Under the Articles of Confederation, delegates to the national legislature were
a. elected by the people.
b. selected by state governors.
c. appointed by state committees.
d. chosen by the state legislatures.
e. None of the above is true.
The constitutional power to declare war and to regulate commerce with other nations is
vested in
a. the State Department.
b. the Senate.
c. the president.
d. the Pentagon.
e. Congress.
When the Israeli general Ariel Sharon sued Time magazine for libel, the jury decided
that
a. Time”s stories on Sharon were accurate.
b. Time had libeled Sharon and must pay damages.
c. Time had libeled Sharon but not maliciously.
d. Sharon lacked standing to sue in a U.S. court.
e. Sharon had shown no true case and controversy.
America has a long tradition of media that are
a. objective.
b. centralized.
c. government-friendly.
d. primarily concerned with governmental policy.
e. privately owned.
To attract large readership to their papers, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst
had their newspapers focus on
a. objectivity in their coverage.
b. sensationalism in their coverage.
c. partisanship in their coverage.
d. presenting objective facts.
e. only international stories.
More than twenty-five hundred presidential vetoes have been made since 1789.
Congress has overridden approximately what percentage of these?
a. 4 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 38 percent
d. 45 percent
e. 86 percent
Among the current members of the U.S. Supreme Court there is (are) __________
woman (women).
a. no
b. one
c. three
d. four
e. five
The text argues that the central problem of the parties today is how to
a. appeal to moderate voters despite the parties’ ideological orientation.
b. win the trust of an increasingly mistrustful electorate.
c. keep up the appearance of diversity despite the parties’ homogeneous makeup.
d. attract the attention of an increasingly apathetic electorate.
e. mobilize voters with a declining sense of internal political efficacy.
During the early years of the federal government, this department held most of the
power.
a. Department of the Interior
b. War Department
c. Post Office Department
d. State Department
e. Treasury Department
The first organized political party in American history was
a. made up of the followers of Jefferson.
b. organized by Alexander Hamilton.
c. organized by the Federalists.
d. ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
e. formed under the Articles of Confederation.
Churches in the United States were important in the development of a sense of civic
duty and civic competence because they
a. indoctrinated citizens to favor the status quo.
b. were in a continuous struggle for survival.
c. provided the major opportunity for citizens to express their political views.
d. were independent of most political pressures.
e. were organized much like a political system.
Efforts to reform voting in the aftermath of the Florida vote-count controversy of 2000
might find particular fault with Congress because it
a. did not require states to develop systems for counting disputed votes.
b. did not provide funds for upgrading voting equipment.
c. stopped short of creating a uniform national voting system.
d. did not provide funds for training election officials.
e. did not investigate names that were not on official registration lists.
In __________, the Court ruled that public officials may not win a libel suit unless they
can prove that the statement was made knowing it to be false or with reckless disregard
of its truth.
a. Near v. Minnesota
b. New York Times v. Sullivan
c. Miami Herald v. Tornillo
d. McCulloch v. Maryland
e. New York Times v. United States
When it comes to the freedom of the press, the First Amendment has been interpreted as
meaning that no government, federal or state, can
a. place “prior restraints” on the press except under very narrowly defined
circumstances.
b. regulate the types of words used on broadcast television.
c. regulate advertisements on network television.
d. place conditions on cable providers.
e. None of the above is true.
In __________, the Supreme Court ruled that the Court can review the decisions of the
highest state courts if they involve a federal law or the federal Constitution.
a. Marbury v. Madison
b. Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee
c. McCulloch v. Maryland
d. Ex parte McCardle
e. Ex parte Milligan
In America, we often refer to political elites as
a. activists.
b. special interests.
c. politicos.
d. socialites.
e. the ruling class.
In Great Britain, civil servants are directed explicitly by the ministers in charge of their
departments. In the United States, civil servants often must obey both the heads of their
agencies and
a. the independent agencies.
b. White House staff.
c. professional groups.
d. lobbies.
e. Congress.
This president created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
a. John Kennedy
b. Lyndon Johnson
c. Richard Nixon
d. Jimmy Carter
e. Harry Truman
Which of the following does the text suggest is a critical factor in presidential
elections?
a. The vice-presidential nominee
b. Political reporting
c. The religion of the candidates
d. The candidates’ positions on abortion
e. None of the above is true.
The text suggests the Federalists might more accurately have been called the
a. nationalists.
b. states’ righters.
c. monarchists.
d. loyalists.
e. anarchists.
It has long been argued that universal voter turnout would strongly benefit
a. third party candidates.
b. Republican candidates.
c. Democratic candidates.
d. Libertarian candidates.
e. Conservative candidates.
