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Question 1

the indirect spending state (submerged state)

Answer 1

“Iceberg below water.” This is the hidden welfare state, which we have hidden because our aversion to using bureaucracy to distribute benefits. most of these programs are not very redistributive (the exception is the Earned Income Tax Credit). These benefits are tax breaks and loopholes- things that depart from the normal tax code to favor certain activities. Although they are called breaks, they are really another kind of spending. These benefits are probably between 16-20% of the economy.

Question 2

pavley standards

Answer 2

“Pavley” refers to the author of California’s assembly bill 1493, which set the nation’s first GHG emission standards for motor vehicles. CARB hoped it would lead to a greater increase in fuel economy than the federal fuel economy standards, but it was controversial and opposed even on a federal level.

Question 3

McLaurin v Oklahoma State Regents

Answer 3

1950 Supreme Court ruling that stated that segregation in graduate and professional education is unconstitutional. The case was based on a complaint brought against the University of Oklahoma. The ruling connects to others, such as Brown v. the Board of Education, that brought the end to legal segregation in the United States.

Question 4

Milliken versus Bradley

Answer 4

1974 Supreme Court that dealt with planned desegregation busing in 53 school districts in the Detroit metropolitan area following Brown v. the Board of Education. The court ruled that such plans were not justified by Brown v. the Board of Education unless there was explicit evidence from these school districts of planned segregation. The case is significant in that it has maintained a degree of informal segregation in schools in metropolitan areas and set limits to the desegregation movement.

Question 5

Massachusetts v EPA

Answer 5

A 2007 Supreme Court decision decided 5-4 that ruled the EPA must regulate greenhouse gas emissions as pollutants. The strategy of using the courts to force federal action on an environmental issue is part of the system of “prods and pleas” that Kysar identifies as important to forcing action on climate change.

Question 6

Cap and Trade

Answer 6

A cap and trade system is a method for managing pollution, with the end goal of reducing overall pollution level. Under this system, the government sets a cap on the total level of pollution allowed. Companies are issued ‘credits’ or licenses to pollute, based on a number of various factors. If a company comes in below their limit, they can trade extra credits. The government may choose to auction off or give away a number of credits as well. Through this system, companies that cannot get their pollution under control are being directly penalized, whereas those that reduce their pollution profit through trades.

Question 7

carbon offsets

Answer 7

A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere. They aren’t a particularly useful way to reduce emissions, as no comprehensive environmental plan regulates their use. Carbon offsetting has gained some appeal and momentum mainly among consumers in western countries who have become aware and concerned about the potentially negative environmental effects of energy-intensive lifestyles and economies. The Kyoto Protocol has sanctioned offsets as a way for governments and private companies to earn carbon credits which can be traded on a marketplace.

Question 8

the consequentialist alibi

Answer 8

A consequentialist (the ethical doctrine emphasizing outcomes) excuse for individual inaction. Individual inaction is justified because it is unlikely to affect broad outcomes. Effective environmental policy must overcome the consequentialist alibi by motivating individuals as well as market actors. From: Environment, Kysar.

Question 9

Prods and Pleas

Answer 9

A more positive, encouraging spin on checks and balances. The system in which the US government actors should perform their official roles with a self conscious appreciation for the ways in which they can signal to other institutional actors that a given problem demands attention and action. Officials should prod and plea with one another when there is a danger of government underreach. For example, when a social need exceeds the capacity of a government actor’s role, she should acknowledge the seriousness of that need and the desirability of action by more appropriate actors. This behavior is ‘action-inviting’.

Question 10

night watchman state

Answer 10

A night watchman state is a sort of libertarian dream where the state’s only functions are to protect individuals from crime or harm. It would mostly be composed of the military, police, and courts. However, it would not solve the social problems, such as economic inequality, which were raised in this class when the market fails to provide a good. In this case, Hacker says the government then must come in to intervene.

