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Chapter 18: Social Welfare Policymaking

Multiple Choice

Multiple Choice

This activity contains 18 questions.

	A dilemma concerning social welfare policy in a democracy is that   recipients of social welfare have little say since they are in a minority. political parties have little incentive to include the elderly and the poor in their coalitions. the elderly and the poor have the lowest voter turnout rates of any group. the groups competing for social welfare programs are often quite uneven in the resources they bring to the struggle.

	A study of five thousand American families over a decade showed that   about half of the poor were poor in nine of the ten years studied. almost a third of the families were below the poverty level at least once during the decade. a culture of poverty distinguishes the poor from the nonpoor. most poor people are black.

	According to Charles Murray the problem with social welfare policies is that they   cost too much. did not receive adequate funding. discouraged the poor from solving their own problems. did not address the basic problem of racism as a cause of poverty.

	After the turn of the century   the federal government became less involved in social welfare policies. family welfare became more of a private concern. family-based support networks began to break down. the need for social welfare policies became less immediate.

	Compared to most Western democracies, the United States provides   relatively few social welfare benefits. many different types of social policies. an average amount of social policies. more cash transfers but fewer in-kind transfers.

	Government's main tools for influencing the distribution of income and wealth are   equal opportunity and affirmative action programs. legislating and enforcing economic policies. extending eligibility for welfare and Medicare benefits. income taxation and expenditure policies.

	Past democratic conflicts and compromises in the social welfare policy area have   given Americans a huge social welfare bureaucracy at all levels of government. had the effect of lessening the scope of government. resulted in the growth of the federal bureaucracy but a reduction in state bureaucracies. had little effect on the scope of government.

	Policies that provide benefits to individuals, particularly those in need, are called   equal opportunity policies. redistributive policies. social welfare policies. tax policies.

	Poverty rates tend to be highest among which of the following groups?   the elderly unmarried women residents of non-metropolitan areas White Americans

	Programs that provide benefits selectively only to people with specific needs are called   social welfare policies. means-tested programs. entitlement programs. redistributive policies.

	Republicans have proposed solving the Social Security problem by   cutting benefits. diverting a portion of Social Security contributions to private retirement funds. raising taxes. abolishing the program.

	The 1996 Welfare Reform Bill   gave each state a fixed amount of money to run its own welfare programs. required people on welfare to find work within two years or lose all their benefits. placed a lifetime maximum of 5 years on welfare. all of the above

	The best evidence indicates that the overall incidence of taxes in America is   proportional. progressive. regressive. redistributive.

	The distribution of income in the United States   makes Americans the richest people on earth. is quite uneven. has shifted since 1950 to favor more middle-income people. is fairly equal compared to most nations in the world.

	The major problem with the Social Security program is   the long-term sustainability of the program. the lack of public support. how to invest surplus funds. it is not going to the right people.

	The method used by the U.S. Bureau of the Census to count the number of poor people is   random polling. the unemployment rate. the poverty line. housing statistics.

	The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981   reduced the federal deficit. eliminated several welfare programs begun during the Great Society. substantially cut the budgets for entitlement programs. initiated many cuts in social welfare programs.

	Transfer payments have   significantly redistributed income in America. raised many of the poor above the poverty line. created greater income equality. have had virtually no effect on poverty in America.

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