Chapter 11: Issues in Public Policy
True/False
1. When public officials develop public policy, they are establishing priorities for programs that
benefit the public.
2. Widespread agreement generally exists as to which programs should receive the attention of
public officials and how the money should be spent.
3. Issues are generally placed on the public agenda through the means of public opinion polls.
4. The Texas legislature in 2006 finally came to an agreement on a solution to the school funding
process after orderly debate and careful consideration, with no outside pressure.
5. The Texas court system played a major role in securing the action of the Texas legislature on the
school funding issue.
6. Issues may be placed on the public policy agenda as a result of the political events such as the
outcome of an election.
7. Interest groups seldom are effective in placing items on the public policy agenda.
8. A mandate is an order by a higher level of government which requires a lower unit of government
to make or enforce a particular action.
9. Among the root causes of most modern policy issues are caused by urbanization,
industrialization, economic fluctuations, or issues with the environment.
10. Following the wishes of the majority in a democracy will generally solve all of the problems of
society.
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11. Whenever government seeks to improve the quality of life for the poor, it is producing a
redistributive public policy.
12. The percentage of people who live below the poverty level in Texas is greater than the national
average.
13. Most of the children who live in poverty in Texas live in families where both parents are
unemployed.
14. The reality of poverty in Texas is that the very young and very old are most likely to live in
poverty.
15. The typical family of three in Texas generally will qualify for enough public assistance to place
them above the poverty level.
16. Virtually all public assistance programs in Texas are coordinated through the Texas Health and
Human Services Commission.
17. Nationally and in Texas, almost two-thirds of health assistance goes to children.
18. Unemployment compensation programs are paid for out of general tax revenues.
19. The Texas worker’s compensation program is administered by the Texas Department of
Insurance.
20. The Texas Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was designed to provide health
insurance for the children of the working poor.
21. Under recent federal legislation, states have been allowed to reduce welfare with no loss of
federal funds.
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22. Texas, like most of the other states, is spending all of the federal funds to which it would be
entitled under federal law.
23. Because of the tax structure used in Texas, the number of persons needing public assistance is
generally likely to increase at the same time that the state’s taxation system is producing fewer
dollars.
24. Higher education funding in Texas suffers because it is the largest source of money not protected
by dedication of revenues in the budget.
25. The Permanent University Fund (PUF) can only be used by the University of Texas and the Texas
A&M System.
26. The Texas Higher Education Assistance Fund (HEAF) is designed to fund capital expenditures
for institutions of higher education not eligible for PUF.
27. The LULAC case in 1992 forced the state of Texas to spend more money on higher education in
South Texas.
28. The Hopwood v. State case was directed against the affirmative action admission program of the
Texas A&M law school.
29. Affirmative action (AA) programs are always required to establish quotas for members of
minority groups.
30. The report of the commission formed by Lt. Governor Rick Perry on the 21st Century Colleges
and Universities has led to a significant increase in the level of funding for Texas colleges and
universities.
31. Compared to other urban states, Texas ranks first in the average salaries paid to higher education
faculty.
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32. The federal government has fully funds all of the mandates related to the environment such as the
Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
33. The main focus of legislators from West Texas has been water supply.
34. Texas ranks near the top of all states in the amount of toxic pollutants that it allows to be released
into the air, seep in the ground, and be dumped into the waters of the state.
35. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is the most recent agency created by
the legislature to oversee environmental quality.
36. Texas has met the air attainment standards established by the federal Environmental Protection
Agency.
37. The problem of what to do with radioactive wastes produced by the nuclear power plants in Texas
has been finally resolved by establishing a waste disposal site in the Davis Mountains.
38. According to the authors, Texas is leading the nation in environmental policy-making.
39. The main obstacle to the solution what to do with wastes is primarily technological.
40. According to the authors, Texas has shown stinginess in trying to mitigate poverty, inconsistency
in funding higher education, and a cavalier attitude toward the environment.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Issues are placed on the public policy agenda as a result of
A. the attention of elected officials such as legislators and the governor
B. attention by the media
C. mandates by higher level governments
D. all of the above
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2. A _____ is an action by a higher level unit of government which forces a lower level unit of
government to take a particular policy action.
A. decree
B. administrative order
C. executive edict
D. mandate
3. In which of the following areas of public policy has the state of Texas been forced to take actions
because of federal court orders?
A. prison reform
B. higher education
C. public school finance
D. all of the above
4. Which of the following has created public policy problems for the state of Texas?
A. urbanization
B. environmental concerns
C. demographic change
D. all of the above
5. Whenever the government attempts to alleviate the problems of the poor by taking money from
the wealthy and providing benefits for the poor, it is engaging in ___________ actions.
A. progressive public policy
B. redistributive public policy
C. regressive public policy
D. none of the above
6. What percentage of the Texas population live in poverty?
A. about 15 percent
B. about 25 percent
C. about 40 percent
D. about 60 percent
7. Poverty in Texas is largely centered among
A. people who live in South Texas
B. children under the age of 14
C. the elderly
D. all of the above
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8. Which of the following programs is designed to provide assistance to the aged, blind, and
disabled?
A. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
B. Social Security Supplemental Security Income
C. Medicaid
D. Food stamp program
9. The agency recently created to coordinate the state’s programs of assistance is the
A. Texas Department of Welfare
B. Department of Health and Human Services
C. Texas Workforce Commission
D. Texas Department of Public Assistance
10. The workfare approach to public assistance limits a person to no more than ____ years of public
assistance.
