This site is 100% ad supported. Please add an exception to adblock for this site.

Enterline: poli sci study cards

Terms

undefined, object
copy deck
Why do we have a social welfare policy?
to provide people with protection against poverty and hunger, improve their health and physical well-being, provide educational and employment training opportunities, and enable them to lead more secure, satisfying, and productive lives.
What is Public Policy?
an intentional course of action followed by government in dealing w/ some problem or matter of concern
Why is Bush's popularity decreasing in America?
Bush's popularity is decreasing because many Americans do not know about the foreign policy and the biases in the media
What does the Congress do?
responds to initiatives
Who has more power, Congress or executives?
executives execute actions; therefore, the executives are much stronger than Congress
What is public policy based on?
The public policy is based on law; authoritative and binding of people
What is an example of public policy?
⬢ An example of a public policy concerns drug abuse; there must be change and those who do not comply will be penalized
What are the four theories of Public policy?
Elite Theory, Bureaucratic Theory, Interest Group Theory, and Pluralist theory
What is the Elite Theory?
chosen few makes all of the decisions
What is the bureaucratic theory?
more power to the bureaucracy; more power towards security and budgets
What is the Interest Group Theory?
given myriad pressure points, interest groups control government
What is the Pluralist Theory?
political resources are widely scattered; no one group dominates policymaking
What are the stages to Public Policy?
⬢ Problem must get on the governmental agenda
⬢ Formulation of alternatives for dealing with the problem
⬢ Policy adoption is the formal enactment or approval of an alternative
⬢ Budgeting provides financial resources to carry out the approved alternative
⬢ Policy implementation is the actual administration or application of the policy
⬢ Policy evaluation determines the policy's actual accomplishments, consequences, or shortcomings
In general, how is the president viewed in Public Policy?
President is agenda - setter for Congress (in general)...stated in the first article in the Constitution (legislation)
How do individuals contribute to public policy?
Individuals can matter too; individuals may also push issues to the congressional agenda
True or false: agenda setting is a competititve process.
TRUE!!!
What are the three types of policy formulation?
Routine, Analogous, and Creative
What is routine formulation?
a repetitive and essentially changeless process of reformulating similar proposals within an issue area
What is analogous formulation?
handles new problems by drawing on experience within similar problems of the past
What is creative formulation?
involves attempts to develop new or unprecedented proposals that represent a departure from existing practices
Why are major legislations so hard to pass?
Complex legislation takes time to pass and legislation passed is often incremental
How does budget affect public policy?
You need money to carry out public policy
A policy can be nullified by a refusal to fund
Having the potential to curb funding can be a powerful tool for congressional committee chairs
What are the three techniques used by the administration in public policy?
Authoratative, Incentive, and Horatory
What are authoratative techniques?
rests on the notion that people's actions must be restrained by government in order to prevent or eradicate activities or products that are unsafe, evil, or immoral
What are incentive techniques?
encourage people to act in their own best interest by offering payoffs or financial inducements to get them to comply
What are horatory techniques?
encourage people to comply with policy by appealing to their better instincts
Who are the important people involved in public policy?
Congressional committees
Presidential committees
Private research committees
General Accountability Office (GAO
What is an agenda?
a set of issues to be discussed or given attention
What is a systematic agenda?
all public issues that are viewed as requiring governmental attention; a discussion agenda
What is the governmental (institutional) agency?
the changing list of issues to which governments believe they should address themselves
What is agenda setting?
the constant process of forming the list of issues to be addressed by government
What is policy formulation?
the crafting of appropriate and acceptable proposed courses of action to ameliorate or resolve public problems
What is policy adoption?
the approval of a policy proposal by the people with the requisite authority, such as a legislature
What is policy implementation?
the process of carrying out public policy through governmental agencies and the courts
What is policy evaluation?
the process of determining whether a course of action is achieving its intended goals
What is the Social Security Act?
a 1935 law that established old-age insurance (social security) and assistance for the needy, children, and others, and unemployment insurance
What is the Non-means-based Program?
program such as social security where benefits are provided irrespective of the income or means of recipients
What is the means-tested program?
income security program intended to assist those whose incomes fall below a designated level
What is the entitlement program?
income security program to which all those meeting eligibility criteria are entitled
What is Medicare?
the federal program established in the Lyndon B. Johnson administration that provides medical care to elderly Social Security recipients
What is Medicaid?
an expansion of Medicare, this program subsidizes medical care for the poor
What happened to the Social Welfare Policy in the Late 19th Century?
 Farmers and rural Americans sought help
 Falling commodity prices; exploitation of railroads
 1890s sever economic depression
 Acceptance and expectance of government intervention
 Capitalism can create incredible rates of prosperity
During the Great Depression, what happened to the economy when FDR was elected in 1932?
 Unemployment extremely high; bud for economy
 This is expected, if there is a great depression, the economy is expected to go downhill. There is a big influx of people moving to the city, but the city cannot handle this. There are not enough jobs for everyone to move to the city
 Created Civil Works Administration by executive order to put people to work
What led to the creation of Social Security?
the great depression
After Social Security was passed, who strongly opposed the idea of a national health insurance policy?
 AMA (American Medical Association) strongly opposed it, so it was omitted
 The AMA did not want health care because they did not want to deal with governmental intervention, which was aggressive. They were also afraid of losing money