Question 11

Plutocrats/Plutocracy

Answer 11

A plutocracy is a government that is ruled by the wealthy, and plutocrats are those wealthy rulers. According to Freeland, today’s plutocrats are a global community who use their great wealth to influence political and social policy. Unlike plutocrats of the past who inherited their wealth, today’s super-rich earn their wealth through work or investments. This means that they don’t like talking about inequality because it casts them in a bad light when they believe the deserve acknowledgement of the self-made nature of their accomplishments.

Question 12

Nonrivalry

Answer 12

A public good whose consumption doesn’t diminish the ability of other people’s consumption. EX, the air.

Question 13

AFSCME

Answer 13

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. One of the largest labor unions in the U.S., and quite powerful. Part of the AFL-CIO, another major labor union conglomerate. AFSCME organizes for social and economic rights of their protectorates in the workplace and through political action and legislative advocacy.
It is divided into more than 3,500 local unions. AFSCME was founded in 1932 but grew rapidly in the 1960s under president Jerry Wurf. Wurf and the union were a key part of the Memphis sanitation strike of 1968, in which workers petitioned for better working conditions and the right to join the union. Wurf and MLK worked together on the strike.

Question 14

astroturf

Answer 14

Astroturfing is when an organization or movement appears to be “grassroots” but is actually organized from the top-down or backed by major commercial financiers. An example would be some elements of the Tea Party who ended up being backed by the Koch brothers. They may attempt to manipulate public opinion by trying to appear as the “common people”, but they often represent interests of a select few.

Question 15

Coercion and state power

Answer 15

At the heart of government is the monopoly on the legitimate use of force- governments can force people to do things as in the healthcare mandate.

Question 16

Buckley v Valeo

Answer 16

Buckley v. Valeo is a 1976 Supreme Court decision about the constitutionality of the federal campaign finance law, the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act. It upheld certain parts of the law, such as its limits on individual contributions to campaigns, but struck down others, such as its limits on expenditures by independent groups and by from candidates’ personal funds.

Question 17

BACT

Answer 17

California attempted to regulate GHG emissions from stationary sources by the prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permitting program. Under PSD, regulated NRS pollutants must be limited according to the “best available control technology.” (BACT) The Sierra Club sued to have this include CO2, while the “Johnson Memorandum” from the EPA asserted that CO2 did not count.

Question 18

nyc public school union

Answer 18

Discussed extensively in Brill’s book and led by Randi Weingarten who leads the United Federation of Teachers whose 165 page teacher contract Brill believes serves as an example of how red tape and unions looking out for their own has infringed on student’s learning. Joel Klein is chancellor of schools in NYC and it’s his job to negotiate with unions.

Question 19

Drift

Answer 19

Drift is the deliberate failure to adapt public policies to the shifting realities of a dynamic economy. Large economic and social transformations outflank or erode existing policies, diminishing their role in American life. Then, political leaders fail to update policies, even when there are viable options, because they face pressure from powerful interests exploiting opportunities for political obstruction.

Question 20

Sierra club

Answer 20

Environmental group that lobbies for conservation and endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2008

Question 21

Executive Order S-3-05

Answer 21

Executive order passed by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005 to curb green house gases, calling for a 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050. The order is significant in that it calls for various California agencies to collaborate to meet these goals. The order is significant to our class as it is an example of state legislation leading as an example for future federal regulation.

Question 22

EV1

Answer 22

General Motors EV1 was an electric car that was made available (to lease) in response to the California Air Resources Board passing the zero - emissions vehicle mandate in 1990. This mandate required the seven major automobile suppliers in the US to offer electric vehicles. Eventually, the mandate was reversed after incremental pressure and law suits from automobile manufacturers, oil industry moguls, and finally, the Bush administration. The documentary showed the oil companies were afraid of losing their monopoly on gas, and auto companies were worried about losing profits since the EV1s require little maintenance and no tuneups. GM finally claimed there was no consumer interest in the EV1, recalled every car they had ‘leased out’ and destroyed them.

Question 23

1972 McGovern campaign

Answer 23

George McGovern was senator from South Dakota, running antiwar campaign against incumbent Richard Nixon who won over 60% of the vote. His original running mate was Senator Eagleton who resigned days after being nominated as VP due to a past history of depression. After the election, Nixon would resign due to the Watergate scandal.

