Public Policy And Politics Ch1 Test Bank Docx

Test Bank

Chapter 1: Public Policy and Politics

Multiple Choice

1. Which statement describes government policy with regard to regulation of amusement park rides in the United States?

a. complicated and varied across the nation, with different levels and agencies of government involved

b. regulated stringently by the federal government

c. completely unregulated

d. regulated by state governments

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. A ______ refers to the effects that policies have on society.

a. policy output

b. policy outcome

c. policy yield

d. collective action

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Which of the following is an example of a policy outcome?

a. EPA clean air regulations

b. lower poverty rates

c. requirements that public schools conduct achievement testing

d. gun control legislation

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Public policy is best defined as ______.

a. promotion of the common good through regulatory instruments

b. deconstructing a policy issue in order to study aspects of the issue

c. what government officials and citizens choose to do or not to do about public problems

d. activities of think tanks, interest groups, and government agents to address public problems

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. ______ refers to the institutions and political processes through which public policy choices are made.

a. Government

b. Federalism

c. Policy analysis

d. Politics

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Which of the following terms refer to deliberate critical thinking about the causes of public problems and which policy choices make the most sense to address them?

a. policy outcomes

b. policy analysis

c. information context

d. deliberative government evaluation

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Policy Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Which statement describes the primary reason that US policy making is characterized by conflict over which policies to adopt?

a. Government officials, interest groups, and citizens promote their views about what to do.

b. The political parties have become highly polarized.

c. Government regulations have become increasingly complex, and government has grown.

d. The media increasingly exposes the decline in ethics among public officials.

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Politics

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Which of the following terms refers to the relationship between the national government and the state and local governments?

a. collective action

b. bicameralism

c. political culture

d. federalism

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Government officials propose public policies in response to ______ or conditions that the public widely perceives to be unacceptable.

a. policy outcomes

b. market failures

c. political crises

d. public problems

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. ______ has been defined as “who gets what, when, and how” or the exercise of power in making decisions of public policy.

a. Equity

b. Feasibility

c. Government

d. Politics

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Politics

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. ______ are economic justifications for why government becomes involved in societal problems.

a. Policy impacts

b. Policy subsystems

c. Market failures

d. Agenda settings

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. The main reason that government gets involved in addressing a public problem is to ______.

a. ensure continuity of externalities

b. conduct policy analysis

c. improve policy capacity of states

d. ensure that the general “public good” is maintained and protected

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. A recession is likely to affect the policies that Congress and the president adopt to stimulate jobs. This is an example of which context affecting the development of public policy?

a. economic

b. political

c. governing

d. social

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economic Context

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. During and after the Great Recession, various governmental entities proposed policies to create jobs, increase the minimum wage, and regulate financial markets. This flurry of policy making was likely a result of which context, affecting the policy-making process?

a. economic

b. cultural

c. defense

d. governing

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economic Context

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. The ideology of individual members of Congress is an example of the ______ context that affects the development of public policy.

a. governing

b. social

c. cultural

d. political

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Context

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. The governing context affects how policy decisions are made. This context refers to ______.

a. the federal system and separation of powers

b. values, beliefs, and attitudes

c. conflicts, elections, and political parties

d. inflation and unemployment

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Governing Context

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. The aging of the Baby Boom generation has led to growing interest in reform of government programs such as Medicare and Social Security. Similarly, immigration policy is in the spotlight because of the influx of immigrants to the United States. These are examples of the ______ context influencing policy.

a. moral

b. social

c. political

d. governing

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Social Context

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. The examination of components of policy, the policy process, or both, is referred to as ______.

a. policy formulation

b. policy legitimation

c. policy analysis

d. policy capacity

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Policy Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. The United States saw an increase in environmental legislation in the 1970s due in part to pressure from environmental groups. This represents what type of rationale for government intervention?

a. economic reasons

b. moral or ethical reasons

c. market failures

d. political reasons

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Political Reasons

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. When the Environmental Protection Agency adopts regulations that force power plants to take into consideration the actual costs to deal with pollution and the health problems it causes, what type of market failure is the EPA addressing?

a. negative externality

b. natural monopoly

c. positive externality

d. barriers to exit and entry

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. Education is often cited as something that benefits more than just the person getting the education; it benefits society in a number of other ways. This is called ______.

a. redistributive policy

b. positive externality

c. buoyancy of community funding

d. market-based incentives

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. A(n) ______ occurs when the public has incomplete information in order to enter into a transaction or exchange.

a. monopoly

b. information failure

c. economic context

d. joint consumption

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. Negative externality and information failure are both examples of what?

a. politics

b. market failure

c. political culture

d. toll goods

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. Which of the following is the only type of good for which there is no market failure, and the government need not intervene to prevent it?

a. pure private good

b. pure public good

c. common pool resource

d. toll goods

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. Which of the following are examples of pure public goods?

a. cable television services, electrical utilities

b. automobiles, houses, DVDs

c. air, water, wildlife

d. national defense, air, public parks

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. A good that can be ______ is one for which one individual’s consumption of the good does not interfere with another individual’s consumption of the same good.

