Deck 17: Social Policy

Question 1

Social case work,in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,was largely concerned with

A) personal counseling and "mental hygiene."
B) punishing deviant behavior.
C) repairing a flawed economic system.
D) finding new party members.
E) finding people jobs.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following statements about Social Security is false?

A) Social Security was established in 1935.
B) It is a program based on forced savings.
C) Contributors receive benefits in strict proportion to their contribution.
D) Social Security redistributes wealth from younger workers to older retirees.
E) It is a fairly popular program among U.S.citizens.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

When was Social Security established?

A) 1897
B) 1929
C) 1930
D) 1935
E) 1965

Answer 3

D

Question 4

When potential recipients of a benefit must establish their genuine need,the government program is called

A) indexed.
B) contributory.
C) means tested.
D) in-kind.
E) progressive.

Question 5

What was the primary problem with private charities before the development of the welfare state?

A) They would make subjective decisions on who was deserving or undeserving of aid.
B) They were unable to get the necessary government licenses to operate legally.
C) They disrupted the constitutional separation of church and state.
D) They often kept donations for their own private use.
E) There were too many of them.

Question 6

Which of the following was important in caring for the poor during the nineteenth century?

A) the military
B) the federal government
C) churches and religious organizations
D) the United Nations
E) state governments

Question 7

Social Security is a good example of

A) outdoor relief.
B) indoor relief.
C) a contributory program.
D) a noncontributory program.
E) a means-tested program.

Question 8

A cost-of-living adjustment is based on

A) the financing approved by Congress during each session.
B) the rate of inflation.
C) the relationship between the level of the federal deficit compared to the nation's gross national product.
D) the changing needs of each recipient.
E) the unemployment rate.

Question 9

The goals of social policy

A) reflect changing views about which risks should be borne by the individual or shared by society.
B) have been consistent since the early twentieth century.
C) are determined by the political party that controls the White House.
D) are clearly laid out in the Constitution.
E) are consistent across the different states of the United States.

Question 10

Medicare is a ______ program;Medicaid is a ______ program.

A) noncontributory;contributory
B) contributory;noncontributory
C) contributory;contributory
D) noncontributory;noncontributory
E) existing;now defunct

Question 11

Which of the following is a program of forced savings?

A) Medicaid
B) Medicare
C) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
D) food stamps
E) Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)

Question 12

How did the Great Depression change American attitudes about welfare?

A) It showed that the government could efficiently distribute public assistance.
B) It demonstrated that the government could choose between the deserving and undeserving poor in a more objective manner than private charities.
C) It revealed that poverty could be caused by a flawed economic system,not just by personal irresponsibility.
D) It revealed that local governments were too corrupt to be trusted with welfare policies.
E) It showed that government was not as capable in taking care of the poor as private charities.

Question 13

The periodic adjustment of benefits or wages that takes into account the increased cost of living is called

A) means testing.
B) indexing.
C) graphing.
D) economic tabulating.
E) inflation.

Question 14

Which group was one of the first to receive government assistance throughout the United States?

A) African Americans,after the Civil War
B) mothers with dependent children
C) the unemployed
D) newly arriving immigrants
E) veterans coming back from World War I

Question 15

When did the American welfare state begin?

A) the 1890s
B) the 1920s
C) the 1930s
D) the 1960s
E) the 1980s

Question 16

Which of the following is an example of nineteenth-century "indoor relief"?

A) the police station
B) job placement services
C) subsidized schools and training centers
D) passes to hotels
E) cash payments

Question 17

The goals of American social policy are

A) popular and receive wide support.
B) often controversial.
C) determined not by popular opinion but by the Constitution.
D) often changed drastically from administration to administration.
E) similar to those seen in the social programs of other countries.

Question 18

Which of the following is not a goal of American social policy?

A) the alleviation of poverty
B) the promotion of equality of opportunity
C) closing the gap between rich and poor
D) protecting people against disability and illness
E) protecting people against temporary unemployment

Question 19

What was the main fear concerning the consequences of outdoor relief?

A) It perpetuated poverty.
B) It was not cost effective.
C) It involved the state too much.
D) It was unconstitutional.
E) It did not provide enough relief.

Question 20

What was "outdoor relief" distributed by private charities?

A) a place to sleep at night
B) a temporary job
C) money
D) a ticket out of town
E) bread lines and soup kitchens

Question 21

Approximately what percentage of the current federal budget is spent on entitlement programs,such as Social Security and Medicare?

A) 20 percent
B) 35 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 60 percent
E) 75 percent

Question 22

What was the significance of the Supreme Court case Goldberg v.Kelly?

