In Great Britain’s parliamentary system, candidates for Parliament are selected by
a. other members of Parliament, as in a private club.
b. the people, through primary elections.
c. delegates to the party conventions.
d. the party.
e. the prime minister.
Over recent decades, research on party identification has found
a. an increase in Democrats.
b. an increase in Republicans.
c. a decrease in Democrats and increase in Republicans.
d. a decrease in Republicans and increase in Democrats.
e. an increase in independents.
How many times have U.S. presidents sent troops abroad without the authorization of
Congress?
a. None
b. Ten
c. Approximately fifty
d. More than one hundred
e. More than three hundred
Even though the national cost of agriculture subsidies is high, there is often a lack of
strong political opposition because
a. everybody agrees that the subsidies are needed.
b. the subsidies affect only a few people.
c. the added cost on individual goods, such as milk and sugar, is not noticeable to each
individual consumer.
d. Options A, B, C, and D are true.
e. None of the above is true.
When a bill passes the House and Senate in substantially different forms, the
differences are resolvedin
a. a joint committee.
b. a committee of the whole.
c. the Rules Committee.
d. a conference committee.
e. a team-plan committee.
In 1803, this U.S. president wrote a letter to the then governor of Pennsylvania
requesting that he prosecute newspaper publishers for speaking out against the
government.
a. George Washington
b. John Adams
c. Thomas Jefferson
d. James Madison
e. James Monroe
There is, in fact, less income inequality in Sweden than in America because
a. workers there are more similar in their talents.
b. employers have different notions of economic fairness.
c. Swedish political cultural strongly believes that government should guarantee
citizens a basic standard of living.
d. education levels are much lower in Sweden.
e. political parties are stronger in the United States.
The landmark case on involuntary confession was that of
a. Mapp v. Ohio.
b. Miranda v. Arizona.
c. Gideon v. Wainwright.
d. Brown v. Board of Education.
e. Gitlow v. New York.
Although newspapers are rapidly losing their audience, they remain vitally important
because
a. they have an ability to sell the news to advertise buyers.
b. they influence many abroad.
c. much of what is on the Internet comes from newspapers.
d. newspapers employ the best reporters.
e. the White House works first with newspapers.
The First Amendment does not address
a. freedom of religion.
b. the right to bear arms.
c. freedom of the press.
d. freedom of speech.
e. freedom of assembly.
At the time of the Constitutional Convention, the view that a democratic government
was desirablewas
a. already waning.
b. close to unanimous.
c. beyond debate.
d. held by the elite only.
e. far from unanimous.
It quickly became clear that the Constitution would not be ratified without at least the
promise of
a. the abolition of slavery.
b. female suffrage.
c. an elaborate federal court system.
d. a bill of rights.
e. a two-party system.
The Supreme Court ruled that Senator William Proxmire was outside of the protection
of the “privileged speech” when he issued a press release critical of a scientist doing
research on
a. the mating habits of geese.
b. monkeys.
c. a controversial study of milk cows.
d. steroids.
e. drag racing.
Most people holding national political office are
a. middle class.
b. middle age.
c. males.
d. Protestant.
e. All of the above are true.
Which of the following statements most accurately characterizes the motives behind the
support that different Framers gave to the U.S. Constitution?
a. Most Framers acted out of a mixture of motives, with economic interests playing
only a modest role.
b. Those Framers who did not hold government debt but who did own slaves tended to
support the U.S. Constitution.
c. Those Framers who held debt but who did not own slaves tended to oppose the
U.S.Constitution.
d. The support that different Framers gave to the U.S. Constitution tended to divide
along class lines.
e. The Framers acted in a manner that reflected the religious convictions of their
respectivestates.
The legislative veto was declared unconstitutional in
a. Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha.
b. United States v. Nixon.
c. Brown v. Board of Education.
d. Marbury v. Madison.
e. Donnell v. Tarkenton.
In 1981, the Supreme Court ruled that _________ have the right to decide how
delegates to national conventions are selected.
a. political parties
b. state legislatures
c. Congress
d. governors
e. secretaries of state
Under the Defense of Marriage Act, signed by President Clinton,
a. no state could legalize gay marriage.
b. no state could modify the definition of marriage in any significant way.
c. states that allowed gay marriages would lose federal funds.
d. no state would be forced to recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another
state.
e. gays and lesbians could marry in federal courts.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, liberals argued
a. we should increase spending on social programs.
b. there should be cuts in weapons procurements.
c. we should decrease the number of military personnel.
d. there should be sharp cuts in defense spending overall.
e. All of the above are true.
