NAME:
CLASS BLOCK:
CHAPTER FOURTEEN ASSIGNMENT
AP U.S. Government and Politics: Chapter 14: The Congress, the President, and the
Budget: The Politics of Taxing and Spending
Directions:
 Answer the following questions in short-answer essay format – complete sentences,
concise but articulate answers, check your spelling before you finish, and as always, DO
YOUR OWN WORK IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
 Your answers must be indented, typed in bold, blue-color, Times New Roman, 12point font, single-spaced. Leave one blank line between your answer and the next
question. Please use this format in this assignment and all similar assignments in
this course.
 Be sure to be specific, using terms and vocabulary from this chapter in the Government in
America textbook. Through your answers, prove to your instructor and yourself that
you’ve done the reading and that you understand the concepts.
 When it is appropriate, use specific examples that are relevant to the question (using
examples from contemporary news reports is most helpful, here).
Chapter 14 Questions for Review
By the end of this chapter on The Congress, the President, and the Budget: The Politics of
Taxing and Spending, the folks who create the AP U.S. Government and Politics Exam that
(hopefully) you will be taking in May hope you will be able to describe the major sources of
federal government revenues.
1. List four major sources of federal revenues.
a.
c.
b.
d.
2. How does the federal government borrow money?
3. List two criticisms of a balanced budget amendment.
a.
b.
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APGovPol Exam-makers believe students need to understand the nature of the tax system in
America. (Good luck with this one!)
4. Define “tax expenditures” and give three examples.
Tax expenditures are
Examples of tax expenditures include –
a.
b.
c.
5. What were the three major reforms of the Tax Reform Act of 1986?
a.
b.
c.
Students who take the APGovPol Exam in May will need to be able to explain the nature of
federal expenditures and why so much of the budget is uncontrollable.
6. Name the two conditions associated with government growth in America.
a.
b.
7. What is meant by the phrase “military-industrial complex”? What impact has this had on
government spending, especially since World War Two?
8. Explain how Social Security is a kind of intergenerational compact. Is this true about the
financing of public education, as well? Which generation wins and/or loses?
9. List four features of “incremental budgeting.”
a.
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b.
c.
d.
10. Briefly explain how entitlements are “uncontrollable expenditures.”
APGovPol students and Exam-takers will need to be able to explain how the budgetary process
works, who is involved, and the process of budgetary reform.
11. Beginning with the largest category, rank order the revenues and expenditures of the federal
budget.
Revenues
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Expenditures
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
12. List the ten main actors (public officials, agencies, institutions, etc.) in the budgetary
process. Use abbreviations where appropriate.
a.
f.
b.
g.
c.
h.
d.
i.
e.
j.
13. Explain the three main provisions of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control
Act of 1974.
a.
b.
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c.
14. What is meant by a “budget resolution”?
15. Explain the two ways in which laws are changed to meet the budget resolution.
a.
b.
16. What was the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, and why did it fail?
The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act was
It failed because
Students in APGovPol and/or taking the Exam in May need to understand how budgeting affects
democracy and the scope of government in America.
17. List three possible explanations as to why democracies have seen a substantial growth in
government in the twentieth century.
a.
b.
c.
18. How could the budgetary process, itself, limit the scope and power of government?
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