Why did the Literary Digest fail to accurately predict the outcome of the 1936
presidential election?
A.biased question wording
B.self-selection
C.a small sample size
D.under-sampling of wealthy voters
E.over reliance on scientific principles and under-reliance on common sense
Approximately ________ percent of eligible voters rarely or never vote.
A.5
B.10
C.35
D.50
E.65
A concept that evaluates an incumbent’s job performance as a significant indicator of
whether to support the candidate in the current election is called
A.party identification.
B.candidate appeal.
C.party dedication.
D.electoral balance.
E.retrospective voting.
Article VI requires
A.that the federal government create no ex post facto laws.
B.all states honor the laws and official acts of the other states.
C.that states may not coin money.
D.that no religious test be required for holding any public office.
E.that all voters be knowledgeable of the Constitution.
What is the primary purpose for the president’s designation as commander-in-chief?
A.to use the military experience that most presidents have and to allow them to
effectively lead the armed forces
B.to allow for the United States to have the ability to declare war and take necessary
military action
C.to allow the military to ultimately remain under civilian control
D.to simplify the chain of command
E.to improve relationships and alliances with the military in other nations
What impact did the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
have on the relationship between the federal and state governments in education?
A.The Court infused the federal government into education by contending that national
education problems demand national solutions.
B.The Court required that the federal government would be the primary funding source
for education.
C.The ruling mandated creation of the U.S. Department of Education.
D.Since the case highlighted that the federal government was ineffective in enforcing
desegregation, the role was passed to state governments.
E.The Court required that the two levels of government must cooperate equally in
providing educational services.
Normally, the period from January through June of the year of a presidential election is
referred to as the nomination campaign. What occurs during this period?
A.The candidates declare their intention to seek the office of president.
B.All campaign funds are required to be expended.
C.Primary elections are held in each state to determine the number of delegates each
candidate will be allowed to send to the nominating convention.
D.The Electoral College meets to cast their formal votes.
E.The nationwide vote is held and the next president is chosen.
The responsibilities of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) include
A.drafting Congress’s budget proposal.
B.administrative adjudication.
C.balancing the budget.
D.providing detailed analyses of proposed bills.
E.borrowing money on behalf of the United States.
The U.S. Congress
A.is nonpartisan.
B.is unicameral.
C.is bicameral.
D.is elected by state legislators.
E.is charged with interpreting law.
President Wilson played a major role in drafting the agreement that ended World War I.
What was the name of this agreement?
A.League of Nations
B.Warsaw Pact
C.NATO Accords
D.Treaty of Versailles
E.European Common Union
Certain positive rights, whether political, social, or economic, are conferred by the
government on individuals or groups that had previously been denied them. These are
called
A.civil liberties.
B.civil rights.
C.suffrage.
D.social incentives.
E.incremental rights.
Which of the following types of speech can government restrict?
A.slanderous speech
B.symbolic speech
C.political speech
D.unpopular speech
E.hateful speech
Some federal agencies do not have high cabinet-level status but they do report directly
to the president. Such agencies, which include NASA and the Small Business
Administration, are referred to as
A.Cabinet departments.
B.independent agencies.
C.administrative units.
D.congressional subdivisions.
E.inner circle agencies.
What was the impact of the Alien Act in 1798 and how did it affect civil liberties?
A.The Alien Act protected noncitizens from loss of civil liberties by the government.
B.The Alien Act enacted a military draft for aliens currently living in the United States.
C.Due to fear of a pending war with France, the Alien Act authorized the president to
order out of the United States all aliens suspected of “treasonable or secret” inclinations.
D.The Alien Act greatly strengthened civil rights for all residents and protected them
from the government’s imposition of power.
E.The Alien Act prohibited the federal government from taking any action against
aliens, leaving that power to the state governments.
A change in the early twentieth century whereby the rank-and-file party members rather
than party leaders began to choose the party’s nominees for offices is referred to as
A.general election preemption.
B.general election screening process.
C.direct primary election.
D.local primary preference.
E.straw vote.
What is meant by “administrative discretion”?
A.The federal courts have considerable oversight ability and latitude to steer an agency.
B.An agency is not bound by its written regulations and may adapt its procedures to
meet the particular circumstance.
C.Having enacted the legislation, Congress has reserved the right to create
administrative guidelines for an agency.
D.When laws are vague, a federal agency usually has considerable freedom in deciding
how to implement them.
E.In regard to a federal agency, the president has considerable freedom to dictate to the
agency how a law will be implemented.
In some cases, such as that of O.J. Simpson in the 1990s, the defendant may be
acquitted of a murder charge but may also be required in a separate court action to pay a
large fine for “wrongful death.” Under what type of law is this action generated?
