About the Blog

I shall post videos, graphs, news stories, and other material. We shall use some of this material in class, and you may review the rest at your convenience. I encourage you to use the blog in these ways:

--To post questions or comments about the readings before we discuss them in class;
--To follow up on class discussions with additional comments or questions.
--To post relevant news items or videos.

There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges. This blog is on the open Internet, so post nothing that you would not want a potential employer to see.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Air Midterm

Relax. This “air midterm” does not count toward your grade; do not even turn it in. Instead, use it to appraise your own progress in the course. Try out this test, either in your head or on paper.If you flounder, then you should take more care with class sessions and assigned readings.

I. Identifications. Explain the meaning and significance of the following items. What is fair game for an identification?

  • Items that we have discussed in class or on the blog;
  • Items that appear in bold or italics in the readings;
  • Items that cover several pages in the readings.
  1. Polis model
  2. Reactive effects
  3. Policy lightning
  4. Supplemental poverty measure
  5. Federal Register
  6. Uniform Crime Reports
  7. Moral hazard
  8. Coping organization
  9. "Internalities"
  10. Policy "stress tests"
  11. Age-adjusted rates
  12. Sensitivity analysis
  13. Entrepreneurial politics
II. Short answers. Each reply should take a brief paragraph or two.
  1. Describe the difference between "outputs" and "outcomes," with concrete examples.
  2. "Defense spending has skyrocketed over the past 25 years!" "Defense spending is consuming far less of our resources than it did 25 years ago!" How could both statements be true?
  3. Briefly describe Bardach's "eightfold path."
  4. Explain the difference between "equity" and "efficiency."
III. General Essays
  1. Stone says: "Policy is centrally about classification and differentiation, about how we do and should categorize in a world where categories are not given."  Explain, using examples from the Maier book.
  2. Political scientist Steven Teles writes"America's federal system of government also does its part to add to policy complexity. In a purely federal system, in which governmental functions were clearly differentiated between the national and state governments, federalism would not translate directly into complexity. But that is not American federalism as it is currently practiced."  Explain, with reference to the issues of health care and homeland security.
IV. Bonus questions (one point each) Very briefly identify the following:

Kathleen Blanco
Todd Beamer
Bob Beckwith
Bill Buckridge
Chester Barnard

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