A. one
B. three
C. five
D. ten
11. The program that was established to provide health insurance for the families of the working poor
was the _________ program.
A. Aide for Families of Dependent Children
B. Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
C. Medicaid
D. Children’s Health Insurance Program
12. Which of the following is not true concerning recent efforts in public assistance in Texas?
A. a sharp drop in the number of welfare recipients has occurred
B. Texas is not spending all of the federal money to which it is entitled
C. educational programs for persons who have learning disabilities have been increased
D. the state’s revenue is frequently on a down-turn when those who need assistance are on
the increase
13. The cost of funding buildings and other facilities for institutions of higher education outside of
the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems was provided by constitutional amendment in
1984 by the creation of the
A. Foundation School Fund
B. Permanent University Fund
C. Higher Education Assistance Fund
D. Highway Fund
14. To meet the additional costs of increased enrollment, faculty salaries, and inflation, colleges and
universities in Texas have had to depend on
A. increased federal assistance
B. increased tuition and fees paid by students
C. increased funding by the state
D. increased private foundation funding
15. In 1992, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) filed a court case in which it
alleged that Texas discriminated against Mexican American citizens by which action?
A. denied Hispanic students admission to the University of Texas
B. provided reduced amounts of financial aid to Hispanic students as compared to Afro
American students
C. systematically provided fewer educational opportunities for Hispanics by under funding
colleges and universities in South Texas
D. forced Hispanic students to take admissions exams in English
16. Among the issues cited by the authors of the textbook as reasons for the problems with the
legislature were all but one of the following. Which one was that?
A. higher education had an image problem
B. the legislature was funding higher education at less than the enrollment growth rate
C. higher education was steadily being privatized by encouraging the selling of long-
standing university operations to private corporations
D. colleges and universities were failing to produce students who could pass literacy exams
17. As a result of the Supreme Court decision in Hopwood v. State, Texas was forced to
A. admit unqualified minority students into its professional schools
B. eliminate affirmative action programs designed to admit minority students into the major
universities of the state
C. provide lower tuition for minority students
D. require standard admissions exams for all students
18. Which of the following was not a focus of the “Back to Basics” proposals presented by the
Chancellors of the six public university systems in Texas?
A. increasing the partnerships between higher education and public schools
B. increased efforts to help at-risk students who were most likely to “stop out”
C. increase the number of teaching assistants and less-experienced faculty to reduce costs
D. establish a more stable source of state funding for the state’s colleges and universities
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19. Which of the following statements more closely reflects the actions of the Texas legislature in the
sessions of 2003 and 2005?
A. the legislature increased funding to accommodate increased enrollment and inflation
costs
B. the legislature gave the colleges and universities permission to increase tuition and fees
C. the legislature established a funding formula to provide for future revenue needs of the
colleges and universities
D. the legislature established a dedicated tax to pay for future college and university costs
20. Which of the following have contributed to the importance of environmental issues in Texas?
A. the state’s history of living off of the environment by using its minerals, land, and water
B. the state’s often hostile climate with floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and occasional
earthquakes
C. the indifference of the population to environmental concerns
D. all of the above
21. Under normal conditions, which of the following is true?
A. for every twenty miles west, rainfall decreases by about one inch per year
B. for every twenty miles east, rainfall decreases by about one inch per year
C. for every mile north from the border with Mexico, rainfall increases by about one inch
D. all sections of the state receive equal amounts of rainfall
22. With regard to water quality, which of the following statements is true?
A. Texas is blessed with a plentiful supply of pure water
B. Texas has limited supplies of water, particularly in the western part of the state, and that
is often of relatively poor quality
C. Texans have traditionally been very careful not to pollute the rivers and streams of the
state
D. Texas has had effective and careful supervision of its natural resources for the past fifty
years
23. With regard to air quality, which of the following is a true statement?
A. the major metropolitan areas of the state- Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Beaumont, and El
Paso have air quality which fails to meet federal clean air standards
B. five metropolitan regions- North east Texas, Austin, San Antonio, Victoria, and Corpus
Christi – have air quality which is close to the non-attainment status
C. the legislature in 1995 cancelled the auto emissions program which had previously been
established
D. all of the above are true statements
24. The most common method of disposing of garbage in Texas is
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A. recycling
B. composting
C. incineration
D. landfills
25. The primary reason that Texas has failed to cope efficiently with environmental problems is cited
by the authors of your text as
A. legislators are bribed by polluters
B. the economic costs of environmentally safe operations are greater than the perceived
benefits
C. the lack of federal legislation
D. the lack of technology to deal with environmental problems
Essay Questions
1. In what ways have federal mandates affected environmental policies in Texas? Cite three
examples.
2. How does Texas compare with other states in attempting to solve the problems of poverty? Has
the conservative political culture of the state influenced the policies adopted by the legislature?
3. Based on your reading of chapter 11, what can we expect from the legislature in policy toward
higher education in Texas?
4. Which groups of students are most affected by the policies adopted by the Texas legislature from
2003 to the present?
5. What issues are most pressing for higher education in Texas?
6. To what extent do the environmental policies of the state of Texas reflect the general attitude of
the public and to what extend do they reflect the pressures of special interest groups?