Discuss what is meant by a public assistance program, and provide examples.

What will be an ideal response?


Public assistance programs are funded through general tax revenues and are available only to the financially needy. Eligibility for such programs is established by a means test, which is a demonstration that the applicant has a genuine economic need for the benefit. In short, applicants for public assistance must prove that they are poor. Such assistance is usually termed welfare, and its recipients are termed welfare cases. Public assistance programs have much less public support than social insurance programs, due in part to a cultural bias against government handouts. Five examples of public assistance programs are Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), food stamps, subsidized housing, and Medicaid.

Political Science

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Which of the following is most consistent with the concept of diplomacy?

a. counterintelligence b. military threats c. military action d. negotiation e. confrontation

Political Science

Poverty results in the serious problem of homelessness in more developed countries

Indicate whether the statement is true or false.

Political Science

Social Security is referred to as a pay-as-you-go system, meaning that

A) the U.S. government borrows the proceeds to pay recipients. B) the system must be reappropriated by Congress each year. C) today's workers support today's program beneficiaries. D) all workers in effect pay for their own retirement by a mandatory process of savings. E) any surpluses from the Social Security system go back into the government's general revenue.

Political Science

Which of the following was an attempt to publicize the internal workings of the Supreme Court?

A) a proposed constitutional amendment requiring more openness in Court proceedings B) a federal statute that required that the Court's deliberations be conducted publicly C) the publication of The Brethren by two investigative reporters D) all of the above E) the Tenth Amendment

Political Science