| Term | Definition |
|---|
| public policy | a law, rule, statue, or edict that expresses the government's goals and provides for rewards and punishments to promote their attainment |
| expropriation | confiscation of property with or without compensation |
| eminent domain | the right of government to take private property for public use, with reasonable compensation awarded for the property |
| categorical grants-in-aid | grants by Congress to states and localities given with the condition that expenditues be limited to a problem or group specified by the national government |
| antitrust policy | government regulation of large businesses that have established monopolies |
| deregulation | a policy of reducing or eliminating regulatory restraints in the conduct of individuals or private institutions |
| monetary policies | efforts to regulate the economy through manipulation of the supply of money and credit; Federal Reserve Board |
| Federal Reserve System | consisting of 12 Federal Reserve Banks, an agency that facilitates exchanges of cash, checks, and credit; it regulates member banks; and it uses monetary policies to fight inflation and deflation |
| discount rate | the interest rate charged by the Federal Reserve when commercial banks borrow in order to expand their lending operations; an effective tool of monetary policy |
| reserve requirement | the amount of liquid assets and ready cast that the Federal Reserve requires banks to hold to meet depositors' demands for their money |
| open-market operations | the buying and selling of government securities to help finance government operations and to loosen or tighten the total amount of credit circulating in the economy |
| federal funds rate | the interest rate on loans between banks that the Federal Reserve Board influences by affecting the supply of money available |
| progressive/regressive taxation | taxation that hits the upper income brackets more heavily or the lower income brackets more heavily |
| budget deficit | the amount by which government spending exceeds government revenue in a fiscal year |
| mandatory spending | Federal spending that is made up of |
| uncontrollables | budgetary items that are beyond the control of budgetry committees and can be controlled only by substantive legislative action in Congress; some are the debt because it is beyond the power of Congress because the terms of payments are set in contracts |
| discretionary spending | Federal spending on programs that are controlled through the regular budget process |
| contributory programs | social programs financed in whole or in party by taxation or other mandatory contributionsby their present or future recipients; social security, which is financed by a payroll tax |
| Social Security | a contributory welfare program into which working Americans contribute a percentage of their wages, and from which they receive cash benefits after retirement |
| indexing | periodic adjustments of welfare payments, wages, or taxes, tied to the coast of living |
| Medicare | National health insurance for the elderly and for the disabled |
| noncontributory programs | social programs that provide assistance to people based on demonstrated need rather than any contribution they have made |
| Aid to Families with Dependent Children | Federal funds, administered by the states, for children living with persons or relatives who fall below state standards of need; abolished in 1996 |
| Temporary Assistance to Needy Families | a policy by which states are given block grants by the federal government in order to create their own programs for public assistance |
| means testing | procedure by which potential beneficiaries of a public assistance program establish their eligibility by demonstrating a genuine need for the assistance |
| Medicaid | a federally financed, state-operated program providing medical services to low-income people |
| Supplemental Security Income (SSI) | a program providing a minimum monthly income to people who pass a "means test" and who are 65 or older, blind, or disabled; financed from general revenues rather than from Social Security contributions |
| food stamps | coupons that can be exchanged for food at most grocery stores; the largest in-kind benefits program |
| in-kind benefits | goods and services provided to needy individuals and families by the federal government |
| entitlement | eligibility for benefits by virtue of a category of benefits defined by legislation |
| promotional technique | a technique of control that encourages people to do something they might not otherwise do, or to continue an action or behavior; subsidies, contracts, and licenses |
| subsidies | government grants of cash or other valuable commodities, such as land, to individuals or organizations; used to promote activities desired by the government, to reward political support, or to buy off political opposition |
| contracting power | the power of govenment to set conditions on companies seeking to sell goods or services to government agencies |
| license | permission to engage in some activity that is otherwise illegal, such as hunting or practicing medicine |
| regulatory techniques | techniques that government uses to control the conduct of the people |
| police power | power reserved to the state to regulate the health, safety, and morals of its citizens |
| administrative regulation | rules made by regulatory agencies and commissions |
| spending power | a combination of subsidies and contracts that the government can use to redistribute income |
Combine with other sets
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