K-12 Education
What is a voucher? What is a choice policymakers must make about how to allocate them?
Government funding for a child to attend private school; universal access or means-tested with eligibility based on income
What are the main values of Housing First Ideology?
Housing is a basic human right that all people should have, individual agency in housing decisions is essential, and stability is a vital outcome of secure housing
Why might AI regulation be justified through a harm protection rationale?
Environmental impacts of data centers, displacement of the workforce, misinformation spread by AI, algorithms and chatbots harming mental health
What are the 2 types of externalities? Give an example of how each might apply to the health sphere
Positive Externalities: good side effects of a policy; herd immunity from vaccines
Negative Externalities: bad side effects of a policy; health impacts of smoking on others in the area
What are the 3 sectors? What does each entail?
Public: Government agencies; regulatory policies
Private: Companies, corporations; market-based
Civil: People, advocacy groups, labor unions; political pressure
What governmental body makes major decisions on K-12 education in Wisconsin? What are some of the things they oversee?
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; school funding, teacher licensing requirements, standardized testing
What is zoning and what are two major types of zoning?
Designation of where residential, commercial, and industrial buildings can go; exclusionary zoning - restricts characteristics of housing and often pushes out low-income housing, inclusionary zoning - requires or incentivizes developers to include some amount of affordable housing units
What concept refers to the imbalance of knowledge between users of social media and the people behind the scenes running apps and algorithms?
Information asymmetry - users know far less than producers, don't have a say in how algorithms learn from their activity
What idea refers to when individuals with insurance make risky decisions because they know they have coverage?
Moral hazard - when people make reckless decisions knowing that they will not be responsible for the costs if something goes wrong
What is the difference between daddy state and nanny state ideology?
Daddy state: controlling behavior through punishments/restrictions; make SNAP benefits not eligible to buy soda and candy
Nanny state: encouraging behavior through rewards/incentives; make SNAP benefits double at farmer's markets
What ideology do compulsory attendance laws and universal curriculum mandates align with? What ideology do these go against?
Paternalism - regulations set in place by the government to keep schooling consistent for all
Liberty - free choice for schools to make their own decisions on policies for students
What type of policy instrument is often used to boost homeownership? Provide examples of policies
Expenditures; means-tested down payment assistance, support of affordable housing development
What are the two options for data collection policies that allow consumers a say in their privacy? What's the difference?
Opt-in requires consumers to explicitly give permission to allow for data collection, whereas opt-out means collection is the default, and users must specifically ask if they want to maintain data privacy
What is the difference between insurance premiums and deductibles?
Premium - monthly payment to keep insurance policy active
Deductible - fixed amount to be paid on a health cost before insurance kicks in
Higher deductibles typically mean lower premiums
What are administrative burdens? Explain the 3 main types of burdens
Costs to citizens in order to access government programs; learning costs - must learn about eligibility and application processes, psychological costs - stress of applying and social stigmas, compliance costs - time spent and tasks to be done to access services
Name 5 different types of schools/education systems
Homeschooling, private school (secular), private school (religious), private school (voucher), educational savings accounts, charter schools, magnet schools, public schools
What does it mean when housing is referred to as Section 8?
Established by Section 8 of the 1937 U.S. Housing Act, the Housing Choice Voucher program allows people to receive government housing-cost assistance for certain residences
In what decade did AI development begin? How did these early models differ from modern AI?
Development began in the 1950s; these programs were rules-based, instead of using complex algorithms like we currently see
What are the 5 social determinants of health?
Health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, social and community context, economic stability, education access and quality
What are the 4 main rationales for government intervention, and what do they mean?
Market failures - government steps in to optimize resource allocation
Equity and human rights - guarantee fairness and rights for all
Protecting individuals - controlling behavior for the good of the people
State structure - preserve government systems
What did Wisconsin Act 20 do?
Passed in 2023, Act 20 requires school districts to adopt reading curriculum grounded in scientific reading methods including phonics and other reading fundamentals
What did Grant's Pass Ordinance do?
Prohibited camping in public areas, allowing punishments to include escalating fines, park exclusion orders, and criminal trespassing
What did Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act do?
Established liability protection for social media websites and other internet companies when 3rd party users create harmful content
What is the policy change associated with Medicaid expansion? Has Wisconsin adopted this?
Expenditure/regulation policy expanding Medicaid eligibility to those with an income under 138% of the federal poverty line, instead of under 100%; not fully adopted in Wisconsin
What are the 5 main policy instruments and what does the government do when utilizing them?
Do nothing: leave the situation alone, let things work themselves out
Education/information: provide learning resources for people to gain knowledge, learn best practices
Regulation: setting standards and ensuring rules are followed
Expenditure: utilization of funding to improve problems, fiscal policy
Direct Provision: government resources and employees being used to help people