Deck 13: Public Policy: Promoting the General Welfare and Advancing Americans Interests

Question 1

A(n) ______ program is financed by payroll taxes paid by individuals and without income-based requirements to receive benefits.

A) education
B) welfare
C) health insurance
D) social insurance

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with ______.

A) Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Programs (SNAP)
B) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
C) the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
D) the Federal Housing Assistance Act (FHAA)

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Programs in which one receives a set of benefits regardless of income, provided one meets categorical requirements, are known as ______ programs.

A) welfare
B) means-based
C) entitlement
D) federal grant

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In 2015, the federally defined poverty threshold for a family of four was an annual family income of ______.

A) $12,750
B) $15,375
C) $24,250
D) $31,900

Question 5

Which of the following best exemplifies an unfunded mandate?

A) grants to build federal highways
B) Title I grants to local school districts
C) requirements for states to create and enforce seat belt laws
D) federal funding of DWI traffic stops through highway funds

Question 6

Domestic policies designed to improve or protect health, safety, education, and opportunities for citizens and residents are called ______ policies.

A) urban renovation
B) rural engagement
C) economic
D) social welfare

Question 7

Getting an item on the agenda or keeping an idea off of it is an exercise in ______.

A) scientific decision-making
B) executive power making
C) political power
D) legislative authority

Question 8

Payments into Social Security are ______.

A) held in individual accounts until needed
B) invested in private securities on behalf of pensioners
C) used primarily to pay current recipients of benefits
D) kept in the general spending account and used to fund other programs

Question 9

The necessarily limited set of issues on which policy makers focus their attention is best defined as the ______.

A) policy-making process
B) policy-making cycle
C) policy agenda
D) policy feedback loop

Question 10

The debate over who should be singled out for governmental support is described as ______.

A) appropriateness
B) deservingness
C) willingness
D) compassion

Question 11

Unlike Social Security and Medicare, which are funded through payroll taxes, programs such as Medicaid and others like it that require that individuals demonstrate specific need are known as ______ programs.

A) social dependency
B) needs-based assistance
C) categorical grant
D) public entitlement

Question 12

The decision and authority to formally terminate a policy usually lies in ______.

A) Congress or a state legislature
B) federal department level leaders
C) civil service supervisors
D) the Government Accountability Office

Question 13

A(n) ______ program allows anyone who meets the categorical requirements like age or a minimum number of years of payroll contributions, regardless of income, to receive benefits.

A) entitlement
B) welfare
C) need-based assistance
D) antipoverty

Question 14

Once policies have been formed and adopted, they have to be ______, or enacted in the real world.

A) implemented
B) interpreted
C) adjudicated
D) analyzed

Question 15

In 1965, the ______ was created to administer programs provided by the FHA as well as to combat homelessness.

A) Fair Housing Act
B) Department of Human Services
C) Federal Housing Authority
D) Department of Housing and Urban Development

Question 16

Individuals operating in government, academic institutions, think tanks, interest groups, and other venues who try to shape the political agenda and get solutions implemented on the ground are called policy ______.

A) proponents
B) supporters
C) entrepreneurs
D) analysts

Question 17

The fact that life expectancies have increased over the decades means that Social Security ______.

A) is funded well
B) will be sustained from income coming from elderly workers
C) will cover more and more Americans
D) could become insolvent

Question 18

Policies have to be worked out and passed by either state legislatures or the federal Congress and signed into law by governors and presidents. In this way, policies are ______.

A) put on the agenda
B) formed and adopted
C) defined
D) funded

Question 19

At its core, social welfare policy involves which of the following?

A) planning for population growth
B) redistribution of resources
C) providing free services to citizens
D) supplying necessary resources to states

Question 20

The intentional use of governmental power to achieve or support specific goals and objectives is defined as ______.

A) policy agenda
B) policy gridlock
C) public policy
D) public law

Question 21

Inflation is best described as ______.