A) It established the right of noncitizens to receive public assistance.
B) It held that public assistance benefits could not be revoked without due process of law.
C) It held that unequal welfare benefits were a violation of the equal protection clause.
D) It allowed the executive branch,rather than Congress,to set public assistance rates.
E) It held that the government could revoke assistance benefits without cause.

Question 23

Which program was designed to help augment the benefits to the aged,blind,and disabled?

A) Medicaid
B) Medicare
C) food stamps
D) Supplemental Security Income
E) Social Security

Question 24

The number of families receiving welfare

A) has decreased every year since 1996.
B) has increased every year since 1996.
C) has not changed significantly since the 1960s.
D) decreased dramatically between 1993 and 2004 but increased significantly between 2004 and 2008.
E) increased dramatically between 1993 and 2004 but decreased significantly between 2004 and 2008.

Question 25

When was Medicare established?

A) 1888
B) 1933
C) 1942
D) 1965
E) 1994

Question 26

The federal government's spending on AFDC fell after the mid-1970s because

A) the Supreme Court's decision in Goldberg v.Kelly prohibited more than 15 percent of the budget from being spent on welfare.
B) unlike Social Security,AFDC was not indexed to inflation.
C) fewer and fewer people needed the benefits provided by the program.
D) most state governments started refusing to accept federal money for welfare programs.
E) the program's cost-of-living adjustments were linked to real gross domestic product rather than to inflation.

Question 27

There are considerable disparities in benefits from state to state in noncontributory programs because

A) many state constitutions prohibit state governments from accepting money for noncontributory programs from the federal government.
B) state governments are given grants-in-aid from the federal government to establish and operate their own programs rather than having one,uniform national program.
C) the federal government specifies different levels of assistance to each state based on means testing and indexing.
D) some states do not have any citizens who need the benefits provided by noncontributory programs.
E) some states choose to only employ contributory programs.

Question 28

The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program is administered

A) by the federal government.
B) by the states,with uniform benefit levels set by the federal government.
C) by the states,with benefit levels varying between states.
D) through private agencies with governmental contracts.
E) by the federal government,with benefit levels varying between states.

Question 29

One reason that the AFDC program grew significantly in the 1970s was that

A) voters passed initiatives in many states that required an increase in benefits.
B) a number of court decisions determined that benefits must be increased at a level greater than that of inflation each year.
C) Congress passed a number of laws that dramatically expanded the number of people who were eligible and the overall amount of in-kind benefits that would be provided to eligible people.
D) court decisions made it more difficult for the government to legally terminate people's benefits for a lack of eligibility.
E) state governments refused to administer the program unless the federal government spent more on benefits.

Question 30

Which of the following is an in-kind benefit?

A) Social Security
B) cost-of-living adjustments
C) Medicaid
D) Veterans benefits payments
E) Supplemental Security Income

Question 31

What do public opinion polls reveal about welfare policies?

A) They receive widespread support as long as they are means tested.
B) Americans view welfare beneficiaries as "undeserving."
C) Their popularity is low but has been steadily climbing since the 1970s.
D) The public support for welfare politics goes up when they are administered by the states.
E) Conservatives tend to favor them,while liberals oppose them.

Question 32

Which of the following can be concluded from the results of the 1996 welfare reforms?

A) The reforms have done little to get people off of welfare dependency.
B) The reforms have reduced the number of people on welfare but have done little to reduce poverty.
C) The reforms have led to a reduction in overall poverty.
D) The reforms have led to an increase in the number of welfare recipients.
E) The reforms did not change anything.

Question 33

What important noncontributory program was abolished by Congress in 1996?

A) food stamps
B) Medicaid
C) Aid to Families with Dependent Children
D) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
E) Social Security

Question 34

The main change in welfare policies since 1996 is

A) increased use of noncash assistance.
B) increased benefits.
C) decreased use of means testing.
D) decreased use of job training programs.
E) increased use of direct cash assistance.

Question 35

Which of the following statements about noncontributory programs,such as TANF and Medicaid,is most accurate?

A) The federal government provides all of the funding for these programs and,as a result,citizens in each state receive exactly the same level of benefits.
B) The federal government does not provide any funding for these programs,but state governments have all agreed to provide exactly the same level of benefits to citizens across the country.
C) The federal government provides only some of the funding for these programs and,as a result,citizens in each state receive exactly the same level of benefits.
D) The federal government provides only some of the funding for these programs and,as a result,citizens receive very different levels of benefits in different states.
E) The federal government does not provide any funding for these programs and,as a result,citizens receive very different levels of benefits in different states.

