One explanation for why Keynesian economic policies do not seem to work in the real world is that
Select one:
a. government lacks the political will to raise or cut taxes and expenditures as rapidly as a situation requires.
b. Keynes’s theories can be used only in a socialist command economy.
c. Keynes is an outmoded theorist now rejected by both liberals and conservatives.
d. Keynes did not anticipate the complexity of twentieth-century economies.
e. the basis of the theory relies on non-market factors to work.
Question 2
The social security system in America was established in
Select one:
a. 1883.
b. 1935.
c. 1929.
d. 1964.
e. 1943.
Question 3
Vietnam syndrome’ is an attitude toward foreign policy that grew out of
Select one:
a. the successful American military intervention in Vietnam.
b. fraternal wars among the communist countries of Vietnam, Cambodia, and China.
c. the successful use of trade embargoes and economic pressure to curb North Vietnam’s expansionism.
d. the protracted American involvement in Vietnam, which consumed money and lives without producing victory.
e. resistance towards U.S. intervention by Asian countries.
Question 4
When different elements of government lack coordination on an issue, one frequent solution is to form ______ within ________.
Select one:
a. review boards; Congress
b. cooperative boards; the bureaucracy
c. inter-agency task forces; the executive branch
d. groups of expertise; combined departments
e. interstate governing authorities; the Governor’s Association
Question 5
After a half century of operation, the social security system has been able to
Select one:
a. halt but not reverse the spread of poverty among the elderly.
b. expend a large quantity of money without producing any measurable benefits.
c. increase the impoverishment of the elderly.
d. redistribute income from workers to retirees.
e. make significant improvements in the eldercare system.
Question 6
Using the poverty line as a social indicator helps to ensure that
Select one:
a. progress toward equality improves the absolute conditions of the least well-off Americans.
b. redistribution from the top income groups will occur in pursuit of equality.
c. the government will have a sensitive measure of who is living in poverty.
d. all families will be provided with such basic items as food and shelter.
e. as poverty increases, so does aid.
Question 7
Which provision prevented the collection of money from individuals (primarily black Americans) in order to be eligible to vote in primary and general elections?
Select one:
a. The Poll Revenue Reduction Act
b. The Suffrage Fee Act
c. The Twenty-seventh Amendment
d. The Equal Protection Act
e. The Twenty-fourth Amendment
Question 8
In seeking equal rights, women have had to overcome
Select one:
a. hostility toward them as the ‘weaker sex.’
b. congressional refusal to take up the question of equal rights for women.
c. their own stereotypical attitudes.
d. constitutional language that specifically assigns women to an inferior legal position.
e. widespread attitudes among men that women need to be protected.
Question 9
A legislator fulfilling a campaign promise to his district proposes a new poverty program which requires that people qualify for benefits depending upon their level of personal assets, rather than an age limit. Such a program would be classified as a(n)
Select one:
a. entitlement.
b. qualified income assistance program.
c. offset program.
d. non means-tested program.
e. means-tested program.
Question 10
The War on Poverty was severely curtailed, even during the Johnson administration, because
Select one:
a. funds were diverted to the Vietnam War.
b. new political leadership placed more value on equality.
c. there was a backlash against the basic redistributive role of government.
d. there was a sharp decline in the number of people classified as poor.
e. states withdrew support.
Question 11
For discrimination against the obese to merit government action and attention, it must first become a(n)
Select one:
a. political issue.
b. interest group.
c. media coverage event.
d. serious health concern among most people.
e. congressional hearing subject.
Question 12
Johnson’s Great Society policies were targeted at
Select one:
a. the poorest states.
b. short-term relief of an economic depression.
c. chronic social problems requiring a long-term commitment.
d. middle- and upper-income voters.
e. depressed inner-city areas.
Question 13
Public charities
Select one:
a. must distribute money or goods to the needy.
b. do not exist any more in the United States.
c. perform some public good, providing something valuable to society.
d. are funded exclusively through generous private donations.
e. compete with the government to provide services.
Question 14
When political scientists talk about feedback loops and policy cycles, the assumption is that
Select one:
a. more advanced computers will improve government decision making.
b. every good government program is expected to solve a problem and be phased out.
c. policies are never over; they continue to be refined, reargued, and changed.
d. Congress accomplishes most of its work at the end of the calendar year.
e. a policy which fails to go through this cycle is a failed policy.
Question 15
The main function of the Office of Management and Budget is to
Select one:
a. assist the president in compiling agency budget requests to produce the national budget.
b. audit expenditures by government contractors.
c. advise private industry about efficient management techniques.
d. streamline resource and personnel management in the federal government.
e. instill budget management techniques for cost savings.
Question 16
The Gaines, Sweatt, and McLaurin cases all struck down the practice of segregation in education on the grounds that
Select one:
a. the Fourteenth Amendment was specifically designed to ensure educational opportunity.
b. separate facilities were inherently unequal.
c. the separate facilities provided for black Americans in these instances were obviously unequal in quality.
d. segregation was a reasonable exercise of police power.
e. too much government funding was required to support equal access.
