PSCI 2010 Final Exam

What important noncontributory program was abolished by Congress in 1996?

Aid to Families with Dependent Children

Which of the following statements about American's health care views is most accurate?

Although a majority of Americans believe that government should ensure that all people receive adequate health care, there is considerable disagreement about how to deliver such benefits and how to pay for them.

A way to reduce the disparities in wealth between the rich and poor is called a(n) ______________.

Policy of Redistribution

What has been a result of the traditional American distrust of diplomacy?

Presidents often use military or political leaders outside the State Department during a crisis.

An officially expressed purpose or goal backed by a sanction is a _______________.

Public Policy

Which of the following programs provides an in-kind benefit?

SNAP (food stamps)

The power to raise or lower the tax rate is part of _________.

Fiscal Policy

Since World War II, ________ has brought together a wide range of nations for regular negotiations designed to reduce barriers to trade.

GATT

Which president made prevention the centerpiece of his foreign policy?

George W. Bush

________ warned Americans against too much involvement with foreign nations.

George Washington

Which of the following nations does NOT have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council?

Germany

Which statement is the key argument of John Maynard Keynes?

Government can pull an economy out of recession by stimulating demand and creating a cycle of increased production and jobs.

Which of the following social policies is currently the most costly to the government?

Social Security

_________ are government grants of cash or other valuable commodities, such as land, that are used to promote activities desired by government leaders.

Subsidies

Which program was designed to help augment the benefits to the aged, blind, and disabled?

Supplement Security Income

Which of the following statements about noncontributory programs, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and Medicaid, is most accurate?

The federal government provides only some of the funding for these programs, and, as a result, citizens receive very different levels of benefits in different states.

Which of the following statements about foreign policy is most accurate?

The institutional powers of the presidency give presidents an advantage over political forces based in Congress when determining American foreign policy.

Which of the following can be concluded from the results of the 1996 welfare reforms?

The reforms have reduced the number of people on welfare but have done little to reduce poverty.

Which of the following statements about K-12 education spending is most accurate?

The vast majority of spending for K-12 education comes from the state and local governments, while the federal government contributes a relatively small amount.

Why have politicians always favored using subsidies to promote certain economic activities?

They can be treated as benefits that can widely spread in response to many demands.

The United States is NOT a member of the

Warsaw Pact

Social Security is a good example of ___________.

a contributory program

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an example of

a multilateral treaty

Which of the following was a key part of the overhaul of No Child Left Behind?

a proposal that states could apply for waivers that would exempt them from some of the requirements of No Child Left Behind

Unemployment insurance is a ______ program that is funded by the _________.

contributory; federal and state governments

Medicare is a ________ program; Medicaid is a ________ program.

contributory; noncontributory

In the sphere of foreign policy, which of the following is a constitutional power possessed by Congress?

declaring war, regulating commerce with foreign nations, and confirming foreign ambassadors

The representation of a government to other foreign governments is called

diplomacy

Which of the following programs most benefits the working poor?

earned income tax credits

An agreement between the president and another country that has the force of a treaty but does not require the Senate's "advice and consent" is called a(n)

executive agreement

In 2007 and 2008, the government faced a housing crisis caused by

foreclosures

What was the key to American security during the nineteenth century?

geographical isolation

Which of the following is the strongest factor in predicting which groups in society receive the most benefits from government's social policies?

groups that are the most politically powerful

Americans have historically asserted that our foreign policies should

have a higher purpose than the pursuit of our own interests and use force only as a last resort.

Which of the following goals has traditionally been of lowest priority in U.S. foreign policy?

human rights

When did the Cold War begin?

in the 1940s, soon after World War II

The main change in welfare policies since 1996 is _______________.

increased use of non-cash assistance

Amnesty International is a(n)

interest group that works to protect human rights

The federal funds rate refers to the __________.

interest rate on loans between banks.

Dispute arbitration occurs when a(n)

international disagreement is referred to a neutral third party for resolution.

The nineteenth-century policy of ________ was based on the geographic distance of the United States from other countries.

isolationism

The best way for Federal Reserve Board officials to help boost a stagnant economy is to ___________.

lower interest rates so that banks can provide more loans at cheaper rates to individuals and businesses.

Part of the reason welfare programs became so unpopular was that _________________________________.

many Americans came to believe that welfare recipients did not want to work

A(n) _________ benefit is one where potential recipients must document their genuine need.

means-tested

The policy of deterrence and containment pursued by the United States during the Cold War can be viewed as

midway between aggression and appeasement

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

offered federal aid for education by allocating funds to school districts with substantial numbers of children from unemployed or low-income families.

In foreign policy, the Bush Doctrine refers to

preemptive war

The policy of striking a nation that might be contemplating hostile actions is called

preventive war

The fact that the United States remains silent in the face of human rights violations by a number of countries illustrates that

protecting human rights is less important to American foreign policy than security concerns and economic interests.

The World Bank's chief mission is to

provide development aid to poor countries

The International Monetary Fund

provides loans and facilitates a short flow of money to countries in need.

Charter schools are best described as

public schools that are free to design special curricula.

A cost-of-living adjustment is based on the ______________.

rate of inflation

The most important task of the Senate in foreign policy is

reviewing and approving treaties

A ________ nation is one with unstable leadership, whose policies are driven by ideology rather than by economic or human costs and benefits.

rogue

The three main goals of American foreign policy are

security, prosperity, and the creation of a better world.

