Some of the nation’s poorest counties are in Texas.
None of the three traditional news networks are independently owned. For example,
ABC is owned by Disney.
Public opinion polling began in the 1800s.
In the state of Michigan, one in every eight residents is enrolled in the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program.
Residents in some states may actually remove officials from office before a scheduled
election using the recall.
Foreign policy-making powers are held exclusively by the president.
The sheer size of Congress makes comprehensive coverage of it very easy because
there are so many access points.
It has been long recognized by courts that legislatures may not delegate
decision-making authority to executive agencies.
The federal courts often show little regard to bureaucratic determinations.
Deregulation was a major priority for President Jimmy Carter.
The turnover rates for the Texas Senate and House of Representatives are much higher
than in other states.
One difference between the primary election campaign and the general election
campaign is the party of a candidate’s opponents.
There is no direct mention of the Cabinet in the U.S. Constitution.
The Constitution includes a clause designed to help resolve interstate disputes.
Congressional party caucuses have similar organizational structures.
According to the “typical day” schedule outlined in your text, a member of Congress
generally goes home around 6:00 p.m.
The availability of information on the Internet benefits all citizens in the United States.
Party members in both houses of Congress gather, or caucus, separately to select party
leaders and effectively devise a game plan as to how to run Congress.
Over the course of American history, the executive branch has assumed considerable
constitutional discretion in the conduct of war and diplomacy.
Drug testing is a controversial Fourth Amendment issue.
The Warren Court was a key policy maker in the area of civil rights.
U.S. submarines patrolling the coast of Russia without the country’s permission is an
example of covert action.
In recent years, there has been a shift toward primaries and away from caucuses.
Over two-thirds of the members of Congress hold advanced degrees.
At different times in the past, the Texas economy has been dependent upon the external
demand for and prices of cotton, cattle, and petroleum.
The health of the state’s economy for much of the twentieth century was directly tied to
the price of wheat.
The volatile nature of the health care bill illustrated the dangers associated with of
members of Congress voting “incorrectly” on the bill.
Voter canvassing can consist of door-to-door solicitation and/or telephone calls.
President Woodrow Wilson publicly denounced the activities of the Chamber of
Commerce.
The Texas Constitution of 1876 has been criticized for creating a plural executive which
centralizes too much power in the hands of the governor.
The United States has more restrictive policies on handgun ownership than Great
Britain.
The Fifteenth Amendment guarantees all people the privileges and immunities of
citizenship.
The suffrage amendment was ratified in 1920.
Home-rule charters are more democratic than other charters.
The Supreme Court is a virtual vacuum for media access.
Most Americans support affirmative action as a means to overcome past discrimination.
Which of the following is NOT a method used by the Republican Party to fix the
economic downturn in early 2008?
A) Increasing the supply of money
B) Implementing a Keynesian deficit spending approach
C) Lowering interest rates
D) Issuing tax rebates to citizens
E) Working with the Federal Reserve Board
The first major government effort to regulate business occurred following
A) Prohibition.
B) the growth of railroads.
C) a rise in the number of anti-trust suits.
D) the Civil War.
E) massive increases in export taxes.
The Fourteenth Amendment has been interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court to
__________ many of the protections of the Bill of Rights by applying them to states.
A) negate
B) do nothing to
C) limit
D) incorporate
E) equally protect
Which of the following does NOT describe the contemporary Texas economy?
A) More diverse than in the past
B) More globalized than in the past
C) Less dependent on agriculture than in the past
D) The health of the economy is more reliant on the price of oil than in the past.
E) The third largest state economy in the nation
In U.S. v. Nixon, the U.S. Supreme Court
A) decided that presidential papers must be open to the public.
B) upheld the House’s articles of impeachment against the President Richard M. Nixon.
C) ruled that the rights of criminal defendants overrode the president’s general claim of
executive privilege.
D) found that the president and his aides were not immune from lawsuits.
E) ruled that executive privilege was inherently unconstitutional.
In an effort to protect the environment, many states have been at the forefront of
regulating energy consumption and emissions. For example, in Maine, a recent law
A) mandated renewable fuel usage to increase to 30 percent by 2020.
B) granted a substantial tax rebate to homeowners who use the sun to power their
homes.
C) required that vehicles in the state made after 1985 achieve a fuel efficiency standard
of at least 22 MPG.
D) made unfiltered smokestacks illegal.
E) fined homes that used over a certain number of kilowatt-hours of electricity per
month.
In general, the House ________ than the Senate.
A) has stricter rules
B) has weaker leadership
C) is more personal
D) has emphasized foreign policy more
E) has weaker party loyalty
An official who is elected city-wide, presides at city council, hires, manages, and fires
city staff, and may have veto powers over some council actions functions in what type
of municipal government?
A) Strong mayor-council system
B) Weak mayor-council system
C) Council manager system
D) City commission
E) Council-strong manager system
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment that discriminates based on
A) race, national origin, and pregnancy.
B) race, creed, color, and religion.
C) color, alienage, sex, and religion.
D) race, sex, religion, and wealth.
E) religion and sex only.
The primary function of state courts is
A) deciding constitutional debates.
