Deck 3: The Historical Context: Development of Our Current Welfare System

Question 1

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration's economic policies were based on the theories of British economist John Maynard Keynes, who held that:

A) lower taxes stimulate investment
B) privatization encourages competition
C) increased government spending and manipulation of interest rates dampens inflation and manages recessions
D) cutting expenditures prevents economic collapse

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Informed by experiences of the Great Depression, future U.S. response to economic downturns is best characterized as:

A) always defaulting to Keynesian principles, including increased government spending
B) avoiding any increases in government spending, in favor of an emphasis on tax cuts
C) reinstitution of public job programs, given our emphasis on work effort
D) various policy tactics, including some Keynesian stimulus, as well as tax cuts and manipulation of interest rates, depending largely on prevailing political preferences

Answer 2

D

Question 3

The Townsend Movement was a grassroots campaign to:

A) provide more generous retirement benefits to older adults
B) increase the wages paid in WPA jobs
C) provide national health insurance
D) oppose U.S. entry into World War II

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In addition to establishing retirement benefits, the Social Security Act passed in 1935 also:

A) created the Food Stamp program
B) created Aid to Dependent Children
C) provided survivor benefits for family members of deceased workers
D) created the disability insurance program

Question 5

After entering the labor market in unprecedented numbers during World War II, women after the war:

A) were promoted on the basis of their work experience
B) enjoyed enhanced political power commensurate with their economic independence
C) were pressured to return to traditional gender roles in the home
D) flocked to military service

Question 6

An example of social policy legislation based on a strengths approach is:

A) the GI Bill
B) Aid to Dependent Children
C) Jim Crow policies
D) Medicaid

Question 7

While an example of policy informed by attention to the strengths of the target population, the GI Bill's impact on racial equality can best be characterized by:

A) GI Bill benefits closed the racial wealth gap
B) policymakers were afraid to upset the Jim Crow status quo, so GI Bill benefits were only offered to white veterans
C) members of Congress wanted to impress foreign allies and opponents with their commitment to racial equality, so the GI Bill was primarily designed to help veterans of color
D) benefits were nominally available universally, regardless of race, but racial inequities in education and housing systems ensured that the legislation perpetuated racial injustice

Question 8

School desegregation was achieved by:

A) The Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Topeka Board of Education, which was immediately implemented and ensured that all classrooms are fully integrated
B) The Supreme Court's ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson
C) congressional legislation
D) schools are still largely segregated, despite legal prohibitions against de jure segregation

Question 9

Among the social policy achievements of the John F. Kennedy Administration were:

A) an end to discrimination based on race
B) the beginning of the deinstitutionalization movement for persons with mental illness
C) passage of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
D) creation of Medicare

Question 10

Social workers' support for the Social Service Amendments to the Social Security Act:

A) definitively proved that case management is essential in ending poverty
B) increased social workers' power, after the Amendments dramatically decreased the welfare rolls
C) increased skepticism about social services, after the amendments failed to reduce poverty
D) taught the profession to never again engage in policy advocacy

Question 11

The Johnson Administration's social policy efforts, including the creation of Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), funding for Community Action Programs, the creation of Head Start, and the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid, was called:

A) The New Deal
B) The Assault on Inequality
C) The Fair Deal
D) The Great Society

Question 12

The Economic Opportunity Act embodied a strengths approach in that it:

A) reflected the belief that political power for those in poverty is key to providing the necessary education and employment opportunities
B) refused to use the term 'poverty', because it is stigmatizing
C) required recipients to work to earn their public benefits
D) relied on professional social workers to deliver all programs, rather than professions that use a deficit model

Question 13

The national health insurance program for people 65 years of age and older is:

A) Medicaid
B) SCHIP
C) Medicare
D) Social Security

Question 14

In addition to providing health care for poor families with children, Medicaid also:

A) pays health care expenses for anyone who has medical expenses that reach more than 10% of their income
B) provides home- and community-based services for anyone with a disability
C) pays for prescription drugs for anyone receiving Medicare
D) pays more than half of nursing home costs nationally

