Deck 13: Issues in Public Policy: Politics, Principles, Priorities, and Practices

Question 1

How do rates of gun ownership in the United States compare with other post-industrial countries in the world, such as the United Kingdom and Germany?

A)They are much lower.
B)They are slightly lower.
C)They are much higher.
D)They are slightly higher.
E)They are about the same.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

How has the Social Security trust fund been weakened since the 1980s?

A)Congress reduced taxes on Social Security in the early 1980s.
B)Congress began to use the Social Security trust fund to pay for Medicare.
C)Congress began to "borrow" from the Social Security trust fund.
D)Congress reduced the retirement age for many Baby Boomers, allowing them to retire early.
E)Congress began to use the Social Security trust fund to pay for large expansions of welfare.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

One suggestion to lower crime rates is to redefine crimes, removing crimes without a victim. Which of the following might qualify as "victimless" crimes?

A)Fraud and extortion
B)Theft and drunk driving
C)Rape and assault
D)Drug sales and murder
E)Prostitution and drug use

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Since the 1980s, what government program has been the fastest growing?

A)Medicaid
B)Medicare
C)Social Security
D)Pell Grants
E)TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)

Question 5

For most of American history, the Second Amendment was considered to apply to state militias and not individuals. When did the idea of an individual right to gun ownership become widespread?

A)The 1920s
B)The 1940s
C)The 1960s
D)The 1980s
E)The 1880s

Question 6

What was the broad effect of the USA Patriot Act (2001)?

A)The federal government's ability to surveil individuals was broadly decreased.
B)The federal government's ability to surveil individuals was increased, but only for terrorism-related charges.
C)The state governments' ability to surveil individuals was broadly increased.
D)The federal government's ability to surveil individuals was broadly increased.
E)The state governments' ability to surveil individuals was broadly decreased.

Question 7

Shortly after his election, which president removed the United States from the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to lower greenhouse gases?

A)Ronald Reagan
B)George H. W. Bush
C)Bill Clinton
D)George W. Bush
E)Barack Obama

Question 8

Which of the following countries has the highest rate of criminal incarceration?

A)The United States
B)Russia
C)China
D)Iran
E)The United Kingdom

Question 9

Which of the following has significantly changed since the Kyoto Protocol to make climate change reduction efforts more complicated?

A)China and India have increased their carbon emissions significantly.
B)The cost of renewable energy has significantly increased.
C)The cost of renewable energy has significantly decreased.
D)Public attention to climate change has declined significantly.
E)Politicians across the political spectrum are no longer interested in the issue.

Question 10

Which of the following would best describe taxes on corporations in the United States?

A)Corporate tax rates are relatively high, but the taxes paid are fairly low.
B)Corporate tax rates are relatively low, and the taxes paid are fairly low.
C)Corporate tax rates are relatively high, and the taxes paid are fairly high.
D)Corporate tax rates are relatively low, but the taxes paid are fairly high.
E)Corporate taxes have been effectively eliminated due to tax changes that started under President Reagan.

Question 11

Which country spends the most, roughly 50 percent of the global total, on national security?

A)Russia
B)The United States
C)China
D)North Korea
E)India

Question 12

After defense spending cuts in the 1990s under Presidents H. W. Bush and Clinton, the general direction of defense spending in the United States has been in what direction?

A)Level, no major changes
B)Slightly decreased
C)Significantly decreased
D)Slightly increased
E)Significantly increased

Question 13

Which President negotiated and signed the Balanced Budget Act?

A)President Reagan
B)President H. W. Bush
C)President W. Bush
D)President Clinton
E)President Obama

Question 14

Compared to countries in Europe, the United States government's social safety net tends to be which of the following?

A)Much larger and more broadly defined
B)Somewhat larger and more broadly defined
C)Similar in size
D)Somewhat smaller and more narrowly defined
E)Much smaller and more narrowly defined

Question 15

What element of the American political system creates significant complications for the regulation of drugs such as marijuana?

A)Separation of powers
B)Federalism
C)Judicial review
D)Checks and balances
E)Executive privilege

Question 16

During the Reagan presidency, what happened to federal spending as compared to the Carter presidency?

A)It decreased due to major budget cuts, especially on defense.
B)It decreased due to major budget cuts, especially on social welfare programs.
C)It stayed roughly the same due to a mix of budget cuts and tax cuts.
D)It increased due to increased defense and agriculture spending.
E)It increased due to increased social welfare spending.

Question 17

What is meant by the term "sustainable growth"?

A)An approach where economic growth is prioritized regardless of its effects on the environment
B)An approach where environmental protection is prioritized regardless of its effects on the economy
C)An approach where families are required to provide the state with enough children to keep the population stable
D)An approach where the state takes over all industries with significant negative effects on the environment
E)An approach where economic growth is balanced with minimizing the impact on the environment

Question 18

Both Thomas Hobbes and Aristotle would have agreed that one of the fundamental, if not the primary, purposes of government and politics was the protection of what?

A)Security
B)Liberty
C)Property
D)Public morality
E)Propriety

Question 19

How do government entitlements differ from other kinds of government-provided benefits?

A)They are generally considered to be a right and not a privilege.
B)They are generally considered to be a privilege and not a right.
C)They tend to be much smaller and narrowly defined.
D)They tend to be much larger and broadly defined.
E)Very few people are eligible.

Question 20

During the Reagan presidency, what happened to federal budget deficits?

