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AP Government and Politics 2023 > Policymaking > Flashcards

Policymaking Flashcards

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1
Q

Purpose of policymaking

A
  1. solving a social problem (high crime rates)
  2. countering threats (war)
  3. pursuing an objective (building a highway)
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2
Q

Policy can be achieved by

A
  • prohibiting certain kinds of behavior
  • protecting certain activities
  • providing direct benefits to citizens
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3
Q

Issue-Attention Cycle

A

requires policy makers to act quickly before the public becomes bored and looses interest

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4
Q

Incrementalism

A

the slow, step-by-step approach to making policy

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5
Q

Policy Making Process

A
  1. Defining role of government: liberal sees greater responsibility for government
  2. Agenda setting: identifies social and economic programs, redefines them into political issues, and ranks them in order of importance. a citizen’s socioeconomic status can determine which problems seem important. policy can try to address the concerns of opposing sides
  3. Policy formation and adoption: legislative process (hardest), executive orders, rules of regulatory agencies, precedents of Supreme Court
  4. Policy implementation: puts the policy into effect by enforcement of the appropriate government agency
  5. Policy evaluation: does a policy work?
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6
Q

Obstacles to Policymaking

A
  • US is a pluralist democracy with multiple centers of power. many of these centers must be concentrated on
  • makes getting things done frustrating through multiple access points (policy fragmentation)
  • so many agencies may be involved
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7
Q

Policy Fragmentation

A

where many pieces of legislation deal with parts of policy problems but never deal with the entire problem

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8
Q

Economic Policy

A

economy most important. president is almost always held responsible. politician should make policies that will increase people’s standard of living.

  • Inflation
  • Deflation
  • Interest Rates
  • Money in circulation
  • Profitability of corporations
  • Foreign Competition
  • International Agreements
  • Consumer confidence
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9
Q

Mixed Economies

A

capitalist free-market systems in which both government and private industry play a role.

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10
Q

Mixed Free-Market System

A

the price of goods/services is determined by supply and demand. profits (after tax) kept by owners. major problem in US is how to maintain economic prosperity while reducing the impact of the inevitable economic contraction (decreased activity)

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11
Q

Laissez-Faire Economists

A

believe that the government should never become involved in economic issues.

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12
Q

Keynesian Economics

A

the government can smooth out business cycles by influencing the amount of income individuals and businesses can spend. believe that when the economy is good, surplus taxes should be saved to pay for gov spending during economic downturn

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13
Q

Fiscal Policy

A

the government action of either lowering or raising taxed which results in more or less consumer spending or enacting of government spending programs

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14
Q

Deficit Spending

A

funds raised buy borrowing rather by taxing

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15
Q

Supply-Side Economists

A

the government should cut taxes and spending on domestic programs to stimulate greater production of goods. More goods = lower price of goods

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16
Q

Monetary Policy

A

process by which the government controls the supply of money in circulation and the supply of credit through the FED (Federal Reserve Board)

17
Q

FED

A

Federal Reserve Board - can increase amount of money in circulation by lowering interest rates. lower rate = less expensive to borrow money because interest on money is lower. This usually inflates the economy = higher prices and ages. Opposite will happen if FED raises interest rates

18
Q

How Monetary Policy can be implemented by FED

A
  • Manipulate the reserve requirement: raising or lowers the amount of money banks are required to keep on hand. raising reserve shrinks among of money in circulation= higher interest rates. Opposite if you shrink reverse
  • Manipulating discount rate: raises or lowers the interest banks pay to the FED for borrowing money. Lowering it will lower interest raises. Opposite for higher. Higher interest rate = less consumer purchase.
  • Manipulating Open Market Operations: FED buys an sells US bonds.
19
Q

FISCAL v. MONETARY policy

A

Fiscal - budget
Monetary - money supply

20
Q

Fiscal Policy Making

A

Office Management and Budget (OMB) Director is responsible for initiating the budget process. they meet with the president to discuss policy initiatives. based on what is found to be most important, the OMB writes the president budget and submits it to congress. House Ways and Means Committee deals with the taxing aspects, Authorization committees decide what programs congress wants to fund, Appropriations committees decide how much money to spend for those programs.

21
Q

Budget Reform Act (1974)

A

created the Congressional Budget Office, with budget committees in both houses. the committees set their own revenue and spending levels, then negotiations take place to get an acceptable budget

22
Q

Budget Enforcement Act of 1990

A

effort to streamline the budget process and make it easier to compromise. categorized government expenditures:

Mandatory Spending - required by law to fund programs such as entitlement programs, social security, etc

Discretionary Spending - not required by law such as defense, eduction. these are the primary targets for cuts

23
Q

Balance of trade

A

ratio of imported products to exported products

24
Q

Trade deficits

A

occur when imports exceed exports (cause wealth to diminish). when this occurs, the nation places restrictions on imported goods (can be retaliated by imposing high import taxes or unfair regulations)

25
Q

World Trade Organization / General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

A

works to lower tariffs and quotas and reduct unfair trade practices

26
Q

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renamed to USMCA

A

promote free trade between US, Canada, Mexico, removed import tariffs from their products.

27
Q

Domestic Policy

A

gets to the purpose of the government. (social welfare programs)

28
Q

Types of Social Welfare Programs

A
  • Social Insurance Programs: national insurance programs into which employers and employees pay taxes
  • Public Assistance Programs: a result of condition and gov responsibility to help the needy. recipients are not required to pay
29
Q

Social Security

A

entitlement program mandated by law. gov must pay benefits to those who meet requirements.

  • retired workers 65+
  • insurance for disabled
  • Medicare: 65+ healthcare
  • Medicaid: medical serviced for low income people
  • temporary unemployment insurance
30
Q

Social Welfare programs

A

designed to help targeted groups

31
Q

Supplemental Public Assistance Programs (SSI)

A

help disabled and ages who are living at or below poverty level

32
Q

SNAP benefits

A

food stamps to help pay for food

33
Q

Welfare Reform Act (1996)

A

social welfare programs are funded by state and federal governments (federal in the form of block grants)

34
Q

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

A

the total of goods and services produced in a year

35
Q

Heathcare

A

US has most expensive health care in the world. high costs. leaves any without healthcare. ppl are divided on how to solve it.

36
Q

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

A

law to make healthcare affordable. but very controversial among democrats vs. republicans.

37
Q

PACs allow unions and corporations to perform which of the following actions:

A. run their own members for political office
B. coordinate political activities not affiliated with a campaign
C. have a voice in government
D. sit down together to work out their differences

A

B. coordinate political activities not affiliated with a campaign

38
Q

Which of the following describes an OPEN Republican Primary

A. Only Republicans can vote
B. Only Democrats can vote
C. Only Republicans and Democrats can vote
D. Only registered voters can vote

A

D. Only registered voters can vote

39
Q

Which of the following people would relieve money from Social Security?

A. A worker retiring after 40 years
B. A foreign tourist injured on US soil
C. veteran woking as a security guard
D. family that is chronically poor

A

A. A worker retiring after 40 years

AP Government and Politics 2023 (9 decks)

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