Justice Potter Stewart’s oft-quoted dictum on hard-core as opposed to soft-core
pornography was
a. “I know it when I see it.”
b. “Different strokes for different folks.”
c. “It won”t play in Peoria.”
d. “One man’s meat is another man’s poison.”
e. “What could go wrong?”
Early competition between the Federalists and the Democratic”Republicans ended by
establishing the principle that
a. freedom of speech did not include political slander.
b. political participation was restricted to males.
c. slavery was not an issue for national legislation.
d. democracy could survive a change of ruling parties.
e. the First Amendment applied to the states.
The dearth of popular liberal talk-radio hosts is primarily the result of the fact that
a. such hosts have not landed big corporate sponsors.
b. radio stations refuse to allow liberals opportunities to compete.
c. station owners are quite conservative.
d. such hosts have not gotten good ratings.
e. liberals have taken no interest in radio.
The author cites the early presidential administrations, the Civil War, and the New Deal
as examples of struggles over
a. what constitutes legitimate authority.
b. who shall govern.
c. who gets what, when, and how.
d. when progress is possible.
e. how power is accumulated.
For all their excesses, the sensationalist mass newspapers of the late nineteenth century
effected several important changes in the press, including
a. freeing the press from government control.
b. encouraging cultural diversity in U.S. society.
c. limiting the role of technology in journalism.
d. giving greater power to a social elite.
e. giving greater power to a political elite.
Which statement best reflects the views of the Framers of the Constitution?
a. Elected officials should register majority sentiments.
b. The will of the people was not synonymous with the public good.
c. The views of the people are trustworthy because most are informed and can make
reasonable choices.
d. A government should be able to do a great deal of good as quickly and as efficiently
as possible.
e. Majority opinion should be irrelevant to the policymaking process.
In a referendum, citizens express their opinions about issues by means of
a. letters.
b. the ballot.
c. town meetings.
d. petitions.
e. Both A and D are true.
According to polls, which of the groups below are Americans most willing to help?
a. People on welfare
b. Feminist groups seeking preferential hiring programs
c. The elderly
d. Recent immigrants
e. Civil rights groups seeking preferential hiring programs
One of the great puzzles surrounding the ever-increasing expectations we have of
government is the fact that
a. the Constitution is designed to make it difficult for government to act.
b. the federal courts have facilitated these expectations.
c. few government officials have welcomed such change.
d. Americans seem to know less and less about government and politics.
e. political participation has continually decreased.
Today, senior White House staff members are drawn from the ranks of
a. the president’s campaign staff.
b. Ivy league colleges and universities.
c. the nation’s top law schools.
d. Congress.
e. the Department of Justice.
In its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court overruled
__________ and the “separate but equal” doctrine.
a. Plessy v. Ferguson
b. Brown v. Board of Education
c. Loving v. Virginia
d. Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education
e. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
A person treating the U.S. flag contemptuously is
a. subject to conviction in federal court.
b. subject to conviction in state court.
c. subject to conviction in state and federal court.
d. protected by Fourth Amendment rights.
e. protected by the right to exercise free speech.
One primary feature of most early state constitutions was
a. a detailed bill of rights.
b. a planning for land use.
c. a strong executive branch.
d. disregard for individual rights.
e. economic regulation.
To put down Shays’s Rebellion, the governor of Massachusetts
a. personally lead Continental Army soldiers.
b. turned to the state militia.
c. hired a volunteer army with private funds.
d. lobbied the Continental Congress to forgive the debts owned by the rebels.
e. asked Great Britain to help.
In this decision, the Supreme Court ruled that EPA rules must be observed without
regard to their cost or technological feasibility.
a. Union Electric Co. v. Environmental Protection Agency
b. Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council
c. Whitman v. American Truck Association
d. Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency
e. Gibbons v. Ogden
Americans are more likely to believe in equality of results than in equality of
opportunity.
The Medicare program does not utilize a means test.
What tools does the Fed use to implement its monetary policy?
Explain how Alexander Hamilton described the Supreme Court in Federalist paper No.
78.
Americans are willing to support education and training programs to help
disadvantaged people get ahead, but they are generally opposed to preferential
treatment, such as hiring quotas.
Laws cannot treat people differently.
Like most governors, the president has the line-item veto.
Economic trends away from manufacturing and toward service delivery have affected
union membership.
The federal government withholding federal aid to segregated schools in the 1970s led
many schools tointegrate.
Describe some of the primary features of the New System of American politics.
Indicate the factors that are considered in gender discrimination cases specifically, as a
result of a 1971 case regarding the administration of estates.
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post played a key role in the
downfall of the administration of Richard Nixon.
Women’s organizations that attract members with purposive incentives must take strong
positions on divisive issues.
The weakness of our political parties encourages the creation of interest groups.
The “clear and present danger” test of speech was constructed by Thomas Jefferson.