Constitutional powers that are shared by both the federal and state governments are
called
A.enumerated powers.
B.reserved powers.
C.concurrent powers.
D.moderate powers.
E.constituent powers.
Television was available to consumers by the mid-1930s, but when did it become
widely adopted as a medium for getting news about politics and the world?
A.prior to World War II
B.during the manufacturing boom of World War II
C.during the post-war economic boom following World War II
D.during the early 1960s
E.during the late 1970s
Distrust in the solvency of social security has led the federal government to steer
working Americans toward alternatives such as supplemental retirement accounts. How
has the federal government encouraged such investment?
A.Laws have been passed that progressively require each generation to fund its own
private retirement investment.
B.The government has threatened civil action.
C.In order to encourage private retirement accounts, the federal government has
increased the use of individual tax credits and incentives.
D.In order to receive social security, future retirees must have a privately funded
account.
E.The government has ignored the issue.
Rules, regulations, and policy making pertaining to the quality of life, welfare, and the
relations of human beings in the United States is
A.the political realm.
B.the statutory code.
C.humanism.
D.social policy.
E.welfare policy.
Political partisanship receives much bad press in our modern times, but partisanship
serves a purpose. Which of the following is a benefit of political partisanship?
A.It eliminates third party interference.
B.It exposes the hypocrisy of the opposing party.
C.It provides a framework for individuals to translate broad values and beliefs into
preferences for issue positions and political candidates.
D.It divides the electorate and forces voters to take a stand.
E.It discourages excessive voting.
In 1819, the Marshall Court upheld the necessary and proper clause and the supremacy
clause in
A.Marbury v. Madison.
B.Gibbons v. Ogden.
C.McCulloch v. Maryland.
D.Dred Scott v. Sandford.
E.Lemon v. Krutz.
Why does Florida have a harder time than other states in raising taxes to pay for public
education?
A.Floridians already pay some of the highest taxes in the United States, so an additional
tax increase is simply unpalatable.
B.Florida has a large elderly population which doesn’t benefit from better schools.
C.Florida has a large percentage of home-schooled children.
D.There is a large population of immigrants which always votes against tax increases.
E.The public education system in Florida is so broken that most Floridians think there is
no use in trying to repair it.
Which term describes a characteristic of public opinion that measures the level of
commitment that the public feels about the opinion it holds?
A.randomness
B.continuity
C.systematic rationalization
D.direction
E.intensity
Which of the following is an example of a concurrent power in the Constitution?
A.taxation
B.coining money
C.establishing federal courts
D.regulating commerce within a state
E.conducting war
Beyond voting, citizens participate in the political process in many other ways. Which
of the following would NOT be included in a list of common and legitimate methods of
citizen participation?
A.contributing time and money to a campaign
B.supporting opposition groups outside of the United States that oppose its system of
government
C.writing letters that are critical of the president’s policies to newspaper editors
D.holding rallies in public places to protest public policies
E.launching economic boycotts to protest a city’s policies
Though the CIA still functions as an intelligence gathering agency, in recent years there
have been concerns that the CIA is poorly suited to coordinate intelligence coming from
multiple parts of government. This was magnified after the attacks of September 11,
2001. How did Congress respond to this lack of intelligence coordination?
A.delegated the duties to the Department of State
B.moved the Central Intelligence Agency under the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
C.abolished the CIA and distributed its duties to the U.S. Naval Operations
D.created a new cabinet-level office of Director of National Intelligence (DNI)
E.created a national division of the Central Intelligence Agency
In which year did the highest percentage of the workforce belong to a labor union?
A.1919
B.1929
C.1949
D.1969
E.1989
Which of the following is NOT a reason why people choose to vote?
A.perception that their vote has an impact on the election
B.pride in American democracy
C.being a good citizen requires participation
D.state laws that require voter participation
E.sense of civic duty
What is the name of the method of measuring the opinions of a large group of people by
selecting a subset of the larger group, asking them a set of questions, and generalizing
the findings to the larger group?
A.election
B.canvass
C.public opinion poll
D.sample
E.public mindset assessment
Historically, what percentage of presidential vetoes have been overridden?
A.less than 1 percent
B.4 percent
C.25 percent
D.40 percent
E.80 percent
Nationally, what percentage of public education is funded by the federal government?
A.less than 1 percent
B.approximately 7 percent
C.15 percent
D.about 50 percent
E.about 75 percent
Which of the following is true concerning the political orientations of Americans?
A.Americans tend to swing back and forth in their political orientations.
B.Political orientations are embedded in Americans as youths and never change.
C.Americans tend to follow the lead of European nations when determining their
political orientations.
