Exam 2: Government Institutions and Policy Actors

In the United States, both the national and state governments have authority to enact laws and policies. This system is known as ______.

Conflict between states and the federal government can be caused by ______, in which the federal government emplaces new rules about government services that must be provided by states, but does not provide funds to cover the new costs that might be incurred.

Examine the reasons that the U.S. government has grown to its current size.

Courts utilize ______ as background and foundation in order to make a current decision.

______ provide large transfers of federal dollars to the states, to give the states more discretion in how to utilize the funding.

Which statement accurately reflects the activity of lobbying by interest groups?

States demonstrate a wide variety of policy capacities. This refers to the fact that ______.

Federal ______ grants for community development activities give states and local governments an amount of money to conduct the activities with more flexibility to determine how the money is spent.

One major concern regarding the decentralization of the policy-making role from the federal to the state level includes ______.

Federal cabinet departments and major agencies such as the CIA and EPA are found in which branch of government?

Passage of the ______, discussed extensively in Chapter 2, exemplified the complex interplay of the two houses of Congress, the president, interest groups, and politics in the making of policy.

How is the role of the judiciary in the making of public policy different from that of the executive and legislative branches?

Define cooperative federalism and policy capacity. Then discuss how cooperative federalism has led to a growing need for policy capacity at the state level.

Ideological differences and high levels of partisanship in Congress have produced ______ in regard to changing national immigration policies.

______ refers to the aggregate sum of individual attitudes and opinion of members of society.

______ of the federal government are headed by a secretary appointed by the president and have many subsidiary agencies.

Because of greater decentralization of policy making to the states, it has become more important that states have strong ______ or the ability to make effective and efficient policies.

______, or providing information supporting their policy positions to legislators, is a visible role played by interest groups.

______ refers to the capability to develop and implement strong government policies.

Discuss how the U.S. (a) size and (b) structure of government can make it difficult to enact policies.