Deck 8: Public Policy

Question 1

The idea of public policy is an example of government's ability to establish

A) ideological principles.
B) historical imperatives.
C) an authoritative allocation of values.
D) military dogma through conquest.

Answer 1

an authoritative allocation of values.

Question 2

In a government by network approach to policy, the government stops trying to do everything by itself and

A) funds other organizations that do the actual work the government wants done.
B) leaves policy outcomes to chance or historical accident.
C) focuses on ten key principles that it enforces through legislation.
D) uses the courts to entrench its goals.

Answer 2

funds other organizations that do the actual work the government wants done.

Question 3

The government by market approach to public policy is characterized by the government

A) using state power to create a market that fulfills a public purpose.
B) funding organizations that do the actual work the government wants done.
C) leaving policy outcomes to chance or historical accident.
D) using the courts to entrench its goals.

Answer 3

using state power to create a market that fulfills a public purpose.

Question 4

A general response to the question of whether presidential or parliamentary systems produce better public policy seems to be that

A) no governmental system can produce good public policy.
B) there is no evidence that one produces qualitatively better policy than the other.
C) presidential systems are more effective policy producers.
D) parliamentary systems are more effective policy producers.

Question 5

Why is there a need for public policy?

A) If government doesn't come up with a policy, then a military coup invariably arises.
B) Governments are the only agency that can generate policy outcomes.
C) People invariably expect governments to solve all their problems.
D) Governments are faced with problems that need solutions.

Question 6

The decision by governments about which problems will be addressed and which will not be addressed is referred to as:

A) determining policy options
B) agenda setting
C) policy implementation
D) bureaucracy

Question 7

In the process of setting agendas, the government is in fact

A) deciding who is going to rule.
B) engaging in the process of political recruitment.
C) deciding on "tied" versus "untied" aid.
D) prioritizing some issues and choosing to not deal with others.

Question 8

After a policy agenda is determined, the next question to be handled by government refers to

A) the implementation of public policy.
B) how policy options are to be determined.
C) the political socialization of the public.
D) the political recruitment of the public.

Question 9

Once a decision has been made about a specific policy option, the phase of the policy-making process that needs to be addressed is:

A) the agenda-setting phase
B) the prioritization phase
C) the application phase
D) the implementation phase

Question 10

At its most basic level, questions related to domestic policy have to do with whether the government of the day

A) will or will not regulate in certain areas.
B) support raising taxes or cutting spending.
C) cares about the well-being of its citizens.
D) is worried about a possible military takeover.

Question 11

While a liberal position on public policy encourages government intervention in or regulation of private business, the conservative position suggests that

A) not only should government intervene, but it should do so massively.
B) government should fund 50% of all programs to be undertaken.
C) government should ignore calls for social goods.
D) the private sector should be permitted to find its own outcome to respond to publicneeds.

Question 12

The liberal position in the public policy debate, supporting government intervention or regulation, is that

A) the private sector will do as good a job as the government in making good policy.
B) the private sector is incapable of making decisions related to public policy.
C) left to it own devices, the free market will not always decide for the public good if itconflicts with corporate profits.
D) government should put the private sector out of business.

Question 13

Social domestic policy is sometimes referred to by critics as "welfare policy" because many conservatives believe that

A) government cannot provide public policy in these areas.
B) government can provide welfare, but cannot create policy in other public areas.
C) government providing many social benefits is just like putting everyone "on welfare."
D) the private sector is better positioned to create a welfare state.

Question 14

Sometimes government appears to be incapable of quick action to solve social problems. Following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, who was the most effective in bringing drinking water to the public?

A) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
B) the Salvation Army
C)F. E.M.A., the Federal Emergency Management Agency
D) Walmart

Question 15

The preference of the economic private sector is that the government

A) do its best to create equitable and sustainable public policy.
B) should act decisively, as long as it knows what it wants to do.
C) should use a referendum to decide what policy to enact.
D) should stay out of the policy business and the let marketplace determine what happens.

Question 16

In the context of the global marketplace, which is the most powerful actor in recent years?

A) natural resource managing corporations
B) multinational corporations
C) social welfare agencies
D) faith-based organizations

Question 17

One of the key factors influencing domestic policy in the developing world is

A) the availability (or lack of availability) of financial resources to fund initiatives.
B) voting turnout in recent elections.
C) whether political socialization produces an active and productive political elite.
D) the nation's colonial heritage.

