A categorical grant is a transfer of federal funds designed for
a. the private sector.
b. discretionary use by a state.
c. the accomplishment of broad goals.
d. programs with matching grants.
e. specific purposes.
Much of the nation’s laws governing labor and occupational health and safety can be
considered
a. majoritarian politics.
b. client politics.
c. interest-group politics.
d. entrepreneurial politics.
e. None of the above is true.
Before the creation of the federal income tax, most of the money that the government
needed camefrom __________.
a. loans
b. state contributions
c. private wealth
d. tariffs
e. public charity
In his Farewell Address, George Washington took this position on political parties.
a. Voters should support his party (the Federalist).
b. He condemned political parties.
c. Told voters to not support Thomas Jefferson’s political party.
d. He condemned Alexander Hamilton for having helped form the Federalist Party.
e. He argued for more political parties to compete for voters.
Why has the Supreme Court upheld the government’s banning the burning of draft cards
but declared unconstitutional a law banning the burning of the American flag?
a. The burning of draft cards is not political speech.
b. The Constitution has an amendment that allows for the burning of the American flag.
c. The Constitution has an amendment that specifically protects draft cards.
d. The government has a right to run a military draft and so can protect draft cards, even
if this restricts speech.
e. The American flag is a national symbol.
__________ is a legal concept that refers to who is entitled to bring a case.
a. Standing
b. Free shifting
c. Certiorari
d. Mandamus
e. Habeas corpus
The explanation for congressional voting behavior that assumes members vote to please
their constituents is referred to as __________.
a. representational
b. conventional
c. organizational
d. attitudinal
e. relational
Representative democracy is sometimes disapprovingly referred to as the _________
theory ofdemocracy.
a. limited
b. aristocratic
c. economic
d. authoritarian
e. elite
Ratings that are generated by interest groups are sometimes problematic because
a. they are statistically complex.
b. they are provided in very lengthy reports.
c. of arbitrary assessments or bias in measures.
d. no one takes credit for their calculations.
e. All of the above are true.
The Federal Communication Commission could use its powers of renewal to influence
what stations put on the air by
a. inducing stations to reduce the amount of violence shown.
b. increasing the proportion of “public service” programs on the air.
c. altering the way it portrays various ethnic groups.
d. Options A, B, C, and Dare true.
e. None of the above is true.
Studies suggest the incumbency advantage is worth __________ percentage points
today.
a. two
b. three to four
c. five
d. six to eight
e. thirty
Today, there are more than __________ species on the endangered species list.
a. one hundred
b. three hundred
c. six hundred
d. two thousand
e. thirteen thousand
The first major studies of public opinion and voting, published in the 1940s, found that
a. most Americans were well informed about politics even though they did not
voteregularly.
b. most Americans voted regularly and were well informed about politics.
c. a small group of Americans voted but were not well informed about politics.
d. a small group of Americans were informed, but most Americans were not.
e. it was difficult to generalize about Americans when it came to politics.
Congress was designed by the Founders in ways that almost inevitably make it
__________.
a. efficient
b. popular
c. unpopular
d. proactive
e. respected
Presidential electors were at first picked by
a. state legislatures rather than by the voters directly.
b. the voters directly.
c. federal judges.
d. the U.S. Senate.
e. the U.S. House.
When judges believe that they must confirm themselves to applying rules stated in or
clearly implied by the language of the Constitution, they are following the __________
approach.
a. judicial restraint
b. judicial moderation
c. judicial bypass
d. judicial activism
e. judicial liberalism
The Foundersand George Washington in particularthought of political parties as
a. the primary means of communication between voters and representatives.
b. “factions” motivated by ambition and self-interest.
c. a necessary element of democratic political processes.
d. a useful device for purposes of recruitment.
e. the logical result of republican principles.
Over the last three decades, public trust has declined for all of the following except
a. newspapers.
b. public schools.
c. the military.
d. churches.
e. labor unions.
The reason Americans participate in civic associations more frequently than do citizens
of othercountries is
a. their greater dissatisfaction with the government.
b. their more intense attachment to parties.
c. their European heritage.
d. the fact that they are less sensitive to the free-rider problem.
e. their sense of political efficacy and civic duty.
