Test Bank Answers Chapter.6 Assessing Policy Alternatives

Test Bank

Chapter 6: Assessing Policy Alternatives

Multiple Choice

1. Evaluative criteria are ______.

a. the policy alternatives available to policy actors

b. those that measure the policy actors involved in a policy issue

c. justifications or rationales for a policy or government action

d. arbitrary standards that are the same for all policy issues

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Which of the following policy analysis criteria deals with whether a policy has a fair process or policy outcome?

a. legitimation

b. equity

c. effectiveness

d. efficiency

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Which term is used in cost-benefit analysis when discussing the present value of future benefits?

a. discount rate

b. indexing

c. opportunity cost

d. sensitivity analysis

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Which decision-making tool analyzes the potential harm to people or other negative effects of a proposed policy solution?

a. cost-benefit analysis

b. risk assessment

c. implementation analysis

d. forecasting

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Which decision-making tool studies the expected outcomes of a policy proposal while also calculating the expected financial impact?

a. cost-benefit analysis

b. risk assessment

c. implementation analysis

d. forecasting

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Which analytical technique uses historical data to make estimates of future numbers?

a. cost-benefit analysis

b. risk assessment

c. implementation analysis

d. forecasting

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Forecasting

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. The debate over ______, discussed in the beginning of Chapter 6, involved policy proposals that utilized many of the instruments of public policy as well as most of the evaluative criteria.

a. health-care policy

b. education policy

c. welfare policy

d. energy policy

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Policy analysts can estimate the value of the time sitting in traffic through ______.

a. contingent valuation methods

b. sensitivity analysis

c. risk evaluation

d. impact assessment

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. When determining how to respond to rising energy costs, policymakers assessed the likely environmental, health, and safety impacts of energy exploration, development, and use. This is an example of ______.

a. applying risk-assessment approaches to analyze policy options

b. the evaluative criterion of liberty

c. assessing the cost-benefit of the policy options

d. assessing the technical feasibility of the options

Learning Objective: 6-2: Explain how to apply the methods of policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Which of the following policy analysis criteria looks at the costs in relation to benefits?

a. effectiveness

b. equity

c. political feasibility

d. efficiency

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. ______ refers to the policy analysis method that assesses the potential for harm that might result (to people or to the environment) if potential hazards should occur.

a. Forecasting

b. Cost-benefit analysis

c. Risk assessment

d. Program evaluation

Learning Objective: 6-2: Explain how to apply the methods of policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Which of the following does not attempt to assign dollar values to potential benefits but instead compares different policy alternatives that can produce these benefits in terms of their relative costs?

a. cost-effectiveness analysis

b. risk assessment

c. program evaluation

d. impact analysis

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. ______ focuses on analyzing policy results and outcomes.

a. Decision analysis

b. Risk assessment

c. Cost-effectiveness analysis

d. Program evaluation

Learning Objective: 6-5: Compare the ethical approach of policy analysis against other methods.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Implementation Analysis and Program Evaluation

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. A difficult and relatively infrequent type of policy analysis that systematically examines ethical or normative issues in public policy is referred to as a ______.

a. cost-benefit analysis

b. ethical analysis

c. decision analysis

d. risk analysis

Learning Objective: 6-5: Compare the ethical approach of policy analysis against other methods.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ethical Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Which government office is in charge of monitoring how other agencies conduct cost-benefit analyses?

a. Office of Management and Budget

b. Office of Cost Efficiency

c. Council of Economic Advisors

d. Council of Environmental Quality

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. Nearly every policy proposal is concerned with the criterion of ______.

a. effectiveness

b. liberty

c. technical feasibility

d. equity

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Not every state has laws that require motorcyclists to wear helmets even though they have been shown to reduce the severity of injuries in the event of an accident. States without these laws have weighed the criterion of ______ more strongly than effectiveness.

a. equity

b. efficiency

c. social acceptability

d. liberty/freedom

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. With the scarcity of government resources in the past several years, the evaluative criterion of ______ has become more and more important.

a. political feasibility

b. efficiency

c. effectiveness

d. social acceptability

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Effectiveness

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Do federally funded abstinence-only programs actually prevent teenage pregnancy? This is a question that relates to the ______ of that policy alternative.

a. effectiveness

b. equity

c. political feasibility

d. efficiency

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Effectiveness

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. In some states, legislators may be more likely to propose laws allowing gay marriage than in other states. Gay marriage is more ______ in the states that pass such laws.

a. equitable

b. technically feasible

c. effective

d. socially acceptable

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. A local government is interested in planning for certain services for older adults as the baby boom generation ages. The agency develops estimates of the number of older adults who will be living in the area in 2015, 2020, 2025, and 2030. This is an example of ______.

a. impact analysis

b. cost-benefit analysis

c. risk assessment

d. forecasting

Learning Objective: 6-4: Distinguish between the different types of decision making and impact analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Forecasting

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. Being stuck in traffic imposes ______ on drivers because they could be doing something more productive with their time.

