Successful members of Congress share the same policy interests as voters, according to
the __________.
a. conscience model of representation
b. delegate model of representation
c. majority-minority model of representation
d. politico model of representation
e. trustee model of representation
What event served as a catalyst for the creation of the Pendleton Act?
a. the growth of the Republican party in the 1880s
b. the expansion of the federal bureaucracy in the 1880s
c. the assassination of James Garfield in 1881
d. the election of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876
e. the economic depression of the 1890s
Which statement is true of the House of Representatives?
a. Members are elected every two years and apportioned to states based on geographic
size.
b. Members are elected every two years and apportioned to states based on population.
c. Members are elected every four years and apportioned to states based on geographic
size.
d. Members are elected every four years and apportioned to states based on population.
e. Members are elected every six years and apportioned to states based on population.
Which of the following is a concurrent power?
a. control over the money supply
b. social welfare activities
c. criminal law
d. power to tax
e. contract law
Which entity has the responsibility of establishing a cohesive vision for partisan
identifiers nationwide?
a. the delegates
b. the national caucus
c. the national chairperson
d. the national committee
e. the national party organization
The key exception to the rule that state parties are free to act within the limits set by
their state legislatures, without interference from the national party, is in the selection of
__________.
a. congressional candidates
b. electoral college delegates
c. national convention delegates
d. governors
e. state party chairpersons
Each state has __________ senators elected every __________ years.
a. two, two
b. two, four
c. two, six
d. four, two
e. four, four
The doctrine of preemption is based on which clause of the U.S. Constitution?
a. Commerce
b. Due Process
c. Equal Protection
d. Full Faith and Credit
e. Supremacy
What demonstrates the Founders’ desire to insulate the Senate from popular
displeasure?
a. terms of two years, with all seats open for each election
b. terms of four years, with one-third of seats open for election every two years
c. terms of four years, with two-thirds of seats open for election every two years
d. terms of six years, with one-third of seats open for election every two years
e. terms of six years, with two-thirds of seats open for election every two years
How might rallying events affect presidential politics?
a. Rallying events lead to drops in presidential approval ratings, making passage of their
agendas more difficult.
b. Rallying events have no effect on presidential politics.
c. Rallying events make presidents more politically cautious.
d. Rallying events tend to temporarily increase presidential approval ratings, providing
windows of opportunity to press for action on their agendas.
e. Rallying events permanently increase presidential approval ratings, guaranteeing
reelection.
Which of the following, if true, would indicate that grassroots/outside lobbying is an
ineffective political tactic?
a. Policy makers primarily work to satisfy the demands of their wealthiest campaign
contributors. As a result, they rarely respond to broader public opinion.
b. In congressional elections, incumbent candidates win at a much higher rate than
challengers.
c. The number of interest groups with lobbyists in Washington, D.C., has increased over
the past several decades.
d. The mass media tend to cover only the most dramatic and unusual news stories.
e. Most members of Congress have rejected campaign contributions from (political
action committees) PACs.
When a case is granted review in an appellate court, the parties submit written
__________ presenting their arguments.
a. ledgers
b. motions
c. briefs
d. opinions
e. plans
What best represents the trend of party polarization over the last three decades?
a. Both Republicans and Democrats have become more conservative.
b. Both Republicans and Democrats have become more liberal.
c. Both Republicans and Democrats have become more moderate.
d. Party polarization has decreased as bipartisanship has increased.
e. Party polarization has increased as bipartisanship has decreased.
Why might some businesses lobby for increased regulation by the federal government?
a. because they do not know that regulations always hurt them
b. to lower their overall tax rate
b. to gain access to federal bureaucrats who will act in their interests
d. to increase their profit margins to better serve the public good
e. to protect themselves from domestic and foreign competitors
If a group of people had been systematically discriminated against in the past, a
government might adopt which of the following policies to help members of this group
overcome the legacy of this discrimination?
a. a hiring policy that favors those with relatives working in government
b. a college admissions policy that gives preferential treatment to members of the group
c. a color-blind job application process to give members of this group an equal chance
d. a policy that gives extra weight to votes cast by members of the group
e. requiring all applicants for government jobs to have at least two years of prior
experience
Which of the following is an opinion written by a justice in the majority that outlines
additional considerations he or she thinks are important?
a. concurring
b. en banc
c. majority
d. per curiam
e. dissenting
What is the purpose of a “name recognition survey”?
