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WORTH 100 POINTS.
Temple College
Government 2302 - Spring 2001
Exam #1
Version A
PART I. MULTIPLE CHOICE. INSTRUCTIONS: Answer each of the following
multiple choice questions by marking the letter on your scan-tron form that
corresponds to the BEST response.
In class, we introduced a public policy classification scheme. Which of the following
questions must be answered in order to classify a policy under this scheme?
1. Who is the primary target group?
2. Why is government implementing the policy?
3. What are the goals of the policy?
4. What is the activity of government with respect to the primary target group [what is
government doing to or for the primary target group]?
5. Who are the secondary target groups?
a. 1, 3, and 5 b. 1, 2, and 4 c. 2 and 4 d. 1 and 4
A city council bans smoking in all public places in the city. Fines are levied against
violators. The primary target group in this policy scenario is
a. the city council. b. non-smokers. c. tobacco companies. d. none of these.
The policy action described in #6 would best be classified as
a. symbolic. b. regulatory. c. resource extractive. d. internal organization.
In which class or type of public policy does government set standards for behavior,
inspect for compliance with the standards, and punish for non-compliance?
symbolic
regulatory
redistributive
internal organization/management
Under the policy classification scheme introduced in class, which of the following is NOT
one of the five activities that government can undertake with respect to a primary target
group?
a. give
b. take
c. symbolize
d. lie
The Federal Trade Commission enforces the standards of the Fair Credit Reporting Act
of 1968. This legislation requires finance companies, retail stores, nonfederal credit
unions, and other creditors to inform consumers on the costs of buying on credit,
including total charges and the rate of interest on unpaid balances. This is an example
of which type or class of public policy?
a. resource allocative
b. resource extractive
c. regulatory
d. internal organization and management
A city council passes and the police enforce an ordinance imposing fines on the parents
of minor children who are “on the streets” past a 1:00 a.m. curfew. This is an example
of which class of policy?
a. resource allocative b. symbolic c. regulatory d. resource extractive
Under state law in Texas, voters may elect to establish special district governments
called Crime Control and Prevention Districts to distribute sales tax revenues to
municipal governments for the purposes of implementing law enforcement programs. In
March 1995, voters in the City of Fort Worth established the first such district in the
state. In October 1995, the Fort Worth Crime Control and Prevention District began
funding anti-crime programs to be implemented by the City of Fort Worth Police
Department. This is an example of which type or class of public policy? [HINT: the
policy action in this case is the distribution of sales tax revenues from the Crime Control
District to the Fort Worth Police Department.]
a. resource allocative
b. resource extractive
c. regulatory
d. internal organization and management
The National Endowment for the Humanities awards a research grant to a team of
historians and anthropologists to study the ancestral claims of certain native American
tribes to “ceremonial” lands. This is an example of which type or class of public policy?
a. resource allocative
b. resource extractive
c. regulatory
d. internal organization and management
In 1964, Congress passed the Employment Opportunity Act that established the Job
Corps. This program provides intensive vocational training and basic education to
youths from 14 to 21 years of age who are poor, out of school, and out of work. This is
an example of which type or class of public policy?
a. resource allocative
b. resource extractive
c. regulatory
d. internal organization and management
Once every ten years (subsequent to the decennial census), the 435 seats in the United
States House of Representatives are reapportioned to reflect population shifts.
Legislatures in each of the 50 states redraw congressional district lines (within their
states) so that each district contains (roughly) the same number of people. As a result
of the 1990 census, the number of representatives allotted to Texas increased from 28
to 30. The Texas legislature last redrew district lines in 1991 to account for this change.
