APGovCH.15 Flashcards
Affordable Care Act (ACA)
A 2010 law designed to ensure that nearly all Americans would have access to health care coverage, including those living in poverty.
Agenda Setting
The process of forming the list of issues to be addressed by the government.
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.
Budget Deficit
The economic condition that occurs when expenditures exceed revenues.
Charter School
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.
Common Core
A voluntarily adopted multi-state approach to setting standards that all students should achieve up through the high-school level.
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 (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Depression
A severe and long-lasting decline in the economy that occurs as investment sags, production falls off, and unemployment rises.
Discount Rate
The rate of interest at which the Federal Reserve Board lends money to member banks.
Distributive Policies
Public policies that provide benefits to individuals, groups, communities, or corporations.
Entitlement Programs
Government benefits that all citizens meeting eligibility criteria–such as age, income level, or unemployment–are legally “entitled” to receive.
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.
Fiscal Policy
The deliberate use of the national government’s taxing and spending policies to maintain economic stability.
Governmental (Institutional) Agenda
Problems to which public officials feel obliged to devote active and serious attention.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The total market value of all goods and services produced in a country during a year.
Inflation
A rise in the general price levels of goods and services within an economy.
Keynesian Economics
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.
Laissez-Faire
The economic philosophy that endorses a very limited role for government in the economy.
Means-Tested Programs
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.”
Medicaid
A governmental program that subsidizes medical care for the poor.
Medicare
The federal program established during Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration that provides medical care to elder Social Security recipients.
Monetary Policy
A form of government regulation in which the nation’s money supply and interest rates are controlled.
National Debt
The total amount owed by the federal government to its creditors, both domestic and international.
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
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).
Non-Means-Tested Programs
Programs that provide cash assistance to qualified beneficiaries, regardless of income; among those are Social Security and unemployment insurance.
Open Market Operations
The buying and selling of government securities by the Federal Reserve Bank.
Policy Adoption
The approval of a policy proposal by people with the requisite authority, such as a legislature.
Policy Evaluation
The process of determining whether a course of action is achieving its intended goals.
Policy Formulation
The crafting of proposed courses of action to resolve public problems.
Policy Implementation
The process of carrying out public policy.
Public Policy
An international course of action or inaction followed by the government in dealing with some problem or matter of concern.
Recession
A decline in the economy that occurs as investment sags, production falls off, and unemployment increases.
Redistributive Policies
Public policies that transfer resources from one group to assist another group.
Regulatory Policies
Public policies that limit the activities of individuals and corporations or prohibit certain types of inappropriate behavior.
Reserve Requirements
Government requirements that a portion of member banks’ deposits is retained as backing for their loans.
Social Security Act
A 1935 law that established old-age insurance; assistance for the needy, aged, blind, and families with dependent children; and unemployment insurance.
Systematic Agenda
A set of issues to be discussed or given attention; it consists of all public issues viewed as requiring governmental attention.
Vouchers
Certificates issued by the government that may be applied toward the cost of attending private or other public schools.
