In the Dred Scott Case (Scott v. Sanford), the Supreme Court ruled
a. that the separate-but-equal facilities were constitutional.
b. that busing to mandate integration was constitutional
c. that Congress had no authority to ban slavery in a territory and that a slave was
considered a piece of property.
d. that states could not ban interracial marriage.
e. None of the above is true.
Two of the participation groups that Verba and Nie describe, campaigners and
communalists, differ primarily in their
a. taste for conflict.
b. political ideology.
c. socioeconomic status.
d. general level of participation.
e. intensity of religious sentiment.
Members of the House and Senate can remove fellow members by a __________ vote.
a. plurality
b. majority
c. two-thirds
d. three-fourths
e. unanimous
Benjamin Gitlow’s case was significant because it resulted in the Supreme Court’s
declaring that
a. all sedition laws were unconstitutional.
b. freedom of speech and freedom of the press were “fundamental.”
c. all federal sedition laws were unconstitutional.
d. antiwar protesters could only distribute leaflets.
e. protesters could no longer peacefully assemble.
Under the Articles of Confederation, the national government could
a. run the post office.
b. levy taxes.
c. regulate interstate commerce.
d. establish a national judicial system.
e. establish a national bank.
The Civil War settled one part of the issue of national supremacy versus states’ rights,
namely, that
a. state governments are supreme over the national government.
b. the national government derives its sovereignty from the states.
c. the national government derives its sovereignty from the people.
d. the national government derives its sovereignty from both the people and the states.
e. state governments derive their power from each other.
The First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the “free
exercise” of religion. It may, however,
a. make laws that impose a special burden on religion.
b. bind religions to laws that bind all others.
c. insist that church and state remain separate.
d. make laws respecting the establishment of a religion.
e. declare an official religion for ceremonial purposes.
U.S. tariffs on Japanese steel imports would be examples of __________ politics.
a. majoritarian.
b. interest group.
c. entrepreneurial.
d. client.
e. neo-institutional.
When a district is so unequal that the votes of citizens are significantly diluted, it is
a. malapportioned.
b. reapportioned.
c. regressed.
d. gerrymandered.
e. disbarred.
In Great Britain, interest groups are
a. more numerous than in the United States.
b. responsible for forming successful political parties, like the Green Party.
c. smaller in number than in the United States with only a few big interest groups
existing.
d. large, numerous, and very influential.
e. None of the above is true.
Which president was notable for suggesting that the world was, at last, “safe for
democracy”?
a. Herbert Hoover
b. Woodrow Wilson
c. Franklin Roosevelt
d. Harry Truman
e. Dwight Eisenhower
The medium that first allowed public officials to reach the public in a relatively
unfiltered manner was
a. the national magazine.
b. the national newspaper.
c. radio.
d. the New York Times.
e. the wire service.
Using what the text refers to as the “buddy system,” an agency can circumvent the usual
Office of Personnel Management (OPM) search process by
a. blanketing in a job candidate.
b. issuing a merit dispensation.
c. asking the president to appoint a specific candidate.
d. tailoring a job description to a specific candidate.
e. limiting the scope of a search to a specific region.
In the First Congress, it was decided that appointed federal officials would be
removable by
a. either the president or the Congress.
b. the president and Congress acting together.
c. the president alone.
d. Congress alone.
e. the Supreme Court.
In 1787, as the Constitution was being debated, __________ worried that the new
government he helped create might be too democratic, while __________ who refused
to sign the Constitution, worried that it was not democratic enough.
a. John Adams; James Madison
b. George Washington; George Mason
c. Alexander Hamilton; George Mason
d. Thomas Jefferson; Alexander Hamilton
e. Patrick Henry; Samuel Adams
In the United States, a person is said to have __________ if he or she act in a certain
way that is conferred by a law or by a state or national constitution.
a. political authority
b. political control
c. political power
d. political influence
e. political clout
Elite theory is NOT based on the following premise.
a. Majoritarian politics is not always controlling.
b. When majoritarian politics is not controlling, policy is likely to be shaped by those
who go to the trouble to be active participants in politics.
c. In general, the number of active participants in politics will be small (relative to the
total number of potential participants).
d. Despite their small numbers, those who are active participants in politics generally
reflect the types of people in the general population and the viewpoints of most citizens.
e. The actual distribution of power, even in a democracy, will depend importantly on the
composition of the political elites.