a. jointly consumed

b. excluded

c. externalized

d. collective

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. Cable television services are an example of a ______.

a. pure private good

b. toll good

c. common pool resource

d. pure public good

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. Which of the following criteria for analyzing public policies examines how government officials appraise the acceptability of a particular alternative or solution?

a. effectiveness

b. efficiency

c. political feasibility

d. equity

Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. The “tragedy of the commons” refers to the situation in which individuals attempt to maximize their use of ______ without regard to their degradation or depletion.

a. pure private goods

b. toll goods

c. common pool resources

d. pure public goods

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. Federal subsidies that are only given to dairy farmers who own more than one hundred cows may raise concerns about the ______ of the policy.

a. effectiveness

b. efficiency

c. equity

d. feasibility

Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. ______ argue for less government intrusion into the economy and decision making within business and industry.

a. Liberals

b. Conservatives

c. Moderates

d. Independents

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Political Context

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. A ______ is a law proposed by a state or locality for voters to approve or reject.

a. referendum

b. initiative

c. recall

d. none of these

Learning Objective: 1-5: Explore why citizens should understand public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Citizens’ Ability to Participate and Make Choices

Difficulty Level: Easy

33. About ______% of states allow citizen-generated initiatives.

a. 20

b. 30

c. 40

d. 50

Learning Objective: 1-5: Explore why citizens should understand public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Citizens’ Ability to Participate and Make Choices

Difficulty Level: Easy

34. Which of the following are considered public goods?

a. houses

b. food and clothing

c. maintenance of highways

d. personal computers

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: What is Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. ______ refers to what a policy or policy proposal costs in relation to its expected benefits to society.

a. Equity

b. Feasibility

c. Efficiency

d. Effectiveness

Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. What are the authorized means for pursuing goals?

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Identify the regulatory agency responsible for ensuring public safety for a wide range of consumer products.

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. What is federalism?

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Government

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. What is a representative democracy?

Learning Objective: 1-5: Explore why citizens should understand public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Citizens’ Ability to Participate and Make Choices

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Define political culture.

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cultural Context

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. When do monopolies or oligopolies exist?

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. What are common pool resources?

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Explain positive externalities.

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. When does a market failure occur?

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. What is an information failure?

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. What are the roles of interest groups?

Learning Objective: 1-5: Explore why citizens should understand public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Citizens’ Ability to Participate and Make Choices

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Provide an example of a pure public good.

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. Which policy criterion would be used in an effort to evaluate how successful a policy is at meeting its goals?

Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Which policy criterion refers to the assessment of how well a policy works relative to the cost of adopting that policy?

Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Which policy criterion evaluates whether elected officials are likely to find a proposed policy acceptable or not?

Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Define public policy.

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Provide an example of a pure private good.

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Choose three of the contexts that surround policy making and explain how each context can affect the decisions that are made or can influence the policy emphases that emerge. As part of your explanation of a context, give an example of how a certain context had an impact on a policy that was enacted.

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: The Contexts of Public Policy

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. How can the social context affect the development of public policy? Provide an example as part of your answer.

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Contexts of Public Policy

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What are the three major reasons for government intervention into a particular problem? Select a substantive issue/problem (e.g., social security, environmental policy, addressing the recession, etc.) and discuss why the government may intervene for each of the reasons identified. Discuss political, moral/ethical, and market failure reasons for government intervention and what these are. Select any issues (e.g., environmental) and discuss how one might interpret government intervention from each of these reasons.

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: The Reasons for Government Involvement

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. One type of market failure occurs when markets cannot provide for the public good. Explain the two criteria that determine whether a good is private or public.

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Why does the government provide and/or protect public goods?

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: What Is Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Discuss the reasons why it is beneficial for citizens to study public policy.

Learning Objective: 1-2: Identify key concepts associated with the study of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Why Study Public Policy?

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. How are criteria used to evaluate public policy? Discuss the criteria that policy analysts use to evaluate an existing or proposed policy and the focus of each criterion.

Learning Objective: 1-6: Describe the reasons for evaluating public policies today.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: How to Decide Which Policy Is Best: Using Multiple Criteria

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Ensuring the safety of amusement park rides illustrates the purpose and nature of public policy. Discuss the purpose of policy making, reasons that government gets involved in the solution of public problems, and the factors that make policy making so complex.

Learning Objective: 1-1: Define and explain the nature of public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Examine the four kinds of market failures that lead to government involvement in public policy. For each type of market failure, discuss the following: (a) the nature of the failure, that is, what it looks like and how it occurs; (b) an illustrative example; and (c) the way in which government may address the failure.

Learning Objective: 1-4: Examine the reasons for governmental involvement in public policy.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Economics and Market Failures

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. Policy making does not occur in a vacuum. Explain and provide an example of each of the various contexts that surround policy making and how that context can influence the policies that are enacted.

Learning Objective: 1-3: Explain the different contexts in which public policy is made.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Contexts of Public Policy

Difficulty Level: Medium