Question 15

The Indian Child Welfare Act was designed to address:

A) the disproportionately high rates of child abuse within Native American families
B) the loss of tribal sovereignty and culture when Native children are removed from their families and placed in non-Native homes
C) the need for more Native child welfare workers
D) need for training for foster parents in how to work with American Indian children

Question 16

Affirmative Action is best understood as:

A) reparations paid to African Americans for their ancestors' slavery
B) reverse discrimination
C) policies and programs designed to compensate for discrimination against marginalized groups
D) quotas that make it easier for women to get jobs than for men

Question 17

Which of the following was NOT part of the Reagan Administration's social policy agenda?

A) supply-side economics, which included large tax cuts
B) devolution, to transfer responsibility for social welfare to the states
C) privatization of many social welfare functions
D) increases in the minimum wage, to encourage work rather than welfare dependency

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT normally a feature of the transition from categorical grants to block grants?

A) increases in funding to compensate states for taking on more responsibility
B) enhanced flexibility for states to allocate social welfare dollars
C) reduction of the federal government role in social welfare
D) reshaping of the social contract between citizens and their government

Question 19

Poverty rates in the United States since 1959 can generally be characterized as:

A) steady declines for all subpopulations
B) increases and decreases with changes in economic cycles and social policy, but comparable figures for all races and ethnicities
C) relatively unchanged, despite dramatic shifts in women's labor market participation
D) much lower than it was when the Social Security Administration began to track it, despite substantial increases during and following the Great Recession

Question 20

TANF is a means-tested policy because it:

A) uses eligibility criteria considered harsh or "mean"
B) uses average (or "mean") income calculations
C) bases eligibility on financial need
D) is often portrayed negatively in the media, which many advocates consider "mean"

Question 21

The "New Democrats"' social policy agenda did NOT include:

A) unpaid medical and family leave for many workers
B) legislation to help people with disabilities retain health care once employed
C) expansion of welfare benefits for low-income single mothers
D) balanced budgets to protect future fiscal solvency

Question 22

Today, the legacy of the Obama Administration can be seen in which aspects of social policy?

A) None; President Trump has erased all Obama-era initiatives
B) The Affordable Care Act, some tighter environmental regulations, and the entrance of millions of young voters and voters of color into the political process
C) Proof that the U.S. is finally a "color-blind" society
D) Substantially higher levels of taxation and spending, especially in anti-poverty programming

Question 23

Which of the following are likely to be lasting legacies of the Trump Administration?

A) It will be difficult to recruit talented professionals to government service, since there has been so much turnover in the White House.
B) Future government announcements will mostly be made on social media.
C) Americans will expect independent investigations to determine whether all future elections are free of foreign interference.
D) The federal judiciary will be considerably more conservative in the past.

Question 24

Social workers practicing in immigrant communities likely consider policy actions of the Trump Administration as:

A) inconsequential, since many have been overturned by the courts
B) forever turning the tide of U.S. public opinion against immigrants
C) harmful, both in terms of their actual effects, particularly for would-be refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as rhetorically, because President Trump so often characterizes immigrants as a threat to the nation
D) functionally equivalent to the Obama Administration, which deported more immigrants than any prior presidency

Question 25

What were three programs within the New Deal?

Question 26

How did the roles played by social workers within the Roosevelt Administration impact the development of the policies within the New Deal?

Question 27

In addition to providing economic security for older adults, what are two less commonly stated original goals of Social Security, as advocated by the Townsend Movement?

Question 28

How do social workers understand the lasting effects of the Great Recession, from today's perspective?

Question 29

Discuss how the ideas of "worthy" vs. "unworthy" poor are reflected in the differences between Social Security and Aid to Dependent Children.

Question 30

Describe the meaning of "termination" in the context of the struggle for Native American rights.

Question 31

Outline approaches strengths-based social workers who are concerned about the corrosive effects of the 2000 and 2016 elections on Americans' sense of political empowerment could use to engage client groups in the political process.