Question 24

Global Weirding

Answer 24

Global weirding is a term used to describe climate change that isn’t all “warming.” Recent scientific trends relating to the environment have been erratic–from heat waves to hurricanes to record low temperatures. This variability is part of the climate change concern. In terms of American public policy, one could argue that Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill and Waxman-Markey have been legislative attempts to stop it.

Question 25

libertarian paternalism

Answer 25

Government paternalism without coercion. Sunstein and Thaler argue that in many situations, someone must make a choice that will affect the choices of some other people, and perhaps these planners should seek to optimize other people’s choices. For example, the planner must choose default rules – opt-in to the retirement plan or opt-out? – and given the strong ““status quo”” bias, people will more likely stick with it, even though they have a choice. Sunstein and Thaler advise libertarian paternalists to select the approach that the majority would choose if explicit choices were required and revealed.

Question 26

plantation mindset

Answer 26

In At the River I Stand, the narrator describes the culture in Memphis just before the sanitation worker’s strike as having a plantation mindset- in other words, the city’s white community reminisced fondly about the slavery era and treated black workers with the bare minimum of respect and protections. Sanitation workers worked in unsanitary, unsafe conditions that paid so little full-time workers still qualified for welfare. In sum, the plantation mindset both advanced institutionalized racism and created a need for labor regulation and bargaining.

Question 27

megatrend

Answer 27

In Lubin and Esty’s “The Sustainability Imperative,” megatrend is a term used to describe “fundamental shifts in the competitive landscape that create inescapable threats and game-changing opportunities.” Past examples include electrification, the rise of mass production, globalization, quality movement and IT. They argue that environmental sustainability is the new megatrend which will define the new business era, and companies that seize this opportunity will be competitively and economically better off.

Question 28

Demosclerosis

Answer 28

Jonathan Rauch’s idea that the government has lost its ability to adapt while everything else (economy, technology, etc.) has changed. Interest groups form after every new act, so it cannot be eliminated.

Question 29

Behavioral failures

Answer 29

Loss aversion, myopia (failure to look forwart), inertia, procrastination (ex, retirement planning), regret

Question 30

Lorraine motel

Answer 30

MLK was assassinated in the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4th, 1968. He was 39. King was in Memphis to march alongside workers in a sanitation strike, before starting his Poor People’s Campaign in DC.

Question 31

Policy feedback

Answer 31

Policies shape politics- once a policy is in place, it is hard to eliminate and might influence constituents. IE, Social security and the GI bill made people think differently about the purpose of government and why they should be invested in it. Policies shape the interests and identities of different groups who are impacted by government policies.

Question 32

Race-to-the-top

Answer 32

Race to the Top is a federal grant competition in which the federal government awards money to states who show that they are actively pursuing data-based, progressive education reforms. It is significant in that it represents the federal government’s support of reforms traditionally opposed by unions, such as teacher evaluations, and also in that its structure provides positive incentives for change at the state level (it uses carrots, not sticks).

Question 33

adversarial legalism

Answer 33

Robert Kagan’s thesis, noted in Ewing’s Prods and Pleas, that the US increasingly has policy reform done through the courts in an adversarial (rather than bureaucratic) manner. This trend has high transaction costs and perhaps reflects Congress’s status as the “broken branch” of American government.

Question 34

school vouchers

Answer 34

School vouchers were discussed in the reading “The Political Economy of School Choice”. The local/state government offers a (very modest, like $2000-5000) tuition voucher for students to use at private schools (though the private schools selected tend to be religious). Proponents of the measure say that increasing school choice is important, but a voucher program has never been successful on a large scale as ballott measures because teachers’ unions tend to block money leaving the public school system. Furthermore, suburban constituents do not seem to care as much since their public schools are pretty good. Voucher opponents also state that vouchers would further weaken public schools by taking money away from them and giving it to parents whose children already attend private schools. It is a strange situation because the leadership of the Democratic Party tends to oppose vouchers, but African Americans, particularly younger than fifty, consistently express strong support for them.

