AP GOV CH 15 Flashcards
Affordable Care Act
A 2010 law designed to ensure that nearly all Americans would have access to health care coverage, including those living in poverty.
Public Policy
An intentional course of action or inaction followed by government in dealing with some problem or matter of concern.
Distributive Policies
Public policies that provide benefits to individuals, groups, communities, or corporations.
Regulatory Policies
Public policies that limit the activities of individuals and corporations or prohibit certain types of unacceptable behavior.
Redistributive Policies
Public policies that transfer resources from one group to assist another group.
Systematic Agenda
A set of issues to be discussed or given attention; it consists of all public issues viewed as requiring governmental attention.
Governmental (institutional) Agenda
Problems to which public officials feel obliged to devote active and serious attention.
Agenda Setting
The process of forming the list of issues to be addressed by government.
Policy Formulation
The crafting of proposed courses of action t resolve public problems.
Policy Adoption
The approval of a policy proposal by people with the requisite authority, such as a legislature.
Policy Implementation
The process of carrying out public policy.
Policy Evaluation
The process of determining whether a course of action is achieving its intended goals.
Fiscal Policy
The deliberate use of the national government’s taxing and spending policies to maintain economic stability.
National Debt
The total amount owed by the federal government to its creditors, both domestic and international.
Laissez-faire
Economic philosophy that endorses a very limited role for government in the economy.
Recession
A decline in the economy that occurs as investment sags, production falls off, and unemployment tincreases.
Depression
A severe and long lasting decline in the economy that occurs as investment sags, production falls off, and unemployment increases.
Keynesian Economics
An economic approach first championed by economist John Maynard Kaynes in the 1930s, who maintained that spending by government can stimulate economic growth much faster than a free market could on its own.
Inflation
A rise in the general price levels of goods and services within an economy.
Budget Deficit
The economic condition that occurs when expenditures exceed revenues.
Gross Domestic Product
The total market value of all goods and services produced in a country during a year.
Monetary Policy
A form of government regulation in which the nation’s money supply and interest rates are controlled.
Federal Reserve System
The organization in the United States tasked with such responsibilities as managing the money supply, stabilizing prices, moderating interest rates, and reducing unemployment.
Board of Governors
In the Federal Reserve System, a seven-member board that makes most economic decisions regarding interest rates and the supply of money; it is led by the Federal Reserve chair.
Open Market Operations
The buying and selling of government securities by the Federal Reserve Bank.
Discount Rate
The rate of interest at which the Federal Reserve Board lends money to member banks.
Reserve Requirements
Government requirements that a portion of member banks’ deposits be retained as backing for their loans.
Medicare
The federal program established during Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration that provides medical care to elderly Social Security recipients.
Department of Health and Human Services
The cabinet level department administering most federal social welfare and health-related policies and programs; it includes the National Institutes for Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration.
Medicaid
A government program that substances medical care for the poor.
No Child Left Behind Act
Bipartisan education reform bill that employed high standards and measurable goals as a method of improving American education across states; in 2016, it was largely replaced by the Every Students Succeeds Act.
Common Core
A voluntarily adopted multi-state approach to setting standards that all students should achieve through the high school level.
Vouchers
Certificates issued by the government that may be applied toward the cost of attending private or other public schools.
Charter Schools
Semi-public schools that have open admission and receive some support from the government and may also receive private donations to increase the quality of education.
Social Security Act
A 1995 law that established old age insurance; assistance for the needy, aged, blind, and families with dependent children, and unemployment insurance.
Entitlement Programs
Government benefits that all citizens meeting eligibility criteria-such as age, income level, or unemployment-are legally “entitled” to receive.
Non-means-tested-programs
Programs that provide cash assistance to qualified beneficiaries, regardless of income; among these are Social Security and unemployment insurance.
Means-tested programs
Programs requiring beneficiaries to have incomes below specified levels to be eligible for benefits; among these are Social Security Insurance, Temporary Aid to Needy Families, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called “food stamps.”
