Deck 13: Public Policypeople

Question 1

A mandate is an action of one government or branch of government that requires another government to act in a certain way.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Governor Rick Perry issued an executive order in 2007 requiring sixth-grade girls to receive a vaccination to lessen the chances for the spread of sexually transmitted disease that may cause cancer.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The food stamp program is administered through the Texas Comptroller's Office.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)is a categorical grant program,unlike the previous welfare program that was funded as a block grant.

Question 5

All funding for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)program is provided by the state.

Question 6

Despite the Texas reputation for being an economically diverse state,17 of the 100 poorest counties in the country are in the state.

Question 7

Worker's compensation benefits are limited to 26 weeks unless the federal government extends them during periods of high unemployment.

Question 8

Texas employers are required to provide workers' compensation to their employees.

Question 9

In 2010,more than 48 percent of Texas children were of families that had income below the poverty level or less than twice the poverty level.

Question 10

Medicaid is the health care program in the United States to provide assistance to citizens over the age of 65.

Question 11

Texas was the state with the highest percentage of people not covered by health insurance in 2010.

Question 12

The average weekly unemployment compensation benefit is just over $1000 per week.

Question 13

Redistributive public policy redistributes wealth from those who have the most to those who have the least.

Question 14

Welfare programs in Texas are growing at high rates while health care programs have leveled off in cost.

Question 15

The Children's Health Insurance Program is designed to replace the Medicaid Program.

Question 16

The development of modern drugs and medical screening technologies has reduced the cost of medical care.

Question 17

Workfare programs,designed to help welfare recipients gain self esteem,become better trained,and get a job fully funds childcare for single women for up to five years.

Question 18

In 2010,Governor Rick Perry proposed that Texas create a policy that would allow a person to complete an undergraduate degree for under $10,000.

Question 19

The legacy of the traditionalistic-individualistic political culture in Texas that runs headlong into a moralistic group in Texas,often makes disagreements over public policy issues sharp.

Question 20

When compared with other states,Texas tends to rank toward the bottom in many services.

Question 21

The 1996 case of Hopwood v.Texas upheld affirmative action admissions to Texas state institutions of higher learning.

Question 22

In Texas,programs to help needy citizens are funded

A) primarily with federal dollars supplemented by state funds.
B) primarily with state dollars supplemented by federal funds.
C) with state money only.
D) with federal money only.
E) very generously.

Question 23

The three largest welfare programs administered by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission are

A) TANF, job training, and aid to the disabled.
B) TANF, energy assistance, and Medicaid.
C) TANF, food stamps, and Medicaid.
D) Medicaid, workers' compensation, and aid to the disabled.
E) old age assistance, aid to the disabled, and aid to the blind.

Question 24

Whenever the government attempts to improve the quality of life for the poor by taking wealth from those who have the most and redirecting it to those who have the least,it is making

A) institutional public policy.
B) "trickle down" economic policy.
C) incremental social policy.
D) regressive tax policy.
E) redistributive public policy.

Question 25

Benefits to workers who are injured,become ill,or are killed on the job are known as

A) unemployment compensation.
B) Medicare.
C) workers' compensation.
D) earned income tax credits.
E) workers' welfare.

Question 26

Payments to unemployed workers is administered by the

A) Texas Department of Jobs and Industry.
B) Texas Workforce Commission.
C) Texas Commission on Unemployment.
D) Texas Workfare Office.
E) Texas Rehabilitation Commission.

Question 27

The poverty threshold for a family of three in the United States for fiscal year 2011 is approximately

A) $10,000.
B) $18,500.
C) $29,200.
D) $34,600.
E) $38,100.

Question 28

Which of the following is the primary program to provide health care to needy families?

A) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
B) Workers' Compensation
C) Medicare
D) Medicaid
E) CHIP

Question 29

Public education is funded nearly 90 percent by federal funds.

Question 30

Issues get onto the policy agenda

A) when someone in government recognizes the need to deal with the problem.
B) when interest groups and lobbyists make known the priorities they think should be set.
C) through the intergovernmental system.
D) through the intragovernmental system.
E) All of the above are ways that issues get onto the policy agenda.

Question 31

Passed in 1996,Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

A) put an end to automatic entitlement to welfare support.
B) established a limit of five years for a person to receive welfare.
C) provided that an individual must be working within two years of receiving support.
D) emphasized getting people off welfare and onto payrolls.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 32

A(n)____ is a policy decision through which one level or branch of government requires another level or branch of government to act in a certain way.

A) mandate
B) decree
C) directive
D) commission
E) edict

Question 33

The average per capita income in Texas is

A) far above the national average.
B) above the national average.
C) equal to the national average.
D) below the national average.
E) impossible to calculate.

Question 34

According to your text,what percentage of Texas children fall below the poverty line?

