President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal decreased government intervention in
many economic policy areas, such as labor and industry.
President Bill Clinton proposed, and Congress approved a balanced budget.
The U.S. solicitor general’s petitions to the Supreme Court are accepted more frequently
than those of any other party.
The first Supreme Court case dealing with symbolic speech was Stromberg v.
California.
The decision reached in D.C. v. Heller undeniably applies the Second Amendment to
state governments.
The Sixteenth Amendment granted states greater power over taxation.
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on the constitutionality of the Military Commissions
Act.
Interest groups participate in lobbying, electioneering, and litigation.
George Gallup believed politicians should rely entirely on public opinion polling.
Scheduling congressional hearings to evaluate the impending problem of global
warming is an example of agenda setting.
The Great Compromise recommended a bicameral legislature in which all bills for
raising and spending money would originate in the house based on population and
directly elected by the people.
Arizona’s immigration law is less stringent than the national government’s policy.
Wealthy individuals are more likely to vote for Republicans than Democrats.
Welfare reform laws in the mid-1990s emphasized education and job training for
welfare recipients and imposed limits on how long they could collect benefits.
After accounting for inflation, workers are currently earning their highest minimum
wage.
Senator Barack Obama elected to receive public funds after accepting the 2008
Democratic nomination.
The increase of “talking heads” on news stations opens the door for strong ideological
biases.
Governors are constitutionally prohibited from appointing anyone to the executive
branch who donated more than $100 to their gubernatorial campaigns.
The War Powers Act reduced congressional power in foreign policymaking.
If you write a book that you want to be protected by U.S. copyright, your copyright will
technically be issued by Congress.
The contemporary Texas economy more closely resembles the diversity of the national
economy than ever before.
Popular sovereignty has its basis in natural law.
In Gitlow v. New York, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states were not completely
free to limit forms of political expression.
The Contract for America clearly states the guiding principles of the Tea Party
movement.
The reserve requirement was established by the Supreme Court and implemented by the
Federal Reserve Board.
A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate is required to remove the president after the
House has voted to impeach by a simple majority.
The Texas land commissioner is more significant than in other states because the state
owns a great deal of land.
ARPANET, developed by the Department of Defense, was a precursor to the Internet.
In 2008, the average Senate candidate received $2 million from political action
committees.
The U.S. Constitution has been regularly rewritten.
If Congress is unhappy with policies that the Department of the Interior is
implementing, they can move to withhold funding.
Justice of the peace courts have only criminal jurisdiction.
Feeling thermometers are not good measures because they provide respondents with too
few answer options.
Certain components of BCRA have been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court.
The establishment clause prohibits the national government from establishing a national
religion.
Coal and oil combined generate approximately 60 percent of America’s energy.
The ________ expanded Americans’ conceptions of personal liberty to include some
forms of freedom from discrimination.
A) Declaration of Independence
B) Fourteenth Amendment
C) Preamble to the Constitution
D) idea of majority rule
E) idea of equality
Under U.S. criminal law, the victim is considered to be
A) the perpetrator.
B) society in general.
C) those who were hurt directly by the conduct of someone else.
D) the state or federal attorney prosecuting the case.
E) the individual who is entitled to final compensation for his or her injuries.
Indirect democracy is based on
A) consensus.
B) unanimity.
C) the system of government used in ancient Greece.
D) representation.
E) “mob rule.”
Who benefited the most from the recent party realignment in Texas?
A) Liberals
B) Nonvoters
C) Republicans
D) Democrats
E) Third parties
The value of a clerkship on the U.S. Supreme Court is BEST demonstrated by
A) the close relationship clerks have with their justices.
B) the high salaries and bonuses paid to clerks by big law firms.
C) the indisputable influence clerks have on their justices.
D) the Court’s insistence that clerks be representative of the pool of law school
graduates.
E) the fact that the majority of clerks stay with the Court for decades.
Suppose the national government passes a series of aggressive anti-smoking laws that
effectively invalidates state and local laws. This is an example of
A) the federal government’s reserved powers.
B) preemption.
C) distributive policy.
D) an interstate compact.
E) New Federalism.
In the Spanish American War, the United States gained control of Texas and southern
California.
Presidents may be removed from office by
A) being found guilty of any crime by either the House or Senate.
B) state referenda.
C) a trial held in the Department of Justice.
D) impeachment in the House and trial in the Senate.
E) a majority vote of “no confidence” in both the House and Senate.
Think tanks influence
A) party policy positions.
B) campaign funding.
C) party reformation.
D) party networks.
E) party organization.
Special districts in Texas usually focus on
A) a single governmental function.
B) a number of various unrelated governmental functions.
C) coordination of regional planning among local governmental entities on a wide
range of issues.
D) issues constrained to the boundaries of a municipality.
E) implementing proprietary federal programs in counties in Texas.
A statutory constitution seeks to control the powers of
A) the government.
B) the people.
C) corporations.
D) interest groups.
E) railroads.
Adopting a welfare program that would help fund better health insurance for
low-income families would be MOST likely to be supported by
A) liberals.
B) conservatives.
C) moderates.
D) Republicans.
E) those with only a bachelor’s degree.
African Americans, in general, strongly identify with the
A) Republican Party.
B) Green Party.
C) Democratic Party.
D) Independents.
E) Libertarian Party.
Direct election of senators and representatives is in opposition to the Framers’ intent to
I. temper public opinion.
II. give state legislators a stake in national elections.
III. grant governors power of appointment.
IV. allow political alliances to band together.
A) II only
B) IV only
C) I and II
D) II and IV
E) I, II and III
If you are a member of the Texas House of Representatives and wish to become the
next Speaker, how would you go about getting elected to that position?
