Name _______________________________________

Hour _________
Unit 6 Overview Packet
Chapters (12, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
CHAPTER 12 (THE MEDIA)

1. What is the role of the Federal Communications Commission? They regulate the broadcasting
licenses of radio and television stations.

2. What are the two potential limits to the freedom of privately owned newspapers and broadcast
stations? 1. They must make a profit. 2. Media bias controls the stories and how they are
covered

3. What role does each of the following play in the media?

a. Gatekeeper influencing what subjects become national political issuesa and for how
long

b. Scorekeeper people who keep track of and help make political reputations or who is
being mentioned in the moon

c. Watchdog the people that watch the “front runners” for slip-ups

4. What is the equal time rule? An FCC rule that if a broadcaster sells time to one candidate, it
must sell equal time to other candidates

5. What percentage of the national media are liberal? 91%

6. Do the beliefs of the national media affect how they report the news? If you ask the media,
they say no. The people say yes. All media outlets have some level of bias. Some choose to
report the news with that bias while others try to be more equal.

7. What is a trial balloon? Information leaked to the media in order to test public reaction to a
possible policy.

8. Does what the media write or say influence how their readers and viewers think? Not entirely.
Most people have selective attention and only pay attention to stories that the already agree
with. But with the time that viewers spend watching the news, they are influenced on some
issues when shown facts that they would have otherwise not known.

9. What term describes only watching one network news channel that agrees with one’s own
political views? Selective attention

10. What is the adversarial press? The tendency of the media to be suspicious of officials and
eager to reveal unflattering stories about them

11. What four ways can the press report on public officials?

a. On the record c. On background

b. Off the record d. On deep background

Name _______________________________________
Hour _________
CHAPTER 17 (THE POLICY MAKING PROCESS)

12. What four forces determine what is legitimate in politics

a. Shared political values

b. The weight of custom and tradition

c. The impact of events

d. Changes in the way political elites think and talk about politics

13.What is a cost? A burden that people believe they must bear if a policy is enacted

14.What is a benefit? A satisfaction that people believe they will enjoy if a policy is adopted

15.What two aspects of costs and benefits should be borne in mind?

a. The perception of costs and benefits that affects politics

b. Whether it is legitimate for a group to benefit

16.What is an example of a “widely distributed” cost? Income tax

17.What is an example of a “narrowly concentrated” benefit? Expenditures by a factory to reduce

emissions

18.What is majoritarian politics? A policy in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays

19.What is interest group politics? A policy in which on small group benefits and another small group pays

20.What is client politics? A policy in which one small group benefits and almost everybody pays

21.What is an example of pork-barrel legislation? A “rivers and harbors” bill

22.What is logrolling? A legislator supports a proposal favored by another in return for support of his or
hers.

23.What is entrepreneurial politics? A policy in which almost everybody benefits and a small group pays
the cost

24.Who are policy entrepreneurs? Activists in or out of government who pull together a political majority on
behalf of unorganized interests

25.What kind of politics describes legislation such as: the Sherman Act (1890), the Federal Trade
Commission Act (1914), and the Clayton Act (1914)? Majoritarian politics

26.What kind of politics describes the legislation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970)?
Interest group politics

27.What kind of politics describes the legislation of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (1930)? Client politics

28.What kind of politics describes the legislation of the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906)? Entrepreneurial
politics
Name _______________________________________
Hour _________
29.What is process regulation? Rules governing commercial activities designed to improve consumer,
worker, or environmental conditions. Also called social regulation.

CHAPTER 18 (ECONOMIC POLICY)

30.What is a deficit? What occurs when the government in one year spends more money than it takes in
from taxes.

31.What is the national debt? The total deficit from the first presidency down to the present

32.What is gross domestic product? The total of all goods and services produced in the economy during a
given year

33.Which two agencies are in control of the government’s budget? The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) in the White House and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in Congress.

34.What are two inconsistent kinds of majoritarian politics regarding taxing and spending? Everyone wants
prosperity; most want more spending on popular programs like Medicare

35.Who are the “other people” that pay for programs? Small groups of people that pay for the popular
programs. They are usually the minority of voters.