A) a period of declining consumer prices (CPI)
B) a period of declining gross domestic product (GDP)
C) a period of rising unemployment
D) a period of rising consumer prices (CPI)

Question 22

Before a society can create an economic policy, it must first ______.

A) vote on the scope of government involvement
B) create laws on fiscal policy
C) examine the proper role of government in regulating economic activity
D) have a top-10 GDP in the world

Question 23

What is one of the criticisms of the Federal Reserve System?

A) It is "too big to fail."
B) It is not truly independent of politics.
C) The leadership is ineffective.
D) It has a history of poor investments.

Question 24

An economic policy in which a government dictates much of a nation's economic activity, including levels of production and prices, would best be described as a ______ economy.

A) laissez-faire
B) command-and-control
C) mixed
D) socialist

Question 25

Guiding the nation's economy through decisions on spending and taxation is called ______.

A) monetary policy
B) fiscal policy
C) economic growth
D) cap and save

Question 26

What is inflation?

A) bad credit score
B) not enough paper money in circulation
C) prices rising due to growth in supply of money
D) when gold is devalued

Question 27

A(n) ______ indicates a private sector that is cutting back and not hiring or is laying off workers.

A) decrease in the consumer price index
B) increase in gross domestic product
C) increase in the unemployment rate
D) decrease in the inflation rate

Question 28

The percentage of the total labor force that is without a job can best be described as the ______.

A) labor force
B) unemployment rate
C) inflation rate
D) consumer price index

Question 29

"Reaganomics" is a form of what?

A) supply-side theory
B) Keynesianism
C) hyperinflation
D) extended dividends

Question 30

______ is the primary federal agency tasked with cleaning up and protecting the environment.

A) The Sierra Club
B) The Nature Conservancy
C) Greenpeace
D) The Environmental Protection Agency

Question 31

The ratification of the 16th Amendment made it constitutional to do what?

A) drink alcohol
B) tax on the incomes of Americans
C) loan money to banks
D) charge foreign nations for banking privileges

Question 32

The fluctuation of economic activity around a long-term trend, with periods of expansion and contraction, is best described as the ______.

A) business cycle
B) inflationary index
C) gross domestic product
D) net national product

Question 33

The author of the foundational publication An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776 was ______

A) Benjamin Franklin
B) Adam Smith
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) John Locke

Question 34

______ is one of the most important jobs tasked to the federal government.

A) Formulating and implementing the nation's economic policy
B) Creating a fair tax system
C) The census
D) Having the world's strongest military

Question 35

In a laissez-fair economy, governments ______.

A) are heavily involved in economic transactions
B) intrude as little as possible in economic transactions
C) regulate certain industries heavily
D) invest in infrastructure

Question 36

Which institution is the most important player in charting national monetary policy?

A) Citibank
B) Federal Reserve
C) Congressional Budget Office
D) American Financial Affairs Board

Question 37

Which of the following utilized a command-and-control economy?

A) England
B) France
C) United States
D) Soviet Union

Question 38

In 1936, a broad theory of business cycles proposed by ______ was applied during the depths of the Great Depression.

A) John Maynard Keynes
B) Milton Friedman
C) Adam Smith
D) John Nash

Question 39

The efforts of government to regulate and support the economy in order to protect and expand citizens' financial well-being and economic prospects, as well as supporting businesses in the global financial system, is best defined as ______ policy.

A) fiscal
B) economic
C) domestic
D) social welfare

Question 40

Monetarists tend to focus their attention on the ______.

A) consumer price index
B) money supply
C) unemployment rate
D) gross domestic product

Question 41

The rate paid to borrow money is known as the ______ rate.

A) interest
B) unemployment
C) inflation
D) monetary growth

Question 42

A major criticism of the Federal Reserve system is that while governed by a nominated and confirmed board of directors, it is primarily owned by ______.

A) private citizens
B) the U.S. government
C) private stockholders
D) private banks

Question 43

The two primary actors formulating U.S. foreign policy are ______.

