Introduction to Public Policy Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
Introduction to Public Policy explores the fundamental concepts, processes, and institutions involved in policymaking at local, national, and global levels. The course examines the stages of the policy cycle including problem identification, agenda setting, policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation while highlighting the roles of key actors such as government agencies, interest groups, and the public. Students will analyze real-world policy issues, learn frameworks to assess policy effectiveness, and develop skills necessary for critical thinking and informed participation in the public policy arena.
Recommended Textbook
Public Policy Politics Analysis and Alternatives by Michael E. Kraft
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
13 Chapters
848 Verified Questions
848 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/956
Page 2
Chapter 1: Public Policy and Politics
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18802
Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the various ways that citizens can have an impact on the policy-making process.
Answer: Citizens can become educated about policies and become more knowledgeable about the issues that policies attempt to address and the proposed solutions.They can join interest groups and collectively analyze issues to advocate for desired policy solutions.They can make their views known in order to influence government officials.
Q2) Which of the following are examples of pure public goods?
A) cable television services, electrical utilities
B) automobiles, houses, DVDs
C) air, water, wildlife
D) national defense, air, public parks
Answer: D
Q3) The American system of governance adheres to the principle of ______. Answer: federalism
Q4) The ______is a regulatory agency responsible for ensuring public safety for a wide range of consumer products.
Answer: U.S.Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
Q5) ______ are organized groups of people following the logic of collective action. Answer: Interest groups
Page 3
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 2: Government Institutions and Policy Actors
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
69 Verified Questions
69 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18803
Sample Questions
Q1) ______ refers to the capability to develop and implement strong government policies.
Answer: Policy capacity
Q2) What are the major kinds of informal policy actors, and how do they participate in policy making?
Answer: The public votes,expresses public opinion in a variety of ways,and can communicate and put pressure on elected officials.Interest groups lobby,provide information,and put pressure on elected officials.
Q3) The case of health care reform exemplifies ______.
A) that the constitutional structure of the U.S. government often makes policy making difficult
B) the complexity caused by categorical grants and unfunded mandates
C) the power of the presidency to overcome incremental reform
D) the use of sanctions and diplomatic maneuvers by government bureaucrats
Answer: A
Q4) Review the ways that members of the public can influence policy making.
Answer: The public can vote,join interest groups,participate in public-opinion polls,contact elected officials,become educated and informed.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 4
Chapter 3: Understanding Public Policy Making
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18804
Sample Questions
Q1) When the government encourages you to buy a home and allows you to take a deduction for the mortgage interest, it is using this form of government action ______.
A) taxing and spending
B) regulating
C) educating
D) charging fees
Answer: A
Q2) The policy-making stage during which new issues are identified as problems for government to address is called ______.
A) policy formulation
B) policy implementation
C) policy evaluation
D) agenda setting
Answer: D
Q3) The stream refers to ______ climate or public mood.
Answer: political
Q4) The term ______ is used to make clear that the process is cyclical or continuous rather than a onetime set of actions
Answer: policy cycle
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 5
Chapter 4: Policy Analysis
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18805
Sample Questions
Q1) Which best describes the approaches being taken by states to address the problem of cell phone use by drivers?
A) Most states have banned text messaging by drivers, but states have done a variety of things with regard to cell phone use while driving.
B) Most states have not dealt with the issue of texting and cell phone use.
C) All 50 states have banned cell phone use by novice drivers.
D) Only a handful of states have attempted to create policies to address this problem.
Q2) ______ approaches to policy making are studies conducted by government agencies or think tanks; they are often rigorous studies yet are done to answer policy questions, not to develop theories.
Q3) Policy analysis is part science and part ______.
Q4) A growing sector of private organizations that conduct policy research often used by government policy makers is called ______.
A) political action committees
B) state policy institutes
C) political parties
D) think tanks
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 5: Public Problems and Policy Alternatives
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18806
Sample Questions
Q1) The Obama health-care reforms were approved in ______.
A) 2008
B) 2009
C) 2010
D) 2011
Q2) ______ are observable ways to define a problem.
A) Cost-benefit analyses
B) Operational measures
C) Pragmatic measures
D) Policy alternatives
Q3) Operational measures are also referred to as ______.
Q4) The policy design tools that rely on the premise that most people will behave because they have been told to do so are known as _____.
A) learning tools
B) capacity-building tools
C) hortatory tools
D) authority tools
Q5) ______ enable those seeking a solution to communicate with one another with a degree of precision that otherwise might not be possible.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 7
Chapter 6: Assessing Policy Alternatives
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18807
Sample Questions
Q1) Which are the three most commonly utilized criteria for evaluating policy proposals? Define each of these three criteria and give an example of a policy proposal (real or fictitious) in which it could be used.
Q2) Which term is used in cost-benefit analysis when discussing the present value of future benefits?
A) discount rate
B) indexing
C) opportunity cost
D) sensitivity analysis
Q3) A college student could be working as a waiter and earning US$20,000 annually.However, he is attending college and forgoing that income.This is an example of the _____ to attend college, a cost that the student hopes will be worth the investment in the long run.
A) discount
B) risk evaluation
C) opportunity cost
D) efficiency
Q4) Discuss the political and institutional approaches to understand proposed policy alternatives.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 8
Chapter 7: Economic and Budgetary Policy
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
64 Verified Questions
64 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18808
Sample Questions
Q1) Regulation is defined as ______.
