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The Australian ballot is best described as a
a. secret ballot prepared, distributed, and tabulated by government officials at public
expense.
b. color-coded ballot made by the political parties to show poll watchers who a voter is
voting for.
c. ballot manufactured in Geneva, Switzerland.
d. voice vote, in lieu of a secret ballot.
e. ballot used by the Democratic Party only.
Which of the following Cabinet departments is not headed by a Secretary of that
department?
a. Defense.
b. State.
c. Justice.
d. Treasury.
e. Interior.
Critics of immigration fear that immigrants to the United States may
a. take jobs away from American workers.
b. offset the low birthrate and aging population.
c. expand the workforce and help support, through their taxes, government programs
such as Medicare.
d. become Americanized.
e. pay into the Social Security program.
The president of the Senate is
a. the leader of the majority party in the Senate.
b. the senator with the most seniority, regardless of party.
c. the fourth person in line to succeed the president.
d. the vice president of the United States.
e. always a member of the majority party in the Senate.
The type of government the United States has is
a. a direct democracy.
b. a representative democracy.
c. a confederation.
d. a constitutional monarchy.
e. an anarchy.
Politically speaking, American women are
a. more likely than men to support capital punishment.
b. less likely than men to be concerned about the environment.
c. more likely than men to support social welfare programs.
d. more likely than men to support interventions abroad.
e. less likely than men to support extending civil rights to gay men and lesbians.
Which of the following statements concerning attitudes toward global warming is true?
a. A majority of Republicans believe that global warming does not exist.
b. A majority of Democrats believe that global warming is a myth.
c. Disblief of global warming among Democrats rose by 11 percentage points between
2001 and 2002.
d. Disblief of about global warming among Republicans fell by 11 percentage points
between 2001 and 2002.
e. Republican opinion about global warming has not changed in recent years.
A political system in which only two parties have a reasonable chance of winning is
called
a. a bipartisan government.
b. a two-party system.
c. a bicameral system.
d. bifurcated government.
e. representative democracy.
The practice of logrolling is
a. an arrangement in which members of Congress agree in advance to support each
others' bills.
b. when members of Congress undermine the personal credibility of their opponents.
c. when members of Congress use unlimited debate as a delaying tactic to block a bill.
d. when members of Congress attach amendments to bills.
e. the process of putting together a budget.
A procedure allowing the people to vote to dismiss an elected official from office before
his or her term has expired is called
a. a referendum.
b. direct democracy.
c. a recall.
d. an initiative.
e. popular sovereignty.
The value of all taxes collected by the various levels of government in the United States
is
a. over half of the nation's income.
b. higher than what most other countries collect.
c. subject to a ceiling imposed by Congress.
d. about 28 percent of the gross domestic product.
e. inevitably enough to run the government and still have a budget surplus.
The responsibilities of the State Department include
a. formulating defense policy.
b. appointing the Secretary of State.
c. directly overseeing U.S. intelligence agencies.
d. staffing U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.
e. overseeing U.S. military operations.
Which types of interest groups are defined as economic interest groups?
a. Business, labor, and public-interest groups
b. Labor, agriculture, and single-issue groups.
c. Business, labor, and professional organizations.
d. Business, labor, and foreign governments.
e. Professionals, agriculture, and foreign governments.
When President ______ appointed Sandra Day O"Connor to the United States Supreme
Court, the appointment was an historic first.
a. Richard Nixon
b. Jimmy Carter
c. Ronald Reagan
d. Bill Clinton
e. Barack Obama
Studies of bias in the media have reached
a. different conclusions: some found a liberal bias, whereas others found a conservative
bias.
b. a clear conclusion: there is a liberal bias in the media.
c. a clear conclusion: there is a conservative bias in the media.
d. a clear conclusion: there is no bias in the media.
e. the conclusion that it is impossible to test for bias.
Which of the following taxes did the British NOT impose on the colonists?
a. The Sugar Act
b. The Stamp Act, which taxed, among other things, legal documents and newspapers
c. Duties on glass, lead, and paint
d. A tax on tea
e. An income tax
The doctrine that was born of the Plessy v. Ferguson case was known as
a. equal opportunity.
b. affirmative action.
c. separate-but-equal.
d. full equality under the law.
e. equal suffrage.
Since 1952, government employment has
a. grown mostly at the state and local levels.
b. grown at the state level but decreased at the local level.
c. grown at the local level but decreased at the state level.
d. decreased at every level.
e. decreased at the state and local levels but increased at the federal level.
Which of the following statements about the filibuster is false?
a. Filibusters were rare.
b. Recently, filibusters could start without senators having to make any speeches.
c. Senators threaten to filibuster almost every significant piece of legislation that comes
before the Senate.
d. A new rule has been made to mandate that sixty Senators support major pieces of
legislation, because of constant filibuster threats.
e. Senators like filibusters, and do not want to abolish the practice.
