As of 2010, about 50 percent of total health-care spending was paid for by
a. the government.
b. private insurance.
c. individuals.
d. charity.
e. the Health Care for Americans endowment.
If a case is remanded, it
a. is sent to the supreme court of the state in question.
b. is sent back to the court that originally heard the case.
c. can only be of a civil naturecriminal cases cannot be remanded.
d. must be decided within the calendar year.
e. is not subject to any further action by the courts.
According to the Twenty-fifth Amendment, if a president’s ability to discharge his
normal functions is in question and he is unable to communicate,
a. the Supreme Court is empowered to select a physician to certify whether or not the
president is able to perform the functions of his office.
b. the Speaker of the House becomes acting president until the matter is resolved.
c. a majority of the cabinet, including the vice president, can declare the president
incapable.
d. the president must be permanently removed from office.
e. the vice president has the exclusive power to determine the president’s capability.
The concept of universal suffrage refers to
a. the right of all adults to vote for their representatives in government.
b. the problems people face in countries that do not have democracy.
c. the idea that political power should be used to eliminate food shortages throughout
the world.
d. the belief that the whole world will suffer if certain political and economic ideas are
allowed to spread.
e. a state of nature before governments existed.
According to the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, which of the following
restrictions may the state place on abortions?
a. During the first trimester, the state can prevent some abortions for reasons relating to
the mother’s health.
b. During the second trimester, the state can prevent all abortions.
c. During the third trimester, the state cannot regulate abortion except to require that it
be performed by a doctor.
d. During the third trimester, the state may regulate or outlaw abortions except when
necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.
e. The states may place no restrictions on abortions.
Obscenity was legally defined by Chief Justice Burger in
a. United States v. Williams.
b. Osborne v. Ohio.
c. Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union.
d. Miller v. California.
e. Flynt v. Falwell.
Which of the following did NOT happen after, or as a result of, the Civil Rights Cases
of 1883?
a. Official state actions that violated people’s civil rights was considered illegal.
b. Private civil-rights violations by individual citizens were not illegal.
c. Whites largely approved of the decisions made by the Supreme Court.
d. African Americans earned equality with whites.
e. Other civil-rights laws passed by Congress went unenforced.
A legislator from Florida who votes, against his or her personal beliefs, to support
subsidies for orange growers would be acting
a. as a trustee.
b. as a logroller.
c. as an instructed delegate.
d. on what he or she believes is best for the entire society.
e. as an executive.
Why do campaigns no longer depend on political parties?
a. Election laws make political parties irrelevant.
b. Many candidates become liberals.
c. Fewer people identify with them.
d. Many candidates become independents.
e. Interest groups regulate campaign expenditures.
The number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States is estimated to be around
a. 50,000.
b. 3 million.
c. 90 million.
d. 11 million.
e. 150 million.
If the president orders that a certain action be taken, but Congress blocks the action
from being executed by refusing to fund it, Congress is exercising
a. conscientious objection.
b. its power of the purse.
c. it veto power.
d. its right to free speech.
e. its override power.
The free exercise clause guarantees
a. the free exercise of religion.
b. the free exercise of armed self-defense.
c. free speech, particularly as related to religious beliefs.
d. freedom to choose private education paid for by the state.
e. the free endorsement of candidates by religious groups.
A federal grant that provides funds to a state or local government for a general
functional area is called a
a. project grant.
b. block grant.
c. community action grant.
d. basic grant.
e. categorical grant.
A practice, policy, or procedure that denies equality of treatment to an individual or to a
group because of gender
a. is sexual harassment.
b. is gender discrimination.
c. is feminism.
d. violates the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
e. is considered illegal if engaged in by a private corporation but acceptable if engaged
in by the government.
Successful interest groups and their representatives try to cultivate long-term
relationships with
a. foreign ambassadors.
b. legislators and government officials.
c. federal judges.
d. business leaders.
e. police commissioners and chiefs of police.
Independent expenditures by special interests are
a. coordinated by law with a candidate’s campaign.
b. unregulated political expenditures by PACs, organizations, and individuals that are
not coordinated with candidate campaigns or political parties.
c. only allowed by labor and agricultural interests, not business interests.
d. less important in the 2004 elections than in previous election years.
e. no longer visible during modern political campaigns.
All of the following are true of libertarians EXCEPT
a. libertarians oppose government attempts to promote moral values.
b. libertarians advocate redistribution of income.
c. libertarians support laissez-faire capitalism.
d. libertarians oppose most government activities.
e. libertarians more typically support the Republican party.
