UNIT V: Public Policy (Economic, Social, Foreign/Defense)

AP GOVERNMENT

UNIT V: Public Policy (Economic, Social, Foreign/Defense)

Part I: Outline
PUBLIC POLICY
1. What is Public Policy

2. Steps in Making Policy

3. Budget Process

4. Role of the Media in Public Policy

5. Role of Interest Groups in Making Policy

6. Obstacles to Making Policy

ECONOMIC POLICY
1. Who are the decision makers 2. Federal Budget
a. revenue/taxes
b. expenses
3. Entitlement Programs
a. what are they
b. examples
c. Health Care 4. Economic Policy Theories
a. Monetary Policy
b. Fiscal Policy
i. Keynesian Theory 5. The Federal Reserve System
a. The Fed – what is it/what does it do
b. purpose 6. Budget Offices
a. executive branch
b. legislative branch 7. A Balanced Budget?
a. Gramm-Rudman Act
b. constitutional amendment 8. Trade Policy
a. WTO

SOCIAL POLICY
1. Who are the decision makers 2. Private vs. Public Approach to Social Policy
a. examples 3. Health Care 4. Crime 5. Poverty/Welfare 6. Immigration 7. Environmental Policy

FOREIGN POLICY
1. Who are the decision makers 2. Congress and Foreign Policy
a. War Powers Act 3. Diplomacy 4. National Security
a. terrorism
b. nuclear proliferation 5. Themes
a. Isolationism c. Cold War e. Detente
b. Internationalism d. Containment

MILITARY/DEFENSE POLICY
1. Who are the decision makers 2. Politics and Defense Policy

Part II: Questions

DISTRIBUTIVE

1. What are distributive policies?

2. What is a subsidy? (summarize)

3. Which two or three groups benefit from a policy like student loans?

4. What determines who gets a piece of the “pork”?

5. What is pluralism? (summarize the pluralistic theory of politics)

6. What tends to dominate distributive policies/politics?

7. What is meant by agribusiness?

8. When did subsidies to farmers start?

9. What specific subsidy was made available to farmers?

10. What groups make up the agricultural iron triangle?

11. Which congressmen/senators want to serve on the House/Senate Agricultural committees?

12. How does the USDA benefit from subsidies?

13. How do the House/Senate committees benefit from subsidies?

14. How do the interest groups involved benefit from subsidies?

15. What kinds of groups/politicians oppose farm subsidies?

16. What is the “Military-Industrial-Complex”?

17. Explain the circumstances that in the past have resulted in $600.00 toilet seats and coffee makers purchased by the Defense Department (Pentagon)?

18. Who will defense contractors often hire to lobby Congress for new business?

19. Defense contracts are considered what type of benefit?

20. After the Cold War, what did many expect to happen in terms of defense spending?

21. How did some members of Congress essentially stop the above situation from happening?

22. Why is it difficult to change existing government distributive policies/programs?

REDISTRIBUTIVE

1. What are redistributive policies?

2. What aspects of our political culture play a role in redistributive policies?

3. What do most redistributive policies involve?

4. An “economic safety net” is an example of a ______policy.

5. When did most welfare policies/programs begin?

6. When it comes to welfare programs: liberals want __; conservatives want ___

7. What is the big question when it comes to entitlements and who should get them?

8. Prior to the New Deal, where could the “deserving” poor look to for assistance?

9. What put welfare on the national agenda?

10. What two welfare programs started in 1935?

11. What welfare programs started in 1946? in the 1960’s?

12. Why don’t people think of Social Security as welfare?

13. What program does the term “means tested” refer to?

14. What two conditions must exist in order for people to support non-contributory welfare programs?

15. What group(s) argue that non-contributory welfare discourages people from looking for a job?

16. Liberals argue that people who want to work can’t work because…

17. How as welfare changed by the 1996 Welfare Reform Act?

18.What is the theory behind states insisting on work requirements for welfare recipients?

19. What is a regressive tax?

20. What type of tax in an income tax?

21. What are the three income brackets?

22. What provisions of the tax laws are two examples of redistributive policies?

23. Why is Social Security considered a regressive tax?

24. What voting block/group may have more influence in the debate on Social Security reform? Why?

25. Why do redistributive policies like welfare and taxes cause so much controversy?

REGULATORY

1. What is hyper pluralist politics?

2. What is the conservative view of regulatory policies?

3. What is the liberal view of regulatory policies?

4. What types of interest groups come into conflict with regulatory policies?

5. What are the strategies these interest groups can use?

6. In general, describe the relationship between government and business in the 19th c.

7. Name some of the Progressive Era regulatory legislation:

8. When did the federal government begin to support labor for the first time?

9. Since the New Deal, what major regulatory legislation has been passes regarding business and labor?

10. Since the New Deal, what major regulatory laws have been passed to protect
consumers?

11. Who was the person responsible for legislation regarding automobile safety?

12. Since the 19th century, government has created regulatory policies that set up
agencies that impact what three groups?

13. People who believe government is the problem not the solution favored what action in the 1970’s and 1980’s (less government regulation)?

14. What two industries were deregulated under Presidents Ford and Carter?

15. What type of policy did President Reagan favor?

16. What is the difference between preservation and conservation of the environment?

17. Who was the first president to push conservation on to the national agenda?

18. What interest groups pushed for government regulation/involvement in the
environment in the 1960’s?

19. What government organization coordinates environmental policy?

20. Why was the 1977 Clean Air Act modified in 1980?

21. Who/what groups line up against business when it comes to regulatory policy?

22. Who do these groups look to for action to help their cause?

23. What is business’ argument against government regulation?