16.1 & 16.2
In addition to being thoughtful and generally stable, _________ with issues of concern to some large segment of society, as opposed to matters of interest only to individuals or a small group of people.
public policy deals
One of the oldest and largest pieces of social welfare policy is Social Security, which cost the United States about_______ in 2014 alone.
$845 billion
In Congress, the best known of these is the _________ Office, or CBO.
Congressional Budget
A country spends, raises, and regulates money in accordance with its values. In all, the federal government’s budget for _____was $6.55 trillion.
2020
The total amount the government owes across all years
debt
One approach to thinking about_______ is to see it as the broad strategy government uses to do its job. More formally, it is the relatively stable set of purposive governmental actions that address matters of concern to some part of society.
public policy
It is often called an _________ program since it guarantees benefits to a particular group, and virtually everyone will eventually qualify for the plan given the relatively low requirements for enrollment.
entitlement
A second approach to creating public policy is a bit more objective. Rather than starting with what ought to happen and seeking ways to make it so, ___________ try to identify all the possible choices available to a decision maker and then gauge their impacts if implemented.
policy analysts
Until the 1930s, most policy advocates argued that the best way for the government to interact with the economy was through a hands-off approach formally known as _______ economics.
laissez-faire
The annual amount by which expenditures are greater than revenues
deficit
Known as ________, these individuals believe government almost always operates less efficiently than the private sector (the segment of the economy run for profit and not under government control), and that government actions should therefore be kept to a minimum.
libertarians
________ is a formula-based, health insurance program, which means beneficiaries must demonstrate they fall within a particular income category.
Medicaid
A lobbying group that frequently takes on advocacy roles is AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons).
lobbying
Contraction phases in which there is no economic growth for two consecutive quarters, called _______, would bring business failures and higher unemployment.
recessions
A health insurance program for low-income citizens
Medicaid
Most of the goods you interact with in your daily life are _______, which means that they can be owned by a particular person or group of people, and are excluded from use by others, typically by means of a price.
private goods
Historically, education has largely been the job of the states. While they have provided a very robust K–12 public _______system, the national government has never moved to create an equivalent system of national higher education academies or universities as many other countries have done.
education
A few people, however, become ________ by actively working to propose or maintain public policy.
policy advocates
Keynesianism. Named for its developer, the economist John Maynard Keynes, _________ argues that it is possible for a recession to become so deep, and last for so long, that the typical models of economic collapse and recovery may not work.
Keynesian economics
An entitlement health insurance program for older people and retirees who no longer get health insurance through their work
Medicare
Proponents of _________ economics believe that the market forces of supply and demand, working without any government involvement, are the most effective way for markets to operate. One of the basic principles of _________ economics is that for just about any good that can be privatized, the most efficient means for exchange is the marketplace.
Free-market
A______ key aspect of domestic policy is the growth and regulation of business. The size and strength of the economy is very important to politicians whose jobs depend on citizens’ believing in their own ____ prosperity.
final, future
Many Americans were concerned when Congress began debating the ________________. As the program took shape, some people felt the changes it proposed were being debated too hastily, would be implemented too quickly, or would summarily give the government control over an important piece of the U.S. economy—the health care industry. Ironically, the government had been heavily engaged in providing health care for decades.
Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Supply-siders, on the other hand, prefer _______ systems, which lower the overall rate as individuals make more money.
regressive tax
A policy in which costs are born by a relatively small number of groups or individuals, but benefits are expected to be enjoyed by a different group in society
redistributive policy