The collective term for the body of employees working for the government, generally
understood to apply to all those who gain employment through a merit system, is
a. civil service employees.
b. political appointees.
c. the political rank-and-file.
d. the nonpartisan employee pool.
e. the bureaucratic troops.
Which of the following was an apparent goal of al-Qaeda?
a. Getting the United States to withdraw its troops from countries in the Middle East
b. Overthrowing Egypt
c. Independence for Basque Spain
d. Removing Greek forces out of Cyprus
e. Forcing the United States to withdraw troops from Nigeria
A filibuster is
a. the use of unlimited debate as a delaying tactic to block a bill.
b. an attempt to persuade others to vote for a particular bill in return for a favor at a
later date.
c. used in the House to force a standing committee to release a bill.
d. a method used by the Speaker of the House to promote the majority party’s
legislation.
e. a technique that is unique to the House.
Which of the following is true about the cabinet departments?
a. All were described and mandated by the Constitution.
b. All are privatized bureaucracies.
c. All are directly accountable to the president.
d. All consist of agencies that set up rules for Congress in passing laws.
e. The official cabinet departments cannot ever number more than ten, according to the
Constitution.
Which of the following is true concerning presidential popularity?
a. President Bush enjoyed high popularity ratings throughout his presidency.
b. President Obama’s approval numbers have always been lower than President Bush’s.
c. President Obama’s approval ratings peaked in August 2010.
d. President Bush had only a 25 percent public approval rating by the time he left office.
e. President Bush’s approval ratings in 2004 were the highest ever recorded.
Which of the following statements best describes the role of the United States
Constitution?
a. The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land, with the exception of
presidential mandates.
b. The United States Constitution is also considered case law.
c. The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
d. The United States Constitution is limited by statutes that are passed by legislatures.
e. The United States Constitution is less powerful than state constitutions.
Constitutionally, which two sets of powers do state governments have?
a. Enumerated and expressed powers
b. Reserved and concurrent powers
c. Direct and inherent powers
d. Expressed and implied powers
e. Inherent and police powers
Which state refused to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention?
a. Delaware
b. South Carolina
c. Rhode Island
d. Maryland
e. Virginia
Which of the following statements regarding the economy is true?
a. Rising prices are referred to as deflation.
b. An extremely severe recession is called a depression.
c. The United States has not experienced a recession since 1933.
d. In effect, today’s dollar is the same as a 1910 dollar.
e. The inflation rate is an indicator of average interest rates.
Many people contend that the media’s influence on public opinion
a. has remained constant.
b. is decreasing.
c. has grown to equal the influence of the family.
d. is negligible.
e. is not, nor has it ever been, a significant factor.
How many employees are there in the federal bureaucracy, excluding members of the
armed forces?
a. 200,000
b. 500,000
c. 1 million
d. 2.7 million
e. 14 million
During his campaign, Barack Obama supported reforms that would
a. automatically grant citizenship to all illegal immigrants currently in the United
States.
b. give illegal immigrants a path toward citizenship.
c. eliminate crackdowns on employers who hire illegal immigrants.
d. automatically send all illegal immigrants currently in the United States back to their
home countries.
e. close the U.S.”Mexico border.
Rewarding faithful party workers with government employment is called
a. “going public.”
b. pork.
c. patronage.
d. executive privilege.
e. civil service.
Which is an example of an interstate compact?
a. The rules set forth in Article IV of the Constitution
b. The Bill of Rights
c. The Alien and Sedition Acts
d. The Marbury v. Madison decision
e. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
“Budget bills” must originate
a. in the Senate.
b. in the House.
c. in conference committee.
d. with the president.
e. from any of the above sources.
China’s position is that sooner or later, Taiwan
a. must rejoin the rest of China.
b. will be granted permanent independence.
c. must join with Hong Kong as a single independent territory.
d. will be returned to the United Kingdom.
e. will be divided into several smaller territories and distributed among the region’s
major powers.
Which of the following courts has jurisdiction in cases involving diversity of
citizenship or federal questions?
a. All courts
b. FISA Courts
c. Appeals courts
d. State courts
e. Federal courts
The Supreme Court’s opinion in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pea means that once an
affirmative action program has succeeded in achieving the purpose it was tailored to
meet, the program
a. must be changed or dropped.
b. should continue unchanged.
c. should be extended to other minority groups.
d. should be phased out over 18 months.
e. must be subjected to unannounced audits.