What is the relationship of cities and towns to the state governments?
A.Local governmental bodies are completely autonomous and function independently.
B.State governments must approve all budgets and ordinances of local governments.
C.While local governments have some autonomy, they are still ultimately subordinate
to the state governments.
D.There is no significant relationship between state governments and cities and
counties.
E.Local governments must rely on the state government for revenues since local
governments cannot tax citizens.
Which of the following is the best definition of a political party?
A.An organization that seeks to win elections for the purpose of influencing the outputs
of government
B.An organization that seeks to generate a profit from its control of government
C.A government agency that seeks to control government at local, state, and federal
levels
D.A quasi-government agency that controls the government and minimizes competition
of ideas
E.An organization that seeks to define values for Americans and to create methods to
enforce those values
A system found in some European nations in which full access to health care is
provided to citizens at government expense.
A.universal health care
B.health maintenance organization (HMO)
C.government supplement
D.socialist medicine
E.insurance driven
What is a policy that deals with how to raise revenue through taxation and how to spend
the revenue generated?
A.budgeting
B.economic manipulation
C.political prioritization
D.social policy
E.fiscal policy
In the first two decades of the twentieth century, European imperialism increased and
the U.S. took action to protect its interests. As a result, which of the following nations
was NOT one of those in which the United States intervened with military action or
threat of action during these two decades?
A.Haiti
B.Iran
C.Nicaragua
D.Venezuela
E.Dominican Republic
Which of the following is an example of a sampling error?
A.The questions contain a limited range of response options.
B.The person being surveyed has limited knowledge about the subject.
C.The question is poorly worded.
D.A particular group is omitted from a survey.
E.All of the above.
Which president, whose assassination led to the Civil Service Reform Act of 1883,
sought to overhaul the civil service?
A.Abraham Lincoln
B.James A. Garfield
C.William McKinley
D.William Howard Taft
E.William Henry Harrison
The policy adopted in 1947 to contain communist threats in regions such as the Middle
East was called the
A.Roosevelt Doctrine.
B.Truman Doctrine.
C.Churchill Doctrine.
D.Dead Reds Doctrine.
E.Marshall Plan.
What percentage of the American civilian labor force could still be classified as
farmers?
A.less than 1 percent
B.4 percent
C.11 percent
D.22 percent
E.30 percent
During periods of rapid growth in federal spending, such as the New Deal of the 1930s
and the Great Society of the 1960s, what has been the corresponding response of
interest groups?
A.Since funding and services increased there was far less need for advocacy, thus the
number of interest groups decreased.
B.The number of organized and active interest groups increased significantly in order to
advocate for or oppose the increased funding.
C.Interest groups began to merge their organizations into the federal government’s
bureaucracy.
D.Interest groups disbanded because, in effect, they had been successful in advocating
for the creation of the new funding programs.
E.There was little discernible difference in the organization or number of interest
groups.
Which of the following is not true regarding the profile of Congress members?
A.They are better educated than the average citizen.
B.They are older than the average citizen.
C.They are wealthier than the average citizen.
D.They are younger than the average citizen.
E.None of the above.
Which of the following groups was the last to gain universal suffrage in the United
States?
A.African Americans
B.women
C.poor whites
D.Native Americans
E.naturalized citizens
Prior to 1913, when U.S. Senators were first elected by voters in the individual states,
how were the senators chosen?
A.They were appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
B.They were appointed by the state governors.
C.They were chosen by the state legislatures.
D.They were chosen by fellow senators.
E.They were chosen in a nationwide election.
For well over 100 years, many Americans advocated that the Bill of Rights in the U.S.
Constitution applied only to federal government actions and that states were not bound
by the amendments. How has this trend changed?
A.In the early twentieth century, Congress passed a law which allowed the Bill of
Rights to be applied at the state level.
B.In the twentieth century, the Supreme Court began using a process called
incorporation, which utilized the Fourteenth Amendment to hold states accountable to
the Bill of Rights and the dictates of the First Amendment..
C.The Constitution was amended to require that its amendments be applied to state
actions.
D.The Civil War decided this issue.
E.The civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century brought attention to the lack
of uniform enforcement and opened the door for Congress to pass laws that required
states to recognize and apply the Bill of Rights.