In 1945, who put Health Insurance on the National Policy Agenda?
Truman
Who introduced Medicare?
Johnson
What did Income Security Programs do for Americans?
Protect people against loss of income due to retirement, disability, unemployment or deal or absence of family breadwinner
What did the non-means-based programs offer?
o Social insurance
o Old age, survivor and disability insurance
o Unemployment insurance
What did the means-based programs offer?
o They either come as or in-kind benefits, such as food stamps
o Supplemental Security Income
o Some of these programs are making people dependent on social welfare instead of rehabilitating them
What is the Reconciliation Act of 1996?
 States start to reform - length of time on welfare (restrictions)
 Required single mothers with a child over five years of age to work within two years of receiving funds
 Included a provision that unmarried mothers under the age of 18 be required to live with an adult and attend school in order to receive welfare benefits
 Set a five-year lifetime limit for and from block grants
 Included a requirement that mothers must provide information about a child's father in order to receive full welfare payments
 Cut off food stamps and SSI for legal immigrants
 Cut off cash welfare benefits and food stamps for convicted drug felons
 Limited food stamps to 3 months in a 3 year period for persons 18 to 50 years old who are not raising children and not working
What are business cycles?
fluctuation between expansion and recession that is a part of modern capitalist economies
What does Laissez-faire mean?
a French term literally meaning "to allow to do, to leave alone." It is a hands-off governmental policy that is based on the belief that governmental involvement in the economy is wrong
What is an interventionist state?
alternative to the laissez-faire state; the government takes an active role in guiding and managing the private economy
What is an economic regulation?
governmental regulation of business practices, industry rates, routes, or areas serviced by particular industries
What is a social regulation?
governmental regulation of the quality and safety of products as well as the conditions under which goods and services are produced
What is economic stability?
a situation in which there is economic growth, rising national income, high employment, and steadiness in the general level of prices
What is inflation?
a rise in the general price levels of an economy
What is recession?
a short-term decline in the economy that occurs as investment sags, production falls off, and unemployment increases
What is the monetary policy?
a form of government regulation in which the nation's money supply and interest rates are controlled
What is money?
a system of exchange for goods and services that includes currency, coins, and bank deposits
What is the Federal Reserve Board?
a seven-member board that sets member banks reserve requirements, controls the discount rate, and makes other economic decisions
What is the Reserver requirment?
governmental requirements that a portion of member banks' deposits must be retained to back loans made
What is the discount rate?
the rate of interest at which member banks can borrow money from their regional Federal Reserve Bank
What are the open market operations?
the buying and selling of government securities by the Federal Reserve Bank in securities market
What is the fiscal policy?
Federal government policies on taxes, spending, and debt management, intended to promote the nation's macroeconomic goals, particularly with respect to employment, price stability, and growth
What is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?
the total market value of all goods and service produced in a country during a year
What is the Department of Agriculture (1862)?
to protect agriculture and the interest of agriculture and to provide farmers with technology
What is the Homestead Act (1862?
gave people incentives to move west for free land (~116 acres)
What is the Morrill Land Grant Act (1862)?
gave land grants to universities (colleges)
What is significant about government regulations in the economy?
it provides a safe place to live, a good environment, but there is also less freedom for business owners, which will result in less hiring.
How did the Great Depression affect the economy?
o Low confidence in economy
o Prices dropped (agriculture)
o Production declined
o Unemployment rose
o Tremendous disparity in wealth
What is isolationism?
a national policy of avoiding participation in foreign affairs
What is unilateralism?
a national policy of acting without consulting others
What is moralism?
the policy of emphasizing morality in foreign affairs
What is pragmatism?
the policy of taking advantage of a situation for national gain
What is Washington's Farewell Address?
Washington's 1796 final address as president in which he declared that the U.S. should avoid becoming involved in foreign alliances
What does impressment mean?
the British practice in the early eighteenth century of stopping ships at sea to seize sailors suspected of having deserted the Royal Navy
What is the Embargo Act?
passed by Congress in 1807 to prevent U.S. ships from leaving U.S. ports for foreign ports without the approval of the federal government
What is the War of 1812?
fought between the U.S. and Great Britain over impressment and U.S. territorial designs on Canada
What is the Monroe Doctrine?
President James Monroe's 1823 pledge that the U.S. would oppose attempts by European states to extend their political control into the Western Hemisphere
What are tariffs?
taxes on imports used to raise government revenue and to protect infant industries
What are the Barbary Wars?
conflicts the U.S. fought in the early eighteenth century with North African states against their piracy
What is Manifest Destiny?
theory that the U.S. was divinely mandated to expand across North America to the Pacific Ocean
What is the Spanish-American War?
brief 1898 war against Spain because of Spanish brutality in Cuba and U.S. desire to attain overseas territory
What is the Roosevelt Corollary?
concept developed by President Theodore Roosevelt early in the twentieth century that it was the U.S. responsibility to assure stability in Latin America and the Caribbean
What is collective security?
the concept that peace would be secured if all countries collectively opposed any country that invaded another
What is the Leaugue of Nations?
created in the peace treaty that ended WWI, it was an international governmental organization dedicated to preserving peace
What did the UN resemble after WWI?
The League of Nations
What was significant about Pearl Harbor?
naval base in Hawaii attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941, initiating U.S. entry into WWII.