Question 36

Over the past three decades,the level of federal payroll tax has ______,and the level of federal corporate taxes has ______.

A) risen;risen
B) fallen;fallen
C) risen;fallen
D) fallen;risen
E) stayed the same;stayed the same

Question 37

Which of the following statements about noncontributory programs is false?

A) Eligibility for these programs is determined through means testing.
B) These programs may provide public housing,food stamps,and school lunches.
C) The existence of these programs dates from the Civil War.
D) These programs underwent drastic reform in the 1990s.
E) These programs are relatively unpopular when compared to contributory programs.

Question 38

Part of the reason welfare programs became so unpopular was that

A) many Americans came to believe that welfare recipients did not want to work.
B) the benefits provided by the program were too small to actually help recipients improve their lives.
C) the programs were completely taken over by the federal government rather than having input from state and local governments.
D) the programs were completely taken over by state and local governments rather than having input from the federal government.
E) federal judges frequently ruled them to be unconstitutional.

Question 39

The welfare reforms of 1996 did all of the following except

A) place time limitations on how long a recipient could receive benefits.
B) grant block grants to the states to fund the programs.
C) restrict most legal immigrants from receiving benefits.
D) take the federal government out of welfare policy,granting all authority to the states.
E) give the states much more discretion in designing their cash-assistance programs to needy families.

Question 40

How does an entitlement differ from a right?

A) Unlike an entitlement,a right cannot be taken away by an act of Congress.
B) Unlike a right,an entitlement can be revoked without the due process of law.
C) Unlike entitlements,only citizens have rights.
D) Entitlements are only for minorities and the elderly.Rights apply to everyone.
E) Unlike a right,only children receive entitlements.

Question 41

The first federal government assistance in education came

A) in 1785,when the federal government set aside land for public schools.
B) in 1812,when Congress established public schools in Washington,D.C.
C) in 1862,with the establishment of land-grant colleges.
D) in 1944,with the G.I.Bill.
E) in 2001,with the No Child Left Behind Act.

Question 42

When was the U.S.Public Health Service founded?

A) 1798
B) 1866
C) 1936
D) 1942
E) 1968

Question 43

The idea that all people should have the freedom to use whatever talents and wealth they have to achieve their goals is called

A) in-kind benefits.
B) equality of opportunity.
C) outdoor relief.
D) contributory system.
E) equality of results.

Question 44

What was the result of the efforts to reform health care in the United States in 1994?

A) A law was passed granting almost all Americans health care coverage.
B) A law granting health care coverage to almost all Americans passed Congress but was vetoed by President Bill Clinton.
C) A law increasing federal subsidies for health insurance to the working poor was passed and signed.
D) Health care reform met resistance,and no bill was voted on by Congress.
E) A law was passed in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives.

Question 45

Which of the following is not an identifiable problem with Social Security?

A) As the workforce gets older,the government will be forced to spend more on Social Security entitlements.
B) The investment made in Social Security will soon fall below the interest available in an insured bank account.
C) The political consensus supporting a federal retirement program is crumbling.
D) The government is projected to experience shortfalls in the Social Security Trust Fund within a generation.
E) As baby boomers retire,there will not be enough workers to cover their Social Security benefits.

Question 46

What event brought federal attention to elementary school education?

A) the fear that the Soviets were winning the Cold War through better technology
B) low levels of literacy in America's inner cities
C) the return of veterans at the end of World War II
D) the Great Depression
E) the fear that the Japanese were outperforming American students in math and science

Question 47

Spending on medical programs such as Medicare and Medicaid has proven difficult to control because

A) spending on Social Security has declined so significantly.
B) state and local governments have refused to contribute to the costs of administering these programs.
C) these programs are indexed to grow at two times the rate of inflation.
D) of the growing number of people eligible and because of rising health care costs.
E) recipients of these programs frequently abuse them.

Question 48

In 2010,approximately what percentage of American workers were offered health insurance through their jobs?

A) 15 percent
B) 30 percent
C) 45 percent
D) 55 percent
E) 60 percent

Question 49

What is the most significant force determining the distribution of opportunities in the United States?

A) education
B) level of wealth
C) race
D) physical beauty
E) social class

Question 50

Charter schools are best described as

A) the first schools built in any local district.
B) schools that a district uses as the median by which to judge test scores.
C) private schools that are funded with tax vouchers.
D) public schools that are free to design special curricula.
E) private schools run by large corporations.

Question 51

After the election of 2004,President George W.Bush announced that ______ would be the centerpiece of his domestic policy.