Question 18

The term third world refers to nations that

A) are not in the Western developed group and also not part of the East EuropeanMarxist group.
B) are either in Asia or Latin America.
C) are either in Africa or Asia.
D) are in Europe or North America.

Question 19

The low- and middle-income states are what we refer to as the:

A) developed nations
B) developing nations
C) the first world
D) the second world

Question 20

In addition to economic standing, the notion of third world implies all of the following
Except:

A) a colonial history
B) an economy based upon fishing
C) an underdeveloped level of technological development
D) a lack of development of European social/cultural institutions

Question 21

International policy includes questions about all of the following except:

A) military issues
B) trade issues
C) voting residency requirements
D) environmental issues

Question 22

The notion of "tied" foreign aid suggests that

A) aid cannot be spent in the donor nation.
B) aid must be spent in the recipient nation.
C) aid cannot be spent in the recipient nation.
D) aid must be spent in the donor nation.

Question 23

The primary advantage of untied foreign aid is that

A) the recipient nation will spend its aid on more expensive items.
B) the recipient nation will not use its aid for the purpose for which it was given.
C) the recipient nation will squander its aid and need to come back for more.
D) the recipient nation can look for the least expensive commodities that it can find.

Question 24

The "external environment" of foreign policy includes:

A) the political socialization and recruitment processes.
B) other nation states with which the nation must interact.
C) political parties and interest groups in the national setting.
D) voting and elections in the national setting.

Question 25

When we consider foreign policy decision-making, the "internal environment" includes:

A) military considerations.
B) international embargoes.
C) tariffs and trade wars.
D) domestic factors that can influence foreign policy.

Question 26

One of the first modern political scientists to specifically discuss public policy as such was Charles Merriam.

Question 27

Two kinds of governmental approach to public policy are government by network and government by framework.

Question 28

Many worry that the government relinquishing policy-making power and the ability to undertake policymaking initiatives to the private sector will cripple the ability of the government to act where only it can.

Question 29

Pluralist theory suggests that individuals join groups because they see an advantage to doing so.

Question 30

Interest group theory suggests that individuals belong to many various interest groups, reflecting different aspects of their interests.

Question 31

Because fiscal resources are not always available and because there isn't always adequate time, one of the first challenges governments face in policymaking is deciding what their political agenda is going to be.

Question 32

The legislature and the courts are the two most common locations in which government policy options are determined.

Question 33

After agenda setting and formulation of options, the third stage of the policy-making process is the implementation stage.

Question 34

In many cases, the conservative position in public policy urges governmental action, and the liberal position urges governmental inaction.

Question 35

In the global marketplace, even the great powers and superpowers of years past are unable to control multinational corporations' behavior when it comes to economic behavior.

Question 36

Many developing nations have more policy options available to them than developed nations because they have more financial resources.

Question 37

Most nations of the developing world have only been independent a relatively short period of time, many only since the end of the Second World War.

Question 38

The terms "developing world" and "third world" can be used interchangeably, since their meanings are the same.

Question 39

Two characteristics of developing nations are high rates of population growth and dependence on agricultural production.

Question 40

From the donor's perspective, the advantage of tied foreign aid is that it can have some economic impact in the home nation, while untied foreign aid may not.

Question 41

The foreign policy decision-making system can be said to have both an external environment and an exogenous environment.

Question 42

In the international global setting, nations want to retain their domestic autonomy, but they also want the ability to expand their own markets into other nation's spheres of domestic autonomy.

Question 43

At the most general level, how do policy liberals and policy conservatives differ in terms of the way they see the role of government and the private sector? How might we determine which view is more accurate?

Question 44

Of the three stages in the policy-making process, which might be most likely to be challenging in a developed nation? Would the answer to this question be different for a developing nation? Why?

Question 45

The text discusses the difference between "tied" and "untied" foreign aid. Do you think that this is an important distinction? If we accept that tied aid might not be as effective as untied
aid, why would a nation that is going to give foreign aid at all not want to do so in the most effective way possible?

Question 46

While it is true that states remain crucially important actors in regulating and directing economic and political globalization, their unambiguous power in the policy-making process is rapidly changing, and the second half of the 20^th Century was referred to by many as the era of multinational corporations. Why? What do you see as the future relationship between nation-states and multinational corporations?

Question 47

The chapter ends with a paradox: nations jealously want to guard their own sovereignty in economic and policy spheres, but they do not want other nations to interfere with their ability to expand their markets into other nation's spheres of domestic autonomy. What is the solution to this challenge?