POL 310: Public Policy Final Exam Study Guide

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from the study guide for POL 310: Public Policy.

Educational Vouchers

Fixed government payment to families usable at any school (public or private).

Consumer Sovereignty

Vouchers allow individuals to better match educational choices to preferences.

Crowding Out

Free public schools may displace what would otherwise be private school enrollment.

Magnet Schools

Special public schools designed to attract students with interest in particular subjects/styles.

Charter Schools

Independent public schools exempt from many traditional regulations.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

2001 accountability law linking school performance to testing outcomes.

Pell Grants

Federal grants for low-income students (~$30B/year to ~7M students).

Income-Contingent Repayment

Loan payments deferred until borrower reaches minimum income threshold.

College Scorecard

DOE website allowing prospective students to compare school outcomes/debt levels.

Morrill Land Grant Act (1862)

Federal law sparking explosion of public higher education, especially in Midwest.

Fiscal Policy

Government decisions on taxing, spending, and deficits.

Monetary Policy

Federal Reserve decisions on money supply and interest rates.

Keynesian Economics

Government should use countercyclical spending/taxing to stabilize the economy.

Supply-Side Economics

Tax cuts for producers/investors increase growth and eventually government revenue.

GDP

Gross Domestic Product; total value of goods and services produced; calculated in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.

Recession

Two or more consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.

TARP

Troubled Asset Relief Program; $700B bank bailout; Treasury bought bank shares.

ARRA (2009)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; $787B stimulus package.

Dodd-Frank Act

Sweeping financial re-regulation after 2008; created CFPB.

PAYGO

Pay-as-you-go budget rule; prohibits policies that increase the 6-year deficit.

Sequestration

Automatic across-the-board spending cuts triggered by deficit caps.

Secular Stagnation

Persistent, structural decline in real interest rates in industrialized economies.

Fourteenth Amendment

Guarantees equal protection and due process; cornerstone of civil rights law.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court upheld 'separate but equal' doctrine.

Brown v. Board (1954)

Supreme Court struck down school segregation; overturned Plessy.

Strict Scrutiny

Highest judicial standard; required for race-based government actions.

Intermediate Scrutiny

Applied to gender classifications; less demanding than strict scrutiny.

Affirmative Action

Policies that use race/gender as factors to achieve diversity or remedy past discrimination.

Equality of Opportunity

All individuals have the same legal right to compete; does not guarantee equal outcomes.

Equality of Results

Actual outcomes equalized across groups; requires active redistribution.

Title VII

Civil Rights Act provision banning employment discrimination based on race, sex, etc.

Title IX

Bars sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal funds.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Established constitutional right to abortion; later overturned by Dobbs, 2022.

Undue Burden Standard

Post-Casey test; abortion restrictions invalid if they impose an undue burden on access.

DOMA

Defense of Marriage Act (1996); struck down in Windsor (2013).

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Same-sex marriage constitutionally protected under Equal Protection Clause.

ADA (1990)

Prohibits discrimination against disabled persons in employment, government, public accommodations.

NAACP

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; led legal strategy to overturn segregation.

Elite Model

Theory that public policy reflects the interests and values of elites.

Tariffs

Taxes on foreign imports; protect domestic manufacturers but raise consumer prices.

Quotas

Specific limits on the amount of a foreign good allowed in the U.S. market.

Protectionism

Use of tariffs and quotas to shield domestic industries from foreign competition.

Comparative Advantage

A nation's advantage in producing a good at lower relative cost; basis for trade.

Dumping

Selling foreign goods in the U.S. below home-market prices; illegal.

WTO

World Trade Organization; adjudicates trade disputes; 166 member nations.

Trade Deficit

Imports exceed exports; U.S. deficit financed by foreigners holding U.S. dollars.

DREAM Act

Proposed path to residency for unauthorized immigrants who arrived as children.

E-Verify

Federal internet program for employers to verify worker employment eligibility.

Negative Externality

A cost imposed on third parties not involved in a transaction (e.g., pollution).

Public Choice Theory

Analyzes government policy as the product of self-interested actors; applies cost-benefit logic.

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency; created 1970; regulates air, water, waste, toxic substances.

Clean Air Act (1970)

Authorized EPA to set air quality standards and enforce emission limits.

Superfund (1980)

Federal program to clean up toxic/hazardous waste sites; enforces retroactive liability.

Greenhouse Effect

Atmospheric gases trap heat near Earth's surface; basis of climate change.

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; UN-sponsored; assesses climate science.

Kyoto Protocol (1997)

Required developed nations to reduce emissions; U.S. never ratified.

Fracking (Hydraulic Fracturing)

Technique to extract oil/gas from shale; led to U.S. energy boom; environmental controversy.

Cap and Trade

Market mechanism setting a ceiling on emissions; firms trade pollution allowances.

Carbon Tax

Direct tax on carbon emissions; simpler than cap-and-trade; revenue goes to government.

CAFE Standards

Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency standards for automobiles and light trucks.

NIMBY

'Not In My Back Yard'; local opposition to nearby development projects.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Federal agency that regulates all aspects of nuclear power (est. by Energy Reorganization Act 1974).