53. Which of the following is necessary information to determine eligibility for a
means-tested program?
a. the number of years a person has worked before retirement
b. the number of years a person has been on Social Security
c. the number of years a person has been in the military
d. the income level of the person in question
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 508
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
54. Melissa is a single mother working full time at a minimum wage job. To make
ends meet, she also receives public assistance. Under current law, what would
happen if Melissa got married?
a. Her welfare benefits would be unchanged.
b. She would no longer be eligible for public assistance.
c. She would lose as much as $8,000 per year in cash and noncash benefits.
d. She would gain as much as $2,000 per year in cash and noncash benefits.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 516
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
55. Which of the following best describes the goal of social policy in general?
a. to provide aid for those who are economically disadvantaged
b. to promote the welfare of citizens through domestic programs
c. to promote the welfare of the disadvantaged in developing countries
d. to keep the nation secure by making sure poverty is eliminated
Topic: Introduction
Learning Objective: Introduction
603
Page Reference: 504
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
56. What new rule was put in place with passage of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996?
a. Recipients must submit to a drug test before they are granted benefits.
b. Recipients must enter a work training program within two months of receiving
initial benefits.
c. Recipients are subject to a two-year lifetime limit on public assistance.
d. Recipients must get jobs within six months of receiving initial benefits.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 515
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
57. Which of the following is one of the main arguments of those who oppose federal
policies promoting marriage?
a. Married people are not any happier, healthier, or wealthier than their unmarried
peers.
b. Finding good-paying jobs for people is a better solution than promoting
marriage.
c. Same-sex marriage is outlawed, so the law does not provide equal protection.
d. Domestic violence occurs more frequently in married than in unmarried
households.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 516
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
58. Why did Congress enact a new program in 1998 directed at improving teacher
quality in primary and elementary education?
604
a. Education interest groups and teachers’ unions pressured Congress into taking
action.
b. Congress recognized the link between quality of primary and elementary
education and college success.
c. This program was a response to the failure of previous federal policies.
d. The federal government had to step in after states cut their education funding.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 523
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
59. Which of the following philosophical beliefs explains the federal government’s
comparatively limited role in welfare and health policies?
a. a commitment to egalitarianism
b. a commitment to rugged individualism
c. a commitment to communitarianism
d. a commitment to social safety nets
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 506
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
True–False Questions
60. The Affordable Care Act requires that Americans purchase health insurance.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 520
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
605
Difficulty Level: Easy
61. In 2014, a family of four with an annual income of $33,050 fell below the poverty
line.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 509
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
62. President Lyndon Johnson avoided addressing problems of poverty.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 514 – 515
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
63. One reason for the increase in health care costs is that people now live longer than
they did in the past.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 519
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
64. Social Security is considered an entitlement program.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 508
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
606
Difficulty Level: Easy
65. Elementary and secondary schools are funded primarily by federal income taxes.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 522
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
66. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is a social insurance program.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 508
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
67. The Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as Obamacare, involved a federal
takeover of the insurance industry.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 519 – 520
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
68. A welfare program that contains an income eligibility threshold is likely a means-
tested program.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 508
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
607
Difficulty Level: Moderate
69. Advanced medical technology has led to increases in health care costs.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 519
Skill Level: Understanding the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
70. Social Security is a means-tested program because it provides benefits to all
qualifying individuals.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 508
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
71. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is a means-tested program.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 508
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
72. Welfare recipients are often criticized because they can remain indefinitely on
programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 515
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
608
Difficulty Level: Moderate
73. Although the federal government does not have primary responsibility for
policing, it is responsible for law enforcement in some areas.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 523 – 524
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
74. The goals of social policy are to help those who help themselves and to protect
those who have worked hard and have earned what they have achieved.
Topic: Introduction
Learning Objective: Introduction
Page Reference: 504
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
75. Southern states tend to be more generous with their social insurance policies
because they have a greater number of people in poverty.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 510
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Fill–in–the–Blank Questions
76. Because most social policy programs are restricted to one group of citizens only,
they are often described as ___________ aid.
609
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 508
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
77. ___________ is a combination of entitlement programs that includes retirement
benefits, health insurance, and support for disabled workers and the children of
disabled or deceased workers.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 512
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
78. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) has been replaced with the
federal program ___________.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 515
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
79. Kindergarten through high school education is generally seen as a responsibility
of __________ levels of government.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 522
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
80. Medicare is designed to help the __________ population.
610
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 515
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
81. As part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, the __________ put millions of young people to
work clearing trails and building roads in national forests and parks.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 511
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
82. Social Security is a(n) __________ program because it provides benefits to all
qualifying individuals.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 508
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
83. Social Security benefit levels have ___________ since the program was created.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 512
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
84. __________ is a broad-ranging term that applies to a number of programs
designed to assist groups who may lack resources, such as the poor.
611
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 509
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
85. The federal government enforces its laws primarily through the __________.
Topic: Social Policy Challenges for the Future: Health, Education, and Crime
Learning Objective: LO 17.3: Evaluate the current status of and challenges for
federal government policy in the areas of health care, education, and crime.
Page Reference: 524
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
86. The term used by critics to describe business bailouts by the government and
federal assistance to favored industries is __________.
Topic: The Role of the Federal Government in Social Policy
Learning Objective: LO 17.1: Outline the goals of the federal government’s
social policy and the forms of protection it provides.
Page Reference: 509
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
87. Because current Social Security beneficiaries receive payments from current
Social Security taxes, the program is considered a __________ program.
Topic: The Expansion of Social Policy in the Twentieth Century
Learning Objective: LO 17.2: Outline the evolution of social policy throughout
the twentieth century.
Page Reference: 512
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
612