Governmental Policies

In a laissez-faire economic system, the role of the government in influencing the marketplace is basically minimal, as in the government keeps itself out of the market. The idea behind this is that the market is self-regulating and should be left alone as much as possible. Governments in such systems typically limit their activities to enforcing contracts, maintaining law and order, and providing a few basic public goods such as infrastructure.

However, the role of the U.S. government in the economy significantly expanded starting from the 1930s, during the era of the New Deal under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This expansion was in response to the Great Depression, which led people to question the viability of laissez-faire economics. The government intervened in various sectors of the economy, providing direct relief, implementing regulations to prevent financial sector instability, initiating large public works programs, and much more (American Government, n.d.). Since then, the U.S. government's involvement in the economy has been enormous to the point that it resembles a command economy.

Regressive taxes and progressive taxes represent two different ways in which taxation can impact different income groups. Regressive taxes take a larger percentage of income from low-income individuals than from high-income individuals. Sales taxes are a common example of regressive taxes because everyone pays the same rate regardless of their income level. Progressive taxes, on the other hand, take a larger percentage of income from high-income individuals than from low-income individuals. The U.S. federal income tax is generally progressive, as tax rates increase with income (American Government, n.d.).

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Mandatory spending and discretionary spending are two major categories of federal government spending. Mandatory spending includes expenditures that are required by law, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as certain elements of the safety net like food stamps. These are expenditures that the government is obligated to make under current law.

Discretionary spending, on the other hand, is spending that is determined through the annual appropriations process in Congress. This includes funding for a wide range of government programs and agencies, including the Department of Defense, Department of Education, and Environmental Protection Agency, among many others. Unlike mandatory spending, discretionary spending can vary significantly from year to year.

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The social safety net refers to a collection of services provided by the state or other institutions such as friendly societies, including welfare, unemployment benefit, universal healthcare, homeless shelters, and sometimes subsidized services such as public transport, which prevent individuals from falling into poverty beyond a certain level.

Distributive policies and redistributive policies are two types of public policies that governments can implement. Distributive policies are those that distribute resources in a society, often from the government to particular segments of the population. These can include policies related to public education, highways, and tax incentives for home ownership, for instance.

Redistributive policies, on the other hand, involve shifting resources from one group to another. This is typically done by taking...

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The concept of shared power in U.S. foreign policy recognizes that power is distributed among multiple branches of government, particularly the executive and legislative branches. The President has the authority to negotiate treaties, act as commander-in-chief of the military, and recognize foreign nations. However, the Senate must approve treaties, and Congress controls the budget, which can include funding for foreign aid and military operations. This balance ensures a system of checks and balances in foreign policy decision-making.

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Balance of power in international relations is a theory that suggests that national security is enhanced when military capability is distributed so that no one state is strong enough to dominate all others. If one state becomes significantly stronger, the theory predicts that it will take actions that cause other states to increase their own military capabilities, in order to restore the balance. An imbalance might be caused by factors such as one country's aggressive expansion, a sudden technological advance, or the collapse or weakening of a key state.

The balance of trade, meanwhile, refers to the difference in value between a country's exports and imports. When a country exports more than it imports, it has a trade surplus. Conversely, if a country imports more than it exports, it has a trade deficit. An imbalance in the balance of trade can occur and persist over time. However, a sustained large trade deficit could lead to issues such as increased foreign debt and potential difficulties in the domestic manufacturing…