What is the UN?
an international governmental organization created shortly before the end of WWII to guarantee the security of nations and to promote global economic, physical, and social well-being
What is the International Governmental Organization?
an organization created by the governments of at least two and often many countries that operates internationally with the objectives of achieving the purposes that the member countries agree upon
What is the Bretton Woods Agreement?
international financial agreement signed shortly before the end of WWII that created the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
What is the International Monetary Fund?
international government organization created shortly before the end of WWII to stabilize international financial relations through fixed monetary exchange rates
What is the world bank?
international governmental organization created shortly before the end of WWII to provide loans for large economic development projects
What is the general agreement on tariffs and trade? (GATT)
devised shortly after WWII as an interim agreement until a World Trade Organization could be created to help lower tariffs and increase trade
What is multilateralism?
the U.S. foreign policy that actions should be taken in cooperation with other states after consultation
What is the Truman Doctrine?
U.S. policy initiated in 1947 of providing economic assistance and military aid to countries fighting against communist revolutions or political pressure
What is the Marshall Plan?
European Recovery Program, named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall, of extensive U.S. aid to Western Europe after WWII
What is containment?
strategy to oppose expansion of Soviet power, particularly in Western Europe and East Asia, with military power, economic assistance, and political influence
What is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? (NATO)
the first peacetime military treaty the U.S. joined, NATO is a regional political and military organization created in 1950
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
the 1962 confrontation that nearly escalated into war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over Soviet deployment of medium-range ballistic missiles in Cuba
What is the Vietnam War?
between 1965 and 1973, the U.S. deployed up to 500,000 troops to Vietnam to try to prevent North Vietnam from taking over South Vietnam; the effort failed and was extremely divisive within the U.S.
What is detente?
the relaxation of tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union that occurred during the 1970s
What is the Nixon Doctrine?
the policy implemented at the end of the Vietnam War that the United States would provide arms and military equipment to countries but not do the fighting for them
What are the human rights?
the belief that human beings have inalienable rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion
What is the Iranian Hostage Crisis?
crisis during the Carter administration when Iranian students with support of the Iranian government took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding all the personnel hostage
What is the Carter Doctrine?
policy announced after 1979 Soviet invasions of Afghanistan that the Persian Gulf area was a vital U.S. interest and the U.S. would fight to maintain access to it
What is the Reagan Doctrine?
policy that the U.S. would provide military assistance to anti-communist groups fighting against pro-Soviet governments
What is the Operation Desert Storm?
the 1991 American-led attack against Iraq to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait
What is engagement?
policy implemented during the Clinton administration that the U.S. would remain actively involved in foreign affairs
What is enlargement?
policy implemented during the Clinton administration that the United States would actively promote the expansion of democracy and free markets throughout the world
What is the North American Free Trade Agreement? (NAFTA)
agreement that promotes free movement of goods and services among Canada, Mexico, and the US
What is the World Trade Organization?
international governmental organization created in 1995 that manages multilateral negotiations to reduce barriers to trade and settle trade disputes
What is the Department of State?
chief executive-branch department responsible for formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy
What is the Department of Defense?
chief executive-branch department responsible for formulation and implementation of U.S. military policy
What is the Central Intelligence Agency? (CIA)
executive agency responsible for collection and analysis of information and intelligence about foreign countries and events
What is the National Security council?
executive agency responsibility for advising the president about foreign and defense policy and events
What is the Department of Homeland Security?
executive agency responsibility for advising the president about foreign and defense policy and events
What is the War Powers Act?
passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit withdrawal) unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period
What is the Military-industry Complex?
the grouping of the U.S. armed forces and defense industries
What is the Nongovernmental Organization?
an organization that is not tied to a government
What is al-Qaeda?
worldwide terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden; responsible for numerous terrorist attacks against U.S. interests, including 9/11 attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon
What is the Taliban?
fundamentalist Islamic government of Afghanistan that provided terrorist training bases for al-Qaeda
What does War on Terrorism mean?
initiated by George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks to weed out terrorist operatives throughout the world, using diplomacy; military means, improved homeland security, stricter banking laws, and other means
What are the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty?
2002 U.S. Russian treaty that reduced the number of nuclear warheads in each side's arsenals respectively to about 1,700 and 2.200 the lowest total in decades
What are weapons of Mass Destrcution?
biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, which present a sizeable threat to U.S. security
What is information warfare?
attacks against information and communication systems, which present a sizeable threat to U.S. security
What happened in the Kyoto Conference on Global Climate Change?
1997 international conference to develop agreements to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming
What is the Grand Strategy?
the choices a government makes to balance and apply economic, military; diplomatic, and other resources to preserve the nation's people, territory, and values

Deck Info

130

permalink