36.What is monetarism and who advocated it? It is the belief that inflation occurs when too much money is
chasing too few goods – Milton Friedman

37.What is Keynesianism and who advocated it? The belief that the government must manage the
economy by spending more money when in a recession and cutting spending when there is inflation –
John Maynard Keynes

38.What is economic planning and who advocated it? The belief that government plans, such as wage and
price controls or the direction of investment, can improve the economy – Kenneth Galbraith

39.What is supply-side theory and who advocated it? the belief that lower taxes and fewer regulations will
stimulate the economy – Arthur Laffer

40.What is Reaganomics and who advocated it? The belief that a combination of monetarism, lower
federal spending, and supply-side economics will stimulate the economy – Ronald Reagan

41.Which major party would favor Keynesian economics? Democrats

42.Which major party would favor supply-side, monetarism, and Reaganomic economics? Republicans

43.In which Supreme Court case were minimum wages extended to women in Washington? West Coast
Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937)

44.Which three people are called the “troika,” make the economic decisions in the executive branch? The
chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), the director of the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), and the secretary of the treasury

45.What is monetary policy? Managing the economy by altering the supply of money and interest rates

46.What tools does the “Fed” use to implement its monetary policy? It regulates the supply of money
(circulation and bank deposits) and the price of money (interest rates)
Name _______________________________________
Hour _________
47.What does Congress do to control economic policy? It approves all taxes and expenditures. There can
be no wage or price controls without its consent.

48.Why do some people oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement? They want to protect the
domestic products by placing tariffs on the imported goods

49.What is globalization? The growing integration of the economies and societies of the world.

50.What is a fiscal year? For the federal government is October 1 – September 30 when spending takes
place under the budget

51.What action did the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, require after a president submits his budget?
Budget committees in the House and Senate have to study the overall package. Each committee
submits a budget resolution with modifications on the president’s budget

52.What are examples of entitlements? Social Security, Medicare payments, veterans’ benefits, food
stamps

53.What is sequester? Automatic spending cuts

54.What is discretionary spending? Spending that is not required to pay for contracts, interest on the
national debt, or entitlement programs

55.When and in what legislation did the income tax become nationally established? The 16th Amendment
was ratified in 1913.

56.What is loophole politics? Gaining financial benefits from analyzing and using the loopholes in tax laws

CHAPTER 19: SOCIAL WELFARE

57. Provide an example of:

a. Majoritarian politics Social Security, Medicare

b. Client politics Aid to Families with Dependent Children

58. What are four differences between the American social welfare system, and that of others in the world?

a. Deciding who can benefit

b. It arrived late in our history

c. The federal government has shaped the welfare policy greatly

d. Many of our welfare programs are administered by nongovernmental institutions

59. What were two types of programs that began with the FDR administration to assist the common man?

a. Insurance for the unemployed and elderly

b. Assistance program for the blind, dependent children, and the aged
Name _______________________________________
Hour _________
60.What is the means test? An income qualification program that determines whether one is eligible for
benefits under government programs reserved for lower income groups

61. What are the Medicare ABCDs?

a. Hospital insurance

b. Medical insurance

c. Medicare Advantage Plus

d. Prescription Drug Coverage

62.What are some proposals for reforming Social Security? Raise the retirement age, reduce benefits for
high-earners, raise payroll taxes, increase the wage cap, have the government make investments, let
individuals make investments,

63.What were the goals of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)? It was a federal program
to assist the states who provide benefits to one-parent families

64.What is the Earned Income Tax Credit (ETIC)? A program that entitles working families to receive
benefits if their income level is below a certain level

65.What were the goals of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)? To reduce the
expenditures of the federal government’s welfare programs.

66. What are the two strategies for assisting welfare recipients in job transitions? (include a brief definition)

a. Service strategy – a policy for providing poor people with education and job training to help lift
them out of poverty

b. Income strategy – a policy of giving poor people money to help lift them out of poverty

67.How has American support for helping the “deserving poor” changed over time? The support for the
deserving poor has been steady for those who can show disability. The public generally wants the
programs to exist as long as they are not being taken advantage of

CHAPTER 20: FOREIGN AND MILITARY POLICY

68. Who is the leader of foreign policy when the nature of politics is:

a. Majoritarian: The President

b. Client: Congress

69.What are four three ways that Congress checks the foreign affairs powers of the president?