Question 17
Since the 1960s, many black inner-city neighborhoods have become poorer because
Select one:
a. social welfare programs are primarily aimed at suburban and rural areas.
b. a new wave of Jim Crow laws has reduced black economic opportunity.
c. a decline of racial barriers has allowed the black middle class to move out of the city, leaving the extremely poor behind.
d. racial prejudice is clearly on the rise.
e. those neighborhoods were very poor to begin with.
Question 18
The failure of the Equal Rights Amendment illustrates the
Select one:
a. importance of presidential leadership if major legislation is involved.
b. inherent social conservatism of state legislators.
c. difficulty of amending the Constitution, especially when there is organized opposition.
d. importance of strategy and planning for promoting change.
e. economic importance of the impact of the constitutional amendments to states carrying them out.
Question 19
Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ refers to
Select one:
a. the uncontrollable forces of nature that affect the economy.
b. a successful gothic novel Smith wrote, thereby gaining the income necessary to pursue less lucrative academic speculation.
c. the control that government exercises over the economy.
d. the economic force that converts individual pursuit of personal profit into societal good.
e. the fact that the basic cost of goods will always increase.
Question 20
An existing social problem is redefined as a political problem when
Select one:
a. a majority of the American people decide that it is a political problem.
b. the Supreme Court decides to rule on it.
c. money is identified to address the issue.
d. the press begins to report on it.
e. a highly visible event or development pushes it on to the agenda.
Question 21
Theorist Adam Smith, writing in ‘Wealth of Nations,’ argued
Select one:
a. broad society interests are best left to individuals attempting to make a profit.
b. government regulation of economic activity best serves a broad economy.
c. government should own industries that most of the public depends upon.
d. for a mixed economy.
e. the wealthy are best at creating increased wealth for others.
Question 22
A group of people who were practicing civil disobedience in the early ’60s but who became increasingly frustrated with their lack of accomplishment would probably have done what in the latter ’60s?
Select one:
a. Abandoned its goals.
b. Shifted their focus.
c. Turned to elections as a tool.
d. Encountered and increasingly used violence.
e. Seen their earlier actions confirmed by favorable court rulings.
Question 23
The bulk of the intelligence material related to national security matters collected by the Central Intelligence Agency comes from
Select one:
a. statistical abstracts, books, newspapers, and the like.
b. underground informants in other countries.
c. the Department of State.
d. covert operations.
e. materials supplied by other countries’ intelligence agencies.
Question 24
The standard of ‘three times the cost of a minimally-nutritious diet’ applies to
Select one:
a. welfare.
b. the Guaranteed Income Assistance program.
c. the poverty threshold.
d. Medicaid.
e. the Assistance to Women, Infants and Children Program.
Question 25
Transfer payments are
Select one:
a. money intended for one program but transferred to fund another.
b. funding transferred from one level of government to cover the activities of another level of government.
c. funding provided directly to individuals through government programs.
d. funding provided to government through tax payments by individuals.
e. money used to cover deficits.
Question 26
The Santa Clara County Transportation Agency’s decision to promote Diane Joyce to a dispatcher’s job to remedy earlier practices that had restricted women’s access to jobs is an illustration of
Select one:
a. equal access.
b. civil liberties.
c. affirmative action.
d. comparable worth.
e. affirmative enforcement.
Question 27
The ______ Amendment provides that ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude . . . shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.’
Select one:
a. Fourteenth
b. Thirteenth
c. Eleventh
d. Fifteenth
e. Third
Question 28
If a global problem is ‘intermestic’ it means that
Select one:
a. internal strife within a country is spilling over into neighboring countries.
b. regional wars threaten the health and safety of surrounding countries.
c. the problem cannot be solved with military intervention.
d. military, economic and internal problems within a country require global intervention.
e. the problem is a blend of domestic and international issues.
Question 29
As a result of U.S. tax policies, over time
Select one:
a. all levels of society have seen increased income.
b. wealth has been redistributed from the wealthiest 10 percent to the bottom 10 percent.
c. no large change has occurred in the distribution of income, but the gap between the wealthy and the poor does continue to grow slowly.
d. the rich and the poor have both gained, but the middle class has lost out.
e. the poor have received the largest percentage of relief.
Question 30
For the United States, a major result of the end of the Cold War seems to be have been
Select one:
a. an end to worries about national security.
b. a large ‘peace dividend’ to be spent on nonmilitary programs.
c. confusion about the U.S. international role and U.S. foreign policy goals.
d. an increase in the rate of global warming.
e. renewed insistence that military strength will prevail.
Question 31
The major criticism of issue networks is that
Select one:
a. the members of the interest groups are primarily concerned with protecting and promoting their own organizations’ goals.
b. individuals move rapidly among several different policy subsystems.
c. members of the subsystem lack expertise in their field.
d. the number of groups involved in each subsystem is declining.
e. members of one group often hinder policy by attempting to defeat another group’s policy.
Question 32
Before the New Deal, the major assistance resource for the poor and unemployed was
Select one:
a. state programs.
b. social insurance.
c. comprehensive federal benefit programs.
d. private charity.
e. federal poverty assistance grants.