A) Seek the nomination of your party for the Speakership at the start of a new
legislative session.
B) Run for the office of Speaker of the Texas House in an at-large, statewide election in
order to be directly elected by the people of Texas to the Speakership.
C) Work diligently for reelection every two years, since the Speakership goes to the
most senior member of the Texas House.
D) Campaign among the membership of the Texas House to persuade members of the
House to elect you to the Speakership at the start of a new regular session.
E) Seek the appointment to that position from the governor, who is responsible for
selecting the Speaker of the Texas House.
Muckraking journalism is MOST similar to
A) YouTube.
B) The Onion.
C) The Daily Show.
D) National Enquirer.
E) CNN.com.
Up until the early 1960s, Democratic primaries were the most important elections in
Texas because
A) the most influential political force in the nineteenth century was the Grange, which
was an offshoot of the Democratic Party.
B) Democratic candidates always won the general elections.
C) voter turnout was low among Anglos.
D) the Texas legislature made the Republican Party illegal in Texas.
E) the Texas legislature passed laws stating that Democratic primary winners were
automatically considered the general election winners.
According to opinion polls, most viewers believed _________ won the first televised
presidential debate.
A) Senator Barack Obama
B) Governor Sarah Palin
C) Senator John McCain
D) Senator Joe Biden
E) Senator Hillary Clinton
Those who favored ratification of the Constitution were known as
A) Whigs.
B) Democratic-Republicans.
C) Anti-Federalists.
D) Tories.
E) Federalists.
Which of the following is the MOST likely reason that Senator John McCain chose
Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008?
A) McCain thought Palin was attractive.
B) Palin balanced McCain’s lack of experience in Washington, D.C.
C) Palin was more conservative than McCain, making the ticket more appealing to
many Republicans.
D) McCain wanted to tout family values, and Palin was a great example of a typical
American family.
E) No other candidate had been from Alaska.
In 2000, the Voter News Service
A) accurately predicted presidential election results.
B) used push polls to predict the results of elections.
C) incorrectly estimated the number of voters in Florida.
D) called the election for Al Gore early in the evening.
E) perfected their polling methodology.
Reflecting a governing preference for individual responsibility and the maintenance of
social values, Texas’s political culture is best described as a blend of
A) individualistic, traditionalistic, and moralistic subcultures.
B) the traditionalistic and moralistic subcultures.
C) the pragmatic and moralistic subcultures.
D) the individualistic and traditionalistic subcultures.
E) the individualistic and socialistic subcultures.
News sources influence public opinion through a process known as
A) Media effects.
B) Media biases.
C) Agenda setting.
D) Agenda biases.
E) Framing issues.
The Office of Management and Budget
A) initially was called the Bureau of Budgetary Affairs.
B) was created to help Congress manage its constitutional mandate.
C) was created to help the president carry out new responsibilities under the Budget and
Accounting Act.
D) has sole control over congressional spending.
E) has sole control over executive branch spending.
In a 2006 Religious Freedom Restoration Act case, the Court ruled that
A) religious use of a tea containing an illegal hallucinogenic drug was protected by the
First Amendment.
B) flag burning for religious purposes was constitutional.
C) killing animals for religious purposes was constitutional.
D) prayer in school could never be permitted under the First Amendment.
E) public schools can mandate courses that teach religious doctrine and instruction.
The Department of Labor’s Employment of Standards Administration’s failure to draft
guidelines to enforce President Lyndon B. Johnson’s executive order prohibiting
discrimination based on gender for several years is an example of
A) the critical role bureaucrats play in the execution of policy directives.
B) President Johnson’s policy-making struggles.
C) the uselessness of executive orders.
D) the unpopularity of gender equality.
E) the need to eliminate the bureaucracy altogether.
According to the Constitution, apportionment and redistricting must occur every
A) two years.
B) four years.
C) six years.
D) eight years.
E) ten years.
Appointments by Texas governors tend to overly represent
A) Hispanic males.
B) Anglo females.
C) African Americans.
D) Anglos males.
E) labor union members.
Why is a candidate moving to the left or the right during nomination phases both an
advantage and a disadvantage?
A) It gives a candidate a more defined ideological position, but even the slightest shifts
will certainly be called flip-flopping.
B) While moving to one end of the spectrum might motivate a party base during
nomination, it might actually alienate more moderate or on-the-fence voters of the
general election.
C) Such a move decreases divisions within one political party, but it provides banter for
the media.
D) Extreme views give candidates the edge, but it also means that they are forced to
hold true to that message throughout the campaign.
E) The general public, who generally view these moves as appealing during
nomination, change their minds when these candidates go to the debates after
nomination processes.
While campaigning, ________ promised that his/her administration would “look like
Texas” to increase diversity in government.
A) Ann Richards
B) George W. Bush
C) Rick Perry
D) Mark White
E) Miriam Ferguson
________ BEST maximize/s the opportunities for members on both sides of the aisle to
air their views.
A) Floor speeches
B) Markups
C) Subcommittee meetings
D) Party caucuses
E) The Committee of the Whole
A Supreme Court justice who agrees with the outcome reached by the majority but not
with the legal reasoning behind the decision may issue a
A) minority opinion.
B) per curiam opinion.
C) seriatim opinion.
D) concurring opinion.
E) dissenting opinion.
Article 1 of the Texas Constitution of 1876 establishes
A) the executive powers of government.
B) a separation of powers among the three branches of state government.
C) the legislative powers of government
D) a Bill of Rights.
E) the judicial powers of government.