American Government Unit VII Assessment

Chapter 16

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16-2

Poverty in America:

The Nature of the Problem  The poor: who and how many?

 The poverty line

 Children; single-parent families headed by females

 Minority-group members

 Rural and inner-city dwellers

 Living in poverty: by choice or by chance?

 Many Americans believe poverty is a choice

 Most poor are in poverty as result of circumstance

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16-4

Politics and Policies

of Social Welfare  Negative government: staying out of people’s lives, giving

people maximum freedom

 Positive government: intervention necessary to buffer

economic and social forces beyond a person’s control

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16-5

Politics and Policies

of Social Welfare  Social insurance programs

 Widely supported by public

 Heavily funded

 Benefits to individuals of all income levels

 Seen as an earned entitlement

 Social security

 Unemployment insurance

 Medicare

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16-6

Politics and Policies

of Social Welfare  Public assistance programs

 Less public support

 Receive less funding

 Restricted to people of low income

 Seen as a hand-out

 Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

 Head Start

 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

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16-8

Politics and Policies

of Social Welfare  Public assistance programs

 In-kind benefits: food stamps and housing vouchers

 Medicaid

 The SCHIP program

 The 2010 Health Care Reform Act

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16-9

Politics and Policies

of Social Welfare  Culture and social welfare

 U.S. has most inefficient welfare system in the Western

world

 Scores of separate programs that may overlap

 Large bureaucracy needed to monitor eligibility

 Inequity

 Social security and Medicare: many high-income earners receive

benefits

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16-11

Education as Equality of Opportunity  Public education: leveling through the schools

 America’s heavy investment in public education

 Goal is equality of opportunity

 1964 Elementary and Secondary Education Act is the

cornerstone of the federal government’s public-school

efforts

 The 1964 Higher Education Act

 Pell Grants

 Federal loans

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16-12

Education as Equality of Opportunity  Improving America’s schools

 American students not high performers relative to other

advanced countries, though America spends very highly on

education

 Inequality of wealth in communities

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16-15

Education as Equality of Opportunity  Improving America’s schools

 School choice

 Has gained momentum in recent years

 Vouchers

 Mandatory high-stakes testing

 No Child Left Behind

 Controversial increase in weight on testing

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16-16

The American Way of Promoting

the General Welfare  Democracy and economic security

 The American way of welfare

 Differences between the European and American approach

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