AP Government
Unit 9: Public Policy (Foreign and Domestic)
Study Guide
Overview
Public Policy- 5-15%
- Influences on policymaking (public opinion, interest groups, lobbyists, PACs, political parties)
- Role of bureaucracy and the courts in implementing and interpreting policy
- Role of federalism in policymaking
Guiding questions
1. What factors (actors, interests, institutions, and processes) influence the formation of public policy agendas?
2. What roles do the executive (president and bureaucracy), legislative, and judicial branch play in the formation and
implementation of public policy?
3. What is the relationship between the federal government and state and local bureaucratic institutions in the
formation and implementation of public policy?
4. What are “policy networks” and “issue networks” in the foreign and domestic policy arenas?
5. In what way do geographic location and key natural resources impact the United States’ relationship with other
countries?
6. How does U.S. foreign policy affect other countries worldwide?
7. How does the U.S. government use economic resources in foreign policy?
8. What current policy issues are being debated in American society? (Environment, health care, campaign finance
reform, social welfare, education, the economy, foreign policy, defense)
Vocabulary
1. problem identification
2. policy formation
3. policy adoption
4. policy implementation
5. policy evaluation
6. rational choice model
7. cost-benefit analysis
8. realism
9. liberalism
10. diplomacy
11. foreign aid
12. economic sanctions
13. political coercion
14. covert operations
15. military intervention
16. protectionism
17. free trade
18. means-tested programs
19. poverty line
20. feminization of poverty
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
tax incidence
environmental impact statement
interdependency
balance of trade
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC)
Government actions
26. Recovery Act
27. No Child Left Behind
28. Affordable Care Act
29. World Trade Organization
30. Environmental Protection Agency
31. National Environmental Policy Act
32. Clean Air Act of 1970
33. Clean Water Pollution Control Act
34. Superfund
35. Secretary of State
36. Secretary of Defense
37. Joint Chiefs of Staff
38. Central Intelligence Agency
Readings from textbook Chapters 18, 19 and 20
Instead of reading these three chapters in the textbook, review the Unit 5 (Public Policy) topic – including Domestic and
Foreign Policy – on Shmoop.com. All vocabulary words in italics above are from Shmoop. The others can be found in the
textbook.
There isn’t a unit in the study guide to correspond to this topic, as this is sort of a culmination of several topics.
You should be able to answer the eight “Guiding Questions” above prior to the quiz on this unit (tentatively scheduled
for Wednesday, 1/9).