D.Political orientations tend to be very stable and lasting.
E.Political orientations tend to change with every election.
Amending a state constitutions is
A.quite complex and time-consuming.
B.politically divisive and not often used.
C.easier than amending the U.S. Constitution.
D.more difficult than amending the U.S. Constitution.
E.often unnecessary due to the vague language used.
Article III of the U.S. Constitution creates the judicial branch and appoints the Supreme
Court as the highest court in the land. How do Supreme Court justices gain their
positions?
A.elected in a nationwide vote
B.elected by vote in a regional district
C.chosen by Congress
D.appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate
E.appointed by the chief justice and confirmed by Congress
Was the Administration of President George W. Bush successful in the effort to
privatize Social Security?
A.Yes, because they were supported by an independent panel of experts.
B.Yes, because they passed three policies for privatizing Social Security.
C.Yes, because they had the “full, complete, and nonnegotiable endorsement” of AARP.
D.No, because they failed to convince the American public to support dramatic changes
to the system.
E.No, because the Democrat took control of Congress before the legislation was passed.
What was a proactive and aggressive action by the United States following World War
II to provide $13 billion in aid to help rebuild the nations of former allies who were
ravaged by the war?
A.League of Nations
B.United Nations
C.Marshall Plan
D.Warsaw Pact
E.North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Political scientist Samuel Huntington has identified four politically relevant values that
are widely accepted by a great consensus in our political culture and serve as a basis for
defining political beliefs. Which of the following is NOT one of the four values?
A.wealth
B.liberty
C.individualism
D.equality
E.rule of law
A congressional committee that is typically a permanent investigative body is known as
A.standing committee.
B.conference committee.
C.select committee.
D.joint committee.
E.de facto committee.
Which of the following is a modern example of citizen journalism?
A.The Colbert Report
B.the Drudge Report
C.public opinion polls
D.network affiliates
E.blogs
What is considered the fundamental risk of military pre-emptive actions?
A.They place the military in an offensive position rather than a defensive one.
B.Such tactics against another country rarely succeed in stopping the undesired
behavior.
C.They can only be successful in countries that lack the capacity to retaliate.
D.They place individual soldiers in dangerous situations.
E.Such actions are almost always doomed to fail from the start.
In considering the “red” state versus “blue” state divide, which of the following is true?
A.In almost half of the states that are designated either red or blue, the margin of
victory has been less than 5 percent.
B.Red and blue states are very sharply divided in ideologies.
C.It is nearly impossible for delegates from red and blue states to agree on political
ideology and the course of action to take.
D.The margin of victory of the winner in all of the red or blue states has been well over
70 percent.
E.There are no differences between red and blue states.
In the decades immediately following the close of World War II and extending into the
1980s, the most dominant theme faced by United States presidents in the foreign policy
arena was
A.the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.
B.the Cold War with its expansion of communism.
C.the war in Vietnam.
D.the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
E.equal access to and use of the international space station.
Of Herbert Packer’s two models of the criminal justice system, what does the due
process model focus on as its principal goal?
A.control of criminal behavior
B.swift and efficient justice
C.equal focus on protecting the innocent as is expended on convicting the guilty
D.reduction of court dockets
E.abolition of mandatory sentencing
What is the name for the 1993 economic policy meant to liberalize global trade by
lifting trade barriers such as protective tariffs and investment restrictions?
A.dtente
B.NAFTA
C.protectionism
D.isolationism
E.expansionism
Which president implemented the New Deal programs?
A.Teddy Roosevelt
B.Woodrow Wilson
C.Franklin Delano Roosevelt
D.John F. Kennedy
E.Lyndon B. Johnson
Article II of the United States Constitution lists four express powers of the president.
Which of the following is NOT one of the express powers?
A.commander-in-chief of the armed forces
B.power to grant reprieves or pardons
C.power to make treaties
D.power to declare war
E.power to appoint federal judges and justices
Why is the delivery of education more challenging for large cities in a federal system?
A.Large cities are far less willing to cooperate with a federalist system of government.
B.Large cities rely too heavily on the federal government.
C.Large cities have a greater concentration of poorer and needy citizens, but also a
higher cost of providing services coupled with a lower tax base on which to draw
resources.
D.Large cities have very unique and challenging needs and it is very difficult for state
and federal governments to determine these needs.
E.Large cities presume that state and federal governments will provide for their needs,
so they have become somewhat dependent upon welfare.
Which of the following is NOT an ability Governors generally have the power to
execute?
A.Agenda setting
B.Appoint judges to the federal court system
C.Legislative veto
D.Influence public policies
E.Grant pardons