Chapter 15: Domestic Policy

Question 1

Policy formulation involves which of the following?
a. The process of making the government aware that an issue requires action
b. The discussion of proposals between governmental officials and the public
c. The process of deciding on a specific proposal
d. Concern with the implementation of policy by bureaucrats, the courts, police, and individual citizens
e. The process of examining how a policy has worked in practice

Answer 1

The discussion of proposals between governmental officials and the public

Question 2

When individuals with a stake in an issue begin to propose and develop solutions to a problem, what are they engaging in?
a. Policy enactment
b. Policy formulation
c. Policy evaluation
d. Problem identification
e. Policy implementation

Answer 2

Policy formulation

Question 3

In the final step of the policymaking process, the policy is reviewed for its effectiveness and efficiency; if changes are needed, the issue is placed back on the policy agenda, and the cycle starts again. What is this step called?
a. Policy enactment
b. Policy formulation
c. Policy evaluation
d. Problem identification
e. Policy implementation

Answer 3

Policy evaluation

Question 4

To combat the high costs of a college education, direct federal loans to college students were considered. This is an example of which of the following?
a. Policy enactment
b. Policy formulation
c. Policy evaluation
d. Problem identification
e. Policy implementation

Answer 4

Policy formulation

Question 5

What is the name of the recent major health care law that mandated coverage for people with pre-existing conditions?
a. Affordable Care Act
b. Medicare
c. Medicaid
d. Dream Act
e. Aged Pension Program

Answer 5

Affordable Care Act

Question 6

Which of the following best describes domestic policy?
a. Policies that affect major economic variables
b. All policies that affect housing, including construction costs and insurance
c. All the laws, government planning, and government actions that affect individuals’ lives in the United States
d. Matters relating to law enforcement within the borders of the United States
e. The activities of the government in its relations with other countries

Answer 6

All the laws, government planning, and government actions that affect individuals’ lives in the United States

Question 7

.What occurs during the policy formulation stage of the policymaking process?
a. The government is made aware of the issue that requires action.
b. Various proposals for policy are discussed both within government and among the public.
c. A specific proposal for government action is put into place.
d. Bureaucrats, the courts, police, and individual citizens determine the success of a policy.
e. How a policy has worked in practice is examined.

Answer 7

Various proposals for policy are discussed both within government and among the public.

Question 8

How would an ordinary citizen be most likely to participate in the policy formulation process?
a. Conducting door-to-door campaigns to increase awareness
b. Working with interest groups
c. Directly contacting a member of Congress
d. Consuming print and broadcast media
e. Testifying at a Congressional hearing

Answer 8

Consuming print and broadcast media

Question 9

The assessment of policy effectiveness and making needed adjustments to improve after a given period of time is part of which step in the policymaking process?
a. Agenda building
b. Policy formulation
c. Policy evaluation
d. Policy adoption
e. Policy implementation

Answer 9

Policy evaluation

Question 10

Which of the following is the most significant factor in rising health care costs in the United States?
a. The entry of the U.S. government into the health care market
b. The high cost of pharmaceutical research
c. Changing demographics
d. The growth of insurance companies
e. The declining number of physicians

Answer 10

Changing demographics

Question 11

The 2010 law that seeks to ensure health-care insurance for American citizens is formally known as which of the following?
a. Medicaid Reform Act
b. Medicare Reform Act
c. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
d. Social Security Act
e. Single Payer Act

Answer 11

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Question 12

Which of the following is the federal health-care program that covers U.S. residents over the age of 65?
a. Affordable Care Act
b. Social Security
c. Medicaid
d. Medicare
e. S-CHIP

Answer 12

Medicare

Question 13

What is the shared federal and state health insurance program for low-income persons called?
a. Pension Protection Fund
b. Medicare
c. Medicaid
d. Social Security
e. Aged Pension Program

Answer 13

Social Security

Question 14

Which of the following is responsible for the Medicaid program?
a. Congress
b. The states
c. Federal Reserve Board
d. Nonprofit hospitals
e. The federal government and the states share responsibility.

Answer 14

The federal government and the states share responsibility.

Question 15

Medicare has become the second-largest domestic spending program after which expenditure category?
a. Social Security
b. Temporary Aid to Needy Families
c. Medicaid
d. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
e. Interest on the national debt

Answer 15

Social Security

Question 16

Why do you think controlling Medicare costs is difficult politically?
a. Most members of Congress are unwilling to reduce benefits they receive.
b. The beneficiaries of the program are more likely to vote.
c. Members of Congress don’t want to be perceived as heartless.
d. Healthcare providers lobby for larger expenditures.
e. There are no substantial demands to reduce the costs of Medicare.

Answer 16

The beneficiaries of the program are more likely to vote.

Question 17

The contemporary environmental movement in the United States began after which of the following?
a. The publication of Silent Spring, which described the dangers of pesticides
b. An oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1969
c. A massive extinction of frogs in the Midwest and Northeast
d. The Hudson River in New York catching fire in 1969 due to floating chemicals
e. The creation of the Environmental Protection Agency

Answer 17

The publication of Silent Spring, which described the dangers of pesticides

Question 18

Which of the following is true regarding the phenomenon of global warming?
a. Most liberals believe that global warming, while real, is not a pressing issue.
b. Some conservatives cite scientists who deny the reality of global warming.
c. Most environmentalists believe it is now too late to effectively address global warming.
d. Climate activists have struggled to enlist the support of young people.
e. The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively and permanently reversed global warming.

Answer 18

Some conservatives cite scientists who deny the reality of global warming.

