The justices’ behavioral characteristics are unlikely to influence how they evaluate the
facts and legal issues in a debate.
Municipal revenues are tied to the health of the state’s economy.
If you are a lobbyist wanting to influence the passage of a bill out of committee by
testifying before that committee, you would well serve your client by negotiating with
committee members prior to the public hearing in order to affect the outcome.
States cannot be sued in federal court without their consent.
The exact limit on campaign contributions under BCRA is adjusted with the rate of
inflation.
The OPEC oil crisis caused Congress to create the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Supreme Court clerks often write first drafts of opinions.
One reason that General Stanley McChrystal made derogatory remarks about President
Obama’s administration in Rolling Stone magazine may have been because he gave up
on his mission in Afghanistan.
Each successive Texas constitution has expanded the score and authority of
government.
Critics have argued that the franchise tax has put many sole proprietors out of business.
The Supreme Court has ruled that testimony made with the assistance of one-way
closed circuit television is permissible.
There is a paradox in that Americans give the media low ratings, yet they use
information provided by media coverage to formulate their opinions on issues.
Texas has more ex-legislators turned lobbyists than any other state.
State gasoline efficiency standards are in place largely because of the precedent set by
the CAFE standards.
Suppose you are already a member of Congress. By simply being a member, your
chances of getting reelected are significantly higher than that of someone attempting to
unseat you.
The majority of blogs have a significant number of loyal followers.
President John F. Kennedy created the President’s Commission on the Status of African
Americans.
Winners of front-loaded primaries might actually be at a disadvantage if they do not
win the “invisible primary” as well.
The 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of public interest groups.
Brown v.Board of Education made the poll tax illegal.
County commissioners in Texas perform both legislative and executive functions.
The president pro tempore frequently wields more power than the majority leader.
There are currently more Republicans than Democrats in the Texas legislature.
Texas legislators are the most numerous players in the public policy process in Texas.
Texas has more counties than most states.
The Texas oil industry is currently booming.
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society program altered the fragile balance
between state and federal power.
China holds the greatest percentage of American debt.
The Texas trial court system is a tangled mix of overlapping jurisdictions.
President Gerald R. Ford was uninterested in deregulation.
Local governments rely primarily on property taxes for revenue.
According to the interest group ratings presented in your text, Representative Henry
Waxman is a generally conservative member of Congress.
Compared with other states, Texas has rather generous programs that benefit the poor
and the less well educated.
Liberals often believe that the government should intervene in the economy.
In general, Congress is ________ than the rest of the United States.
I. more liberal
II. better educated
III. older and whiter
IV. more male and richer
A) I and II
B) I and IV
C) II and III
D) I, II, and III
E) II, III, and IV
Which of the following best describes Texas’s efforts to address contemporary public
policy challenges facing the state?
A) Texas actively addresses those public policy challenges that are related to education,
the environment, and health and human services.
B) Texas is frequently a leader among large states in addressing contemporary public
policy challenges.
C) Texas is generally more proactive than reactive in addressing contemporary public
policy challenges.
D) Texas has addressed contemporary public policy challenges irresponsibly by using
its immense oil revenues at an unsustainably fast pace.
E) Texas has often been reluctant to play an active public policy role and often
addresses challenges only when pressured to do so by the courts.
Representative Betsy Markey said she believes that what really makes a difference in
legislative campaigns is
A) one-on-one contact with potential voters.
B) fundraising.
C) phone banking.
D) negative campaigning.
E) drumming up support from those loyal to the Democratic Party.
Unscientific surveys used to gauge public opinion on a variety of issues are called
A) exit polls.
B) push polls.
C) tracking polls.
D) deliberative polls.
E) straw polls.
The process through which an individual acquires particular political orientations is
most accurately called
A) juvenile politicization.
B) political acclimation.
C) acquisition.
D) public opinion.
E) political socialization.
Racial discrimination that results from practice rather than law is called ________
discrimination.
A) cultural
B) de facto
C) direct
D) practical
E) de jure
Which ethnic minority groups have the largest number of groups representing their
interests in Texas?
A) African Americans and Asians
B) Hispanics and African Americans
C) Asians and Native Americans
D) Hispanics and Native Americans
E) African Americans and Native Americans
The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., appears to be deciding
federalism cases
A) similar to the Rehnquist Court.
B) in strong favor of the states.
C) without a strong inclination toward either federal or state rights.
D) in favor of the powers of the federal government.
E) following the trends of New Federalism.
Which of the following would the leader of an industry with a long history of polluting
the Texas environment be most likely to support?
A) Regulations backed by the Sierra Club
B) Regulations backed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
C) Eliminating protections for “grandfathered” industries
D) Barack Obama’s environmental protections proposals
E) Voluntary environmental stewardship programs
During the Constitutional Convention of 1845, there was an effort to strip the right to
vote from whom?
A) Anglos
B) Hispanics
C) African Americans
D) Native Americans
E) Immigrants
Which of the following states had an unemployment rate greater than 10 percent in
2010?
A) Maine
B) Colorado
C) Tennessee
D) Arizona
E) North Dakota
Which of the following is MOST likely to have led to the increase in ticket-splitting?
A) Decreased power of political parties
B) Increased trust of political parties
C) Increased knowledge of issues
D) Increased partisanship
E) Change in number of elections
In 1881, the XIT Ranch in the Texas Panhandle was established on three million acres
of land that were received
A) in exchange for building the Texas capitol.
B) as a gift from the Alabama-Coushatta tribe.
C) as spoils during the Spanish-American War.
D) in a poker game.
E) in lieu of taxes owed by John D. Rockefeller.