Redrawing congressional district lines by state legislatures is an example of which type
or class of public policy?
a. resource allocative
b. resource extractive
c. regulatory
d. internal organization and management
The United States denies the People’s Republic of China most favored nation trading
status as a result of China’s alleged human rights violations. This is an example of
which class of policy?
a. resource extractive b. symbolic c. regulatory d. resource extractive
The City Health Department inspects a local restaurant and finds “slime in the ice
machine,” inadequate refrigeration for perishable foods, and roach and rodent droppings
on cabinet shelves, the floor, and food containers. This is the third round of violations
for this restaurant. The Health Department closes down the establishment until
standards are met. This is an example of which type or class of public policy?
a. resource allocative
b. resource extractive
c. regulatory
d. internal organization and management
The U.S. Department of Commerce requires that shrimpers operating in U.S. waters
install “turtle-excluder devices” [TEDs] on their nets to reduce the number of sea turtles
that are inadvertently killed in shrimp harvests. The Coast Guard randomly inspects
shrimping boats and may impose fines on or impound the vessels of shrimpers who are
not in compliance. This is an example of which type or class of public policy?
a. resource allocative b. resource extractive c. regulatory d. symbolic
A few years ago, Congress passed a resolution declaring that surviving JapaneseAmericans who had their property confiscated when they were interned in concentration
camps during World War II were entitled to compensation. Checks for $20,000 were
then mailed by the U.S. Treasury Department to all those eligible. This is an example of
which type or class of public policy?
a. resource allocative
b. resource extractive
c. regulatory
d. internal organization and management
Which of the following views regulatory policies as a means to control the
“consequences” of conduct, rather than defining the proscribed conduct itself as morally
good or bad?
a. the mainstream b. the radical left c. the radical right d. the radical center
Which of the following views progressive taxation as a way to correct the excesses
(unfairness) of capitalism?
a. the mainstream b. the radical left c. the radical right d. the radical center
Which of the following is true of the radical left’s orientation toward regulatory policies?
a.
The radical left tends to be oblivious to the costs that regulatory policies place on
businesses.
b.
The radical left tends to favor a “carrot” approach rather than a “stick” approach
when attempting to get business to conform to regulatory standards.
c.
The radical left views prostitution and the use of narcotics as “victimless crimes”
and therefore behaviors not subject to governmental regulation.
d.
All of these statements are true of the radical left’s orientation toward regulatory
policies.
In class, we proposed two opposing lines of argument concerning the apparent lack of
efficiency and effectiveness of government in the United States. Which of the following
are the proper pair of criticisms?
a. incompetent or corrupt politicians AND uninformed voters
b. uninformed voters AND the amount of money in election campaigns
c. incompetent or corrupt politicians AND a decentralized political system
d. none of these
Both politics and policy differ between the American and parliamentary versions of
democracy. The form of democracy developed in the United States is a product of
a. its constitutional system.
b. the treaty that ended the American Revolution.
c. the dominance of strong political parties in the American system.
d. the “Connecticut Compromise.”
In a parliamentary system, the prime minister is usually chosen by the
a. nation’s voters. b. legislature’s majority party. c. cabinet.
d. ruling monarch.
An important implication of our comparison of the parliamentary and American systems
is that the structure of a political system emphasizes some values and not others.
Which values are BEST served by the decentralized nature of the American system?
a. efficient and effective government
b. effective, but prudent government
c. circumscribed (limited), deliberate government
d. crippled, impotent government
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the American system, but IS of the
parliamentary system?
a. The legislature may remove the executive on grounds of policy disagreement.
b. The executive and members of the legislature are separately elected.
c. Members of the legislature are constitutionally-prohibited from serving in the
executive’s cabinet.
d. Divided party government is highly probable.
The board of a Texas school district votes on a proposal to include a course on moral
values in the high school curriculum. This is an example of which stage of the policymaking process?
a. implementation. b. designation. c. adoption. d. formulation.
Inmates in the Texas Department of Corrections file a class action lawsuit in state
district court in an attempt to force the state to deal with the issue of prison overcrowding. This is an example of which stage of the policy-making process?
a. agenda-setting b. implementation c. adoption d. formulation
Assume that the inmates mentioned in question #27 win their lawsuit and the District
Court orders the Department of Corrections to take action to relieve over-crowded
conditions. Assume also that the Department of Corrections complies with the court
mandate. This is an example of which type or class of public policy?
a. resource allocative
b. resource extractive
c. regulatory
d. internal organization and management