A)They increased slightly.
B)They increased substantially.
C)They stayed roughly the same.
D)They decreased slightly.
E)They decreased substantially.

Question 21

Describe the main reasons for the rapid growth in Social Security spending since the 1980s. Please be specific.

Question 22

What key civil liberties are protected in the First Amendment of the Constitution?

A)Speech, press, bearing arms, and life
B)Speech, assembly, life, and freedom from being tortured
C)Speech, press, religion, and assembly
D)Speech, religion, and freedom from being enslaved
E)Religion, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, and unreasonable searches

Question 23

What is the goal of deterrence in criminal justice?

A)Discouraging others from committing the same crime
B)Providing a consequence for wrongdoing
C)Returning individuals to society
D)Isolating individuals for the public's safety
E)Providing safety through aggressive policing

Question 24

What has happened to the distribution of wealth in the United States since 1980?

A)All segments of the economy have seen their incomes increase quickly.
B)All segments of the economy have seen their incomes decrease quickly.
C)Middle class earners have seen their incomes decrease, while the incomes of the wealthy and lower classes have increased rapidly.
D)The middle and lower classes have seen their incomes remain flat or decrease, while the incomes of the wealthy have increased rapidly.
E)The middle and upper classes have seen their incomes remain flat, while the incomes of lower class earners have increased rapidly.

Question 25

Why is Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)considered such an important civil rights decision?

A)The decision declared the all-white primary election illegal.
B)The decision ended the practice of racial segregation in law schools.
C)The decision overturned state bans on interracial marriage.
D)The decision required the states to enforce the Civil Rights Act.
E)The decision ended the legal concept of separate-but-equal.

Question 26

Compare the rates of gun ownership in the United States with other post-industrialized countries. How different are they? What factors might account for this fact? What are the measurable differences in the social impact of the differing ownership rates?

Question 27

Describe the factors that led to the demise of the Balanced Budget Act and the short-lived federal budget surplus of 2001. How many of these factors were inevitable and how many were the result of specific political choices? Defend your designations within both categories.

Question 28

Why is the exclusionary rule essential to preventing police misconduct?

A)This rule prevents police offices from eliminating witnesses based upon race.
B)This rule prevents prosecutors from using illegally obtained evidence.
C)This rule prevents police officers from eliminating suspects based upon race.
D)This rule requires prosecutors to ensure that the police eliminated all other suspects.
E)This rule requires prosecutors to show all evidence to the jury no matter how extraneous.

Question 29

Describe some of the ways that the state protects citizens from themselves. How do these protections, such as seat belt laws, fit into modern American ideologies? How do liberals, conservatives, moderates, and libertarians feel about these issues?

Question 30

Why are entitlements generally more difficult for the government to change than other types of benefits? What issues might be created due to this difficulty?

Question 31

Compare the federal budget deficit and federal debt.

Question 32

What was the result of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965)and No Child Left Behind Act (2001)?

A)These laws decreased federal oversight of education, giving more authority to the states.
B)These laws increased federal oversight of education, taking away authority from states and cities.
C)These laws decreased state oversight of education, giving more authority to cities.
D)These laws increased state oversight of education, taking authority away from cities.
E)These laws increased federal funding of education without making any changes to existing structures.

Question 33

How does Europe's Emission Trading Scheme work generally? How is this policy designed to work with capitalism?

Question 34

What were the main goals of the USA Patriot Act? Why was the law controversial?

Question 35

While the rulings are complex, the Supreme Court has generally found what to violate the First Amendment?

A)School voucher programs
B)State aid to churches engaging in charitable acts
C)Religious practices that offend Christians
D)Organized school prayer, even if it is nondenominational
E)State laws that exempt churches from property taxes

Question 36

Over time, the percentage of government revenues that come from corporate taxes have generally done which of the following?

A)Decreased significantly
B)Decreased slightly
C)Stayed roughly the same
D)Increased slightly
E)Increased significantly

Question 37

What did the Supreme Court decide in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)concerning affirmative action in university admissions?

A)That racial quotas and preferences for minorities were unconstitutional
B)That racial quotas are unconstitutional but preferences for minorities are allowable
C)That racial quotas and other preferences for minorities are constitutional
D)That Bakke lacked grounds to sue because he was not an injured party
E)That racial quotas and other preferences for minorities must include Asian Americans

Question 38

The case of Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)expanded civil rights to what group?

A)Gay and lesbian Americans
B)African Americans
C)Asian Americans
D)Americans with disabilities
E)Naturalized American citizens

Question 39

How is the United States different from all other post-industrial countries in terms of health care?

A)The United States spends far less on health care.
B)The United States government does not get involved in health care, leaving it up to the states.
C)The United States is the only country that does not guarantee basic health care to all citizens.
D)The United States spends the least on health care research.
E)The United States is generally healthier than other countries.

Question 40

The Supreme Court has ruled that public figures can only receive compensation from press criticism where there is proof of what?

A)Damage to their reputation
B)A clearly false statement
C)Injury to their business interests
D)Inaccurate reporting
E)Actual malice

Question 41

Describe the basic framework of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). How does it work? What are its main successes? What are its main failings?

Question 42

Describe the main effects of the Supreme Court's rulings in the Civil Rights Cases (1883)and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). How did these rulings shape the legal understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment?

Question 43

Consider freedom of speech. How broad is this right? Is the right to free speech limited in some ways? If so, how?

Question 44

What are charter schools and what problems are they designed to solve? What criticisms can be made of these programs? Please be specific.