Exam 1: Public Policy and Politics

Public policy is best defined as ______.

Why does the government provide and/or protect public goods?

______ argue for less government intrusion into the economy and decision making within business and industry.

Define public policy.

What are the three major reasons for government intervention into a particular problem? Select a substantive issue/problem (e.g., social security, environmental policy, addressing the recession, etc.) and discuss why the government may intervene for each of the reasons identified. Discuss political, moral/ethical, and market failure reasons for government intervention and what these are. Select any issues (e.g., environmental) and discuss how one might interpret government intervention from each of these reasons.

Identify the regulatory agency responsible for ensuring public safety for a wide range of consumer products.

Negative externality and information failure are both examples of what?

Which policy criterion would be used in an effort to evaluate how successful a policy is at meeting its goals?

How can the social context affect the development of public policy? Provide an example as part of your answer.

Which of the following are considered public goods?

______ refers to the institutions and political processes through which public policy choices are made.

Government officials propose public policies in response to ______ or conditions that the public widely perceives to be unacceptable.

Federal subsidies that are only given to dairy farmers who own more than one hundred cows may raise concerns about the ______ of the policy.

Policy making does not occur in a vacuum. Explain and provide an example of each of the various contexts that surround policy making and how that context can influence the policies that are enacted.

During and after the Great Recession, various governmental entities proposed policies to create jobs, increase the minimum wage, and regulate financial markets. This flurry of policy making was likely a result of which context, affecting the policy-making process?

Which of the following are examples of pure public goods?

Examine the four kinds of market failures that lead to government involvement in public policy. For each type of market failure, discuss the following: (a) the nature of the failure, that is, what it looks like and how it occurs; (b) an illustrative example; and (c) the way in which government may address the failure.

A ______ is a law proposed by a state or locality for voters to approve or reject.

Which of the following is the only type of good for which there is no market failure, and the government need not intervene to prevent it?

Explain positive externalities.