Conservatives generally believe that
A) government should guarantee individual rights.
B) activist governments are often necessary.
C) government should provide only for defense and little else.
D) there should be less government intervention in economic affairs.
E) government should be abolished.
The Equal Rights Amendment provided
A) that all states guarantee equal rights to all women.
B) that no state or Congress could deny or abridge equal rights on account of sex.
C) that equality for women included the right to an abortion.
D) that equal rights were a federal issue.
E) that women be paid equal pay for equal work.
The primary aim of the Field Poll organization is to
A) persuade lawmakers by testing public opinion on an array of issues.
B) capture voter sentiment.
C) be more accurate than the National Election Studies.
D) mirror Gallup’s polls at a local level.
E) predict public opinion across a breadth of areas.
The U.S. Supreme Court consistently has found that
A) the Americans with Disabilities Act must be interpreted liberally.
B) public buildings must always be accessible to the handicapped.
C) failure to hire pilots who wear classes can be grounds for a discrimination claim.
D) the disabled can sue local governments that do not make public buildings accessible
to the disabled.
E) workplaces must make accommodations for learning disabilities.
National party committees work from a
A) top-down structure
B) bottom-up structure.
C) horizontal organization of various committees.
D) single organizational structure and mission statement.
E) mandate established by a previously sitting president.
The Equal Rights Amendment failed in
A) 1972, when Congress failed to approve it.
B) 1979, when Congress refused to extend the deadline for its ratification.
C) 1982, when it fell three states short of the required number of states necessary for
ratification.
D) 1985, when President Ronald Reagan issued an executive order ending the
ratification period.
E) 1992, when it fell six states short of the required number of states required for
ratification.
A form of city government in which several officials are elected to top positions that
have both legislative and executive responsibilities is called
A) district-based election.
B) city council government.
C) a commission.
D) the mayoral system.
E) mayor-manager system.
Which court has ultimate authority to interpret Texas laws and the Texas Constitution?
A) The Texas Supreme Court has ultimate authority in all such cases.
B) The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has ultimate authority in all such cases.
C) The U.S. Supreme Court has ultimate authority in all such cases.
D) The Texas Supreme Court has ultimate authority in all civil cases and the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals has ultimate authority in all criminal cases.
E) The Texas Supreme Court has ultimate authority in all criminal cases and the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals has ultimate authority in all civil cases.
The press has a much greater impact on public opinion on certain topics, such as
A) domestic politics.
B) events in foreign countries.
C) elections and campaigns.
D) crime.
E) campaign finance reform.
Which of the following are likely reasons for the government to be running a deficit?
I. Military invasions
II. Budget cuts
III. Economic recession
IV. Tax cuts
A) I only
B) I and II
C) I and IV
D) III and IV
E) I, III, and IV
The main role of the jury is to
A) arbitrate judicial proceedings.
B) be the ultimate finder of fact.
C) listen to the judge to see if he or she appears to lean toward one side or the other.
D) make interpretations of law.
E) directly interrogate witnesses when so ordered by the judge or attorneys.
In 1955, a number of African American leaders, including the Reverend Martin Luther
King Jr., founded the ________ to help continue the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
A) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
B) Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
C) Congress of Racial Equality
D) Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
E) Montgomery Civil Improvement Association.
The annual salary of a member of the Texas legislature is
A) $7,200.
B) $30,336.
C) $79,500.
D) $95,291.
E) $150,000.
Title VII litigation has resulted in
I. consideration of sexual harassment as sex discrimination.
II. a ban on sex discrimination in some areas of employment, such as partnership at law
firms.
III. allowing affirmative action programs to address historical discrimination against
women.
IV. considering same-sex discrimination as sex discrimination.
A) I and II
B) III and IV
C) II and III
D) II, III, and IV
E) I, II, III, and IV
The principal role of the Attorney General of Texas is
A) to prosecute serious violations of state criminal laws in and for Texas, including but
not limited to capital murder offenses and the assassination of state officials such as the
governor.
B) to serve as the state’s chief civil lawyer, litigating on behalf of state agencies whether
the agency is in the role of plaintiff or defendant.
C) to serve as the chief election officer for the state.
D) to manage state owned land and mineral leases.
E) to issue legal rulings in cases when state courts have rendered differing opinions on
an issue.
The reason that some pro-choice conservative voters may choose pro-choice liberal
candidates over other conservatives is most closely related to which of the following
functions of ideology?
A) Explanation
B) Evaluation
C) Orientation
D) Political programs
E) Conservative ideals
The bicameral U.S. Congress is a byproduct of which of the following proposals?
A) The Virginia Plan
B) The Missouri Compromise
C) The New Jersey Plan
D) The Connecticut Plan
E) Amendments to the Articles of Confederation
The strategic model of judicial behavior
A) accurately predicts Supreme Court votes.
B) accounts for a range of factors that affect judicial behavior.
C) has been replaced by the legal model of judicial behavior.
D) only explains justices’ votes in constitutional cases.
E) ignores interbranch relations.
Since its adoption in 1876, the current Texas constitution, as of 2009, has been amended
how many times?
A) 27
B) 115
C) 218
D) 467
E) 518
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. served as ________ before taking his seat on the
bench.
A) counsel to President George W. Bush
B) chief judge of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
C) an advisor to President George H.W. Bush
D) a federal district court judge
E) counsel to President Bill Clinton
One of the downsides to interest groups is that they
A) always represent elite interests.
B) can increase the cost of public policies.
C) require all individuals to work toward a common goal.
D) increase political participation.
E) hinder implementation of public programs.