A) the director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security
B) the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency
C) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense
D) the president and Congress

Question 44

The use of extreme violence to achieve political ends is called ______.

A) low-level conflict
B) guerilla warfare
C) torture
D) terrorism

Question 45

A set of economic policy tools designed to regulate the amount of money in the economy (in circulation and in deposits) is known as ______ policy.

A) fiscal
B) economic
C) social welfare
D) monetary

Question 46

The war in Iraq that began in 2003 was a type of ______, because the United States was launching an attack on an enemy before the enemy launched an attack on the United States.

A) preemptive war
B) war of retribution
C) just war
D) retaliatory war

Question 47

Except for a time during the Civil War under President Abraham Lincoln's administration, individual incomes ______.

A) have always been taxed
B) were not measured
C) were taxed at a flat rate
D) were not taxed until 1913

Question 48

Under Keynesianism, business cycles are driven by the aggregation of individual decisions over ______.

A) inflation and pricing
B) employment and investment
C) spending and saving
D) capital and labor

Question 49

The ______ is/was an attempt by European countries to integrate politically and economically, so as to never have to experience another world war.

A) European Union
B) Marshall Plan
C) Commonwealth of Independent States
D) United Nations

Question 50

When the federal government takes in less money than it spends, it runs a budget ______.

A) deficit
B) surplus
C) allocation
D) analysis

Question 51

If the federal government takes in more money than it spends, then it runs a budget ______.

A) deficit
B) surplus
C) allocation
D) analysis

Question 52

Unlike Keynesians, supply-side theorists argue for a stable money supply achieved by focusing on ______.

A) inflationary pressures
B) unemployment rates
C) lowering tax rates
D) attracting consumer savers

Question 53

Under Keynesian economics, in periods of economic contraction, the government should ______.

A) inject more money into the economy
B) withdraw investments from banks and businesses
C) pay off debts to avoid a budgetary deficit
D) make direct loans and grants to citizens

Question 54

One of the Federal Reserve's stated goals is to maintain "moderate inflation" of around ______.

A) 0.5%
B) 1%
C) 2%.
D) 5%

Question 55

Critics of supply-side theory often use the term ______ to describe it.

A) "trickle-down economics"
B) "counter-cyclical economics"
C) "investment-focused economics"
D) "limited market regulation"

Question 56

On September 11, 2001, the terrorist organization ______ hijacked four American commercial aircraft and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and, in a struggle with the passengers on the plane, into a field in Pennsylvania.

A) ISIS
B) al Qaeda
C) al Nusra
D) al Shabab

Question 57

Which of the following is considered the central bank of the United States?

A) Treasury Department
B) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
C) Federal Reserve System
D) First National Bank of the United States

Question 58

Supply-side theory is often called ______.

A) capital contraction
B) Obamacare
C) fiscal federalism
D) Reaganomics

Question 59

The goal of ISIS was to establish a worldwide ______, or an Islamic state ruled by a political and religious leader with absolute authority.

A) utopia
B) communist regime
C) revolution
D) caliphate

Question 60

The ______ got its spark in December 2010 in Tunisia, when the street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire as an act of protest.

A) War on Terror
B) Arab Spring
C) Democratic Awakening
D) Nonviolent Revolution

Question 61

Which diplomatic leader warned that "an iron curtain has descended across the continent"?

A) Winston Churchill
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) Harry S. Truman
D) Charles de Gaulle

Question 62

One of the first signs of the end of the Cold War was when ______ on November 9, 1989.

A) Ronald Reagan was elected
B) Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union
C) the Soviet Union was dissolved
D) the Berlin Wall came down

Question 63

During the Cold War, the potential threat of ______ was/were especially heightened.

A) natural disasters
B) environmental collapse
C) nuclear war
D) biological and chemical warfare

Question 64

President Theodore Roosevelt expanded on the Monroe Doctrine in 1904, asserting that ______.