Under the Old System, the presidency
a. was small.
b. was somewhat personal.
c. had only a rudimentary White House staff.
d. Options A, B, C, and D are true.
e. None of the above is true.
The type of interest group that increased its numbers most rapidly during the early
1980s was the
a. corporate political action committee (PAC).
b. labor PAC.
c. professional PAC.
d. ideological PAC.
e. legislative PAC.
Which of the following is true of most people who are sympathetic to the aims of a
mass-membership interest group?
a. They do not join it.
b. They join it but do not pay dues.
c. They join it, pay dues, but do not participate in its activities.
d. They join it, pay dues, and participate in its activities.
e. They join it but participate without paying dues.
Divided government is
a. dangerous to American democracy.
b. more common in modern times than unified government.
c. more productive than unified government.
d. a myth.
e. always going to produce gridlock.
The Framers knew that in a nation as large and diverse as the United States there would
rarely be any such thing as “public opinion;” rather there would be
a. no organized opinion.
b. one determining point of view of most issues.
c. many “publics” holding many opinions.
d. one powerful interest group dominating the debate.
e. chaos of opinion.
Under the Privacy Act of 1974, __________ must be kept confidential.
a. telephone conversations
b. government documents
c. court decrees
d. judicial orders
e. Social Security and tax records
The Court of Military Appeals is an example of a __________.
a. constitutional court
b. district court
c. court of appeal
d. legislative court
e. supreme court
This delegate to the Constitutional Convention presented the Virginia Plan but refused
to sign the final document approved on September 17, 1787.
a. James Madison
b. Alexander Hamilton
c. Roger Sherman
d. Edmund Randolph
e. William Patterson
The pluralist view of power focuses on
a. a dominant social class.
b. a group of business, military, labor-union, and elected officials.
c. an array of appointed bureaucrats.
d. a large number of governmental interests and organized interests.
e. a flexible alliance of religious and cultural leaders.
The conservative coalition in Congress consists of
a. southern Democrats and Republicans.
b. western Democrats and Republicans.
c. southern Republicans and Democrats.
d. western Republicans and Republicans.
e. northeastern Republicans and Democrats.
In the __________ decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the establishment clause
forbids prayer, even a nondenominational one, in public schools.
a. Everson v. Board of Education
b. Engel v. Vitale
c. Lemon v. Kurtzman
d. Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
e. Lee v. Weisman
An unalienable right is one that is based on
a. nature and Providence.
b. the Constitution and primary documents.
c. custom and tradition.
d. legal precedent.
e. executive proclamations.
When registered nonvoters are asked why they did not vote, the most common response
that they give refers to
a. family obligations.
b. scheduling conflicts or being “too busy.”
c. the negative nature of campaigns and so-called attack ads.
d. a sense that their vote would not matter.
e. a loss of faith in the American system of government.
In the typical public opinion poll,
a. Congress is the most popular branch of government.
b. Congress is the least popular branch of government.
c. Congress is more popular than the president, but not the judiciary.
d. Congress is more popular than the judiciary, but not the president.
e. The three branches of government are equally popular.
Probably the best measure of an interest group’s influence is its
a. size.
b. wealth.
c. organizational skill.
d. contacts.
e. issue dexterity.
Explain the dominance of the president or Congress in foreign policy depending upon
what type of politics is involved.
Identify and explain four types of primary elections.
Political power is the ability to influence who rules and how rulers behave.
Vastly more people watch American Idol than read newspaper editorials.
Define political participation. Discuss the major forms of political participation in a
democracy.
Britons tend to have a higher sense of civic duty, compared to Americans.
A brief is a written statement by an attorney that summarizes a case and the laws and
rulings that support it.
The amount the government spends in excess of what it takes in each year is called the
debt.
Research has found that highly emotional ads have the most effect on people who know
the least aboutpolitics.
Explain what grants-in-aid are and why the system that grew up around them was so
attractive to stateofficials.
What three problems does the text associate with Medicare?
Religious individuals donate three times more money to charity compared to secular
individuals in the same income groupings.
Explain the primary justifications for representative democracy.
The Democratic advantage among female voters is obvious.
Supreme Court justices did not start serving long terms on the Court until the
presidency of Andrew Jackson.
Carefully explain the background and the Court’s ruling in Marbury v. Madison.