a. a policy gridlock

b. an opportunity cost

c. a risk assessment

d. an inducement

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. A college student could be working as a waiter and earning US$20,000 annually. However, he is attending college and forgoing that income. This is an example of the ______ to attend college, a cost that the student hopes will be worth the investment in the long run.

a. discount

b. risk evaluation

c. opportunity cost

d. efficiency

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses ______ to determine the level of chemicals and other pollutants that can be present in water and still be considered safe to drink.

a. contingent valuation methods

b. sensitivity analysis

c. risk evaluation

d. impact assessment

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. Equity concerns are central when it comes to ______ policies, since different groups of people pay for and benefit from these policies.

a. redistributive

b. regulatory

c. monetary

d. salient

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Equity

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. ______ is a close relative of cost-benefit analysis.

a. Risk assessment

b. Opportunity costs

c. Risk evaluation

d. Risk management

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. In ______, Congress approved the Food Safety Modernization Act to ensure that the U.S. food supply is safe.

a. 2000

b. 2005

c. 2010

d. 2015

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

28. ______ can be defined as a procedure for producing factual information about future states of society on the basis of prior information about policy problems.

a. Effectiveness

b. Equity

c. Risk management

d. Forecasting

Learning Objective: 6-4: Distinguish between the different types of decision making and impact analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Forecasting

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. The population of the United States was about ______ million in 2019.

a. 300

b. 315

c. 330

d. 400

Learning Objective: 6-4: Distinguish between the different types of decision making and impact analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Forecasting

Difficulty Level: Easy

30. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated a U.S. population of about 390 million in ______.

a. 2020

b. 2030

c. 2040

d. 2050

Learning Objective: 6-4: Distinguish between the different types of decision making and impact analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Forecasting

Difficulty Level: Easy

31. Gasoline prices surged in ______.

a. 2009–2010

b. 2010–2011

c. 2011–2012

d. 2012–2013

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. Which evaluative criterion is concerned with how well the policy has worked and the policy outcomes that occur?

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Effectiveness

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Which evaluative criterion is concerned with the likely outcomes of the policy relative to the cost to implement it?

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Efficiency

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Which evaluative criterion is concerned with the perceived fairness of the policymaking process or its outcomes?

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Equity

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Which evaluative criterion is concerned with how that policy proposal might impinge on individuals’ rights and choices?

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Using the Methods of Policy Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Explain how cost-benefit analysis works.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. What is forecasting?

Learning Objective: 6-4: Distinguish between the different types of decision making and impact analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Forecasting

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. What are impact assessments?

Learning Objective: 6-4: Distinguish between the different types of decision making and impact analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Impact Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Explain the contingent valuation method technique.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. What are some of the benefits of using a sensitivity analysis?

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Why is policy implementation one of the most important steps in the policy making process?

Learning Objective: 6-5: Compare the ethical approach of policy analysis against other methods.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Implementation Analysis and Program Evaluation

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. What is an advantage of using a cost-effectiveness analysis?

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Define risk.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. What is risk evaluation?

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Define risk management.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Identify different types of job impact studies.

Learning Objective: 6-4: Distinguish between the different types of decision making and impact analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Impact Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. What is the focus of program evaluations?

Learning Objective: 6-5: Compare the ethical approach of policy analysis against other methods.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Implementation Analysis and Program Evaluation

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. What is an ethical analysis?

Learning Objective: 6-5: Compare the ethical approach of policy analysis against other methods.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ethical Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. What are the two different meanings of the term equity?

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Equity

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Why are policies almost never self-implementing?

Learning Objective: 6-5: Compare the ethical approach of policy analysis against other methods.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Implementation Analysis and Program Evaluation

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. What is a discount rate and what does it allow analysts to do.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

21. Why have conservatives and business interests favored the use of risk assessment methods for domestic policy conflicts?

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. Which are the three most commonly utilized criteria for evaluating policy proposals? Define each of these three criteria and give an example of a policy proposal (real or fictitious) in which it could be used.

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. In a general sense, what are evaluative criteria, and what is their value to policymakers attempting to choose the best policy options?

Learning Objective: 6-1: Describe evaluative criteria for judging the value of policy proposals or alternatives.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Evaluative Criteria for Judging Policy Proposals

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Compare and contrast cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Economic Approaches

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Explain the general approach to conducting a cost-benefit analysis.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Cost-Benefit Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Explain what is involved in risk assessment and when this approach is used.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Identify three key economic approaches to policy analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Risk Assessment

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Ethical analysis is most appropriate for what kinds of issues?

Learning Objective: 6-5: Compare the ethical approach of policy analysis against other methods.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ethical Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Why might forecasting be used to examine an issue? What are the potential drawbacks of this technique?

Learning Objective: 6-4: Distinguish between the different types of decision making and impact analyses.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Forecasting

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Discuss the political and institutional approaches to understand proposed policy alternatives.

Learning Objective: 6-5: Compare the ethical approach of policy analysis against other methods.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Political and Institutional Approaches

Difficulty Level: Medium