Policy Process
Test Preparation
Course Introduction
The Policy Process course offers an in-depth exploration of how public policies are formulated, implemented, and evaluated within governmental systems. Students will examine the key stages of the policy cycle, including agenda-setting, policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and assessment. The course introduces theoretical frameworks for understanding policy actors, institutions, and the influence of public opinion and interest groups. Through case studies and applied analysis, learners will develop practical skills in policy analysis and gain insights into the challenges of real-world policy making in complex political environments.
Recommended Textbook
Public Policy Politics Analysis and Alternatives by Michael E. Kraft
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13 Chapters
848 Verified Questions
848 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/956
Page 2
Chapter 1: Public Policy and Politics
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18802
Sample Questions
Q1) A systematic and organized way to evaluate problems, policy alternatives, or the effectiveness of government programs is referred to as ______.
A) policy formulation
B) policy legitimation
C) policy analysis
D) policy capacity
Answer: C
Q2) Which level of government is involved in developing public policies?
A) federal government
B) state government
C) municipal or city government
D) all of these
Answer: D
Q3) 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) government action taken in response to a public problem.
D) activities of think tanks, interest groups, and government agents to address public problems.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Government Institutions and Policy Actors
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69 Verified Questions
69 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18803
Sample Questions
Q1) The Constitution gives each branch of government a different role in policy making in the United States.This sharing of responsibility by our government is known as ______.
A) federalism
B) executive, judicial, and state-level branches
C) separation of powers
D) public policies
Answer: C
Q2) Because of greater decentralization of policy making to the states, it has become more important that states have strong ______ or the ability to make effective and efficient policies.
A) mandates
B) policy capacities
C) division of authority
D) policy instruments
Answer: B
Q3) Lay out the components of the executive branch of the federal government.
Answer: The Office of the President,the Cabinet and related offices,along with other federal agencies such as the CIA,EPA,General Accounting Office,and Post Office.
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Chapter 3: Understanding Public Policy Making
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18804
Sample Questions
Q1) Once elected officials have formally proposed policies, the policy-making cycle moves on to ______, where the new policies are approved by a legislative body, signed by the executive, and accepted by the public.
Answer: policy legitimation
Q2) ______ as a step in the policy process is at once both simple and complex.
Answer: Legitimation
Q3) Discuss how elite theory is applied to development of policy.Include in your discussion a definition of who/what are elite(s), why elites vary according to policy issue, and how elites influence policy.
Answer: Elites are influential leaders from government,business,popular culture,or interest groups.Depending on the policy topic of interest,different elites hold power to influence the shaping of policy.Elites provide information and influence on the policy process and,through political engagement,gain influence over how money is spent and which policies are adopted.Elite influence on policy making may not be as democratic as Americans would believe.
Q4) The policy-making cycle begins with ______, which includes determination that a problem or need exists and that there is a need for government action.
Answer: agenda setting
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Policy Analysis
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66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18805
Sample Questions
Q1) Policy analysis that puts a priority on citizen involvement and alignment with public opinion emphasizes ______.
A) democratic political processes
B) rational comprehensive decision making
C) scientific analysis
D) pragmatic adjustments
Q2) ______ refers to collecting and interpreting information that clarifies the causes and effects of public problems.
A) Policy-making process
B) Incremental decision making
C) Root cause analysis
D) Policy analysis
Q3) The term ______ covers many different activities.
Q4) The Center for American Progress and the Heritage Foundation often use ______ to promote a preferred policy.
A) scientific policy analysis
B) professional policy analysis
C) political policy analysis
D) program evaluation
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Chapter 5: Public Problems and Policy Alternatives
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18806
Sample Questions
Q1) 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
Q2) 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
Q3) 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
Q4) Operational measures are also referred to as ______.
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Chapter 6: Assessing Policy Alternatives
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18807
Sample Questions
Q1) The evaluative criterion of ______ is concerned with how well the policy has worked and the policy outcomes that occur.
Q2) Which statement best describes the relationship of policy analysis to the policy process model?
A) The two activities are essentially separate and independent activities.
B) Completion of the policy process model occurs first, and then policy analysis begins.
C) Policy analysis supports the policy process at several points by increasing understanding of problems and possible solutions.
D) While only the government completes all steps of the policy process model, many other interest groups are involved in policy analysis.
Q3) ______ is a determination of the acceptability of the risks or a decision about what level of safety is desired.
Q4) ______ is a close relative of cost-benefit analysis.
A) Risk assessment
B) Opportunity costs
C) Risk evaluation
D) Risk management
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Chapter 7: Economic and Budgetary Policy
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64 Verified Questions
64 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18808
Sample Questions
Q1) How has the nature of U.S.jobs changed in the past few decades?
A) Jobs in the service sector are growing while the manufacturing sector is decreasing.
B) Construction jobs have rapidly decreased while retail jobs are increasing.
C) Government jobs have rapidly increased due to the growing size of government.
D) Jobs in the manufacturing sector are growing while the service sector is decreasing.
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a tool of economic policy making?
