Plsc 200 Final Exam

Front 1

Paul Ryan is what? And introduced what to the 2012-2013 bugdet plan?

Back 1

The chair of he House Budget Committee. And called for major cuts in social welfare spending.

Hint 1

chair of a committee & welfare

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Mixed economy

Back 2

Capitalsm coexists with and is tempered by government involvement

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Social welfare policies

Back 3

Policies that provide benefits, cash or in-kind, to individuals, based on either entitlement or means testing

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President Truman said what?

Back 4

That voters pay attention to "the most ssitive part of their anatomies," their pocketbooks.

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Economic conditions...

Back 5

Profoundly affect voter's electoral decisions

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McCain wasn't elected in 2008 because?

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Many voters felt that the incumbent Republican arty was responsible for the economy.

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Unemployment rate

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As measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the proportion of the labor force actively seeking work but unalbe to find jobs.

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Inflation

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A rise in price of goods and sevices.

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Consumer price index (CPI)

Back 9

The key measure of inflation

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Laissez-faire

Back 10

The prinicple that government should not meddle in the economy. There has never been a time that this worked.

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Policies for controlling the economy

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1) monetary policy
2) fiscal ploicy

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Monetary policy

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Government manipulation of the supply of money in private hands

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Monetarism

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An economic theory holding that the supply of oney is the key to a nation's economic health, with too much cash and credit in circulation producing inflation

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Federal Reserve System

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The main instrument for making monetary policy in the US. Was created by Congress in 1913 to regulate the lending practices of banks and thus the money supply

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Fiscal policy

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Use of the the federal budget --- taxes, spending, and borrowing --- to influence the economy. Is almost enirely determined by Congress and the president.

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Keynesian economic theory

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Named after English economost John Maynard Keynes, the theory ephasizing that governemtn spending and deficits can help the economy deal with its ups and downs. Proponenets of this theory advocate sing the ower of government to stimulate the econmy only when it is lagging.

Front 17

Social welfare policies include?

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Hundreds of programs through which goverment provides support --- ex: Social Security checks

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Political scientist Martin Gilens notes what?

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That about 5/6ths of all money for social programs goes to programs that people across all income levels are eligble for.

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2 types of social welfare programs

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Entitlement programs and means-tested programs

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Entitlement programs

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Government programs providing benefits to qualified individuals regardless of need.

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Means-tested programs

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Government programs providing benefits only to individuals who qualify based on specific needs.

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Income distribution

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The way the national income is divided into "shares" ranging from the poor to the rich.

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Relative deprivation

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A perception by an individual that he or she is not doing well economically in comparison.

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Income

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The amount of money collected between any 2 points in time.

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Wealth

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The value of assests owned.

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Poverty line

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The income threshold below which people are considered poor, based on what a family must spend for an "austere" standard of living, traditonally set at 3x the cost of susistence diet.

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Feminization of poverty

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The increasing concentration of poverty among women, especially unmarried women and their children.

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Progressive tax

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A tax by which the government takes a greater share of the income of the rich than that of the poor.

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Proportional tax

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A tax by which the government takes the same share of incoe from everyone, rich and poor alike.

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Regressive tax

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A tax in which the burden falls relatively more heavily on low-income groups than on wealthy taxpayers. The opposite of a progressive tax.

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Transfer payments

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Benefits given by the government directly to the individuals --- either cash transfers (ex: Social Securtiy), or in kind transfers (ex: food stamps & low-intereset college loans).

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Social Security Act of 1935

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Created both the Social Security program and a national assistance program for poor families, usually called Aid to Familes with Dependent Children.

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Aid to Families with Dependent Children

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Brought various state programs together under a single federal umbrella to help poor families that had no breadwinner and had children to care for.

Front 34

The enviroent and energy production affect what?

Back 34

Health and economic development.

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Average life expectancy in the US?

Back 35

79 years, slightly lower than that in Canada and most other developed nations.

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Infant mortality rate

Back 36

The proportion of babies who don't survive the first 5 yars of life (key indicator of a nation's health)

Front 37

Chances of a baby born in the US dying in the first 5 years of life?

Back 37

3x greater than a baby born in Japan.

Front 38

The US spends more per person on health care than any other country?

Back 38

True.

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Why are health care costs so high?

Back 39

Health providers have overbiult medical cae facilities; New technologies, dugs, & procedures (treating previously untreatable conditions and providing new but more expensive care); medical bills are paid by a mixture of government funds, private insurance, and indvidual's out-of-pocket payments.

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Health maintenance organization (HMO)

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Organization contacted by individuals or insurance companies to provide health care for a yearly fee. Such network health plans limit the choice of doctors and treatments. More than half of Americans are enrolled in HMOs or similar programs.

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16% of the public are without health insurance coverage

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Nearly 50 million people; more than 7 million children and nearly 10 million people aged 18-25.

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27% of those with household in comes under $25,000/year lack health insurance.

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Despite the existence of government-subsidized prorams such as Medicaid and Medicare.

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Access to health insurane is also tied to race and ethnicity.

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32% of Hispanics and 20% of African Americans lack health insurance.

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Average life expectancy is 5 years longer for whites than for African Americans.

