.Texas is no longer subject to the preclearance requirements of the Voting Rights Act.
Short-order cooks and servers working at your local restaurant can thank President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress for agreeing that there should be a national
minimum wage.
In January 2010, Scott Brown was elected to the U.S. Senate representing the state of
Massachusetts.
All Senators run for re-election at the same time.
According Isaiah Berlin, science and technology contributed significantly to the
political environment of the twentieth century.
Most of the interest groups who submitted amicus curiae briefs in the affirmative action
cases Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger filed on behalf of the respondents of
the case.
In 2008, Senator Hillary Clinton conceded her electoral aspirations to Senator Barack
Obama because it was clear that she was going to lose decisively to him.
Most state governors possess the line-item veto.
General elections are generally held to determine which candidate will hold office.
Crispus Attucks was an African American killed during the Revolutionary War.
The effect of polling on public policy has decreased in recent years.
The size of the bureaucracy decreased following the Civil War.
Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall, the political machine that ran Chicago in the
mid-1800s.
The executive function of state government is spread out among a number of elected
officials other than the governor, which is why Texas is said to have a plural executive
branch.
A liberal constitution often requires constitutional amendment to make major, and even
minor, changes in government.
The competitive aspect of politics is more frequently covered than a substantive
analysis of issues.
Parties play minor roles in the committee system.
A municipal utility district is prohibited from providing services to those who live
outside of a city’s limits.
The official chair of the Senate is the president pro tempore. The most senior senator in
the majority party generally holds this position.
The Weekly Reader tries to foster civic engagement by encouraging students to vote.
Joint committees always are established to reconcile differences between versions of a
particular bill in the House and the Senate.
Andrew Jackson was the first president who was elected as a nominee of a national,
popularly based political party.
A wealthy donor can contribute large sums of money under the radar to support a
candidate’s cause as long as it does not go to the candidate directly and is used for issue
advocacy.
One significant reason for the use of a single-purpose special district government rather
than multipurpose government entities is that some policy concerns must be addressed
on a regional basis rather than by individual counties and cities.
The Texas comptroller is required to provide a revenue forecast to the legislature in
order to aid in enacting a balanced budget.
Most Texans oppose the death penalty.
The Committees of Correspondence were established to communicate ideas among the
colonies in 1772.
The CRS, GAO, and CBO are all different support agencies for members of Congress.
The Supreme Court decided D.C. v. Heller by a small margin.
Delaware was established as a Catholic colony.
Which of the following regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas?
A) Texas Railroad Commission
B) Texas Land Commissioner
C) Public Utility Commission
D) Texas Agriculture Commissioner
E) Texas Department of Energy
Hispanic voters
A) generally identify with the Democratic Party, except Puerto Ricans.
B) generally identify with the Republican Party.
C) generally identify with the Democratic Party, except Cubans.
D) generally identify with the Republican Party, except Mexicans.
E) generally identify with the Democratic Party, except Venezuelans.
_________ was a leader of the National Woman’s Party.
A) Susan B. Anthony
B) Sojourner Truth
C) Betsy Ross
D) Eleanor Smeal
E) Alice Paul
For much of the 1980s and 1990s, many citizens believed that the media were
A) biased to the left.
B) biased to the right.
C) completely objective.
D) Reagan sympathizers.
E) communists.
The primary task of a precinct convention is to
A) create local rules for primary elections.
B) select local candidates for the general election.
C) select delegates to the state convention.
D) select delegates to the county or senatorial district conventions.
E) organize grassroots support for presidential candidates.
Milton Friedman’s arguments about education and other public policies are _______ in
nature.
A) communist
B) populist
C) capitalist
D) socialist
E) anarchist
The Texas legislature ignores the proposed biennial state budget submitted to it by the
governor in favor of the budget prepared by the
A) Legislative Budget Board.
B) the State Board of Control.
C) the Texas Budget Authority.
D) lieutenant governor.
E) Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Jim Roberts believes that there should be a state law banning texting while driving. He
fills out the proper paperwork and has his proposal put on the ballot of the next election,
and with the voters’ approval, the law is passed. This is an example of a/an
A) referendum.
B) recall.
C) initiative.
D) caucus.
E) deelection.
Cases heard in federal district courts generally fall into one of three categories,
including
I. those involving the federal government as a party.
II. those involving decisions remanded by the Supreme Court.
III. those that have a federal question.
IV. those that involve disputes between citizens from two different states.
A) III only
B) I and II
C) I, II, and IV
D) I, III, and IV
E) I, II, III, and IV
The weakest component of the U.S. political party system is
A) the state organization.
B) the president.
C) also a very crucial element.
D) affiliated interest groups.
E) unlikely to affect election results.
Interim committees meet
A) during the regular session to focus on pending legislation.
B) during special sessions only.
C) to focus on rules and administrative procedures in the Texas Senate.
D) between sessions of the legislature.
E) to plan a state budget and submit it to the governor.
Despite then-Senator Barack Obama’s high favorability ratings, why were Democrats
concerned about his securing electoral victory?
A) They were concerned that white Americans may not support an African American
candidate.
B) John McCain and his vice presidential pick were a dream team combination.
C) John McCain had more executive experience than Barack Obama.