A) regulation
B) taxation
C) efficiency
D) establishment of the budget
Q3) The accumulation of deficits over time is known as the federal ______.
Q4) A CPI between ______% and ______% is one that most government policy makers can accept as tolerable.
A) 1; 2
B) 1; 4
C) 1; 6
D) 1; 8
Q5) ______ has obvious benefits to the economy as well as to the individuals.
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Chapter 8: Health Care Policy
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18809
Sample Questions
Q1) In the United States, health care is viewed as a ______, in contrast to many other developed countries, which consider health care to be a right.
A) public good
B) merit good
C) pooled benefit
D) hybrid good
Q2) The ______ part of Affordable Care Act requires that everyone is responsible to obtain health insurance coverage from their employer, through a government program, or by purchasing it themselves.
A) guaranteed issue
B) individual mandate
C) public option
D) insurance exchange
Q3) The federal Medicare program began in ______.
Q4) ______ are tasked with countering the threat of infectious diseases or unsafe food and to support medical research.
Q5) Briefly explain why the United States has a health-care system that is considered pluralistic.
Q6) Total spending on health care has been ______ in the past decade.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Welfare and Social Security Policy
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64 Verified Questions
64 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18810
Sample Questions
Q1) The primary goal of all welfare and social security programs is to ______.
A) create higher wage jobs for the poor
B) reduce the number of people living in poverty
C) assist people to obtain adequate and affordable housing
D) reduce unemployment
Q2) Social Security would typically be categorized as what type of federal spending?
A) entitlement
B) discretionary
C) interest
D) defense
Q3) ______ means that those brought up in poverty learn how to be poor and work the current system to their benefit and that they choose to remain poor as adults.
Q4) Redistributive policies and programs are those through which ______.
A) government redistributes tax laws to affect different sets of individuals
B) government provides grants or programs without collecting money from other individuals
C) government initiates educational programs to influence public behavior
D) government provides benefits to one group of individuals by collecting money from other individuals
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Chapter 10: Education Policy
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66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18811
Sample Questions
Q1) The ______ program is one of the primary federal programs for low-income college students.
A) Pell Grant
B) Race to the Top Grant
C) National Merit Grant
D) HOPE Scholarship
Q2) 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
Q3) What is the federal government's role in higher education?
A) The federal government is the primary funder of higher education.
B) The federal government established land-grant colleges and gives grants and loans to categories of individual students.
C) The federal government role in higher education is to run Affirmative Action programs.
D) all of these
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Chapter 11: Environmental and Energy Policy
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18812
Sample Questions
Q1) Explain the common purpose and elements of the seven key environmental statutes developed in the early 1970s.
Q2) Which answer best describes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)?
A) a large cabinet-level department with numerous local offices reporting to the president
B) a department of each state government that reports to the federal executive branch
C) the largest independent agency with strong regional offices reporting to the president
D) the largest entitlement program of the U.S. government regulated by the Congress
Q3) The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970, for the first time, developed ______.
A) a set of strict regulations focused solely on coal emissions across the United States.
B) uniform air quality standards for the entire United States.
C) market incentives for industry to reduce harmful emissions.
D) an agreement industry and the government about how to address declining air quality.
Q4) The ______ were seen as the "environmental decade" of federal legislation.
Q5) What is an environmental impact statement and what is it used to assess?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Foreign Policy and Homeland Security
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65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18813
Sample Questions
Q1) All of the following are key presidential advisers on issues of foreign policy except the ______.
A) National Security Adviser
B) Secretary of State
C) Attorney General
D) National Security Council
Q2) What were the criticisms of the U.S.intelligence agencies following the 9/11 attacks?
Q3) Discuss the challenges the United States faces with regard to homeland security as revealed by significant reports that analyzed the concerns.Identify a common theme that threads among these challenges that relates to the effectiveness and efficiency of the U.S.government.
Q4) Which statement describes the branch(es) of the federal government that is/are most heavily involved in foreign policy?
A) all branches of the federal government
B) congress, or the legislative branch
C) executive branch, including cabinet-level departments, councils, and agencies
D) UN, National Security Administration, Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security
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14
Chapter 13: Politics, Analysis, and Policy Choice
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66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18814
Sample Questions
Q1) The use of ______ is enabling governments to reach out to and engage citizens to a greater extent than ever before.
Q2) In recent times, due to economic and fiscal concerns, the evaluative criterion of ______ is most often emphasized because it considers effectiveness as well as cost.
Q3) Policy analysis is used most heavily during which stages of the policy-making process?
A) problem analysis and policy alternative development
B) problem analysis and capacity development
C) capacity development and legitimation
D) evaluation and regulation development
Q4) ______, a technique of gathering information about problems and studying proposals, can bring greater clarity to public policymaking.
Q5) ______ reflect who participates in the process, who does not, and the different resources that each policy actor brings to the decision-making arena.
Q6) ______ cases demonstrate the dynamics of the policy-making process.
Q7) At periodic stages of the policy process, ______ is the criterion analysts use to determine how well a policy has lived up to expectations.
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