Poli Sci Final

Front 1

effective tax rate

Back 1

actual percentage of a person's income that is spent to pay taxes

Front 2

entitlement programs

Back 2

any individual benefit program such as social security that require government to provide a designated benefit to any person who meets the legally defined criteria for eligibility

Front 3

equality of opportunity

Back 3

idea that all individuals should be given an equal chance to succeed on their own

Front 4

in-kind benefit

Back 4

government benefit that is a cash equivalent such as food stamps or rent vouchers this form of benefit ensures that recipients will use public assistance in a specified way

Front 5

means test

Back 5

requirement that applicants for public assistance demonstrate that they are poor in order to be eligible for the assistance

Front 6

negative government

Back 6

philosophical belief that govt governs best by staying out of peoples lives thereby giving individuals as much freedom as possible to determine their own pursuits

Front 7

positive government

Back 7

belief that govt intervention is necessary in order to enhance personal liberty when individuals are buffeted by economic and social forces beyond their control

Front 8

poverty line

Back 8

annual cost of a thrifty food budget for an urban family of four multiplied by 3 to allow for the cost of housing clothes and other necessities.

Front 9

public assistance

Back 9

social welfare programs funded through general tax revenues and available only to financially needy. Established by a means test

Front 10

social insurance

Back 10

social welfare programs based on the insurance concept so that individuals must pay into the program in order to be eligible to receive funds from it

Front 11

transfer payments

Back 11

govt benefit that is given directly to an individual as in the case of social security payments to a retiree

Front 12

bipolar(power structure)

Back 12

a power structure dominated by two powers only as in the case of the US and the Soviet Union during the cold war

Front 13

cold war

Back 13

lengthy period after WWII when the US and the Soviet Union were not engaged in actual combat but were nonetheless locked in a state of deep-seated hostility

Front 14

containment

Back 14

doctrine developed after WWII based on the assumptions that the Soviet Union was an aggressor nation and tat only a determined US could block Soviet territorial ambitions

Front 15

deterrence policy

Back 15

idea that nuclear war can be discouraged if each side in a conflict has the capacity to destroy the other w/ nuclear weapons

Front 16

economic globalization

Back 16

increased interdependence of nations economies the change is a result of technological transportation and communication advances that have enabled firms to deploy their resources around the globe

Front 17

free-trade position

Back 17

view that the long-term economic interests of all countries are advanced when tariffs and other trade barriers are kept to a minimum

Front 18

internationalist

Back 18

person who holds the view that the country should involve itself deeply in world affairs

Front 19

isolationist

Back 19

person who holds the view that the country should deliberately avoid a large role in world affairs and instead concentrate on domestic concerns

Front 20

military-industrial complex

Back 20

the three components( the military establishment the industries that manufacture weapons and the members of Congress from states and districts that depend heavily on the arms industry that mutually benefit from a high level of defense spending

Front 21

multilateralism

Back 21

situation in which nations act together in response to problems and crises

Front 22

multinational corporations

Back 22

Business firms with major operations in more than one country

Front 23

preemptive war doctrine

Back 23

idea espoused by George Bush that the US could attack a potentially threatening nation even if the threat had not yet reached a serious and immediate level

Front 24

protectionism

Back 24

view that the immediate interests of domestic producers have a higher priority than free trade between nations

Front 25

unilateralism

Back 25

situation in which one nation takes action against another state or states

Front 26

unipolar(power structure)

Back 26

power structure dominated by single powerful actor as in the case of the US after the collapse of the Soviet Union