Which of the following contributed most to the increase in state spending from the
1970s through the 1990s?
A) Population growth
B) Establishing the Texas Lottery
C) Increased court fees
D) Heavy reliance on the sales tax
E) All of the above
Which of the following arguments is most likely to be given by someone in favor of tort
reform?
A) There are a large number of frivolous lawsuits filed by those who seek large
financial awards for injuries they claim to have suffered
B) Businesses should be granted immunity for their actions even if they harm others
C) Putative damages are the only way to ensure that businesses act morally and
ethically
D) Those who are injured due to the negligence of others should have known that life is
full of risks
E) It is impossible to place a cap on the amount of money that can compensate someone
for their pain and suffering
Who has the authority to transfer funds to meet emergencies between legislative
sessions?
A) Only the governor
B) Only the legislative leaders
C) The legislature and the Comptroller working together
D) The governor and legislative leaders working together
E) No one; the governor must call a special session to address such emergencies
The Department of Commerce and Labor, established by Congress at the request of
President _________, was a sign of increased regulation of the economic sector.
A) James A. Garfield
B) Rutherford B. Hayes
C) Theodore Roosevelt
D) Woodrow Wilson
E) Franklin D. Roosevelt
Which of the following is NOT a duty of the comptroller of public accounts?
A) Collecting state taxes
B) Managing the state’s money
C) Forecasting state revenue
D) Leasing state property
E) Conducting performance evaluations of state agencies
According to the table in the text, ________ federal district court judges have been
involved in politics before their appointment to the bench.
A) very few
B) no
C) all
D) most
E) about one-third of
Emmitt Till was
A) a leader of the Niagara Movement.
B) a cofounder of the NAACP.
C) one of the plaintiffs in Brown v. Board of Education.
D) one of the Little Rock Nine.
E) a fourteen-year-old victim of lynching.
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was used to
A) establish public education for American Indians.
B) eliminate any idea that Indians had property rights.
C) curtail expansion westward into Indian lands.
D) justify what some call “genocide-at-law.”
E) prohibit the taking of Indian lands.
The difference between libel and slander is that
A) libel is illegal, and slander is legal.
B) libel is spoken, and slander is written.
C) libel is written, and slander is spoken.
D) libel is legal, and slander is illegal.
E) libel only occurs with public figures, and slander can occur with private individuals.
Presidents ________ and ________ believed that the national depression was a
combination of state and local economic crises that should not be dealt with by the
national government.
A) Coolidge/Hoover
B) Harding/Hoover
C) Coolidge/T. Roosevelt
D) Harding/Coolidge
E) T. Roosevelt/Hoover
The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were not citizens, but property, in the case of
A) McCulloch v. Maryland.
B) Plessy v. Ferguson.
C) Gibbons v. Ogden.
D) Dred Scott v. Sandford.
E) Brown v. Board of Education.
Negative ads
A) only attack positions but not the character of opponents.
B) most frequently compare and contrast candidates’ issue positions.
C) are on the decline as a whole.
D) were not used until President Lyndon B. Johnson’s controversial “Daisy Ad.”
E) sometimes do not even mention the sponsor of the ads.
Economic issues have provided the basis for Texas conservatism with the view that
A) wealth should be stimulated among the working classes to further economic growth.
B) government programs to provide public services are unnecessary and anti-capitalist.
C) government power should be used to limit the economic effects of dramatic swings
in the business cycle.
D) governmental intervention in the economy is crucial for the maintenance of a sound
monetary and banking system.
E) government’s role in the regulatory function is crucial to maintaining control of
obscene profits by corporate interests at the expense of the workers.
All of the following are conservative news commentators EXCEPT
A) Bill O”Reilly.
B) Sean Hannity.
C) Keith Olbermann.
D) Glenn Beck.
E) Ann Coulter.
Moderates
A) are most aligned with the views of Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter.
B) comprise over half of the U.S. population.
C) largely support an overhaul of the welfare system.
D) believe that a temperate view is the best approach to politics.
E) created the Tea Party movement.