B) resolving disputes.
C) making policy decisions.
D) setting the agenda.
E) settling capital punishment cases.
How does poverty affect political participation?
A) Poor people usually do not actively and routinely participate in politics and
government.
B) Poor people actively and routinely participate in politics and government on social
issues.
C) Poor people actively and routinely participate in politics and government on
economic issues.
D) Poor people actively and routinely participate in politics and government on social
welfare issues.
E) Poverty promotes political participation.
All of the following are among the functions that political scientists attribute to
ideologies EXCEPT
A) explanation
B) evaluation
C) orientation
D) discrimination
E) political programs
The 2008 Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, was a staunch supporter of
NAFTA.
A proposed tax increase that would assist in funding nursing homes would MOST likely
be supported by people in
A) Massachusetts.
B) North Carolina.
C) Florida.
D) Kansas.
E) Minnesota.
Which of the following best describes the restrictions placed on using money in
political campaigns?
A) Campaigns can spend their money only on television advertising and other types of
campaign communication.
B) Campaigns are limited to spending no more than $108,000 in Texas Senate elections
and $76,000 in Texas House elections.
C) Campaigns cannot spend money within the last month before the election.
D) Campaigns are required to give ten percent of their contributions to the state to pay
for the administration of the election.
E) There are relatively few restrictions.
The U.S. Constitution has a long list of enumerated federal powers, but few state
powers are spelled out. This is because
A) the Framers thought the federal government was redundant.
B) states were designed to be subservient to the federal government.
C) there was consensus on what the powers of the federal government should be but not
on the powers of the states.
D) the Framers believed the states to be politically irrelevant.
E) states had all the power at the writing of the Constitution and a list was deemed
unnecessary.
The head of a political campaign is usually called the
A) campaign consultant.
B) political manager.
C) campaign manager.
D) political strategist.
E) political insider.
In Texas, the percentage of people who identify with neither major political party has
A) led to an increase in voter turnout, particularly for primary elections.
B) led to the development of a large and powerful third party movement in Texas.
C) decreased over the years.
D) increased over the years.
E) remained the same over the years.
Which courts were created by the legislature to relieve county judges in urban counties
of their judicial function so that the county judges could concentrate on their duties as
presiding officers of the commissioner’s court?
A) Constitutional county courts
B) County courts at law
C) Justice of the Peace courts
D) Municipal courts
E) District courts
A political cartoon in the text depicts President Barack Obama’s policies as
A) necessary actions by the U.S. government.
B) contrary to the original motives of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
C) constitutional methods to affect change.
D) literal interpretations of the Declaration of Independence.
E) a contradictory mix of socialism and communism.
Since 1988, nearly all appellate cases that have arrived at the Court have been through
A) writs of certiorari.
B) stare decisis.
C) in forma pauperis petitions.
D) original jurisdiction.
E) the state supreme courts.
Politics, as defined in the text, is
A) way too corrupt to attract any good men or women to run for office.
B) impossible without government.
C) the study of “who gets what, when, and how.”
D) the province of only the wealthy.
E) irrelevant to the modern world.
What is a political action committee?
A) A local-level party organization that focuses on voter registration and
get-out-the-vote efforts
B) A registered interest group that engages in direct lobbying
C) A group formed to solicit funds and then to use those funds to help elect or defeat
candidates
D) A candidate’s political advisory committee
E) The mechanism by which the political parties select their leaders
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund is
A) a notable 501(c) group.
B) not tax-exempt.
C) an example of a 527 committee.
D) a PAC.
E) a mostly Republican group.
Which of the following is NOT a feature of the Texas legislature?
A) Meets biennially
B) Regular sessions last 140 days.
C) Sessions start in January of even-numbered years.
D) Special sessions of up to 30 days may be called by the governor.
E) Other than calendar restraints, there is no limit to the number of special sessions that
may be called in a year.
Republican members of the Senate come largely from states in the
A) Northeast.
B) Northeast and South.
C) Midwest and West.
D) Pacific Northwest and South.
E) South and Southwest.
Which of the following is NOT an issue that has been subject to reform measures
undertaken to address perceived problems with the Texas legislature?
A) Campaign finance
B) Concentration of power in the hands of the Speaker
C) Voting procedure in the Texas legislature
D) Ghost voting
E) Abuse of the veto override power
When we look at colleges and universities as a source of political socialization, we find
that most students become, on average,
A) more conservative as they near graduation.
B) more middle-of-the-road as they near graduation.
C) more extremist as they near graduation.
D) more libertarian as they near graduation.
E) more liberal as they near graduation.
A professional who produces a candidate’s television, radio, and print advertisements is
called a/an
A) video architect.
B) media consultant.
C) ad canvasser.
D) audiovisual designer.
E) media guru.
Among the efforts to engage children in the political process are
A) polls taken by the Weekly Reader.
B) the Children’s Campaign Fund.
C) EMILY’s List.
D) Bring Your Child to Vote Day.
E) political internships.
The First Amendment of the Constitution provides for which of the following?
A) Freedom of assembly
B) Right to bear arms
C) Right to vote
D) Right to an attorney
E) Federal form of government