Funding of congressional elections comes from
a. public sources only.
b. private sources only.
c. party sources only.
d. a combination of public, party, and private sources.
e. the parties and public sources.
Of the following, which group is nota political party?
a. Democratic
b. Republican
c. Whig
d. Teamster
e. Libertarian
Franklin Roosevelt’s court-packing plan would have allowed him to name a new justice
a. for every incumbent justice older than age seventy.
b. once a year, irrespective of retirements.
c. every time the court struck down one of his laws.
d. to replace any incumbent justice older than age seventy.
e. each time a justice removed himself/herself from a case.
Which of the following statements about the National Security Council is true?
a. It reports directly to the secretary of state.
b. Its membership is appointed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
c. Its influence is limited by constant squabbling among agencies.
d. Its membership is appointed by Congress.
e. It grew in influence during the Kennedy administration.
Which statement most accurately summarizes the aftermath of the American
Revolution?
a. Many cities were in ruins, many farmers owned large debts, and the British were still
a powerful presence.
b. The economy was gaining in strength and the British military had left North America.
c. Cities had strong economies, and the currency was strong.
d. Taxes were low, and the currency was sound.
e. Spain and Britain were no longer relevant on the North American continent.
An example of a difference in treatment toward certain groups that qualifies as
reasonable is
a. classifying people according to race.
b. taxing different classes at different rates.
c. classifying people according to ethnic group.
d. testing for AIDS according to class.
e. classifying people according to religion.
This president was very successful at getting legislation through Congress during the
first hundred days of his presidency or his “honeymoon.”
a. Harry Truman
b. Franklin Roosevelt
c. Richard Nixon
d. Gerald Ford
e. Bill Clinton
In thinking about trends in popular trust of government, it is important to consider that
a. levels of trust may have been abnormally high in the 1950s.
b. little was expected of government in the 1990s.
c. polling techniques were not perfected until the 1970s.
d. few Americans understand government or pay attention to it.
e. people are more trusting of other institutions today.
The main goal of the Australian ballot was
a. to decrease voter fraud by having a government-printed ballot of uniform size and
shape that was cast in secret.
b. to give political parties more power of the balloting process.
c. to decrease voter fraud by having individuals cast their vote in public.
d. to completely stop voter fraud.
e. to create a nationwide uniform voting system.
Most studies on Latino voting show that people from Mexico vote heavily __________,
and Latinos from Cuba mostly vote __________.
a. Republican; Democrat
b. Independent; Republican
c. Democrat; Republican
d. Independent; Independent
e. Democrat; Democrat
After some initial complications, the legislative programs of Franklin Roosevelt began
to succeedbecause
a. a Supreme Court justice changed his mind.
b. the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was changed.
c. his reorganization plan for the Court was passed by Congress.
d. some Supreme Court justices retired.
e. Both A and D are true.
One factor helping to break the deadlock that developed in the civil rights movement
during the early 1960s was the
a. Democratic landslide of 1964.
b. Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.
c. centralization of power in the House and Senate.
d. civil unrest that shook several northern cities.
e. election of Republican presidents.
Today, most cases make their way to the Supreme Court when at least four justices
agree to hear a case, and a writ of certiorari is issued.
The War Powers Act mandates that within 60 days of the president ordering troops into
hostile situations, the Congress must authorize the use of military force.
A U.S. Senator must be at least 30 years old.
Identify and summarize the central tenants of the four main theories about how to
improve theeconomy.
Discuss how Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society
ushered in the NewSystem.
Discuss five key provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
When client politics is involved in foreign policy, Congress plays a much larger role.
Discuss how news stories differ in the opportunity for bias.
The wording of the U.S. Constitution regarding the federal government’s right to make
laws is purposely vague and elastic.
Malapportionment is when districts are drawn for pure political reasons.
Scholarly research suggests that divided government reduces the likelihood that
important legislation will be passed.
What are the two circumstances where the Supreme Court will often grant certiorari?
Identify the six distinct stages in the history of the House of Representatives.
Explain how the Supreme Court ruled that persons have “right of privacy” in Griswold
and how this ruling affected the Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade.
Define a public interest law firm. Discuss how these firms act to influence government.
Summarize what the text says about the youth vote in the historic 1972 election and in
elections since that time.
A political party exists at three levels: label, organization, and a set of leaders.
The Supreme Court has ruled that high school students have the same rights as adults in
expressing their beliefs.
Identify three ways in which presidents have organized personal staff and comment on
the advantages/disadvantages of each.
What are some differences we would expect if the Founding Fathers had created a more
parliamentary regime, as in Great Britain?