Exam 1

Question 1

Anthony King

Answer 1

• The state derives many characteristics from the individuals within, however federalism makes it difficult to properly represent the people
• American institutions are more resistant to change (Path Dependence)

Question 2

Means Testing

Answer 2

Benefit eligibility is based on applicants’ financial circumstances, targeting benefits to maximize bang for the gov’t buck

Question 3

Christopher Howard

Answer 3

• Focus on the two “Big Bangs” of FDR’s New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society is misleading and misrepresentative
• Encapsulating social welfare into an upper (Medicare, SS) and lower tier (TANF, Medicaid) is not so simple
• Highlighted a disconnect between the will of the people and actions taken by representatives
• Believes in presence of strong racial bias when dealing with social welfare policies

Question 4

Mothers’ Pensions

Answer 4

Forerunner to welfare (1900-1920s), part of the “maternalist welfare state”, established at the state level to provide cash benefits to women to keep them out of the workforce as suffrage was taking off (second wave feminism)
- Race was relevant, many southern states limited the scope of their policies

Question 5

Paul Pierson

Answer 5

• Proponent of policy feedback loop, negativity bias
• Advocates for a broader understanding of the policymaking process, political life as a moving picture rather than a snapshot

Question 6

Family and Medical Leave Act

Answer 6

Passed in 1993, guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave at companies of 50+ employees

Question 7

Political Culture

Answer 7

The collection of values and beliefs about the justification and operation of a country’s government, implies distinct conceptions of the proper sphere of government activity

Question 8

Indexation

Answer 8

Program benefits adjust to keep up with inflation (TANF is not indexed, Social Security has been since 1970)

Question 9

Veto Players

Answer 9

Individual or collective actors whose agreement is required for a change in the status quo (large number of veto players in decentralized American politics)

Question 10

Corporatist Welfare State

Answer 10

Primarily concerned with the preservation of status differentials, with a negligible redistributive impact, shaped by the church and committed to the preservation of the “traditional family”

Question 11

Jacob Hacker

Answer 11

• Notion of the “divided welfare state”
• Public and private benefit systems
• Policy feedback loop

Question 12

Charles Lindblom

Answer 12

• Proponent of Power Resources Theory, where government generally bends to the will of big business
• Prospective punishment
• “Pocketbook voters” will punish elected officials if the economy worsens

Question 13

Civil War Pension System

Answer 13

Program with tremendous reach (1/3 of all elderly men)
* Arrears Act (1879) allowed soldiers with newly-discovered war related injuries to apply, broadening eligibility
* Dependent Pension Act (1890) old age alone became a sufficient disability to obtain pension

Question 14

Solid South

Answer 14

Following the Civil War, southern Democrats ruled in states with one-party systems

Question 15

Parliamentary Government

Answer 15

Voters do not choose head of government or their cabinet directly (done by national assembly vote)
* Elections typically do not occur at fixed intervals
* Strict party unity is the norm

Question 16

Jill Quadagno

Answer 16

• Sees strong links between the War on Poverty and Civil Rights Movement as equality became main objective
• Held that civil, political, and social rights are foundational to democracy
• Focused on redlining mortgage policies and additional restraints on minorities (isolation of the poor)
• “Freedom from ____” vs. “Freedom to____” argument

Question 17

Classical Liberalism

Answer 17

Enlightenment ideas of individual, unalienable rights and freedoms, a strong thought remaining in contemporary American society and often viewed as an obstacle to expansive social welfare policy (general distrust of government)

Question 18

“Operational Liberals”

Answer 18

When describing Americans, advocate for less government spending in the abstract while supporting existing social policy programs

Question 19

Policy Feedback Loop

Answer 19

Public policies are both caused by politics and the cause of politics, forming a loop (Pierson and Hacker)
* Feedback effects on interest groups as policies may generate “spoils” which need to be protected
* Tied into path dependence, may affect political behavior and life decisions

Question 20

Steinmo and Watts

Answer 20

• Underlines ineffective nature of national US legislature (too decentralized)
• Explains incapability to pass NHI relates to political coalitions and party loyalty over the will of the people

Question 21

Venue Shopping

Answer 21

Interest groups identify and target veto points to access legislation that they deem unfavorable, interfere based on where they feel they will be most successful

Question 22

Path Dependence

Answer 22

Economic term, as you continue down a certain trajectory, it becomes increasingly difficult to move in a new direction, illustrates the “winning” design, acquired a slender lead over competitors and built upon itself, not necessarily superior technology
* Unpredictability - early events are partially random, but can have large effects
* Inflexibility - difficulty to shift off one path to another “locked in”
* Nonergodicity - accidents or errors do not cancel out
* Potential path inefficiency

Question 23

The “Divided” Welfare State

Answer 23

Posited by David Hacker, stating that private benefits can attempt to achieve social policy goals within the U.S., as private welfare makes up 1/3 of all welfare spending

Question 24

Andrea Campbell

Answer 24

• Medicaid programs in some instances for people to live at/below the poverty line
• Many people rely on their jobs for heatlh insurance, which makes unemployment even more difficult

Question 25

Arrears Act (1879)

Answer 25

Allowed former soldiers with newly-discovered, war-related disabilities to sign up and receive all of the benefits they would have received since the beginning of the Civil War Pension program

Question 26

Negativity Bias

Answer 26

Tied into ideas of policy feedback and path dependence, strong backlash often follows policies being threatened

Question 27

Federalism

Answer 27

Inherently decentralizing feature of government, devolves power to state and local governments. Most global regimes are structured unitarily rather than federally

Question 28

The “Double Payment” Problem

Answer 28

Social Security uses a pay-as-you-go system, where current workers fund the retirement of the previous generation. Changing this system implies that one generation will have to fund the retirement of the previous generation, and their own (transition costs are immense)

Question 29

Community Action

Answer 29

Control by local community organizations to bypass state and federal authorities to provide assistance directly to poor populations (part of LBJ’s 1960s War on Poverty)

Question 30

Liberal Welfare State

Answer 30

Means-tested assistance and/or modest universal transfer or social insurance plans in countries such as the US, UK, and Canada, catering mainly to lower income individuals (often with stigmas) (Gøsta Esping-Andersen)

Question 31

Social Democratic Welfare State

Answer 31

Prevalent in Scandanavian culture, developedd following WWII, characterized by their generosity, universal and emphasizes equality in opportunity (Gøsta Esping-Andersen)

Question 32

Presidential Government

Answer 32

Voters elect the chief executive separately from the legislature
* Provides legislators with more leeway to act as independent entrepreneurs
* Reduces incentives for party loyalty (ex. Synema and Manchin)
* Makes it more difficult for governing party to enact its policy agenda

Question 33

Critical Junctures

Answer 33

Moments of significant change that produce important, long-lasting impacts. Provide an opening for change but do not have an effect on the change itself

Question 34

Tax Expenditures

Answer 34

Departures from typical tax structure focused on promoting specific industries, activities, or classes of persons (“the hidden welfare state”), government forgoes tax revenue to incentivize population

Question 35

Subcommittee Bill of Rights

Answer 35

Congressional reform from 1973, reduced the power of committee chairs, empowered subcommittees, and fragmented power within Congress

Question 36

“Labor Laggard”

Answer 36

A term used to describe the US, as most of its social policies developed midway through the 20th century

Question 37

Single-Member, Simple-Plurality (SMSP) System

Answer 37

Electoral system in which area is divided into geographical districts, utilizing a winner-take-all system with a plurality of votes needed to win
* Not proportionally representative
* Serves as an obstacle in the U.S. to the emergence of third parties
* Grographical basis incentivizes elected officials to prioritize district over party loyalty