U.S.

Government
Review Sheet for Exam #4

The following is a general guideline for Exam #4. Please do not confine yourself to just
memorizing definitions of terms, but rather look at these topics in their entirety and provide
examples when possible.

Policymaking Process
Five stages of the policymaking process Political agenda
Factors affecting legitimacy of govt. action Costs and benefits
Impact of groups, institutions, media and states on federal govt agenda setting
Majoritarian politics Interest group politics
Client politics Pork-barrel legislation
Logrolling Entrepreneurial politics
Here-and-now argument Cost argument

Economic Policymaking
Types of taxes Deficit
National debt Fiscal v. monetary policy
Impact of economic issues on voting/elections Federal Reserve Board (Fed)
Discretionary v. nondiscretionary spending Budget process
Congressional Budget Office Office of Management and Budget
Entitlement programs Progressive v. regressive taxes
Globalization 16th Amendment
Factors that contribute to federal budget deficits

Social Welfare Policymaking

Social insurance programs (majoritarian politics) War on Poverty
Impact of Great Depression/New Deal Impact of American political culture
Welfare programs (client-based politics) Means test
Social Security Threats to Social Security
Suggested reforms to Social Security Reasons for poverty
Aid to Families with Dependent Children Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
Four factors that shaped U.S. social welfare policy Medicare
Service strategy v. income strategy

Foreign Policymaking
Three elements to U.S. foreign policy 19th century foreign policy approach
Impact of WWI on U.S. foreign policy Impact of WWII on U.S. foreign policy
Military deterrence Cold War
Globalism Containment
Truman Doctrine Detente
Post-Cold War foreign policy approaches War on Terror
Elites and foreign policy views War Powers Act
Reasons for presidential foreign policy dominance Two presidencies theory
Mass v. elite opinion
Third and Fourth Worlds
Environmental Policymaking
Controversy over environmental policy
Majoritarian politics (with examples)
Entrepreneurial politics (with examples)
Environmental impact statement
General public attitudes toward environment
Constitutional Reform
Levinson essay
Four worldviews
Bipolar and unipolar worlds
U.S. vs. European approaches
Client politics (with examples)
Interest group politics (with examples)
Challenges in forming environmental policy
Lane and Oreskes essay