Implementation and Impact of Policies - AP Government and Politics

A progressive income tax involves an increasing tax rate for people as their incomes (and thus ability to pay) increase. It is generally seen as an important way to correct the natural social and economic imbalances of a capitalist society. The United States income tax has always been progressive, namely through the use of income tax brackets. However, it has become substantially less progressive in the past 50 years.

United States antitrust laws are designed to prevent businesses from forming monopolies or cartels and to ensure that competition is allowed to flourish. The most notable pieces of legislation that relate to antitrust laws are the Sherman Act of 1890 and the Clayton Act of 1914.

Ex post facto laws mean "after the fact." If you were driving 65 mph five days ago, even though the speed limit has been changed to 55 mph, it is not lawful for any law enforcement officer to issue you a ticket. Any illegal actions that were committed before the enforcement of the law cannot be punished.

Medicaid, enacted into United States law in 1965, is designed to provide healthcare to poor Americans who would otherwise be unable to afford health care coverage. Medicare, enacted in the same piece of legislation during the Johnson administration, is designed to provide health benefits to senior citizens. Taken together, these two government programs may be understood as part of the widespread extension of social welfare that took place in the United States during the 1960s.

Protectionism is an economic policy designed to protect the national economy from being overrun by imports. This is primarily achieved through tariffs and other restrictions on imports into the country. Protectionism has been enforced at various times throughout United States history, particularly in the early years of the nation. The policy runs in direct contrast to free trade which is more recently the dominant economic policy of the nation.

Affirmative Action is the name given to the government policy, or any legislation related to the policy, which is designed to give special compensation or advantages to a social, religious, or ethnic group that has previously been disadvantaged. The idea is to try and correct for longstanding social ills against certain groups within society by granting them special dispensation. It first appeared as part of the Wagner Act issued during the 1930s and has been a controversial part of United States’ government policy ever since.

A block grant, as opposed to a categorical grant, is when the Federal government provides a sum of money to state or local governments with very few strings attached. In a block grant the, state and local governments have a lot of leeway with how exactly they can spend the grant money, whereas in a Categorical Grant the money must be spent in a very constrained manner, which is determined at the Federal level. A grant designed to help states improve access to education within their states is a relatively broad purpose. A categorical grant trying to achieve the same thing would likely say something more like "a Federal government program designed to provide money to states to improve access to education by conducting a specific type of research to see how better to meet the needs of students." A categorical grant is more specific and strict than a block grant.

The Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision first passed in 1976, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade (1973), which had legalized abortion. The Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of Federal funds to pay for abortions, except in very specific circumstances (such as rape or when the woman's life is endangered by the pregnancy). Because it only focuses on restricting the availability of Federal funding, the Hyde Amendment disproportionately targets extremely poor women.

Police see a car swerving on the freeway late at night. After they pull over the car and see that the driver is drunk, they get a law passed which states that it is illegal for everyone to drive cars past 12 am. This solution is NOT congruent and proportional. The concept of congruency and proportionality states that solutions must be congruent and proportional (suitable, balanced, and correlative) to the problem at hand. Banning all citizens from driving past 12 am is not a congruent and proportional solution. A better, congruent and proportional, solution would be issuing a breathalyzer test to all cars swerving on the highway late at night.

Brief, warrantless pat downs are permitted by stop and frisk. Stop and frisk is when a police officer, when given reasonable suspicion, can stop an individual and conduct a pat down. Reasonable suspicion and good judgment/observation on the officer's behalf allows for these warrantless pat downs.

The most common form of execution in the United States today is lethal injection. The Constitution does not state that any of these methods of execution are inhumane or cruel and unusual. The standards for cruel and unusual punishment have also changed with the times. Although a controversial issue, lethal injections are most widely used as a humane form of execution today.

Floating a "trial balloon" is the term for anonymously giving information to a news source to test the public reaction to a policy or appointment before it is formally introduced in Congress or another forum.

An Iron Triangle is when a bureaucratic agency, an interest group, and a congressional committee works together to advance its own agenda and act in its own interests. It is generally considered detrimental to a healthy democratic process because it ignores the interests of the common good for the sake of advancing specific and narrow interests.

The Iron Triangle is used to describe the conspiratorial relationship between bureaucracies, congressional committees, and interest groups. These three points on the triangle often cooperate to further their own financial gains and interests. The Iron Triangle is often used negatively to describe actions that benefit these groups personally but don't benefit the general public (such as lowering regulations for interest groups and to save money for Congressmen). While the Military-Industrial Complex is often considered an example of an Iron Triangle, Iron Triangle is the best choice here.

Congress giving more funding to the Department of Agriculture (the bureaucracy) would expand the DoA's power base. In return, agricultural lobbying groups (special interests) would gain lower regulation for their constituents. Most likely, Congress would receive electoral funding promises for its efforts. This answer best represents all three point of the Iron Triangle.

The biggest problem with the Iron Triangle is it encourages government agencies to pursue more power and funding instead of the public good. Oftentimes, the Iron Triangle will even result in sacrificing the public good in exchange for power, such as lowering environmental protections in exchange for oil money donations that don't benefit the public.

The Iron Triangle establishes relationships between the most influential and informed groups in specific sectors affecting the nation. Improved communication between these groups can grease the wheels of policymaking and sometimes translate into a faster and cheaper public good.

There are many concerns regarding the Military-Industrial Complex, including corrupting politicians, disproportionate military spending, an incentive to wage war on others, and private corporations gaining too much control over our ability to wage war.

The economic stimulus of having the private sector produce tools of war is well documented. Many economists and historians believe that World War II is the real reason the Great Depression ever ended (instead of FDR's New Deal). None of the other options are considered a benefit of this system (in fact, most of them are drawbacks of the system).