a. to discover how a better-known candidate contemplating a run for office might fare
against an incumbent
b. to discover how a local officeholder has affected the legislative climate
c. to discover how many people have heard of a potential candidate for office
d. to gauge how negatively the public views a potential third-party candidate
e. to gauge how negatively the public views a potential candidate
What serves as the glue that holds together the disparate elements of the U.S.
governmental and political apparatus?
a. bipartisanship
b. Congress
c. the political machine
d. the political parties
e. the winner-take-all-system
How has government spending changed over the past fifty years?
a. The government now pays for a larger portion of its spending by borrowing.
b. The government now pays for a larger portion of its spending with income such as
taxes.
c. The government’s share of the country’s GDP has doubled.
d. There has been a slight decrease in government spending.
e. There have been no significant changes in government spending.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Republican party led the __________ revolution, which
demanded that the national government return administrative authority to state
governments.
a. contract
b. devolution
c. evolution
d. silent
e. white
One purpose of the Administrative Procedures Act is to __________.
a. ensure opportunities for public participation in the rule-making process
b. give federal agencies greater discretion in the rule-making process
c. streamline bureaucratic activities in the rule-making process
d. give the president greater control over the rule-making process
e. discourage agencies from drafting new regulations
Which of the following is the least likely reform to occur with respect to the Electoral
College?
a. direct election of the Electoral College electors by voters
b. increasing the number of electoral votes needed to win
c. letting the Senate break ties in the national popular vote
d. moving to the congressional district plan
e. determining the president through popular vote
Which of the following is most likely to have the greatest influence over U.S. foreign
policy?
a. secretary of state
b. director of the Central Intelligence Agency
c. director of the National Security Agency
d. director of National Intelligence
e. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Terrorists are most likely to target which of the following?
a. elected officials
b. members of the military
c. civilians
d. bureaucrats
e. political dissidents
Courts established by Congress for specialized purposes, such as the Court of Appeals
for Veterans Claims Law, are known as __________ courts.
a. appellate
b. trial
c. legislative
d. public
e. constitutional
The U.S. courts of appeals are divided into __________ numbered circuits and two
unnumbered circuits.
a. nine
b. twelve
c. thirteen
d. eleven
e. six
Today, most news is written by __________.
a. embedded journalists
b. political reporters
c. citizen journalists
d. residential reporters
e. news anchors
If you were a poor, illiterate, white farmer, which of the following would help ensure
your ability to vote in the South after the Civil War?
a. poll taxes
b. literacy tests
c. boycotts
d. protests
e. grandfather clauses
Which rule bars the use of illegally seized evidence at trial?
a. double jeopardy
b. right to pay
c. prior restraint
d. exclusionary
e. hate speech
What did the Supreme Court decide in Korematsu v. United States (1944) regarding the
internment of those with Japanese ancestry living in the United States?
a. It was permissible because the United States was at war with Japan.
b. It was permissible because it only applied to noncitizens.
c. It did not pass the strict scrutiny test, and the internment was promptly terminated.
d. It was unconstitutional, but it was too late to do anything about it.
e. It was unconstitutional, and Japanese-Americans must be duly compensated.
How does the Lemon test examine the constitutionality of religious establishment
issues?
__________ is the process of redrawing district lines to reflect population shifts after a
census.
Social Security is a(n) __________ program because it provides benefits to all
qualifying individuals.
How were the Cold War conflicts fundamentally different from more recent conflicts
involving terrorism? What were the principal conflicts and where did they take place?
Who were the principal combatants? How were these conflicts resolved?
When did Hispanics first start to organize, and when did the strongest push for Hispanic
rights begin? What tactics did Hispanics borrow from the African American civil rights
movement? What did Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta do? Explain why MALDEF
was created. How successful has the Hispanic movement been in securing rights for
Hispanic people? Give an example of success and an example of a setback. What issues
remain in regard to Hispanics?
__________ are the most frequently used mechanism by which to gauge the mood of
the electorate.
Describe the Equal Rights Amendment.
Explain the roles of committee chairs in the House and Senate. Pay particular attention
to their selection, responsibilities, and privileges.
Appearances by Bill Clinton on Larry King Live or by Barack Obama on The Late
Show with David Letterman are examples of a president __________.
Given the size of its economy and increased globalization, U.S. foreign policy toward
__________ is motivated primarily by trade policy.
Explain the difference between the powers that the U.S. Constitution provides to the
national and state governments. Be sure to give specific examples.
After the Speaker, the next most powerful person in the House is the __________.
In what ways did the Republican and Democratic Parties respond to the recent
economic downturn, and how did those responses reflect their respective worldviews?
__________ powers are the functions and actions that Congress could perform in order
to exercise its enumerated powers.