The Internet
A) has been around since the mid-1950s, when fears of Communism caused the
government to network defense computers.
B) was not in widespread use until the late 1960s.
C) is, despite its prevalence, in a minority of homes in the United States.
D) had its roots in the ARPANET project.
E) is quickly becoming American’s exclusive source of news.
Conservative scholars credit the _______ for creating the economic growth that stalled
a rise in unemployment in 2010.
A) Recovery Act
B) TARP program
C) tax and spend economic policies
D) Great Society program
E) New Deal
The right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury is guaranteed by the
________ Amendment.
A) Sixth
B) Seventh
C) Eighth
D) Tenth
E) Fourteenth
For much of the twentieth century, the basis for the Texas economy was
A) agriculture.
B) cattle.
C) cotton.
D) petroleum.
E) shipping.
Education spending received approximately ________percent of the total Recovery Act
funds.
A) 5
B) 10
C) 15
D) 20
E) 35
The state executive official who is the chief elections officer for Texas, manages
corporate charters in Texas, and maintains many of the state’s records is the
A) public utility commissioner.
B) Texas secretary of state.
C) Texas attorney general.
D) comptroller.
E) lieutenant governor.
Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein was an example of
A) a totalitarian system of government.
B) a democratic system of government.
C) an oligarchic system of government.
D) a monarchic system of government.
E) an aristocratic system of government.
Which of the following reduces the costs of voting?
A) Poll taxes
B) Voter registration
C) White-only primaries
D) Early voting
E) All of the above
Mandates that certain amounts of electricity must come from alternative sources are
known as
A) Electric Grid Standards.
B) Alternative Minimum Standards.
C) Renewable Portfolio Standards.
D) Fossil Fuel Reduction Mandates.
E) Conservation of Energy Minimums.
New Federalism favors ________ over ________ grants.
A) block/categorical
B) categorical/block
C) funded mandates/categorical
D) block/unfunded mandates
E) block/funded mandates
Iron triangles
A) by design exacerbate inefficiencies of the bureaucratic system.
B) are not as powerful as they once were.
C) illustrate the competition that exists within different government agencies.
D) became illegal after the Federal Employees Political Activities Act of 1993 was
passed.
E) are synonymous with issue networks.
Which of the following is most significantly underrepresented in the Texas legislature?
A) Lawyers
B) Urbanites
C) Rural residents
D) Women
E) Millionaires
The election of President Abraham Lincoln in 1860 could be MOST attributed to
A) party unity.
B) a single divisive issue.
C) disarray of the opposing party.
D) his charisma.
E) William M. “Boss” Tweed.
Unpopular use of the pardon contributed to which president’s reelection defeat?
A) Andrew Johnson
B) Harry S Truman
C) John Adams
D) Lyndon B. Johnson
E) Gerald R. Ford
The Supreme Court’s rulings in the Civil Rights Cases collectively resulted in
A) greater state enforcement of federal civil rights laws.
B) passage of the Thirteenth Amendment.
C) an expanded interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
D) serious limitations on the scope of the Civil Rights Amendments.
E) passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.
Because energy and environmental policies are so critical to the nation, a Cabinet-level
department called the ____________ was established.
A) Department of Energy
B) Department of Homeland Security
C) Department of Health and Human Services
D) Department of the Interior
E) Petroleum Administration
In addition to granting certain powers to state and national governments, Article I of the
Constitution also denies some powers to those governments. Which of the following
powers are denied?
I. Passing bills of attainder.
II. Entering compacts with other states.
III. Passing ex post facto laws.
IV. Laying duties on exports.
A) I and II
B) I and IV
C) III and IV
D) I, III, and IV
E) II, III, and IV
How many courts of appeals (state intermediate appellate courts) are there in Texas?
A) Two
B) 14
C) 55
D) 132
E) 254
In the end, _____ was a significant point of controversy during the debates on the
Patient Protection and Affordability of Care Act.
A) abortion
B) cash for clunkers
C) the Depression
D) access to contraceptives
E) the composition of the Supreme Court
If you work for the Environmental Protection Agency, you cannot work for Barack
Obama’s reelection campaign because
A) you would be working in two branches of government.
B) the Hatch Act legally prevents you from doing so.
C) federal employees cannot work for incumbent candidates.
D) you would likely be an elected official.
E) federal employees cannot show public political support for anyone.
The Democratic Party’s get-out-the-vote success in 2008 can be attributed largely to
A) Republican scandals.
B) Facebook.
C) micro-targeting.
D) Voter Vault.
E) corporate contributions.
Criminal defendants can waive their right to a jury trial unless the charge is
A) capital murder.
B) any first or second degree felony.
C) aggravated sexual assault.
D) manslaughter.
E) Criminal defendants can never waive their right to a jury.
The most dominant feature of traditional media coverage of campaigns is
A) coverage of the horse race.
B) issue analysis.
C) candidates’ personal lives
D) analysis of debates.
E) fundraising events.
Our earliest views of political matters come from
A) kindergarten.
B) The Weekly Reader.
C) parents.
D) church, temple, or synagogue.
E) friends.
Which of the following would be the most likely to occur in a mixed free-enterprise
system?
A) The passage of a law that requires private businesses to share stockholdings with the
government
B) A government takeover of the airline industry
C) A ban on interstate commerce
D) A bidding war between two cable companies to offer the lowest price
E) The existence of only one utility company for the entire country
Members of Congress tend to contribute to candidates that
A) are receiving congressional campaign committee resources.
B) receive little financial support from other sources.
C) are in noncompetitive elections.
D) are running for a state-level office.
E) have already received “matching funds.”
In 2011, Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives. That made the
Democratic Party the ____ party within that legislative body.
A) opposition
B) minority
C) losing
D) lesser
E) weak
The right to counsel includes the right to
A) a public defender.
B) the best lawyer in town.
C) a lawyer who is well prepared.
D) any person admitted to the bar.
E) a team of lawyers, if requested by a defendant.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separate educational facilities for black and white
students were inherently unequal in the landmark case of
A) Plessy v. Ferguson.
B) Dred Scott v. Sandford.
C) Reed v. Reed.
D) Brown v. Board of Education.
E) Roe v. Wade.
Representatives and Senators are elected to what terms, respectively?
A) 1 and 3 years
B) 2 and 4 years
C) 2 and 6 years
D) 4 and 6 years
E) 2 years for both
A voting system that apportions legislative seats according to the percentage of the vote
won by a particular party is known as what kind of system?
A) At large by place
B) Single member
C) Cumulative voting
D) Proportional representation
E) Winner-take-all
According to the U.S. State Department, which of the following countries are the
MOST actively involved in ending in human trafficking practices?
I. Canada
II. South Korea
III. Israel
IV. India
A) I only
B) I and III
C) I and II
D) I, II, and III
E) I, III, and IV
Vegetable and herb seeds cannot be purchased using food stamps in Alaska.
Congressional party discipline is enforced through all of these techniques EXCEPT
A) stripping seniority rights.
B) committee appointments.
C) campaign funding.
D) loyalty to the president.
E) leadership positions.
China’s emergence as a major economic power has created all of the following
EXCEPT
A) environmental degradation.
B) a high death toll from cancer.
C) an increasingly capitalist society.
D) water shortages.
E) death of aquatic life.