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Solved by verified expert:Question 1 Discuss the various ways federal, state, and local governments attempt to promote education as equality of opportunity. What are the some positives and negatives in the involvement of government in the education system? Your response should be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying in-text citations. Question 2 Analyze the government’s role in the protection of the environment. Be sure that your analysis includes a look at one of the following: conservation, environmentalism, protection, global warming, and energy concerns. How has the regulation of one of these issues resulted in better protection? Who are the major stakeholders in this process? Your response should be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying in-text citations. Question 3 Discuss the differences that exist between social insurance programs and public assistance programs. What is your opinion regarding how far the government should go in providing assistance to those who need these programs? Your response should be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying in-text citations. Question 4 How does the United States differ in providing economic security to its citizens from that of the European democracies? Your response should be at least 200 words in length. You are required to use at least your textbook as source material for your response. All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying in-text citations.All cited source must be in APA Format
unitvii_political_science_study_guide.pdf
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UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE
Economic, Environmental,
and Education Policies
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VII
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
1. Perceive how the United States government regulates the economy.
2. Explain how the government serves to protect the environment.
3. Identify issues that impact the economic policy, including complex situations between business and
labor.
4. Describe how the federal government uses monetary policy to manage the economy.
5. Discuss the various programs that are in place to assist those at poverty level in the United States.
6. Explain the perceptions many Americans have in regards to social welfare.
7. Elaborate on how education can be seen as “equality of opportunity.”
8. Contrast the American way of promoting economic security with the European way.
Reading Assignment
Chapter 15:
Economic and Environmental Policy: Contributing to Prosperity
Chapter 16:
Welfare and Education Policy: Providing for Personal Security and Need
Unit Lesson
Prior to the collapse of the economy in 1929 and the slide into the Great Depression, it was up to individual
states to take care of those who were having economic problems. States themselves had few social welfare
programs, and it was seen as an issue for charities and families to take care of. Herbert Hoover was noted for
his unwillingness to help the people and telling them to “pull
themselves up by their boot straps.” The impact of the Great
Depression was such that the people needed more, and Franklin
D. Roosevelt gave it to them in the form of the New Deal
Programs.
Before the New Deal, the government dealt mostly in laissez-faire
economics, believing that businesses should make all production
and distribution decisions. The government did, however, take part
in big business through such things as the Pacific Railways Act of
1862, by regulating the hours of women and children workers, and
instituting worker safety rules. After the New Deal, the federal
government would enact more regulations to try to gain more
control over big business.
The federal government believes in promoting efficiency and
equity in big business today. The Interstate Commerce Act was
enacted in 1887 to regulate shipping. Later, Teddy Roosevelt and
others would work hard to break up monopolies in the market
place. The government still watches mergers within the market
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Goldensky, 1933)
place to keep companies from creating monopolies. The AT&T
phone company, also known as Ma Bell, controlled the telephone industry until the 1974 antitrust filing, which
would break it up beginning in 1982. Because of this we now have AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and various other
phone companies.
PS 1010, American Government
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While the government believed that some companies needed to be more heavily
regulated,
also began
UNIT
x STUDYthey
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the deregulation of other companies. Although deregulation of airlines made them
Titlemore competitive,
deregulation of the banking system made it more reckless. Due to the lack of regulation in the banking
system, we would eventually see a financial downward spiral, beginning in 2008 that would rock the financial
world.
Efficiency in big business is one part of the puzzle, and equity is the other. In order for equity to occur the
transaction must be fair to both sides. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the Consumer Product
Safety Commission would be brought into play to help keep the consumer safe from the products big
business was selling without testing.
Where there are big business concerns, there are also environmental concerns. In the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, there was a lack of care for the environment. Business was booming, money was being
made, and no one thought about what was happening to the bi-products. Pesticides being used on crops
were running off into the water supply and killing animals such as the American Bald Eagle, as well as
increasing cancer in the human population. The 1960s and 1970s would see the creation of the EPA
(Environmental Protection Agency) as well as the Clean Air and Water Quality Acts. Earth Day was conceived
in 1970 and is celebrated every year all over the world.
A big worry for the world today is “global warming.” Some believe that the heat trapped in the atmosphere
creates a “greenhouse effect” which is increasing the temperature levels around the globe. Others believe
that this is just part of the earth’s cycle and has happened many times before. While many industrialized
nations are attempting to control or reduce their “carbon footprints,” the rapid expansion of developing nations
has increased carbon emissions. How the cost of “going green” will be shared is a major sticking point of any
agreement that might be made among nations.
What runs fiscal policy? Is it demand or supply? John Maynard Keynes believes that if goods and services
are being purchased, then companies will keep their employees and continue to hire (demand-side
economics). According to this theory, if the economy begins to slump, it is up to the government to pump
money into the economy so that the depression or recession will shorten.
On the supply side of the aisle, it is believed that instead of the government spending massive amounts of
money to jump start the economy, tax breaks should be given to businesses and upper-income individuals.
These tax breaks are supposed to be incentives for business and the wealthy to invest in business and
increase employment and wages. It is thought that this will keep consumers spending and increase economic
growth. This form of economic thinking became known as Reaganomics after President Ronald Reagan.
According to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, social welfare was considered a state power. Another
aspect of FDR’s New Deal and later Lyndon Johnson’s (LBJ) Great Society was an increase in the federal
government’s involvement in social welfare and education. As with everything else political, while the
Republicans believe that the federal government should only play a small part, the Democrats believe that the
federal government’s part should be expanded.
Of the many social insurance or public assistance programs out there, few programs are fully funded by the
federal government. Most are partly funded by the federal government by grants given to the states, which
then add their money to the mix. Social insurance programs are programs such as Social Security, which
working people pay into in order to receive money back at a later date. Public assistance programs on the
other hand are programs such as TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) funded through tax
dollars and available only to the financially needy.
Education in America is essentially standardized across the board (English, math, science, history) but has
never been the same from place to place. The Supreme Court ruled while all children must be given and
“adequate” education, they do not have to be given an “equal” one. Many state courts on the other hand have
ruled that schools must have equal funding throughout the state.
Due to the lagging behind of American students in math and science, mandatory high-stakes testing was
implemented with the passing of No Child Left Behind. Some of the other tools used in NCLB include taking
over or closing poorly performing schools as well as giving vouchers for students of those schools to attend
PS 1010, American Government
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private or parochial schools or better performing public schools. Charter
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
schools, which do not have to follow the same rules as public schools, have Title
also been opened in many areas. In 2009, President Obama started a program
called “Race to the Top”, which rewards states for school performance and
innovation.
Compared to other democracies, the United States has a high level of income
inequality but does try to make sure all of its children are equally educated.
Barack Obama (Souza, 2012)
Reference
Goldensky, E. (1933). FDR in 1933 [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FDR_in_1933.jpg
Patterson, T. (2013). The American democracy (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Souza, P. (2012, December 6). President Barack Obama [Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_ Barack_Obama.jpg.
Suggested Reading
Click here to view a PDF of the Chapter 15 presentation.
Click here to view a PDF of the Chapter 16 presentation.
PS 1010, American Government
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