Unit 5 Test
Public Policy
1. Which of the following institutions has not played an increasingly important role in the agenda-setting process in government?
a. the Senate
b. the House
c. the mass media
d. the courts
e. all of the above
2. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was passed at a time when
a. the number of industrial deaths had increased steadily for a decade
b. the number of industrial deaths had been dropping steadily for twenty years
c. industrial fatalities had remained the same for several years
d. data on industrial deaths were unavailable to Congress
e. data on industrial fatalities were unreliable
3. Each of the following institutions plays a major role in setting the political agenda and effecting government action except the
a. council of state governments
b. courts
c. the Senate
d. bureaucracy
e. media
4. If you receive benefits from a policy achieved by a group to which you do not belong, you are
a. a majoritarian
b. a policy entrepreneur
c. a free rider
d. a neo-institutionalist
e. a secondary entrepreneur
5. The media plays a major role in the creation of public policy by
a. creating new programs
b. leading by example
c. choosing which of the thousands of proposals to cover
d. choosing government activists as reporters
e. choosing government activists as editors
6. When pork-barrel projects are conglomerated to the point that a majority coalition is formed, the process of building that coalition is known as
a. group facilitation
b. favor empowerment
c. legislative monopoly
d. pork piling
e. logrolling
7. Choices about economic policy are shaped most significantly by the
a. party affiliation of politicians
b. occupational status of legislators
c. seniority of legislators
d. predictions of economists
e. ideology of cabinet members
8. Democrats tend to be more worried than Republicans about
a. inflation
b. international politics
c. unemployment
d. business investment
e. recessions
9. Politicians have a strong tendency to get reelected by
a. decreasing taxes
b. lowering the deficit
c. cutting expenditures
d. spending money on specific programs that are popular
e. raising taxes
10. Welfare recipients cost the typical taxpayers a(n) ______amount each year.
a. small
b. moderate
c. moderately large
d. very large
e. exceptionally large
11. A key element of the supply-side theory of the economy is the
a. importance of incentives
b. need for careful control of the money supply
c. need for a balanced budget
d. need for close attention to trade imbalances
e. importance of regulations
12. All of the following were true under “Reaganomics” except:
a. spending on some domestic programs was reduced
b. military spending was sharply increased
c. there were sharp, across-the-board, cuts in personal income taxes
d. business activity decreased
e. there was a drop in the unemployment rate
13. The “troika” that assists the president in making economic policy is composed of the chairmen of the Council of Economic Advisers, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the
a. advisory council of the Federal Trade Commission
b. Secretary of the Treasury
c. Secretary of Labor
d. Federal Reserve Board
e. head of the Department of Labor
14. Which statement about the Federal Reserve Board is incorrect?
a. It has fifteen members
b. Each member is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate
c. A member’s term is fourteen years
d. Since its founding in 1913 no member has ever been removed
e. The Chairman serves a four-year term
15. The fiscal year begins
a. October 1
b. October 30
c. September 1
d. September 30
e. None of the above
16. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 was intended to
a. impose some budget discipline on committees
b. decrease the power of the president
c. allow interest groups more access to the budget process
d. implement zero-based budgeting
e. invite members of Congress to allocate funds in creative ways
17. Entitlements (mandatory spending) makes up about ______of what government spends.
a. three-fourths
b. one-fifth
c. one-half
d. two-thirds
e. very little
18. The law enacted by Congress that imposed a cap on discretionary spending (nonentitlement spending) was the
a. Budget Enforcement Act of 1990
b. Balanced Budget Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman Act)
c. Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974
d. Budget and Accounting Act of 1921
e. Monetary Control Act of 1973
19. Business leaders are most likely to believe that a market economy and ______are necessary to each other.
a. personal freedom
b. tariffs
c. big government
d. labor unions
e. commercial restraints
20. The biggest problem facing majoritarian welfare programs is
a. their cost
b. their legitimacy
c. their goals
d. who will benefit
e. how should clients be served
21. When people react to proposed policies, they tend to give the greatest weight to the anticipated
a. cost
b. benefits
c. utility maximization
d. marginal utility
e. winning minimum coalition
22. Following the creation of federal welfare programs in the early 1930s, the chief concern of the federal government was
a. the states’ acceptance of social welfare programs
b. how people would be compensated
c. how states would administer the program without proper funding
d. seeking qualified individuals to run the programs
e. the constitutionality of the programs
23. The American Medical Association considered the idea of medical support for the elderly and poor to be
a. “absolutely necessary”
b. “consistent with the principles of our government”
c. “a sure way to bankrupt the government”
d. “incompatible with the rights of patients”
e. “socialized medicine”
24. The ______government program provides medical assistance for poor people.
a. Medicare
b. Poverty Fund
c. Medifund
d. Medicaid
e. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
25. Supply-side economists advocate that government
a. control wages more than prices
b. control process more than wages
c. control both prices and wages
d. all of the above
e. interfere less in the economy
26. All of the following involve a means test except
a. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
b. Supplemental Security Income
c. food stamps
d. Medicaid
e. Medicare
27. The most important check on what the president can do in foreign affairs is
a. the Supreme Court
b. the Pentagon bureaucracy
c. the two-party system
d. the Joint Chiefs of Staff
e. congressional control over the purse strings
28. Foreign policy became the first item on the president’s agenda at what period in U.S. History?
a. during and after the Civil War
b. during and after WWI
c. during and after WWII
d. during and after Vietnam
e. during and after the Gulf War
29. The EPA (early 70s) was created during the administration of
a. Richard Nixon
b. JFK
c. Jimmy Carter
d. Lyndon Johnson
e. None of the above
30. What is the Superfund?