Question 33
The _____ supervises the development of the president’s budget.
Select one:
a. Council of Economic Advisers
b. comptroller general
c. Federal Reserve Board
d. Office of Management and Budget
e. Budget Control Board
Question 34
All of the following have been identified as uncontrollable or relatively uncontrollable except
Select one:
a. social security.
b. interest on the national debt.
c. veterans’ benefits.
d. defense spending.
e. farm price supports.
Question 35
Regarding economics and equality, how does the United States do in terms of income distribution?
Select one:
a. Distribution of U.S. income is strikingly unequal and becoming more so.
b. It is difficult to measure U.S. income distribution.
c. Distribution of U.S. income is relatively equal and becoming more so.
d. U.S. income distribution tends to favor minorities.
e. The U.S. strongly favors the poor with income distribution.
Question 36
The effect of congressional legislation in 1996 upon welfare was to
Select one:
a. eliminate women as the largest category of the poor needing assistance.
b. improve the central coordination of programs.
c. mandate performance reviews for all current poverty programs.
d. encourage means-testing of recipient’s income status after being on programs 3-5 years.
e. largely turn program operation and responsibility over to state and local governments.
Question 37
The violent response of southern officials to peaceful civil rights marches and protests resulted in
Select one:
a. the short-term collapse of the civil rights movement.
b. anger on the part of moderate white Americans, directed against the demonstrators.
c. a decision by the national government to freeze any further civil rights legislation.
d. decreased local support and funding for rights groups.
e. increased support nationally for the civil rights movement.
Question 38
A necessary resource for participation in policymaking in an issue network seems to be
Select one:
a. money.
b. access to the president.
c. legal training.
d. networking knowledge.
e. policy expertise.
Question 39
The term describing the former Soviet economic system is a(n)
Select one:
a. command economy.
b. market economy.
c. laissez-faire economy.
d. capitalist economy.
e. public economy.
Question 40
Why did the women’s suffrage movement aim at a constitutional amendment?
Select one:
a. State legislatures consistently opposed efforts to grant the right to vote to women.
b. The Supreme Court ruled against efforts to apply the Fourteenth Amendment to women.
c. Ordinary legislation that Congress had passed had proved ineffective.
d. The experience of African-Americans showed that only a constitutional amendment could quickly and effectively guarantee the right to vote.
e. That was perceived as the easiest path to establish rights.
Question 41
Affirmative action programs seek to
Select one:
a. achieve not just equality of opportunity but also equality of outcome.
b. achieve equal rights by means of positive inducements.
c. use market mechanisms to achieve equal opportunity for minority groups and women.
d. affirm the social value of minority cultures.
e. encourage use of the courts to protect rights.
Question 42
Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) both reflect the tension between _____ and _____ in their operating procedures.
Select one:
a. freedom; order
b. order; equality
c. equality; freedom
d. public; private
e. liberty; fairness
Question 43
Approximately what percent of the U.S. long-term debt is held by foreigners?
Select one:
a. 80 percent
b. 60 percent
c. 20 percent
d. 10 percent
e. 40 percent
Question 44
The price and amount of a good produced in a non-market economy is determined by
Select one:
a. barter.
b. banks.
c. goods on hand.
d. government authorities.
e. cost of raw materials.
Question 45
Programs such as Medicare and Social Security which require certain be met in order to qualify for benefits but also guarantee benefits are
Select one:
a. Guaranteed Income Programs (GIP).
b. Income Certainty Acts.
c. authorizations.
d. entitlements.
e. revenue-sharing programs.
Question 46
One of the difficulties of policy evaluation comes from the fact that
Select one:
a. there is no single agreed-on method of evaluating policy.
b. there is no pool of experts trained in policy evaluation.
c. scholars attempt to be unbiased.
d. Congress seldom allocates funding for evaluation of its policies.
e. once passed, no one wants proof the policy may not work as designed.
Question 47
The lesson of Gramm-Rudman is that
Select one:
a. despite popular perceptions, Congress can balance the budget.
b. Congress lacks the political will to force itself to balance the budget.
c. the president ultimately has final control over the budget.
d. all of these are true.
e. none of these are true.
Question 48
Which amendment to the Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote?
Select one:
a. Nineteenth, in 1920
b. Twenty-sixth, in 1971
c. Fifteenth, in 1870
d. Twenty-Fourth, in 1964
e. Eighteenth, in 1918.
Question 49
What was the nature of the early opposition to Medicare?
Select one:
a. It was not favored by a majority of citizens.
b. It was viewed as a ploy by the insurance industry to make more money for itself.
c. The American Medical Association could not convince citizens of the merits of the program.
d. The elderly did not believe government was capable of administrating such a program.
e. It was viewed as socialized medicine and attacked during anticommunist crusades.
Question 50
U.S. relations with ‘big emerging markets’ (BEMs) often typify the conflict between
Select one:
a. freedom and order.
b. human rights policy and economic policy.
c. isolationism and globalism.
d. foreign aid and domestic stability.
e. personal liberties and lawmaking.