A) tax reform
B) education
C) Social Security reform
D) land management
E) war on terrorism

Question 52

Which of the following statements about American's health care views is most accurate?

A) Americans universally reject the idea that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care.
B) Although a majority of Americans reject the idea that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care,there is widespread agreement that government should adopt the "public option" system.
C) Although a majority of Americans believe that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care,there is considerable disagreement about how to deliver such benefits and how to pay for them.
D) A majority of Americans believe that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care and there is widespread agreement that government should take over all of the responsibilities currently given to health insurance companies.
E) A vast majority of Americans strongly favor government-run health care but only if state and local governments are placed in charge of administering all health care programs.

Question 53

Which of the following was a key part of President Obama's overhaul of No Child Left Behind?

A) a proposal that states could apply for waivers that would exempt them from some of the requirements of No Child Left Behind
B) a proposal to change the criteria for allocating $14 billion in federal assistance to schools from a system of competitive grants to a per pupil formula
C) mandating a single nationwide standardized test to be taken by all students
D) providing an unprecedented amount of federal funding for school vouchers,allowing parents more freedom in choosing where their children attend school
E) setting national standards for textbooks at all levels of schooling below college

Question 54

Which of the following statements about the No Child Left Behind Act is false?

A) It was the signature education act of George W.Bush.
B) It increased the role of the federal government in education policy.
C) It requires that students be tested every year for proficiency in math and reading.
D) It creates a standard national test for all students.
E) Many states considered it an unfunded mandate.

Question 55

What was the most significant education policy developed by the federal government in the nineteenth century?

A) the creation of compulsory elementary school education
B) the establishment of land-grant colleges
C) the creation of the G.I.Bill
D) the development of a standard national elementary school curriculum
E)the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Question 56

Which of the following is not a problem with the current health care system in the United States?

A) An increasing number of workers cannot afford health insurance coverage.
B) Many small employers cannot afford to offer health care benefits to their employees.
C) Medicaid is under increasing fiscal strain due to rising health care costs.
D) Medicare is under increasing fiscal strain due to rising health care costs.
E) Local governments are forced to pay the health care costs of all unemployed Americans.

Question 57

Which of the following social policies is currently the most costly to the government?

A) Social Security
B) food stamps
C) public housing assistance
D) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
E) Medicare

Question 58

The idea of ______ was at the heart of George W.Bush's 2005 plan for Social Security reform.

A) termination
B) private accounts
C) universal access
D) benefit reduction
E) benefit increase

Question 59

Which of the following is not a reason why the No Child Left Behind Act has been controversial?

A) Many states branded it an unfunded mandate.
B) Teachers argued that "teaching to the test" undermined critical thinking skills.
C) The standards were too lenient and almost every school met them easily.
D) It vastly increased the role of the federal government in the public school system.
E) The states were made responsible for setting standards and devising appropriate tests.

Question 60

Th G.I.Bill of Rights of 1944 and the National Defense Education Act were examples of the

A) federal government's attempt to recruit more soldiers to the armed forces prior to World War II.
B) federal government's attempt to improve national security during the Cold War.
C) federal government's approach to education policy during the 1940s and 1950s.
D) numerous amendments made to the Constitution in order to protect the rights of veterans of foreign wars.
E) kinds of proposals made by Ronald Reagan when he ran for president in 1980.

Question 61

What is the shadow welfare state?

A) the welfare that is distributed by local governments and special districts
B) social benefits that are distributed by private employers who are being subsidized by the government
C) the welfare payments that the government is committed to paying in the future
D) private charities that have filled the gap left by reductions in government spending
E) the welfare distributed by private charities and religious organizations

Question 62

Which of the following groups receives the most benefits from government's social policies?

A) the middle class
B) the working poor
C) children
D) racial and ethnic minorities
E) the nonworking poor

Question 63

Between 1959 and 2004,the percentage of elderly Americans living in poverty went from ______ to ______.

A) 50 percent;35 percent
B) 35 percent;10 percent
C) 65 percent;25 percent
D) 30 percent;45 percent
E) 40 percent;30 percent

Question 64

Which of the following least explains why the elderly receive a large share of social benefits?

A) The elderly make up a large proportion of the population.
B) The elderly are perceived as deserving benefits.
C) The elderly have developed strong interest groups and lobbying techniques.
D) Most members of Congress are themselves elderly or soon will be.
E) The elderly tend to vote more than younger people.

