APGovCH.15

Question 1

Affordable Care Act (ACA)

Answer 1

A 2010 law designed to ensure that nearly all Americans would have access to health care coverage, including those living in poverty.

Question 2

Agenda Setting

Answer 2

The process of forming the list of issues to be addressed by the government.

Question 3

Board of Governors

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Budget Deficit

Answer 4

The economic condition that occurs when expenditures exceed revenues.

Question 5

Charter School

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

Common Core

Answer 6

A voluntarily adopted multi-state approach to setting standards that all students should achieve up through the high-school level.

Question 7

Department of Health and Human Services

Answer 7

The cabinet-level department administering most federal social welfare and health-related policies and programs; it includes the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Question 8

Depression

Answer 8

A severe and long-lasting decline in the economy that occurs as investment sags, production falls off, and unemployment rises.

Question 9

Discount Rate

Answer 9

The rate of interest at which the Federal Reserve Board lends money to member banks.

Question 10

Distributive Policies

Answer 10

Public policies that provide benefits to individuals, groups, communities, or corporations.

Question 11

Entitlement Programs

Answer 11

Government benefits that all citizens meeting eligibility criteria–such as age, income level, or unemployment–are legally “entitled” to receive.

Question 12

Federal Reserve System

Answer 12

The organization in the United States tasked with such responsibilities as managing the money supply, stabilizing prices, moderating interest rates, and reducing unemployment.

Question 13

Fiscal Policy

Answer 13

The deliberate use of the national government’s taxing and spending policies to maintain economic stability.

Question 14

Governmental (Institutional) Agenda

Answer 14

Problems to which public officials feel obliged to devote active and serious attention.

Question 15

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Answer 15

The total market value of all goods and services produced in a country during a year.

Question 16

Inflation

Answer 16

A rise in the general price levels of goods and services within an economy.

Question 17

Keynesian Economics

Answer 17

An economic approach first championed by economist John Maynard Keynes in the 1930s, who maintained that spending by government can stimulate economic growth much faster than a free market could on its own.

Question 18

Laissez-Faire

Answer 18

The economic philosophy that endorses a very limited role for government in the economy.

Question 19

Means-Tested Programs

Answer 19

Programs requiring beneficiaries to have incomes below specified levels to be eligible for benefits; among these are Social Security Insurance (SSI), Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called “food stamps.”

Question 20

Medicaid

Answer 20

A governmental program that subsidizes medical care for the poor.

Question 21

Medicare

Answer 21

The federal program established during Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration that provides medical care to elder Social Security recipients.

Question 22

Monetary Policy

Answer 22

A form of government regulation in which the nation’s money supply and interest rates are controlled.

Question 23

National Debt

Answer 23

The total amount owed by the federal government to its creditors, both domestic and international.

Question 24

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

Answer 24

Bipartisan education reform bill that employed high standards of measurable goals as a method of improving American education across states; in 2016 it was largely replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

Question 25

Non-Means-Tested Programs

Answer 25

Programs that provide cash assistance to qualified beneficiaries, regardless of income; among those are Social Security and unemployment insurance.

Question 26

Open Market Operations

Answer 26

The buying and selling of government securities by the Federal Reserve Bank.

Question 27

Policy Adoption

Answer 27

The approval of a policy proposal by people with the requisite authority, such as a legislature.

Question 28

Policy Evaluation

Answer 28

The process of determining whether a course of action is achieving its intended goals.

Question 29

Policy Formulation

Answer 29

The crafting of proposed courses of action to resolve public problems.

Question 30

Policy Implementation

Answer 30

The process of carrying out public policy.

Question 31

Public Policy

Answer 31

An international course of action or inaction followed by the government in dealing with some problem or matter of concern.

Question 32

Recession

Answer 32

A decline in the economy that occurs as investment sags, production falls off, and unemployment increases.

Question 33

Redistributive Policies

Answer 33

Public policies that transfer resources from one group to assist another group.

Question 34

Regulatory Policies

Answer 34

Public policies that limit the activities of individuals and corporations or prohibit certain types of inappropriate behavior.

Question 35

Reserve Requirements

Answer 35

Government requirements that a portion of member banks’ deposits is retained as backing for their loans.

Question 36

Social Security Act

Answer 36

A 1935 law that established old-age insurance; assistance for the needy, aged, blind, and families with dependent children; and unemployment insurance.

Question 37

Systematic Agenda

Answer 37

A set of issues to be discussed or given attention; it consists of all public issues viewed as requiring governmental attention.

Question 38

Vouchers

Answer 38

Certificates issued by the government that may be applied toward the cost of attending private or other public schools.