A.criminal law
B.civil law
C.constitutional law
D.common law
E.appeal
Arms of special interest groups that raise and give money to political candidates are
called
A.congressional oversight committees.
B.political action committees.
C.political parties.
D.influence peddlers.
E.political divisions.
Which of the following theories suggests that while the effects of exposure may be
minimal or difficult to gauge, the media are quite influential in telling the public what to
think about?
A.cultivation theory
B.social learning theory
C.minimal effects theory
D.agenda setting theory
E.hypnotic theory
Which of the following is NOT one of the groups of citizens that have at some point in
U.S. history been denied the right to vote?
A.minorities
B.women
C.property owning males
D.poor citizens of both genders
E.Native Americans
Which of the following is an example of a plurality?
A.The winning candidate in an election receives exactly half of the votes but is allowed
to take office.
B.A presidential candidate does not receive a majority of the electoral college votes but
is declared the winner of the election.
C.A political candidate receives the most votes and takes office though he/she fails to
win a majority of the votes.
D.Two candidates combine their votes to form a majority.
E.No candidate receives a majority so the top two candidates form a power-sharing
arrangement.
In 1824 Andrew Jackson was the first presidential candidate in American history to win
the popular vote but not win a majority of the Electoral College. What happened as a
result of these election results?
A.The election was scratched and a new election held with Jackson losing in the second
election.
B.Since Jackson did not win a majority of the Electoral College, the House of
Representatives made the choice.
C.The Republican Party was created from the turmoil and began to win elections.
D.A political stalemate formed which prohibited the formation of other parties.
E.The turmoil was so great that the election was not held and the existing president
served for three more years.
In 2008, the political parties raised
A.about $100 million.
B.about $500 million.
C.about $700 million.
D.about $1 billion.
E.about $2 billion.
Which of the following is not a key actor in formulating U.S. foreign policy?
A.State Department
B.Defense Department
C.National Security Council
D.Federal Bureau of Investigation
E.Joint Chiefs of Staff
Congressional agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) are designed to
A.recommend legislation to the leaders of Congress.
B.critique Congress.
C.provide objective information for use in formulating policy.
D.report to the president on the actions of Congress.
E.reveal criminal activity on the part of members of Congress.
Which of the following institutions receives the least media coverage?
A.the House of Representatives
B.the Senate
C.the president
D.the Supreme Court
E.Congress
President George Washington considered himself to be a member of which political
party?
A.Tories
B.Whigs
C.Republicans
D.He did not join a party officially but was aligned with the Anti-Federalists.
E.He despised political parties and refused to endorse their presence in politics.
Jimmy Carter won the Democratic Party nomination for president in 1976 and went on
to win the presidency. Carter was considered a low-key outsider who was not the first
pick of the party power elites. How did Carter win the Democratic primary election?
A.He swayed the party leaders to back his candidacy.
B.Many consider the 1976 election as a ‘stolen election.”
C.Carter won enough primary votes in the southern states that he did not need states
from other areas of the country.
D.Carter was the only major candidate running for president in 1976.
E.He was the first to appeal directly to the primary voters and gain their support.
When a bureaucratic unit or agency drafts a set of regulations to implement a program,
those regulations must be officially published and made accessible to the public. The
format for publishing the regulations is called the
A.Federal Register.
B.United States Code.
C.Federal Statutes.
D.Supreme Court Reporter.
E.Washington Post.
Which of the following is a conservative interest group?
A.National Organization for Women (NOW)
B.American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
C.American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
D.National Rifle Association (NRA)
E.NAACP
In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Employment Division v Smith established
what important precedent concerning freedom of religion?
A.The ruling strongly encouraged active religious practice in the United States but was
later overturned by legislation.
B.The Supreme Court intended to force religious inclusion into the workforce.
C.The Supreme Court attempted to create a constitutional amendment that would
further strengthen the First Amendment.
D.The ruling gave social conservatives an inroad with which to file more lawsuits
against the government.
E.The ruling required state governments only to establish a “legitimate state interest” in
restricting religious freedoms.
How does the term “civil liberties” differ from the term “civil rights”?
A.Lawsuits may be filed when violations of civil liberties occur, but they may not be
filed for violations of civil rights.
B.Civil liberties are voluntary while civil rights are mandatory.
C.In most cases, the terms mean the same thing.
D.Civil liberties are guaranteed by the Constitution and cannot be taken away, while
civil rights refer to the rights to equal treatment for specific groups based on race,
gender, sex, etc.
E.The term “civil liberties” was used prior to the twentieth century, while the term “civil
rights” was used afterward.