Ch5 Full Test Bank Public Problems And Policy Alternatives - Public Policy 7th Edition Test Bank by Michael E. Kraft. DOCX document preview.
Test Bank
Chapter 5: Public Problems and Policy Alternatives
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following states wanted to enact a law that would entail requiring proof of immigration status?
a. Alabama
b. California
c. Nebraska
d. Colorado
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. There are an estimated ______ million illegal immigrants residing in the United States.
a. five
b. seven
c. 11
d. 15
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Undocumented immigrants constitute only about ______ of Alabama’s workforce.
a. 2%
b. 4%
c. 6%
d. 8%
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. ______ are observable ways, such as test scores, to define a problem.
a. Cost-benefit analyses
b. Operational measures
c. Pragmatic measures
d. Policy alternatives
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. Governments may invest in training programs for their own staff or for the public. This policy design tool is referred to as ______.
a. capacity-building tools
b. authority tools
c. creative thinking
d. inducements
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. In an attempt to change the behavior or attitudes of citizens, government leaders often use ______ tools, which refer to making public addresses or speeches to exhort citizens to do something.
a. authority
b. hortatory
c. inducement
d. sanction
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. Which of the following statements regarding the politics of problem definition is true?
a. Defining and measuring problem is merely an exercise in analysis.
b. There are fixed goals in the policy process.
c. Policy actors work together to agree on one definition.
d. Problem definition is the strategic representation of situations.
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Politics of Problem Definition
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. When developing policy alternatives to address a problem, the policymaker should examine ______, which refer(s) to how well the policy has worked in a state, pilot test, or other smaller scale attempt to implement it.
a. real-world or parallel situations
b. literature reviews
c. forecasting
d. implementation
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. Examining books, journals, and Internet sites regarding a particular problem or solution represents the use of the ______ technique of collecting information.
a. brainstorming
b. literature review
c. parallel situations
d. quick surveys
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. ______ involves finding solutions to a problem by spontaneously sharing ideas without criticizing or evaluating them.
a. Brainstorming
b. No-action analysis
c. Analogy and metaphor
d. Literature review
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
11. Which creative thinking tool begins with an analysis of the status quo as a baseline?
a. analogy
b. brainstorming
c. no-action analysis
d. quick surveys
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
12. The policy design tools that rely on the premise that most people will behave because they have been told to do so are known as ______.
a. learning tools
b. capacity-building tools
c. hortatory tools
d. authority tools
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
13. ______ refers to the careful consideration, during the policy formulation state, of the role of government “agents” and the “target population.”
a. Policy design
b. Problem analysis
c. Parallel situation analysis
d. Quantitative data
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
14. The case of immigration reform illustrates the importance of ______.
a. the policy tool of sanctions
b. risk analysis
c. a strong problem analysis
d. the policy tool of regulation
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Easy
15. Policy analysts study the nature of the problem. Which statement below best defines what this refers to?
a. the extent, magnitude, and causes of the problem
b. the operational measures of the problem
c. primary data collection
d. the evaluative criteria that should be applied to the problem
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: The Nature of the Problem
Difficulty Level: Easy
16. Which of the following presidential candidates campaigned for building a wall?
a. Clinton
b. Trump
c. Romney
d. Bush
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Introduction
Difficulty Level: Easy
17. Which of the following illustrates an operational measure of school quality?
a. parental comments
b. the number of courses offered at the school
c. the taxes available for education
d. standardized test scores
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Medium
18. Which of the following illustrates an operational measure of the safety of a community?
a. index crime rates, such as violent and property crimes
b. automobile crashes per capita
c. how safe residents report that they feel on a survey
d. all of these
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Medium
19. Indicators of sustainability refer to ______ data that attempt to measure a community’s progress toward the goal of sustainability.
a. capacity
b. quantitative
c. interview
d. estimated
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
20. Which of the following information sources would provide an initial overview of a subject or problem and would be a good place to begin the process of policy analysis?
a. a specialized journal on the topic
b. The American Statistical Index
c. The New York Times
d. an interview with a key policymaker
Learning Objective: 5-2: Describe how to find pertinent information about problems and governmental actions.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: How to Find Information
Difficulty Level: Easy
21. Providing direct payments or benefits to individuals is an example of ______.
a. regulating
b. subsidizing
c. educating
d. taxing and spending
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
22. When the government encourages you to buy a home by allowing you to take an interest deduction, it is using which policy instrument?
a. regulating
b. educating
c. taxing and spending
d. charging fees
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Easy
23. The National Park Service (NPS) issues a limited number of backpacking permits at some parks. What type of policy tool is this?
a. subsidizing
b. rationing
c. contracting out
d. providing market incentives
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Medium
24. Local governments often hire nonprofit organizations to provide some of the services government provides, such as treatment for drug addiction or maintenance of trails. These are examples of ______.