D) Barack Obama had little name recognition.
E) President George W. Bush’s approval ratings were on the rise toward the end of his
presidency.
The clause that ensures that judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be
binding and enforceable in another is called the ________ clause.
A) privileges and immunities
B) full faith and credit
C) equal protection
D) supremacy
E) elastic
The $700 billion bailout
A) failed to win the support of both houses of Congress.
B) was enacted using executive order.
C) failed to pass Congress the first time, but succeeded the second.
D) was authorized under the Glass-Steagall Act.
E) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
Since 1976, control of the Democratic Party organization in Texas has been in the hands
of
A) fundamentalist Christians.
B) independents.
C) ideological conservatives.
D) ideological liberals.
E) ideological moderates.
In 1905, W.E.B. DuBois met with other African Americans in Niagara Falls, Ontario,
Canada, to
A) found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
B) advance the cause of African Americans through the Niagara Movement.
C) meet in the only place that would allow whites and blacks to meet.
D) create a lobbying strategy for the woman suffrage amendment.
E) propose a new anti-discrimination constitutional amendment.
All lobbyists in Texas are required to register with
A) the governor’s office.
B) the Speaker of the House.
C) the lieutenant governor’s office.
D) the State Lobbying Committee.
E) the Texas Ethics Commission.
The state official in charge of supervising the oil revenues from state-owned land is the
A) attorney general.
B) comptroller of public accounts .
C) executive director of the Texas Education Agency.
D) land commissioner.
E) secretary of state
Among the main reasons presidents and their staff use polls are
I. to win reelection.
II. to signal the Supreme Court that the public supports the president’s position.
III. to be judged favorably by history.
IV. to pass the presidential agenda.
A) IV only
B) I and II
C) I, II, and III
D) I, II, and IV
E) I, II, III, and IV
The Progressive movement brought with it the dawn of ________, a form of newspaper
publishing concerned with reforming government and business conduct.
A) the penny press
B) yellow journalism
C) muckraking
D) partisan journalism
E) objective journalism
Which of the following arguments is made by those who oppose the use of general
obligation bonds?
A) They can double the cost of a construction project.
B) The state does not have enough money to lend to charities, even if they are
worthwhile.
C) The state should not be in the business of loaning money to risky business ventures.
D) They cannot be used for construction projects, yet that is where the greatest need
exists.
E) All of the above
Which of the following accurately describes income in Texas in 2008?
A) The median income of Texas families was higher than the national average
B) The median income of Texas households was higher than the national average
C) The per capita income of Texans was higher than the national average
D) The per capita income of Texans was roughly equal across ethnic groups.
E) The per capita income of Texas Anglos was considerably higher than the per capital
income of all Americans
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was designed to allow states not to recognize
same-sex marriage that are recognized in other states.
Redistrictingthe process of redrawing the boundaries of legislative and House
congressional districtsoccurs every ten years in the Texas legislature following the
report from Washington of the
A) National Conference of State Legislatures.
B) U.S. Census.
C) Electoral College.
D) Presidential Commission on Redistricting and Reapportionment.
E) Joint Congressional Committee on Legislative Districts.
A law declaring an a citizen or group of citizens guilty without a judicial trial is called
A) an equity law.
B) an ex post facto law.
C) a writ of mandamus.
D) an ex officio law.
E) a bill of attainder.
In 1997, in an attempt to give the best students from poor and minority public school
districts an equal footing in university admissions without falling afoul of the Hopwood
decision, the legislature enacted a law that guaranteed automatic admission to state
universities for high school graduates who finished in the top _____ percent of their
class.
A) two
B) five
C) ten
D) fifteen
E) twenty
The greatest number of interest groups submitting formal testimony to the Senate
Judiciary Committee occurred during the nomination of ________ to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
A) Robert H. Bork
B) Clarence Thomas
C) Louis Brandeis
D) John G. Roberts Jr.
E) Sonia Sotomayor
Federal circuit courts originally were created by Congress to
A) function as trial courts.
B) hear appeals from federal district courts.
C) lessen the load of the Supreme Court.
D) create more opportunities to appoint their Federalist cronies to lifetime jobs.
E) function exclusively as appellate courts.
The United States has a
A) constitutional court separate from the U.S. Supreme Court.
B) Supreme Court that functions as both a legislative and constitutional court.
C) supreme constitutional court much like Austria’s.
D) judicial system similar to Germany’s.
E) judicial system that gives the Supreme Court original jurisdiction in all constitutional
cases.
A general decline in partisan loyalty in the electorate is most accurately referred to as
A) realignment.
B) secular realignment.
C) dealignment.
D) alignment.
E) partisan disillusionment.
Interest groups often arise after some sort of critical mobilizing event. _______ served
as one such event.
A) The British Parliament’s passage of the Tea Act
B) The creation of the Daughters of Liberty
C) The imposition of common law
D) The killing of Crispus Attucks
E) The arrest of John Adams
The most important features in federal-tribal relations for state and local governments
have been
A) gaming rights.
B) welfare policies.
C) civil and criminal laws.
D) land rights and hunting and fishing issues.
E) crime.
Severance taxes are levied on
A) services.
B) goods.
C) automobile registrations.
D) retirement pensions.
E) oil and gas production.