Chapter 17 – Domestic Policy Vocab Terms Parts 1-3

Log rolling

Mutual aid among politicians where one legislator supports another's project in exchange for support.

Interest-group politics

Political activity where benefits go to one group and costs to another.

The Grange

Farmers' organization critical of large corporations.

Gerald Ford

Noted the risks of a government that can give and take everything.

Entrepreneurial politics

Benefits are distributed, costs concentrated.

Do Not Call Law

Legislation initiated at the state level and adopted federally.

Cost argument

People focus more on potential losses than gains.

Cost

Perceived burden if a policy is implemented.

Closed shop

Business hiring only union workers.

Client politics

One group benefits at the expense of many.

Boycott

Effort to stop buying from a company to induce policy change.

Benefit

Satisfaction expected if a policy is adopted.

Agenda setting

Deciding what issues need government action.

Relative deprivation

Feeling worse off than perceived deserved.

Superfund

Aiming to make industries clean up toxic waste.

Sherman Antitrust Act

1890 law making monopolies illegal.

Secondary boycott

Workers boycotting a company not the target.

Teddy Roosevelt

Persuaded Congress to fund lawyers for antitrust.

Deregulation

Lifting restrictions on business and industry.

Professionalization of reform

Bureaucracy creating problems to solve.

Process regulation

Rules improving safety and reducing damage.

Pork-barrel projects

Legislation benefiting constituents for votes.

Political agenda

Issues needing government action.

Policy entrepreneurs

Create legislative majority for underrepresented interests.

Majoritarian politics

Benefits and costs widely distributed.

AFDC

Aid for Families with Dependent Children during the Depression.

Almshouses

Aid houses for widows and orphans in Philadelphia and New York.

Assistance programs

Government programs providing benefits to the poor.

Charitable choice

Laws allowing religious organizations in social services.

Earned income tax credit

Provides income to very poor individuals.

End Poverty in Cal

Upton Sinclair's plan for cooperative ownership.

Food stamps

Government coupons for purchasing food.

Income strategy

Policy giving money to lift people out of poverty.

Indexing

Providing automatic increases to counter inflation.

Insurance program

Self-financing program for benefits to unemployed or retired.

Means test

Income qualification for benefits in lower-income groups.

Medicaid

Federal and state health care assistance program.

Medicare

Federal health insurance for persons 65 and older.

Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act

1988 legislation for elderly medical care.

Mother's pension

Pre-1935 state aid programs for widows with children.

Charles Murray

Claimed high welfare benefits discouraged job search.

OASDI

Insurance for retired workers and families (Social Security).

Service strategy

Congress members using staff for constituent support.

Share Our Wealth Plan

Huey Long's radical wealth redistribution plan.

Social Security Act

1935 law for retirement payments and welfare.

SSI

Federal programs including food stamps and payments to disabled.

TANF

1996 act giving states more control over welfare policy.

Townsend Plan

Francis Townsend's old-age pension proposal.

UI

Unemployment Insurance for workers' income protection.

Acid rain

Rain with acids from industrial emissions.

Bank (pollution allowance)

EPA incentive for low-polluting emissions.

Bubble standard

Total pollution allowed from a factory.

Catalytic converter

Device converting emissions to CO2.

Clean Air Act of 1970

EPA charged with improving air quality.

Clean Air Act of 1990

Added policy to reduce air pollution.

Clear-cutting

Cutting all trees in an area at once.

Command-and-control strategy

Detailed pollution standards setting.

DDT

Toxic insecticide harmful to animals and humans.

Earth Day

Senator Nelson's holiday for environmental awareness.

Environmental impact statement

Document assessing project impact.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Agency for pollution reduction.

Interest-group politics

Policy benefiting one group at another's cost.

Kyoto Protocol

Sets greenhouse gas emission targets.

Majoritarian politics

Policy benefiting and costing almost everyone.

National Environmental Policy Act

Mandates environmental assessments.

Offset

Balancing or compensating for something.

Scrubber

Device removing pollutants from factory emissions.

Sulfur dioxide

Corrosive gas damaging plants and animals.

Superfund

Fund for hazardous waste site cleanup.

Water  Quality Improvement Act of 1970

A law enacted in 1970 that made oil companies responsible for cleanup costs of oil spills