Question 35

SNCC

Answer 35

SNCC stands for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which was a major civil rights organization during the 1960s. They registered voters in the South and also conducted sit-ins, freedom rides, and the March on Washington. Bob Herbert mentioned this as one of the movements, but it flamed out because they thought they had accomplished their goal of getting civil rights for African-Americans.

Question 36

Pareto optimality

Answer 36

Something is Pareto optimal if it makes at least one person better off and makes no one else worse off. Unless there is a market failure, every market equilibrium is Pareto optimal. However, Pareto optimality says nothing about equity. In the words of Amartya Sen, a “society or economy can be Pareto-optimal and still be perfectly disgusting.”

Question 37

Regulatory capture

Answer 37

Special interests unduly influence regulatory agencies. (For example, lobbying is often a lucrative career for former regulators, so they might try to stay on an industry’s good side.)

Question 38

the tax-and-transfer state

Answer 38

the “iceberg above water.” much smaller and less redistributive than European states, as we tax less and spend less than those countries. We have shrunk the tax-and-transfer state over time. In the US there is little support for government in general, but high support for existing programs, making us “philosophical conservatives and practical liberals. Our fiscal capacity is overall very weak because we don’t have a federal value added tax and our tax base is very dependent on the overall state of the economy.

Question 39

Culture of Poverty Thesis

Answer 39

The Culture of Poverty thesis is the idea that poor people stay poor because they have behavioral traits and attitudes that differ from those of mainstream Americans. The Urban Poverty and Family Life Study (UPFLS) found that the poor had values just like those of the rest of Americans, undercutting this theory. Wilson argues that the disappearance of work from inner cities, a history of residential segregation and discrimination supported by government policies (ie FHA redlining), not a set of intrinsic cultural traits only found in poor people.

Question 40

Dream Act

Answer 40

The DREAM act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) was a piece of federal legislation proposed in 2001 by Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch. The bill would’ve provided conditional permanent residency to certain illegal aliens of good moral character who graduated from U.S. high schools, arrived in the United States as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment. If they were to complete two years in the military or two years at a four-year institution of higher learning, they would obtain temporary residency for a six-year period. DREAM failed on the national level, after being debated in 2010 and 2011. California has recently enacted a state version of DREAM.

Question 41

FHA

Answer 41

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) underwrote mortgages in the 1940s – but redlined black and poor neighborhoods. They did not stop the discriminatory practice until the 1960s.

Question 42

Health gradient

Answer 42

The idea that health follows a social gradient. The higher your social class, the healthier you are. This does not only affect the poor, even the ‘non-poor’ have a health gradient. Wherever you are on the social ladder, you have better health that those below you and worse health than those above you. Autonomy (degree of control you have over your life) and social participation are distributed unequally, and as a result health is distributed unequally. This gradient tells us there are parts of the population that are not achieving their potential in health or longevity.

Question 43

Skills-biased technological change

Answer 43

The last 30 years has wrought a massive shift in the American economy that favors workers with formal education and advanced skills. (Counterpoint: there is a huge amount of inequality among workers who have a college degree – “within-group inequality.”)

Question 44

Waxman-Markey

Answer 44

The most comprehensive effort yet by Congress to address U.S. greenhouse gas emissions contributing climate change. It would have established a cap-and-trade system in exchange for generous concessions to industry. While it passed the House by a razor-thin vote of 219-212 in 2009, it never got a vote in the Senate because it became obvious that it could not overcome a Republican filibuster.

Question 45

Carbon sequestration

Answer 45

The practice of reducing carbon emissions by storing emissions geologically. This is a conceptual proposal for reducing emissions, and curbing the greenhouse effect. Environment.

Question 46

PSLRA

Answer 46

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA) is a piece of legislation that was supported by Senator Dodd and designed to limit frivolous securities lawsuits. This brought substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities law, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation, and awards fees and expenses.

Question 47

Arne Duncan

Answer 47

The Secretary of Education under Obama. A former superintendent of Chicago schools, Duncan is known as a “reformer,” supporting policies like teacher evaluations and charter schools.He is a principal figure behind Race to the Top.