The ______ is one by which all of a state's electoral votes are cast for the presidential
candidate who receives a plurality of the votes in that state.
a. patronage rule
b. straight-ticket rule
c. apportionment rule
d. winner-take-all rule
e. unit rule
All of the following is widely considered to be an informal method of amending the
Constitution EXCEPT
a. Supreme Court decisions.
b. Congressional legislation.
c. Presidential action.
d. interpretation, custom, and usage.
e. the formal amendment process.
At the federal level, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) of 1990 made it a crime to
a. create sexually explicit illustrations of children.
b. distribute child pornography overseas.
c. offer child pornography that does not actually exist.
d. knowingly receive sexually explicit depiction of children through the mail.
e. sell child pornography on the Internet.
The right to property is all of the following EXCEPT
a. widespread in the United States.
b. likely to provide power and liberty to those who own it.
c. compatible with reducing economic inequality.
d. fundamental to the capitalist system.
e. a source of inequality in society.
Jewish voters are notably
a. more likely to vote for candidates that are politically conservative.
b. more liberal than members of other groups on cultural issues, but more conservative
on economic issues.
c. focused almost totally on domestic issues.
d. more liberal than members of other groups on both economic and cultural issues.
e. similar to the overall population in their political preferences.
The literal meaning of theocracy is
a. rule by society's elders.
b. rule by the most educated.
c. rule by God (or the gods).
d. rule by the eldest son of the previous ruler.
e. rule by priests.
U.S. district courts are considered
a. intermediate appellate courts.
b. courts of last resort.
c. state courts.
d. trial courts of the federal system.
e. courts of limited jurisdiction.
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.
Before 1868, The Bill of Rights
a. applied to people's rights relative to the Federal Government, but not to people's
rights relative to the states wherein they resided.
b. applied to people's rights relative to the Federal Government as well as the states.
c. applied to people's rights relative to the states.
d. limited the power of state governments.
e. included two amendments that were proposed but never ratified.
Tracking polls are
a. taken on a nearly daily basis as the election approaches.
b. used by the government to determine if candidates receive illegal contributions.
c. only relevant early in the campaign.
d. usually not reliable sources of information.
e. taken only by the regular pollsters (such as Roper, Harris, and Gallup).
Which of the following is true regarding Barack Obama's appointments to the Supreme
Court?
a. The appointments were Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
b. The appointments changed the ideological balance of the Court.
c. The appointments included the third Hispanic on the Court.
d. The appointments were made possible by the retirements of Sandra Day O"Connor
and David Souter.
e. The appointments were unable to be confirmed by the Senate.
The United States was the only major country to emerge from World War II with
a. an addition to its territory.
b. operational nuclear weapons.
c. less than 2,000 casualties.
d. a weakened economy.
e. an intention to expand its role in the world.
The job of a political consultant may include all of the following EXCEPT
a. choosing the candidate's official portrait.
b. choosing campaign colors.
c. overseeing campaign advertising.
d. nominating a candidate for office.
e. devising a campaign strategy.
In the United States, universal suffrage for all citizens has
a. always been part of our election process.
b. never been that important.
c. come under fire recently.
d. developed over time.
e. been available since the 1920s.
In Thomas Paine's Common Sense, he argued that
a. human affairs are naturally stable and self-correcting.
b. immigration to the colonies should be outlawed.
c. it is unwise and unsafe to rebel against the king.
d. an independent colonial government of their own is a natural right.
e. taxation is both important and necessary.
Explain how economic interest groups, public-interest groups, and single-issue interest
groups differ from each other.
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Why does the mandate of equal treatment for all groups of Americans sometimes come
into conflict with the concept of liberty?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Describe the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and the efforts to bring peace
to this troubled part of the world.
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Explain the indirect techniques used by interest groups. Which techniques are more
influential?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Explain what symbolic speech is and give examples of Supreme Court decisions on this
type of speech.
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Identify the functions performed by the mass media in the United States. Are certain
functions more important than others? Why or why not?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Explain how and where a bill can be stopped in the legislative process.
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Provide an example of media "spin" about a current political issue or campaign. What
tactics have been most effective in shaping public opinion?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Compare and contrast direct democracy to representative democracy. What are the
advantages and disadvantages of each? In what situations might a direct democracy
work? When is a representative democracy more feasible?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Given Supreme Court rulings that declared parts of the USA Patriot Act
unconstitutional, has the issue of government intrusion into the private lives of
Americans been resolved? Why or why not?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
How important is it that newspapers are struggling? Are online sources of news such as
blogs a good replacement for print news? Why or why not?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Describe the evolution of political parties in the United States.
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
How have courts and legislative bodies at both the federal and state level attempted to
address issues concerning the rights and status of homosexuals?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Examine the idea of the government guaranteeing every adult a job. What problems
may there be? What other kinds of policies can help combat unemployment?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
What trends can be seen in public opinion about institutions? Describe factors that drive
these trends.
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
What are the issues liberals and conservatives tend to support and oppose?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Describe the budget cycle.
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Did the government under the Articles of Confederation do more to preserve individual
liberty than that of the federal government under the Constitution? Why or why not?
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
Describe the manner(s) in which Congress attempts to control the bureaucracy.
Answer:Students' answers may vary.
