AP US Gov Social Policy Notes

Chapter 17

3/27/12

I.               How is policy made?

A.             Majoritarian politics

1.             Benefits and costs are widely distributed

2.             Examples:

a)             Social Security

b)             Medicare

3.             These programs are preserved because everyone benefits from it

B.             Client Politics

1.             Everyone pays for it but only few people benefit

2.             Examples:

a)             Medicaid

b)             Welfare

(1)           When the program was created during the New Deal, the idea was that widowed women would get the aid.  Overtime, it became to be that black women who were never married would have a lot of kids to get more aid from AFDC, which made it unpopular

3.             These programs are vulnerable.  They are connected to our perception of the programs and if we think these people deserve our tax money

II.              FRQ 2006 on social policy

A.             An entitlement program is a program that you must meet specific criteria to be eligible to receive benefits

B.             The primary source of revenue for Social Security is taxes on people’s salaries (payroll tax)

C.            Run out of money- they will pay out more than they take in

D.            More people are retiring (baby boomers) and there are not enough young people to pay their benefits.  Also there is a longer life expectancy, so people are living off social security for longer

E.             Paid in would increase

III.            AFDC/TANF (learn from textbook)