The ideological context for Texas government and politics centers on a set of ideas
which includes individualism, liberty, democracy, equality, and constitutionalism, and is
known as
A) the Constitution.
B) the Texan Creed.
C) the Texas Compact.
D) The Rangers’ Creed.
E) The Code of the West.
The Supreme Court uses the ________ test in dealing with religious establishment
cases.
A) prurient interest
B) Lemon
C) Engel
D) Rodriguez
E) equal access
Upon acceptance of the Democratic or Republican nomination, the candidates can
accept public financing of up to
A) $60 million.
B) $65 million.
C) $72 million.
D) $78 million.
E) $85 million.
In 1776, Thomas Paine authored a pamphlet arguing for colonial independence from
Britain entitled
A) The Plain Truth.
B) The Crisis.
C) The Leviathan.
D) Common Sense.
E) A Treatise on Government.
Studies about the role of schools in the political process find
I. mixed results.
II. teaching about symbols to be important.
III. reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is critical to instilling patriotism.
IV. that yellow ribbons have particular significance to children.
A) I and IV
B) II and III
C) I and II
D) II and IV
E) I and III
The Eighth Amendment prohibits
A) unreasonable searches and seizures.
B) cruel and unusual punishment.
C) trial without an attorney.
D) self-incrimination.
E) invasions of privacy.
Assume that after the death of your parents you and your siblings enter into a protracted
dispute over the distribution of your late parents’ estate, a dispute that requires you to
file suit against your siblings in court over the contested will. In what court will the
issue likely be settled?
A) County court at law
B) Constitutional county court
C) Statutory probate court
D) Justice of the peace court
E) District court
What Native American tribe was most feared and respected by early Spanish explorers,
and whose people displayed many of the characteristics of individualism that Anglo
Texans on the frontier admired?
A) Caddo
B) Comanche
C) Tonkawa
D) Tigua
E) Wichita
Which of the following is an example of the Vanna White veto?
A) “Spend $10 million on education” becomes “Spend $10 billion on education”
B) “Spend $100 million on education” becomes “Spend $100 million on health”
C) “Spend $10 million on education” becomes “Refuse to spend $10 million on
education”
D) Vetoing an entire health spending bill and sending it back to the legislature.
E) Vetoing an entire education spending bill by not signing it.
Which of the following are similarities between the United States and Canada?
I. They are both federal democracies.
II. The states and the provinces both use written constitutions.
III. The countries have similar histories of frontier expansion.
IV. They both have governors to head state or provincial governments.
A) I only
B) I and III
C) I and IV
D) I, II, and III
E) I, III, and IV
The process that allows citizens to propose legislation and submit it to the electorate for
popular vote is called a/an
A) referendum.
B) recall.
C) initiative.
D) caucus.
E) deelection.
Random drug testing of students
A) is not a violation of the Constitution.
B) has been ruled unconstitutional unless all students are tested.
C) is constitutional only if it is done on athletes.
D) has been considered by educators, but never actually implemented.
E) applies only to students involved in band or choir.
The nickname “First Lady President” was given to
A) Hillary Rodham Clinton.
B) Edith Bolling Galt Wilson.
C) Eleanor Roosevelt.
D) Abigail Adams.
E) Laura Bush.
After the 1990 hurricane, Galveston created a __________ form of city government
where elected members of the governing body also served as head administrators of city
programs.
A) weak mayor-council
B) city commission
C) strong mayor-council
D) council-manager
E) the commissioners court
Americans’ faith in institutions in the United States has
A) remained stagnant over time.
B) generally increased.
C) generally decreased.
D) decreased for some and increased for others.
E) fluctuated, depending on the political climate.
Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government sets out a theory of
A) the divine rights of kings.
B) aristocracy.
C) democracy.
D) republicanism.
E) natural rights.
In 2008, ____ was instrumental in the fundraising success of the 2008 presidential
campaign of Barack Obama.
A) MySpace
B) the Huffington Post
C) Facebook
D) Twitter
E) the Daily Kos.