a. The ability to give military or economic aid to other countries

b. The War Powers Act

c. Intelligence Oversight
Name _______________________________________
Hour _________
70.Compared to other nations, how limited are the president’s war powers? Many other democratic nations
have leaders who act with much more freedom

71. What are the four major provisions of the War Powers Act (1973)?

a. A report must be given to Congress within 48 hours of deployment

b. After 60 days, Congress must authorize further action using U.S. troops

c. If Congress does not authorize the use of force, the president must withdraw the troops

d. If Congress passes a concurrent resolution to remove troops, the president must comply

72.Which committees in Congress oversee intelligence? The House and Senate Intelligence Committees

(#73-76) What was decided by the Supreme Court in:

73.Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. v. United States (1936) Foreign policy is vested entirely in the federal
government where the president has plenary power

74.Korematsu v. United States (1944) Sending Japanese-Americans to relocation camps during WWII was
based on acceptable military justification

75.Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004) An American involved in extremist groups should have access to neutral
decision makers

76.Rasul v. Bush (2004) Foreign nationals held at Guantanamo Bay have the right to be heard before
American courts

77.Which president(s) saw a decline in public approval following a foreign policy crisis? Bill Clinton

78.Which people generally oppose war? Highly educated people and most liberals are usually opposed

79.What are worldviews? A comprehensive opinion of how the United States should respond to world
problems

80. What are four worldviews that America has implemented in handling world conflicts? (include definition)

a. Isolationism – we should stay out of world affairs

b. Containment – we should resist the expansion of aggressive nations

c. Disengagement - the belief that we should not get involved in events that have little benefit
(Vietnam)

d. Human rights – the view that we should try to improve the lives of people in other countries

81.What is polarization? A deep and wide conflict over some government policy

82.When was American military spending the lowest and highest? Highest during WWII; lowest 1949.
Name _______________________________________
Hour _________
83.What structure of decision making did the National Security Act of 1947 establish? It created the
Department of Defense headed by the secretary of defense, secretaries of each military branch, and
the joint chiefs of staff

84.Why do our uniformed armed services act as separate entities? The people fear that the military may
become too powerful if merged; the separation is also strongly based around traditional autonomy

85.What are cost overruns? When the money actually paid to military suppliers exceeds the estimated
costs

86.What is the bipolar world? A political landscape with two superpowers.

87.What is the unipolar world? A political landscape with one superpower.

88.What is the most expensive part of the defense budget? The personnel of the armed forces

CHAPTER 21: ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

89. How do the following forms of politics impact environmental policy?

a. Entrepreneurial Controlling the emissions put out by factories

b. Majoritarian reducing air pollution by restricting emissions in automobiles

c. Interest groups The fight over acid rain

d. Client Farmers manage to minimize federal controls over the use of pesticides

90.Which president created the Environmental Protection Agency? Nixon

91.How is environmental policy in America different from that of other governments? In America, our law
making process has not included the industry members. Our regulation depends heavily on the states
whereas other nations regulate pollution at the national level.

92. What are the three concerns about global warming?

a. There is no measure of how much human activity has impacted the environment.

b. What would it cost it production and income to reduce human impact on the environment?

c. What are the gains of global warming?

93.What did the Clean Air Act of 1970 regulate? Automobile emissions

94.What is an environmental impact statement? A report required by federal law that assesses the
possible effect of a project on the environment if the project is subsidized in whole or part by federal
funds.

95.What was decided in Union Electric Co. v. EPA (1976)? EPA rules must be observed without regard to
their cost or technological feasibility.
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96.What was decided in Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council (1984)? States should comply
with EPA decisions, even if not explicitly authorized by statute, provided they are reasonable efforts to
attain the goal of the law.

97.What was decided in Whitman v. American Trucking Association (2001)? Allows Congress to delegate
broad authority to regulatory agencies.

98.What is command-and-control strategy? A strategy to improve air and water quality, involving the
setting of detailed pollution standards and rules.

99. How did the EPA give incentives to companies during the Carter administration?

a. Offsets – the pollution of a new factory must be offset by a reduction in pollution in the same
area

b. Bubble standard – the total of air pollution that can be generated by a factory

c. Pollution allowances – if a company produces less pollution than they are allowed, they can
transfer it to another factory or sell it to another company as an offset

100. What is the best way for the government to achieve an environmental goal?

a. Issuing orders

b. Offering incentives