a. contracting out
b. subsidizing
c. regulating
d. educating
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Medium
25. A city that encourages citizens to serve on a community sustainability advisory panel so that they will develop greater awareness and engagement is using a ______ policy tool.
a. hortatory
b. regulatory
c. learning
d. capacity
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
26. Cities that use “visioning” exercises to get citizens to think about what they desire for future development in their community are using ______ to compare policy alternatives.
a. a case study
b. a parallel situation
c. a literature review
d. an ideal situation
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
27. Many school districts hire out private businesses to maintain school buildings or provide school lunches. In this case, the districts are using which policy tool to meet their needs?
a. privatizing
b. rationing
c. subsidizing
d. charging fees
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Easy
28. In the early 1990s, the state of Wisconsin pilot tested a variety of welfare reform programs such as Workfare and Learnfare. These programs helped the federal government reform its major welfare program in 1996. This is an example of ______.
a. authority policy tools
b. taxing and spending
c. the politics of problem definition
d. use of real-world situations to develop policies
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Medium
29. Toll roads require motorists to pay for the use of the roads. Local or state governments that have toll roads are using which policy tool?
a. privatizing
b. rationing
c. subsidizing
d. charging fees
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Medium
30. The Affordable Care Act (Obama’s health-care law) included funding for many pilot projects and special studies that will be used to select future policy options to use on a more widespread basis. The funding of these efforts is an example of the policy tools called ______.
a. ration
b. hortatory tools
c. conduct research
d. use of market incentives
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Medium
31. Policy tools that are focused on either increasing the availability of a good or reducing the need for that good would be looking at a problem from which perspective?
a. effective or efficient
b. supply and demand
c. liberal or conservative
d. internal and external
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Application
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Easy
32. In 2017, the U.S. government reported that ______ million Americans were poor.
a. 23.2
b. 37.6
c. 39.7
d. 51.9
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
33. The poverty line for a family of four is higher in which of the following states?
a. Hawaii and Alaska
b. California and Hawaii
c. New York and Washington
d. Florida and California
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
34. Statistical information can be displayed in which of the following ways?
a. pie charts
b. line figures
c. bar charts
d. all of these
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
35. The Obama health-care reforms were approved in ______.
a. 2008
b. 2009
c. 2010
d. 2011
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Easy
Short Answer
1. What does the beginning of a policy study involve?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Problem Analysis
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. Why is contextual data considered essential?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Nature of the Problem
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. What are operational measures?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. What are the advantages of looking at parallel situations?
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. Explain the politics of problem definition.
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Politics of Problem Definition
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. What is the first step in policymaking?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Nature of the Problem
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. Why is defining the problem an essential step in the policymaking process?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
8. What are some of the risks of using quantitative data?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. What does the gross domestic product (GDP) measure?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. What is issue framing?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Politics of Problem Definition
Difficulty Level: Easy
11. Provide an example of how an issue can be framed.
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: The Politics of Problem Definition
Difficulty Level: Easy
12. What are some examples of forecasting?
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Anticipating the Future
Difficulty Level: Easy
13. Identify different policy design tools.
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
14. What does a no-action analysis begin with?
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
15. Explain the process of conducting a quick survey.
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
16. What is the purpose of a literature review?
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Easy
Essay
1. Describe the steps and issues involved in analyzing a problem and why it is difficult.
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Problem Analysis
Difficulty Level: Medium
2. Identify a particular public policy problem and give an example of an operational measure that reflects it. Explain why your measure is appropriate to that problem.
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Definitions and Measures
Difficulty Level: Medium
3. Give an example of a policy tool that government uses or could use. Why might policymakers choose to use these tools to deal with a particular public problem?
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Medium
4. Identify and describe different policy instruments that rely on financial means to prompt action by citizens or corporations.
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. What is involved in problem analysis? Explain how trying to define a simple problem is often political. Give your own example of analyzing a problem (such as illegal immigration).
Learning Objective: 5-1: Explain how to describe, measure, and analyze public problems and how to think about their causes and possible solutions.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Problem Analysis
Difficulty Level: Medium
6. Based on your study of policy tools in Chapter 5, choose an example policy issue to work with (such as illegal immigration, cell phone use while driving, reforming health care, reduction of carbon emissions, or your own). Discuss different policy tools available and how they could be applied to this problem, explaining what they are and how they work.
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: What Governments Can Do
Difficulty Level: Medium
7. How do policy analysts come up with policy proposals? Describe several methods or approaches that policymakers use to develop policy proposals.
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Thinking Creatively about Policy Action
Difficulty Level: Medium
8. What does the term policy design mean?
Learning Objective: 5-4: Identify how to think creatively about which policy alternatives or tools are likely to work best for a given problem.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
9. What are policy tools?
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. How is the choice of policy tools determined?
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy
11. What are capacity-building tools?
Learning Objective: 5-3: Assess the policy tools that governments have available to address problems.
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Answer Location: Policy Typologies as Analytic Tools
Difficulty Level: Easy