A) 3 percent
B) 10 percent
C) 13 percent
D) 24 percent
E) 35 percent

Question 35

Of the 25 poorest counties in the United States,how many are in Texas?

A) 2
B) 4
C) 9
D) 14
E) 19

Question 36

Homelessness in Texas is hard to estimate,but estimates are that on any given night there are how many Texans homeless?

A) 29,000
B) 44,000
C) 79,000
D) 104,000
E) 129,000

Question 37

No Child Left Behind,an act passed by Congress in 2001,expanded federal involvement in public education.

Question 38

Texas has seen a huge increase in home schooling despite the fact that it is still illegal in the state.

Question 39

Texas uses school vouchers,a policy allowing families to receive a tax deduction when they send their children to private schools.

Question 40

The number of Texans receiving benefits from TANF has ____________ and the number receiving benefits from food stamps has __________ since 2000.

A) increased; decreased
B) increased; increased
C) decreased; increased
D) decreased; decreased
E) remained static; increased

Question 41

A policy that allows tax deductions for families who send their students to private schools is known as

A) school vouchers.
B) Charter schools.
C) home schooling.
D) Texas School Choice.
E) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

Question 42

Explain the arguments of supporters and non-supporters of school vouchers,charter schools,and home schooling and the impact the quality of public education in the state.

Question 43

Discuss how federal mandates and court orders shaped public policy in Texas.Do you think the problems addressed in these requirements from the federal government would eventually be solved by the state without pressure from the federal government? Why or why not?

Question 44

In 2010,the Texas State Board of Education made changes to the social science curriculum,including

A) downplaying the role of Thomas Jefferson among the founding fathers.
B) mandating emphasis on the centrality of the separation of church and state.
C) downplaying the threat of Communism during the Cold War.
D) imposing a liberal bias on the curriculum.
E) removing Sam Houston from Texas history texts.

Question 45

Discuss Texas curriculum supervision and its consequences on Texas school book adoption and on the social science curriculum in public schools.Evaluate whether such supervision enhances or diminishes the quality of Texas public education.

Question 46

No Child Left Behind,passed in 2001,did which of the following?

A) Created a common high school curriculum for all states, and allowed students to transfer from unsuccessful schools to successful schools.
B) Allowed students to transfer from unsuccessful schools to successful schools, and required annual testing of students in core subjects.
C) Required annual testing of students in core subjects, and mandated that teachers earn master's degrees in their chosen subject areas as a condition for gaining teacher certification.
D) Created a common high school curriculum for all states, and required annual testing of students in core subjects.
E) Allowed students to transfer from unsuccessful schools to successful schools, and mandated that teachers earn master's degrees in their chosen subject areas as a condition for gaining teacher certification

Question 47

The use of race as a factor in admission to law school was outlawed in the case of

A) Grutter v. Bollinger.
B) Brown v. Board of Education.
C) Smith v. Allwright.
D) Texas v. Johnson.
E) Hopwood v. Texas.

Question 48

Discuss how Texas compares with other states in terms of its response to the problem of poverty.Explain how the state welfare policy reflects the dominance of the traditionalistic-individualistic political culture of the state.

Question 49

Social Services are likely to remain a perennial issue in Texas politics because

A) the economy swings from boom to bust, and in low times the number of people requiring services increases while government revenue decreases.
B) the states immigration rate is high, and many immigrants, especially those who are illegal, lack essential job skills.
C) disparities between rich and poor are growing.
D) conservatism in Texas dominates politics in the early 2000s.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 50

Discuss the relative importance of income security programs and health care programs.Begin by defining the purposes of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families,Food Stamps,Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program.Explain which of these programs poses the largest challenge in public policy over the next few years.Why?

Question 51

All of the following factors make it likely that welfare will be a perennial issue in Texas politics except

A) the national tax policy has resulted in the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
B) the economy has little impact on the poverty rate.
C) the state's immigration rate is among the highest in the country.
D) the poorest of the poor have lost income and have had trouble finding jobs since the 1996 welfare reforms.
E) many of the Republican officials who now dominate Texas politics have an inherent dislike of social programs.

Question 52

Modern education reform in Texas began in the mid 1980s with passage of the act known as

A) Robin Hood.
B) The Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
C) No Child Left Behind.
D) No Pass, No Play.
E) State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness Act.

Question 53

.The court case that began the process of forced integration of schools in the United States was

A) Plessy v. Ferguson.
B) Brown v. Board of Education.
C) Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe.
D) Hopwood v. Texas.
E) Grutter v. Bollinger.

Question 54

The couple in Longview,Texas that started Educational Research Analysts,which impacted the adoption of textbooks both in Texas and nationwide,was

A) Mark and Betty White.
B) Ross and Analee Perot.
C) John and Mary Grutter.
D) Mel and Norma Gabler.
E) John and Wilma Hopwood.