A) Spanish-speaking peoples had a right to sanctuary in the United States
B) the United States' sphere of influence was unlimited
C) the United States was the guarantor of political, economic, and military stability in Latin America and the Caribbean
D) the United States would defend its protectorate, Cuba, against threats coming from Asia

Question 65

For the more than the first century of America's history, its pattern of global involvement was defined by which of the following?

A) global economic involvement but a lack of military action with wars and conflicts outside of the Western Hemisphere
B) little economic involvement but an expansion of military action in wars and conflicts outside of the Western Hemisphere
C) economic involvement only in the Western Hemisphere and no military involvement in Europe or areas outside of the Western Hemisphere
D) global economic and military involvement with wars and conflicts outside of the Western Hemisphere

Question 66

Wars that are instigated by major powers that do not themselves become involved are called ______ wars.

A) hot
B) cold
C) proxy
D) quasi

Question 67

The ______ takes on an advisory role when reporting to the president on military operations.

A) secretary of State
B) Joint Chiefs of Staff
C) secretary of Homeland Security
D) Central Intelligence Agency

Question 68

American presidents routinely say that the War Powers Resolution is ______, because it restricts their power as commander-in-chief.

A) to be respected
B) unconstitutional
C) outdated
D) confusing

Question 69

Which of the following was most responsible for the end of World War II?

A) the firebombing of Germany
B) America's island-hopping campaign in the Pacific
C) incendiary attacks on the Japanese people
D) the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan in August 1945

Question 70

The policy that asserted American interests in and primacy over actions in the Western Hemisphere was called the ______.

A) Louisiana Purchase
B) Monroe Doctrine
C) Madison Policy
D) Roosevelt Corollary

Question 71

The international organization formed to gather other countries in support of Soviet containment was the ______.

A) European Union
B) United Nations
C) Warsaw Pact
D) World Monetary Fund

Question 72

When the Cold War ended, the balance of power in the world was described as ______.

A) bipolar
B) multipolar
C) unipolar
D) tripolar

Question 73

In his Farewell Address to the nation after stepping down as president, George Washington warned the United States ______.

A) against participating in any kind of trade with other nations
B) to project itself abroad as much as possible so as to have more allies than enemies
C) against having friendly relations with other countries
D) not to get drawn into foreign entanglements in Europe

Question 74

In the aftermath of World War II, America and ______ quickly became enemies.

A) Great Britain
B) Japan
C) the Soviet Union
D) West Germany

Question 75

The War Powers Resolution was passed in response to the prosecution and escalation of ______.

A) World War II
B) the Vietnam War
C) the Cold War
D) the War on Terror

Question 76

Included in the ______ are the president, vice president, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretaries of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, and the director of National Intelligence.

A) White House staff
B) Defense of the Homeland Committee
C) Foreign Policy Council
D) National Security Council

Question 77

Under the War Powers Resolution, the president has to notify Congress within ______ hours of the deployment of troops, and in the absence of a declaration of war, special authorization, or a deadline extension by Congress, must withdraw those troops within ______ days, with an extra ______-day extension allowed if necessary to make sure the troops come home safely.

A) 24; 60; 30
B) 48; 30; 30
C) 48; 60; 30
D) 24; 30; 30

Question 78

The victories of America and its allies in World War I led to ______.

A) the complete retreat of American military forces from global involvement and a return to isolationism
B) America's establishment as a key member of the global military and economic balance of power
C) American nationalism and patriotic pride as the country rose in international prominence on the global scene
D) the need for American soldiers to take a secondary role in the military and economic balance of power

Question 79

The Cold War foreign policy designed to restrict expansion of Soviet ideological and military influence and expansion, using military force if necessary, was called ______.

A) retainment
B) prevention
C) containment
D) restriction

Question 80

In the 20th century, American foreign policy changed to one of ______.

A) isolationism
B) internationalism
C) absolutism
D) socialism