Question 65

The "individual mandate" refers to

A) the requirement that Medicare cover all individuals living in the United States by 2014.
B) a tax credit that is given to all people who are unemployed and do not have health insurance coverage.
C) the requirement that uninsured individuals purchase health insurance.
D) the requirement that health insurance companies accept all applicants,regardless of preexisting conditions.
E) a system of health care where the government owns and operates all medical facilities.

Question 66

Which of the following statements about government spending is most accurate?

A) The government spends far more on programs for education than on programs for the elderly and poor children.
B) The government spends far more on programs for veterans than on programs for the elderly and poor children.
C) The government spends far more on programs for the elderly than on programs for veterans and on unemployment insurance benefits.
D) The government spends far more on programs for poor children than on programs for the elderly and on unemployment insurance benefits.
E) The government spends far more on unemployment insurance benefits than on programs for the elderly and for poor children.

Question 67

Which of the following is the best example of the shadow welfare state?

A) soup kitchens supported by local churches
B) food stamps
C) workplace medical insurance
D) cost-of-living adjustments
E) Medicaid

Question 68

Since the mid-1990s,by how much has the number of welfare recipients declined in the United States?

A) between 5 and 10 percent
B) between 20 and 30 percent
C) over 50 percent
D) The number of welfare recipients has actually risen 5 percent since the mid-1990s.
E) over 80 percent

Question 69

______ are programs where the government provides a tax deduction for spending on health insurance and other benefits by both employers and employees.

A) Noncompulsory benefits
B) Tax expenditures
C) Direct services
D) Earned income tax credits
E) Supplemental Security Income

Question 70

The central thrust of federal housing policy has been to

A) promote home ownership.
B) reduce homelessness.
C) provide low-cost rental units for the poor.
D) provide uniform housing safety standards.
E) provide equitable housing for minorities.

Question 71

Which of the following programs most benefits the working poor?

A) earned income tax credits
B) Medicaid
C) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
D) subsidized student loans
E) Social Security

Question 72

How did deregulation of the mortgage industry in 1999 help produce the housing crisis of 2007 and 2008?

A) It drove housing prices down by preventing too many qualified people from obtaining the mortgages needed to purchase homes.
B) It allowed many new mortgage companies to form,offering "predatory" loans that people could not afford to repay.
C) It made foreclosures almost impossible under the law and allowed many people to stop paying their mortgages with no monetary penalties.
D) It eliminated most mortgage companies and forced potential homeowners to pay cash for their homes.
E) It increased property taxes to the point that many homeowners were forced to sell their homes.

Question 73

Which of the following groups receives the least benefits from government's social policies?

A) the middle class
B) children
C) the elderly
D) the wealthy
E) minorities

Question 74

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

A) Women are more likely to be poor than men.
B) African Americans have experienced twice as much unemployment as other Americans.
C) The poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans are more than double that of non-Hispanic white Americans.
D) Minorities are less likely to have access to the shadow welfare state.
E) Men are more likely to be poor than women.

Question 75

AARP has a membership of approximately ______ members.

A) 10,000
B) 750,000
C) 1 million
D) 9 million
E) 40 million

Question 76

Which of the following is not a reason the working poor receive such a small amount of social policy benefits?

A) They are often too poor to enjoy the subsidies of the shadow welfare state.
B) Because they are employed,they cannot receive assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
C) The working poor are not a well-organized political force.
D) The working poor are often considered undeserving by public opinion.
E) They are often renters and do not benefit from government programs that help homeowners.

Question 77

Which of the following is the strongest factor in predicting which groups in society receive the most benefits from government's social policies?

A) groups that make up the largest percentage of the population
B) groups that are the most politically powerful
C) groups that have the largest membership
D) groups that are made up of people who cannot help themselves,like children or the elderly
E) groups that provide the most to government through their tax dollars

Question 78

In 2007 and 2008,the government faced a housing crisis caused by

A) sharp rises in house prices.
B) foreclosures.
C) a scarcity of affordable housing.
D) shortages in the timber industry.
E) an incredible drop in the stock market.

Question 79

Which of the following was not included in the congressional plans for health care reform?

A) the creation of new state-based insurance exchanges
B) a provision requiring uninsured individuals to purchase health insurance
C) insurance regulation that prohibits insurers from denying benefits for a variety of reasons such as preexisting conditions
D) an expansion of the public programs Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
E) a "public option" allowing individuals to acquire medical coverage directly from the government

Question 80

Since the welfare reforms of 1996,what is the primary reason for receiving federal cash assistance if one is nonworking and able-bodied?

A) The recipient is caring for children.
B) The recipient is going to school or in a job-training program.
C) The recipient has been means tested.
D) The recipient has been considered deserving.
E) The recipient is actively looking for a job.