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Average life expectancy for African American males is lower than average life expectancy in many Eastern Euroean and less developed countries. African American infant mortality is nearly 2x as high as that for whites.

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Medicare

Back 45

A program added to the Social security system in 1965 that provieds hospitalization insurance for the elderly and permits older Americans to purchas inexpensive coverage for doctor fees and other medical expenses.

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National health insurance

Back 46

A compulsory insurance program for all Americans that would have the government finance citizens' medial care. First proposed by President Harry S. Truman.

Front 47

3 presidents who proposed national health insurance

Back 47

Truman, Clinton, Obama

Front 48

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

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The largest federal independent regulatory agency, created in 1970 to administer much of US environmental protection policy.

Front 49

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

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Passed in 1969, the center piece of federal environmental policy, which requires agencies to file environmental impact statements.

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Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

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A detailing of a proposed policy's environmental effects, which agencies are required to file with the EPA every time they propose to undertake a policy that might e disruptive to the environment.

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Clean Air Act of 1970

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The law aimed at combating air pollution, by charging the EPA with protecting, and improving the quality of the nation's air. Among its provisions is that the Department of Transportation (DOT) undertake to reduce automobile emissions.

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Water Pollution Control Act of 1972

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A law inteded to clean up the nation's rivers and lakes by enabling regulation of point sources of pollution.

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Endangered Species Act of 1973

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A law requiring the federal government to protect all species listed as endangered.

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Superfund

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A fund created by Congerss in 1980 to clean up hazardous waste sites. Money from the fund comes from taxing chemical products.

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Global warming

Back 55

The increase in the earth's temperatures that, according to most scientists, is occuring as a result of the carbon dioxide that is produced when fossil fuel are burned collecting in the atmosphere and trapping enery from the sun The deforestation of trees capable of absorbing pollutants, mainly carbon dioxide, reinforces this effect.

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There is no technology to control carbon emissions.

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The principle way to reduce greenhouse gases is to burn less fuel or find alternative sources of energy.

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The US has only 4% of the world's population.

Back 57

But it produces more than 20% of the gases that cause global warming.

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Foreign policy

Back 58

Policy that involves choice making about relations with the rest of the world. The president is the chief initiator of US foreign policy.

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Instruments of foreign policy

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Military, economics, and diplomatic.

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Military

Back 60

War and the threat of war.

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Economic

Back 61

Trade regulations, tariff policies, monetary policies, and economic sanctions are instruments of foreign policy.

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Diplomacy

Back 62

The process by which nations carry on relationships with each other.

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United Nations (UN)

Back 63

Created in 1945 and currently including 193 member nations, with a central peacekeeping mission and programs in areas including economic development and health, education, and welfare. The seat of real power in the UN is the Security Council.

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UN Security Council

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5 out of 15 members (US, Great Britain, China, France, and Russia) are permanent members. Each permanent member has a veto over Security Council decisions, in cluding any decisions that would commit the UN to a military peacekeeping operation.

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UN Secretariat

Back 65

The executive arm of the UN and directs the administration of UN programs. Composed of bout 9,000 international civil servants, it is headed by the secretary-general.

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Back 66

A regional organization that was created in 1949 by ntions including the US, Canada, and most Western European nations for mutual defese and has subsequently been expanded.

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European Union (EU)

Back 67

A transnational government composed of most European nations that coordinates monetary, trade, immigration, and labor polices, making its members one economic unit.

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The president is the main force behind foreign policy.

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The president also appoints US ambassadors and the heads of executive departments (with the consent of the Senate) and has the solde power to accord official recongnition to other countries and receirve (or refuse) their representatives.

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The State Department is the foreign policy am of the US government.

Back 69

It's head is the secertary of state.

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Secretary of state

Back 70

Head of the Department of State and and traditionally the key adviser to the president on foreign policy.

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Secretary of defense

Back 71

The head of the Department of Defense and the president's key advier on military policy and, as such, a key foreign policy actor.

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Joint Chiefs of Staff

Back 72

A group that consists of the commanding officers of each of the armed servies, a chairperson, and a vice chairperson, and advises he president on military policy.

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National Security Council (NSC)

Back 73

Created by Congress in 1947 in which high-ranking officials are supposed to coordinate American foreign and defense policies.

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Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Back 74

An agency created after WWII to coordinate Americn intelligence activies abroad and to collect, analyze, and evaluate intelligence.

Front 75

Isolationism

Back 75

The foreign policy course the US folled throughout most of its history and whereby it tried to stay out of other nations' conflicts, particularly European wars.

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Containment doctrine

Back 76

A foreign policy strategy advocated by George Kennan that called for the US o isolate the Soviet Union, "contain" its advances, and resist its encroachments by peaceful means if possible but by force if necessary.

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Interdependency

Back 77

utual reliance, as in the economic realm, in which actions in nations reverberate and affect the economic well-being of people in other nations.

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International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Back 78

A cooperative international organization of 185 countries inteded to stablize the exchange urencies and the world economy.

Front 79

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Back 79

An economic organization consisting primarily of Middl Easter nations that seeks to control the amount of oil its members produce and sell to other nations and hence the price of oil.