Chapter 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

public policy

Answer 2

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

Question 3

distributive policies

Answer 3

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

Question 4

regulatory policies

Answer 4

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

Question 5

redistributive policies

Answer 5

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

Question 6

systemic agenda

Answer 6

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

Question 7

governmental (institutional) agenda

Answer 7

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

Question 8

agenda setting

Answer 8

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

Question 9

policy formulation

Answer 9

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

Question 10

policy adoption

Answer 10

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

Question 11

policy implementation

Answer 11

The process of carrying out public policy.

Question 12

policy evalution

Answer 12

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

Question 13

fiscal policy

Answer 13

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

Question 14

national debt

Answer 14

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

Question 15

laissez-faire

Answer 15

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

Question 16

recession

Answer 16

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

Question 17

depression

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Keynesian economics

Answer 18

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 19

inflation

Answer 19

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

Question 20

budget deficit

Answer 20

The economic condition that occurs when expenditures exceed revenues.

Question 21

gross domestic product (GDP)

Answer 21

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

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

Federal Reserve System

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Board of Governors

Answer 24

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 25

open market operations

Answer 25

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

Question 26

discount rate

Answer 26

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

Question 27

reserve requirements

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Medicare

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Answer 29

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 30

Medicaid

Answer 30

A government program that subsidizes medical care for the poor.

Question 31

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)

Answer 31

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 Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Question 32

Common Core

Answer 32

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

Question 33

vouchers

Answer 33

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

Question 34

charter schools

Answer 34

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 35

Social Security Act

Answer 35

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

Question 36

entitlement programs

Answer 36

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

Question 37

non-means-tested programs

Answer 37

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

Question 38

means-tested programs

Answer 38

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”.