Question 19

Why did America withdraw from the Paris Agreement (COP21) in 2019?
a. The Democrat-controlled House felt the agreement did not go far enough.
b. States’ rights advocates preferred to leave the decision up to individual states.
c. The Trump administration thought it placed too high a burden on the U.S. economy.
d. America was unwilling to release data as required by the agreement.
e. America objected to funding the efforts of poorer nations.

Answer 19

The Trump administration thought it placed too high a burden on the U.S. economy.

Question 20

Which of the following is one aspect of the Clean Air Act of 1990?
a. It required new automobiles to reduce emissions of nitrogen dioxide.
b. It established an immediate ban on the production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) as of 2002.
c. It created a loophole to allow older coal-burning power plants to continue operating as they had been for years.
d. It removed pollution controls on factories and other businesses in 96 cities with air quality problems.
e. It mandated a shift from coal-generated power to nuclear energy.

Answer 20

It required new automobiles to reduce emissions of nitrogen dioxide.

Question 21

Laws that focus on how much energy is needed and used are known as which of the following?
a. Consumption indexes
b. Energy policies
c. Energy requirements
d. Fuel ratios
e. Statutes of consumption

Answer 21

Energy policies

Question 22

The Department of Energy was created under the administration of which of the following presidents?
a. Richard Nixon
b. Theodore Roosevelt
c. John Kennedy
d. Jimmy Carter
e. Franklin Roosevelt

Answer 22

Jimmy Carter

Question 23

The cartel of major oil producers is called which of the following?
a. OPEC
b. Seven sisters
c. CAFÉ
d. National Petroleum Reserve
e. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Answer 23

OPEC

Question 24

Reducing speed limits in the 1970s was a policy in pursuit of which of the following goals?
a. Improving health by lowering stress and encouraging relaxation
b. Reducing dependence on foreign sources for energy
c. Promoting alternative energy sources
d. Lowering the price of gasoline
e. Promoting new methods of oil extraction like fracking

Answer 24

Reducing dependence on foreign sources for energy

Question 25

What U.S. political event precipitated the OPEC oil embargo in 1973?
a. America passed the Endangered Species Act.
b. The Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade.
c. President Nixon authorized the Alaska Pipeline.
d. America supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War
e. America reached a peace accord with Vietnam

Answer 25

America supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War

Question 26

The Carter administration tried to address oil shortages through which of the following policies?
a. Promoting new methods of oil extraction like fracking
b. Reducing speed limits
c. Initiating a program to meet fuel efficiency standards
d. Assisting citizens in buying more energy-efficient appliances
e. Encouraging Americans to replace smaller, more efficient cars with sport utility vehicles (SUVs)

Answer 26

Assisting citizens in buying more energy-efficient appliances

Question 27

Because of the effects of producing energy and burning fuels, energy policy is deeply connected with which other type of policy?
a. Agricultural
b. Economic
c. Environmental
d. Health care
e. Welfare

Answer 27

Health care

Question 28

Which of the following statements is correct regarding the “cap and trade” system?
a. It allows industries to account for their carbon emissions through a market system.
b. It is an untested and untried arrangement.
c. It doesn’t provide a way to balance energy needs and environmental concerns.
d. It will lower costs and allow for bigger corporate profits.
e. It remains high on the agenda of Congress.

Answer 28

It allows industries to account for their carbon emissions through a market system.

Question 29

Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are examples of what type of program?
a. Targeted
b. Welfare
c. Discretionary
d. Entitlement
e. Constituent

Answer 29

Entitlement

Question 30

Which of the following programs would conservatives be most willing to support?
a. TANF
b. AFDC
c. Earned income tax credit
d. Food stamps
e. Conservatives would support all these equally.

Answer 30

Earned income tax credit

Question 31

Which of the following issues can be linked to conservative attitudes and policies toward welfare?
a. Rise in unemployment
b. Increase in homelessness
c. Increase in the number of single-parent households
d. Increases in illegal immigration
e. Increases in housing costs

Answer 31

Increase in homelessness

Question 32

Adjustments to the poverty income threshold are based on which of the following?
a. Recommendations from the Council of Economic Advisers
b. The population levels from the census
c. Recommendations from the president
d. Changes in the consumer price index
e. Changes to the gross domestic product

Answer 32

Changes in the consumer price index

Question 33

Under the Welfare Reform Act, who is responsible for the burden of any increased welfare spending?
a. Congress
b. The states
c. The president
d. Voters
e. Private charities

Answer 33

The states

Question 34

Which of the following is the biggest group of people to receive benefits under TANF?
a. The elderly
b. Children under age 18
c. Single mothers with children
d. Expectant mothers
e. The disabled

Answer 34

Single mothers with children

Question 35

Which of the following did the Obama administration propose with regard to immigration policy?
a. English as the national language, to discourage illegal immigration
b. Ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants
c. A new minimum wage that would apply only to illegal immigrants
d. Giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship
e. English as the national language, to discourage illegal immigration, and ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants

Answer 35

Giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship

Question 36

Which of the following is a way that a high rate of immigration benefits the United States?
a. It provides additional taxes that help support programs that benefit older Americans.
b. It increases the number of individuals that are unemployed.
c. It decreases the tax rolls and eliminates the need for state funding.
d. It increases the voting-age population.
e. It reduces the demand on Medicaid.

Answer 36

It provides additional taxes that help support programs that benefit older Americans.

Question 37

Which of the following is likely to have the most impact on the flow of undocumented immigration?
a. Whether the border fence is physical or virtual
b. The challenges presented by climate change
c. The strength or weakness of the U.S. economy
d. Whether Democrats or Republicans hold the presidency
e. The level of Medicaid funding in border states

Answer 37

The strength or weakness of the U.S. economy