________ are programs where the government provides a tax deduction for spending on health insurance and other benefits by both employers and employees.

tax expenditures

For the first 150 years of American history, Congress's role in foreign policy was limited because

the United States' role in the world affairs was very limited

Which war was officially declared by Congress?

the War of 1812

Which of the following set off a new set of power struggles in Washington, D.C., over control of the intelligence community?

the appointment of a national intelligence "czar"

What event brought federal attention to elementary school education?

the fear that the Soviets were winning the Cold War through better technology

The term shadow welfare state refers to

the federally subsidized social benefits that private employers offer to their workers.

Which of the following groups receives the most benefits from government's social policies?

the middle class

In a crisis, which of the following has the greatest foreign policy influence?

the president

Which of the following is a goal of American social policy?

the promotion of equality of opportunity

Since the welfare reforms of 1996, what is the primary reason for receiving federal cash assistance if one is nonworking and able-bodied?

the recipient is caring for children

The "individual mandate" of the Affordable Care Act refers to

the requirement that uninsured individuals purchase health insurance.

What is the main job of the director of national intelligence?

to collate and coordinate intelligence coming in from multiple sources and to report this information to the president

What is the chief task of the National Security Council?

to coordinate the differences among the executive's key foreign policy makers

The North American Free Trade Agreement is a(n)

trade treaty between Mexico, Canada, and the United States designed to lower and eliminate tariffs.

The Social Security Act of 1935 created __________.

two separate categories of welfare: contributory and noncontributory

The Supreme Court's decision in King v. Burwell (2015), was significant because it

upheld the federal government's ability under the Affordable Care Act to provide subsidies to people using the federal health insurance exchange.

The feminization of poverty refers to the fact that

women are more likely to be poor than men.

The Earned Income Tax Credit allows ____________.

working people whose annual income falls below a certain level to file for an income supplement through their tax returns.

Which of the following is the best example of the shadow welfare state?

workplace medical insurance

The United States withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol because it

would be too harmful to American national economic interests

Currently, the United Nations has ________ member states

193

Social Security was established in _____.

1935

The Department of Defense was created in

1947

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed in

1949

Medicare was established in ____.

1965

The final collapse of the Soviet Union occurred in

1991

About ________ percent of America's children live in poverty.

22

In most states, unemployment benefits last for a maximum of __ weeks.

26

Between 1959 and 2012, the percentage of elderly Americans living in poverty went from about ________ percent to about ________ percent.

35; 10

AARP has a membership of approximately ________ members.

40 million

Most unemployed workers receive approximately ___ percent of their previous wages through unemployment insurance.

50

In 2016, each individual's required contribution to Social Security was ___________.

6.2 percent of his/her first $118,500 of income.

The Federal Reserve Board is composed of __ members.

7

Allies of the United States paid for ________ percent of the cost of the Persian Gulf War

90

The headquarters of the United Nations is located in

New York

The old adage "politics stops at the water's edge" means that

all Americans will suffer if we fail to work together to protect our nation's political, economic, and security interests in the wider world.

The UN General Assembly

allocates one vote to each member country, regardless of population size.

Poor Americans had strong incentives to establish their eligibility for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in the 1970s because AFDC recipients _________________.

automatically received Medicaid and food stamps

Foreign aid is an economic ________; sanctions are an economic ________.

carrot; stick

Which of the following groups receives the LEAST benefits from government's social policies?

children

Why is it difficult to lobby for the interests of poor children?

children cannot vote

During the New Deal, ____________ theory that a government could boost employment by stimulating demand became quite influential.

John Maynard Keynes's

The United States withdrew from the 1997

Kyoto Protocol

Which of the following is a program of forced savings?

Medicare

________ is the single-largest medical insurance program in the United States.

Medicare

In 2016, each individual's required contribution to Medicare was ___ percent of all earnings.

1.45

Congress has exercised its power to declare war ________ times in American history.

11

The U.S. Public Health Service was founded in

1798

Which of the following played an important role in caring for the poor during the 19th century?

Churches and religious organizations

Why has Congress become a major foreign policy maker since World War II?

Congress is regularly called upon to approve financing of foreign policies.

The periodic adjustment of benefits or wages that takes into account the increased cost of living is called _____________.

Indexing

In 1998, the United States passed the ________ Act, which called on all governments to respect religious freedom.

International Religious Freedom

ISIS stands for

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

How did deregulation of the mortgage industry in 1999 help produce the housing crisis of 2007 and 2008?

It allowed many new mortgage companies to form, offering "predatory" loans that people could not afford to repay.

Which of the following statements about the No Child Left Behind Act is true?

It requires that students be tested every year in grades 3-8 for proficiency in math and reading.

How did the Great Depression change American attitudes about welfare?

It revealed that poverty could be caused by a flawed economic system, not just by personal irresponsibility

The world's wealthiest nation is

The United States

The Kyoto Protocol was a(n)

agreement setting limits on emissions of greenhouse gases from industrial countries.

All important issues must receive ________ in order to pass through the UN General Assembly.

a two-thirds majority vote

The United States spends

about one-third of the world's total military expenditures

Congress's 2003 Medicare reform bill

added a prescription drug benefit to the package of health benefits provided to the elderly.

There are considerable disparities in benefits from state to state in noncontributory programs because ______________________.

state governments are given grants-in-aid from the federal government to establish and operate their own programs rather than having one uniform national program

Social Security provides a vital role for younger people by providing ______________________.

survivor benefits to those whose parents die or become disabled.