Under whose leadership did the Supreme Court usher in the era of dual federalism?
A.Alexander Hamilton
B.Aaron Burr
C.John Marshall
D.Roger Taney
E.Andrew Jackson
Though President Wilson was instrumental in creation of the League of Nations
following World War I, the United States never joined the League. Why?
A.The defeated Germany was felt to have received too many concessions from the
League.
B.President Wilson quickly became disillusioned with the process of international
alliances.
C.The U.S. Senate rejected Wilson’s recommendation to adopt the treaty and returned
the nation to an era of isolationism.
D.The United States realized that it would subordinate its military to a foreign power.
E.Other League members wanted to allow former enemy nations into the League.
How has mass media changed in the past 50 years? Describe some of these changes and
how they have impacted our political arena.
Answer:
Answers may vary.
Though World War I began in Europe in 1914, the United States did not enter the war
until 1917. What was the primary reason for this delay?
A.The United Nations had forbidden the United States to intervene.
B.The United States had no allies at the time among the European nations.
C.The United States advocated a policy of isolationism and neutrality until its shipping
was directly attacked by Germany.
D.The United States saw the war as a European problem and thus stayed clear of
intervention.
E.The Untied States did not have the military personnel or equipment to fight a major
war.
Policies enacted to combat the Great Depression were implemented in the
A.1870s.
B.1890s.
C.1910s.
D.1930s.
E.1950s.
Which of the following is a system of government in which sovereignty rests in the
central government alone, and states cannot exert direct authority over citizens without
approval of the central government?
A.federal system
B.confederation
C.unitary system
D.parochial system
E.secular system
What is a foreign policy that is virtually the opposite of isolationism, one that advocates
economic and military actions to secure boundaries and interests worldwide?
A.expansionism
B.internationalism
C.manifest destiny
D.secularism
E.militarism
Studies have shown that heavy users of the news media, compared to lighter users, are
A.far more critical of democracy.
B.more inclined to support overthrow of the government.
C.more politically informed.
D.less likely to hold long-term jobs.
E.more apt to run for political office.
Alexander Hamilton once said that the Supreme Court was
A.the least dangerous branch.
B.the most dangerous branch.
C.the most prestigious branch.
D.the most influential branch.
E.the least corrupt branch.
On the state court level of original jurisdiction, cases begin in
A.high courts.
B.appellate courts.
C.trial courts.
D.select courts.
E.district courts.
If a particular group does not yet have the right to vote, that group does not have
A.suffrage.
B.democratic ideals.
C.voter preference.
D.majoritarianism.
E.universal suffrage.
James Madison referred to the system of federalism as the “middle ground” of
government types. What did he mean by this statement?
A.The federal system is very weak because it fails to establish itself in contrast to
unitary and confederation systems.
B.Unitary systems and confederation systems are opposing ends of the continuum.
Federalism has elements of both systems but is the best attempt to balance the powers
and needs of the state versus federal governments.
C.The government fails to take a definitive stance.
D.Federalism is the second most preferred system of government, after the unitary
system.
E.The federal system abolishes the individual powers of the central and state
governments in favor of a weaker, but more balanced, hybrid government.
The federal fiscal year runs from
A.January 1 to December 31.
B.May 15 to April 15.
C.August 15 to July 15.
D.October 1 to September 30.
E.September 1 to August 31
The U.S. Constitution designates the vice president as next in the line of succession of
the president. If the vice president cannot serve, who does the Constitution designate as
the next in the line of succession?
A.the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
B.the secretary of state
C.the United States Attorney General
D.the president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate
E.a U.S. senator designated by a three-fourths majority of Congress
The core of political participation in a functional democracy is
A.impeachment.
B.taxation.
C.elections and voting.
D.the media.
E.free speech.
In the U.S. Senate there are often no rules limiting debate on a bill as it comes to the
floor. Just one senator could try to block a bill from passage by refusing to end
discussion. This procedure is known as
A.cloture.
B.open rule.
C.a filibuster.
D.tabling.
E.flanking.
A psychological attachment to one of the main political parties and an orientation
mechanism for understanding how to apply one’s beliefs and values to the political
world is referred to as
A.partisanship.
B.political ideology.
C.denominationalism.
D.political dependence.
E.political need.