Question 48

SCLC

Answer 48

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is a civil rights organizations founded by Martin Luther King Jr. SCLC used nonviolent direction action in order to demand civil rights for African Americans. Towards the end and after MLK’s life, SCLC began advocating for economic justice in the United States.

Question 49

Status syndrome

Answer 49

The status syndrome is the phenomenon Marmot identifies that creates health inequities between different classes in society, independent of health care or underlying conditions. The wealthy have better health, according to this theory, because they have more independence and control over their lives than people in other classes. There is also a health gradient between countries with high and low inequality- in high inequality nations, everyone’s health is worse off than in low inequality nations.

Question 50

Public policy

Answer 50

The sum of direct and indirect government actions, including the degree to which the economy is made up of government spending, and government non-action.

Question 51

UFT

Answer 51

The United Federation of Teachers. A major teacher’s union representing most of NYC’s public school teachers. Randi Weingarten headed the UFT until 2009. Known for its strong protectionism of teachers’ rights, especially in political contexts. Involved with the creation of “Rubber Rooms.” Education, Brill.

Question 52

the juridicial state

Answer 52

The US has an extensive use of often moralized law. Extensive use of adversarial legalism- legal contestation combined with litigate activism. We also have incarceration rates many times higher than the rest of the world’s and aggressive counterterrorism policies.

Question 53

rubber rooms

Answer 53

These are “reassignment centers” for NYC teachers who have been found incompetent but, by the union’s tenure rules, must be paid while waiting arbitration. It takes between two and five years for cases to be heard by an arbitrator, during which time these allegedly incompetent teachers can sit around in the rubber rooms and get paid full salaries. Further, arbitrators rarely dismiss teachers, since they must get approved every year by the union.

Question 54

Public goods

Answer 54

Things that the free market wouldn’t produce or protect on its own. For example, universal healthcare or environmental protections.

Question 55

Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

Answer 55

This landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision found that segregation of schools was unconstitutional (revoking Plessy vs. Fergusen’s separate but equal). The Warren Court’s unanimous decision said that separate education facilities are inherently unequal. The ruling paved the way for integration and civil rights. Implementation was not always easy: in 1957, the Arkansas National Guard blocked black students’ (Little Rock Nine) entry to Little Rock Central High School, forcing President Dwight Eisenhower to call for federal troops. In terms of American Public Policy, while this judicial decision led to significant civil rights, there still are many problems plaguing the Black community, even in terms of education.

Question 56

CAFE standards

Answer 56

This stands for “Corporate Average Fuel Economy” standards. In “Who Killed the Electric Car,” filmmakers say that while these standards were enormously influential in pushing greener American auto manufacturing in the past, in recent years they have stagnated. (They were enacted in 1975 and consistently rose until 1985, at which point they remained until 2010.) In 2009, Obama proposed new, stricter standards to come into effect in 2011.

Question 57

TARP

Answer 57

Troubled Asset Relief Program. The $700 billion fiscal stimulus program authorized by the United States government in 2008. It was a response to the 2007/8 financial crisis. Its supporters included financial executives and many academics. Its critics contend that it represented an unjustified bailout of the financial sector. Financial reform, Dodd.

Question 58

UPFLS survey

Answer 58

Urban Poverty and Family Life Study

Question 59

Consequences of the submerged state

Answer 59

Visible programs are popular, but people have little faith in government and largely think that tax dollars are wasted. General lack of understanding and appreciation of policy, and limited traceability of submerged programs means it’s hard to hold politicians accountable for their role in creating aspects of the submerged state.

Question 60

Externalities

Answer 60

When the private benefit or cost doesn’t equal the public benefit or cost. Ex, the socialization of risk in the financial sector or the public cost of pollution from private business

Question 61

precautionary principle

Answer 61

Whenever a proposed activity meets some threshold possibility of causing severe harm to human health or the environment, the government should take a stance of precaution. Even if cause-and-effect relationships have not yet been fully established scientifically, precautionary measures should be taken.