The goal of the Framers of the U.S. Constitution was to create a(n)
a. political system in which majority rule was supreme.
b. pure democracy modeled after the New England town meeting.
c. pluralist democracy ruled by political elite.
d. autonomous collective.
e. republic based on a system of representation.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an example of a feminist organization
whose membership incentives are primarily
a. material.
b. purposive.
c. solidary.
d. sociological.
e. concurrent.
The purpose of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was to
a. prepare a new constitution.
b. consider revisions to the Articles of Confederation.
c. draft a declaration of independence.
d. adopt a common state constitution.
e. prepare for a second revolution.
In Reed v. Reed, the Supreme Court ruled that
a. gender discrimination violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
b. general discrimination can be justified only if it serves “important governmental
objectives” and is “substantially related to those objectives.”
c. Congress can draft men without drafting women.
d. states may not finance an all-male military school.
e. gender discrimination is permissible in the private sector.
The immigrant group usually associated with the drive for bilingual education is
composed of
a. Southeast Asians.
b. Hispanics.
c. Africans.
d. Eastern Europeans.
e. Germans.
In the 1960s numerous assistance programs were collectively referred to as
a. the War on Poverty.
b. the One for All Program.
c. Head Start.
d. No Child Left Behind.
e. the Equality Initiative.
The text argues that the U.S. constitutional system was designed to make the adoption
of radical departures in policy
a. efficient.
b. easy.
c. impossible.
d. unnecessary.
e. difficult.
William H. Riker’s critical conclusion is that the main effect of federalism since the
Civil War has been
a. poverty.
b. racism.
c. corruption.
d. fraud.
e. sexism.
In 1955, the Supreme Court ruled that desegregation should be
a. implemented with due concern for public safety.
b. monitored by local school officials.
c. implemented “with all deliberate speed.”
d. monitored by civil rights groups.
e. delayed until there were significant shifts in population.
In comparison with the general public, the great majority of the members of the national
news mediaare
a. without any particular ideological leaning.
b. politically moderate.
c. liberal.
d. conservative.
e. very conservative.
The authors suggest that, ultimately, “red tape” comes from
a. power hungry bureaucrats.
b. Congress.
c. the executive branch.
d. us, the people.
e. iron triangles.
The scholarly evidence that political action committee (PAC) money buys votes in
Congress
a. is sketchy at best.
b. is fairly strong but still inconclusive.
c. is substantial.
d. is conclusive.
e. clearly documents that there is absolutely no relationship between contributions and
votes.
When the Civil Aeronautics Board regulated the air industry by setting airline rates and
conferring air routes on various cities, most of those appearing at its hearings were
a. airline companies.
b. passenger representatives.
c. government officials.
d. members of the public.
e. airport employees.
In America, when compared to most European democracies, we have insisted that
_________ play(s) a large role in running welfare programs.
a. the states
b. the private sector
c. the U.S. Senate
d. the federal judiciary
e. county boards
When there is an economic downturn, this economic theory argues that the proper thing
for government to do is to have a steady, predictable increase in the money supply at a
rate about equal to growth in the economy’s productivity.
a. Keynesian economics.
b. Monetarist economics.
c. Economic planning.
d. Supply-side economics.
e. Credit-based economics.
The difference between the results of two surveys or samples is called
a. research flaws.
b. sampling error.
c. type one error.
d. type two error.
e. confidence error.
In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012), the Supreme ruled
that states do not have to expand their Medicaid coverage because
a. the provision violates the Constitution by impermissibly threatening states with a loss
of existing federal funding for a program.
b. health care is purely a state issue.
c. health care is purely a federal issue.
d. the provision violates the Constitution by not requiring more state funding for
theprogram.
e. the provision created a tax that is not permissible.
Horse-race journalism places excessive emphasis on the issues and positions that
candidates take.
Republicans lost seats in Congress in the 2006 elections, in part because of decreasing
support for the war in Iraq.
As president, Richard Nixon set up a system of price and wage controls.
A dominant theme under the Old System of American politics was the importance of
states’ rights.
Americans are more willing to tolerate economic inequality than political inequality.
Originally, the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government.
At one time, it was unconstitutional for the federal government to levy income tax.
Summarize the facts of the case and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Miranda v. Arizona.
A remedy is a judicial order enforcing a right or redressing a wrong.
Discuss Tocqueville’s opinion of conducting foreign policy in a democracy.
Identify and explain the three theories of congressional voting.
Compare and contrast political culture in America and in Japan.
Explain the difference between voting age population (VAP) and voting eligible
population (VEP) and how making this distinction impacts our view of recent elections.
The Senate has ratified well over one thousand treaties since 1789.
It took thirteen years, from 1977 to 1990, to agree on a congressional revision of the
Clean Air Act.