?

A)direct cost
B)agenda formation
C)policy adoption
D)policy implementation

Question 27

Successful achievement of policy goals depends upon

A)Clarity of the law
B)Tractability of the problem being addressed by the policy
C)Elected officials
D)A & B only
E)None of the above

Question 28

Policy demands refers to how

A)some issues are placed on the policy agenda.
B)direct costs are measured.
C)policy is implemented
D)none of the above
E)all of the above

Question 29

Observable and measurable results of policy implementation are known as

A)spillover effects
B)policy outputs
C)policy impacts
D)policy outcomes

Question 30

Process of assessing the impacts/outcomes of a policy.

A)policy evaluation
B)policy implementation
C)direct cost
D)intended consequences

Question 31

The three pre-policy stages are

A)(1) public protests, (2) congressional inquiry, and (3) committee report
B)(1) problem definition, (2) policy demands, and (3) agenda formation
C)(1) policy evaluation, (2) goal setting, and (3) cost-benefit analysis
D)(1) policy demands, (2) agenda formation, and (3) problem definition

Question 32

The consequences of policy,both intended and unintended,on the policy's target population are its

A)direct impact
B)direct cost
C)short-term effect
D)indirect impact

Question 33

Redistribution and distribution policies are example of private goods; some goods can be divided and given to some people,but not to others.An example of private goods does NOT include:

A)Food Stamps
B)State University admission
C)Clean air
D)Public health care

Question 34

Which model of the policy process stresses that many groups and individuals have an influence in the American democratic system?

A)institutional
B)elite
C)rational-comprehensive
D)public choice
E)pluralist

Question 35

____________ involves collecting and analyzing information about the efficiency,economy,and effectiveness of policies.

A)Policy evaluation
B)Policy impact
C)Policy implementation
D)Policy development

Question 36

Policy Advocacy begin with a commitment to economic interest or principle such as _______________.

A)Liberalism
B)Conservatism
C)Environmentalism
D)All of the above

Question 37

Evaluation of public policy must include _____________.

A)normative dimensions
B)empirical dimensions
C)both normative and empirical dimensions
D)no normative or empirical dimensions

Question 38

Policy analysis is concerned mainly with

A)describing all details of government programs.
B)discovery and recommendation of the best course of action.
C)describing and explaining policies and their impact.
D)problem definition or issue formation.

Question 39

Public programs involving little conflict can be difficult to implement because

A)There are numerous participant with different perspectives
B)Public resources are available
C)Only a few decision have to be made
D)The intent of the policymakers is clear

Question 40

Policy advocacy is concerned with

A)how and why policy is proposed, adopted, and implemented
B)assessing the success and failure of policy
C)examining policy issues and alternatives in order to determine the best course of action
D)discovering the attitudes, beliefs and values of a particular group in society

Question 41

•Explain (using any policy or policy issue)how three of the following analytical models differ from each other (institutional,historical institutionalism,elite,pluralist,group,rational choice,or public choice).
•Pick a public policy that is important to you.Draw the Policy Process Stages diagram and describe how each box in the diagram might be applied to your issue
•Does the cost-benefit analysis of a public policy remain static once it is completed or does it change given the change in time value of money and improvement in technology given the length of time needed for a project to get started?
•Would it matter who hires the policy analyst and would it bring in a bias to policy analyst's findings? Why or why not?
•Why do political scientists and students study public policy? Does this study help make the governments run more efficiently or makes sure that problems get addressed?
•Why has public policy grown so dramatically since the beginning of the republic? Is modernization and regulations good for the country or would people be better off taking their trusting their own instincts?
•Why did President Obama's effort to overhaul Health Care policy succeed? As an analyst,what would you have done differently to rebut anti-healthcare opponents? What could have been done to improve public support for the policy?
•Gun control legislation is an important public policy issue.After the Sandy Hook school massacre,public support for legislation was at an all-time high,yet no legislation was able to be passed.Why are the opponents of gun control legislation so successful at preventing legislation?
•The Affordable Care Act provided funding for states to expand their Medicaid programs for low income citizens.Many states with Republican governors choose not to take advantage of this opportunity.What are the policy rationales for denying some citizens access to healthcare?
•The Supreme Court has recently ruled that money is a form of speech and that campaign finance laws limiting contributions are unconstitutional.This has resulted in a significant increase in the amount of money spent on campaigns by various billionaires in support of their agenda.What public policies should campaign finance reform supporters bring forward in order to offset the influence of money in political campaigns?

Question 42

Direct costs and benefits relate to the specific allocation of resources and its impact on the intended population.

Question 43

Which of the following is/are employed by policy analysts to analyze the effectiveness of public policy?

A)agenda setting
B)cost-benefit
C)policy demands
D)policy adoption

Question 44

Process evaluation or formative evaluation assesses the activities and structures of policy implementation.Processes may include

A)program procedures
B)Amount of staffing
C)Staffing duties
D)All of the above

Question 45

Which of the following is NOT part of cost-benefit analysis?

A)direct costs
B)indirect benefits
C)externalities
D)intended impacts
E)problem definition