Assignment Introduction

One of the major obstacles in funding government public policy is mandatory spending. Such spending
is mandated by law and cannot be reduced other than an act of Congress. In other words, unlike
discretionary spending where Congress can choose how much or how little, spending that is
mandatory is not up for debate. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, debt payments,
payroll for government workers, lease payments for buildings, and others all fall under mandatory
spending. Mandatory spending takes up anywhere from 60% to 70% of the annual budget for
government, meaning 60% to 70% of all revenue raised by the government through taxes, customs,
duties, and other sources is already accounted for. The remaining 30% to 40% is where budget
negotiations take place on discretionary spending between the parties.
Social programs such as Medicare, SNAP, Social Security, etc., are continually analyzed as program
issues, costs, access, and quality both directly and/or indirectly affect the health and wellbeing of the
public. As with every social policy and program there are strengths and weaknesses in each.
Ultimately, one simply needs to evaluate the success of the social policy and consider if reform is
warranted. With Social Security, for example, debates continue regarding its financing and what
course of action is best to ensure its solvency in the future. Similarly, poverty continues to exist here
in the U.S. although substantial programs have been created and implemented to address it.
Two important criteria to assess public policy include both effectiveness and efficiency. In political
science and public policy studies, effectiveness refers to specific policy outcomes that “show” that a
policy was successful in addressing the issue. Efficiency is also an important criterion in assessing if the
total costs of the policy are relative to its effectiveness. Questions to consider for this assessment
include: (1) Does the policy provide desirable outcomes and is it worth the cost? If not, (2) should
there be reform or improvements within the policy itself? (3) If reform and improvements are needed,
what are they?

Assignment Basics

Overview

In this module's Practice and Apply you were given four areas where policy seeks to support citizens
in need and extensive resources to learn information issues, and possible solutions for each. You were
to chose one of the four. Now you will put that to work here in your Mastery Assessment.
Importantly, your analysis MUST address and include the following:

 Describe and elaborate the program including which individuals benefit (such as the elderly,
middle class, those in poverty, etc.) and how it is funded.
 Explain ONE major issue facing the social program.
 Provide ONE specific solution (or improvement) to the issue facing the program.

You will need to use examples of actual, current social policy (from those above) in your analysis from
the textbook and from the articles provided.

Preparation and Format

(This section is the same in all Mastery Assessments for this course)
This paper should be prepared in Microsoft Word according to MLA formatting guidelines; a template
has been provided for you. If you choose not to utilize the template, information on MLA formatting is
posted in the course. You will be graded on the content of your paper, of course, but a portion of the
grade will be assigned based on correctly naming the file that you submit, submitting the paper
correctly, formatting the paper correctly, citing sources correctly, and writing mechanics.

Template

A template Download template is provided for your use on this assignment. This is a Microsoft Word
document in which all of the MLA formatting has been set. To utilize this template, you will download
it to your computer, adjust the heading on the first page (entering your name on the first line and the
date of submission on the fourth line), and entering your content and source references. You will then
name the file appropriately (see below) before submitting.

File Name

When you are preparing your paper, you will assign a file name when you save it on your computer.
The file name needs to be correct—so that when you upload your paper, it will be distinguishable from
the papers submitted by the other students. The correct file name is:
M4_LastName FirstName
where “LastName” is replaced by your last name and “FirstName” is replaced by your first name (this
should be your first name as it appears on my class roster—and this should match the first name that
you put on the first line of the heading within the paper itself).

Grading

(This section is the same in all Mastery Assessments for this course)
As noted above, a portion of the grade for this assignment will be based on following the instructions:
correctly submitting a Word document that is appropriately named and which is correctly formatted
according to MLA standards, correctly citing and referencing your sources, and the mechanics of
writing (since this is a writing-intensive college-level course).
The bulk of your grade will be determined based on the content. There are specific questions that you
are asked to respond to. Additionally, your submission will be used to assess your ability with regard to
social responsibility (one of the Core Competency Objectives identified by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board).
A grading rubric has been posted with the assignment, to help you better understand exactly how your
submission will be graded.

The Content of Your Submission

Overall Goal

Pay close attention to the verbs you are asked to do. Target those verbs in what you write for the
appropriate section.

Content

Section 1
LO4.1.1 Identify the role of government in public policy decisions and in the economy.
'Identify the role' is a fairly narrow and targeted requirement. Essentially, identify the responsibilities
government should be held accountable to provide in the sense of policy and strengthening the
economy.
Section 2
LO4.1.2 Distinguish between social welfare policies and programs.
The verb distinguish means you are focusing on the differences.
Section 3
LO4.1.3 Evaluate the impacts and outcomes of past and current federal policies on the United States
population.
Though the LO is broad, you will focus in on your selected program (list is in the Overview section
above).