A) the government levying taxes on certain goods
B) use of the budget process to encourage or discourage behavior
C) the government providing information, so citizens can make their own choices
D) the government requiring certain activities be done and, if they are not, assessing penalties
Q2) The national debt, which is the accumulation of all of the deficits the nation has run, was nearly ______ in December 2016.
A) 10 million
B) 20 billion
C) 20 trillion
D) 30 trillion
Q3) The Labor Department's ______ is the primary agency responsible for collecting data on employment and unemployment.
Q4) ______ has obvious benefits to the economy as well as to the individuals.
Q5) Discuss how the Federal Reserve (Fed) can use monetary policy to affect the economy.What is the impact of this action?
Q6) The accumulation of deficits over time is known as the federal ______.
Q7) ______ is critical to all other government functions.
Page 9
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 8: Health Care Policy
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18809
Sample Questions
Q1) Medicare ______ equates to up 10% of Medicare billings.
Q2) In the United States, what are the leading causes of death?
A) diseases that are due to unhealthy lifestyles (such as, cancer, stroke, heart attack)
B) infant mortality which is higher in the United States than in many other developed countries
C) deaths due to accidents
D) influenza and pneumonia due to the growing numbers of elderly persons in our population
Q3) ______ are tasked with countering the threat of infectious diseases or unsafe food and to support medical research.
Q4) Which statement is true regarding medical errors in the United States?
A) Medical errors lead to a significant number of deaths each year; many are preventable.
B) Medical errors previously had been a major concern, but effective government policies have reduced the number substantially.
C) Most medical errors occur in the older adult population.
D) Recent efforts by hospitals to reduce errors have shown dramatically positive results.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 10
Chapter 9: Welfare and Social Security Policy
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
64 Verified Questions
64 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18810
Sample Questions
Q1) One major criticism of the welfare reform programs enacted during Clinton administration in the late 1990s is that the program ______.
A) has led to more welfare fraud
B) has not lifted people out of poverty due to low wages
C) requires people to work, a politically unpopular requirement
D) immediately led to dramatically increased welfare caseloads in states
Q2) Children make up only 25% of the population, but they comprise ______% of the nation's poor.
A) 15
B) 35
C) 46
D) 55
Q3) When it comes to reforming Social Security financing, most objections raised by interest groups on both sides have to do with the evaluative criterion of ______.
A) effectiveness
B) technical feasibility
C) equity
D) buoyancy
Q4) The Social Security tax is capped at an annual income of ______.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 11
Chapter 10: Education Policy
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18811
Sample Questions
Q1) Which policy allows parents with children in low-performing public schools to send their children to private schools at taxpayer expense?
A) affirmative action
B) school vouchers
C) school choice
D) charter schools
Q2) Federal Pell Grants are one program that addresses the needs of low-income individuals.As noted above, these grants provide up to ______.
A) US$4,569
B) US$5,815
C) US$5,987
D) US$6,009
Q3) ______ are public schools that serve a distinct population or have a more specialized educational emphasis (such as fine arts, science, or technology).
A) Merit schools
B) Private schools
C) Charter schools
D) Choice schools
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 12
Chapter 11: Environmental and Energy Policy
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18812
Sample Questions
Q1) What did new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards passed in a 2007 energy bill improve?
A) controls on greenhouse gas emissions
B) the fuel economy of light trucks and cars
C) the price of gasoline, by lowering gas taxes across the country
D) automobile emissions and traffic congestions, by raising gas taxes across the country
Q2) The EPA is a(n) ______.
A) government corporation
B) cabinet department
C) independent executive agency
D) regulatory commission
Q3) The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 ______.
A) focused on regulating the process of making local decisions to protect the environment
B) required developers to conduct an environmental impact statement
C) was enacted because states were not protecting the environment sufficiently
D) all of these
Q4) ______ refers to a shift in emphasis toward principles of protecting habitat and maintaining biological diversity.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 13
Chapter 12: Foreign Policy and Homeland Security
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18813
Sample Questions
Q1) 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.
Q2) ______ have taken on a much greater role than in the recent past to implement national security policies of the United States, including surveillance by the NSA.
A) Private contractors
B) Subsidies
C) Robots
D) American troops
Q3) The U.S.war on ______ began in 2001.
Q4) What position was held by whistleblower Edward Snowden in the NSA controversy?
A) National Security Advisor
B) federal government employee
C) private contractor working for a consulting company called Booz Allen
D) customer of the NSA
Q5) ______ policy refers to the goals set and the actions taken by government officials directed at the conduct of military affairs.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 14
Chapter 13: Politics, Analysis, and Policy Choice
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
66 Verified Questions
66 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/18814
Sample Questions
Q1) The dominant policy-making style in the United States is ______.
A) rational analysis
B) incremental
C) rational choice
D) pluralism
Q2) As budget pressures and scarce funding become dominant issues at all levels of government, use of which evaluative criterion has increased?
A) efficiency
B) equity
C) effectiveness
D) political feasibility
Q3) The history of ______ in areas as diverse as energy policy, economic stimulus measures, health-care reform, and taxes and spending reflects the inability of policy makers to resolve some of these deep conflict.
Q4) The 2016 election produced a close victory in ______ in the presidential race.
A) Wisconsin
B) California
C) Oregon
D) Washington
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 15