POLS 2306 Final Exam Flashcards
State legislatures lost the power to appoint their U.S. senators under
17th amendment
Acting as a self-appointed spokesman for the Tea Party movement, Governor ______ accused the United States of taking another step toward socialism with the passage of FDR’s [FDR’s = President Franklin Roosevelt’s] New Deal.
Rick Perry
During the Nullification Crisis in 1833, South Carolina tried to assert the right to veto or nullify
National Legislation passed by Congress
Dual federalism is also known as
Layer-Cake Federalism
Under the New Deal, federalism is frequently described as
Cooperative federalism
For eligible participants, the Social Security Act of 1935 instituted all of the following EXCEPT ___.
Universal healthcare for all Americans
Medicaid, a national program providing health care for the poor, was added to the existing Social Security program under
Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society
As some federal regulations became more intrusive, forcing states to change their policies in order to meet national goals, some began calling our system ______ federalism.
Coercive
When the federal government requires a state to meet federal guidelines without offering financial support to pay for these programs, it is known as ______.
An underfunded mandate
Before the Sixteenth Amendment allowed the federal [U.S.] government to tax an individual’s income, federal revenue came primarily from
Tariffs
The US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of minimum wage laws in
West Coast Hotel Company vs. Parrish (1937)
In which case did the Supreme Court upheld Congress’s use of the interstate commerce clause and overturn a California law allowing the cultivation of medical marijuana?
Gonzales vs. Raich
Since obtaining statehood, the one sphere in which Texans have most consistently supported the federal government is in matters of ___________.
National Defense
Congress’s authority to withhold highway funds from states that failed to raise the legal drinking age was upheld under
General Welfare Clause
One advantage that a federal system has over a centralized or unitary government system is that it allows states to experiment with ways to improve public policy.
TRUE
Under the Articles of Confederation, states played a primary role in governing Americans, while the national government had very limited powers.
TRUE
States are not allowed to set the age at which drinking alcoholic drinks is legally permitted.
FALSE
One advantage that a federal system has over a centralized or unitary government system is that it allows states to experiment with ways to improve public policy.
TRUE
Prior to 2003, tuition for public colleges and universities in Texas was set by
State Legislature
Overall, the tax system in Texas is generally considered to be regressive, which means that
Tax burden consumes a greater percentage of income received by lowered-income individuals
Federal funds appropriated in Texas generally are
Concentrated on a few state agencies
Which phrase best characterizes Texas’s reputation in terms of taxes and services?
low tax, low service
What is the argument commonly used by supporters of a state income tax?
It is a fairer and more reliable source of revenue
Next to revenue generated by state taxes, the second largest source of state revenue comes from
The federal government
The funds generated by the Permanent School Fund are distributed to school districts across the state in this way: ___________.
Based on attendance rates
The Economic Stabilization Fund (ESF) is commonly known as the
Rainy Day Fund
The Permanent University Fund (PUF) was established in 1876 with a land grant of 1 million acres and contributes to the support of _________.
The University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems
The National Research University Fund (NRUF) was established through a constitutional amendment to provide a source of funding for
Universities seeking to achieve national prominence as research institutions
The Texas Constitution specifies that state payments for assistance to needy children and their caretakers shall not exceed ______ percent of the states’ budget in any biennium.
1%
In theory, Texas has a dual-budget system, meaning the budget authority is shared by the governor and the legislature. But in practice the primary player(s) in the budget is/are?
Legislator
In Texas, the governor’s line item veto power is
Very powerful because the governor can use it to limit expenditures
The Texas legislature increased ______ to help compensate for lower property tax revenues in the 2012–2013 budget cycle.
State corporate franchise taxes and cigarette taxes
The Texas legislature increased ______ to help compensate for lower property tax revenues in the 2012–2013 budget cycle.
State corporate franchise taxes and cigarette taxes
To address the budget shortfall in the 2012–2013 budget, the most common tactic used by the legislature was
Spending cuts
Texas maintains a balanced budget because the state Constitution requires it.
TRUE
Texas’s sales tax rate is between the ninth and the fifteenth highest out of the fifty states.
TRUE
The Texas Constitution prohibits all local governments from imposing additional sales taxes within their jurisdictions.
FALSE
It is common for the governor to call a special session of the legislature to deal with budget issues.
TRUE
The Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Edgewood ISD v. Kirby was that
Undue reliance upon property taxes to fund public education violated the Texas Constitution
The Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act of 2007
Require Texas schools to adopt a number of policies that would protect religious speech on campus
The three main issues that have shaped education policy in Texas during the last fifty years are
Funding, desegregation, and educational excellence
When billionaire Ross Perot was appointed by Governor Mark White to chair a committee on education, Perot was very scornful of ____________.
Athletic Programs
The high school graduation rates in Texas are
Among the lowest of all fifty states
The percentage of Texans officially living in poverty is approximately
15%
The usual standard by which poverty is measured in all of the United States is the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty index
The welfare policy of Texas reflects a strategy of ______.
Policy of minimizing the cost to Texas while maximizing the use of federal dollars
In 1965, the U.S. Congress created the Medicaid program, a state-federal program, to
Provide healthcare for the poor
During the 1980s, a growing number of critics alleged that welfare programs?
Were helping to create a dysfunctional underclass of people who depended upon them for survival
Welfare reforms are usually measured along which two dimensions?
- # of people on welfare
- success of getting people in workforce
Responding to the Supreme Court decision on national health care legislation of 2010 [i.e. ‘Obamacare’ mandate], Governor Perry announced that
Texas might not participate in the expanded Medicaid program
According to a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, relative to other states, Texas is ranked ______ in health care services and delivery.
Last
Most of the water used in Texas comes from
Aquifers
One important consequence of the TX “law of capture” is that it
Encourages landowners to take as much water as possible from ground water sources
Compared to AFDC program, the TANF program gave states more control over welfare policies for their citizens.
TRUE
