Setting the time, place, and manner of elections is a concurrent power.
The Texas legislature created the Children’s Health Investment Program in 1999 to offer
tax breaks to poor Texans to help them buy private health insurance for their children.
Brown v. Board of Education is considered by many scholars to be the most important
civil rights case of the twentieth century.
The Framers did not envision that the president would be a strong executive officer.
The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States.
The annual salary for the Texas governor is currently set at $115,345.
While Texas governors possess strong control over the executive branch, they wield
much weaker tools of influence over the legislative process.
Unlike cities, counties do not have general ordinance-making authority.
Approximately three-fourths of Texas cities are home-rule cities.
In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled that the commerce clause could
not be used to reduce state powers.
The Texas governor during the Constitutional Convention of 1875 was E. J. Davis.
In 2008, Democratic candidate Barack Obama opted out of receiving public financing
to fund his campaign.
In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court made it extremely difficult for
public officials to win libel cases.
If you have a small claim to take to court you would go to a justice of the peace court
which has relaxed procedural requirements and original jurisdiction in civil cases
involving claims of under $200.
Local newspapers and broadcast journalists devote resources to covering local senators
and representatives.
During the late 1800s, the U.S. Supreme Court consistently ruled to enlarge the scope
of federal powers.
Population ecology theorists favor access to birth control.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to have a press secretary.
Young voter turnout was below average in the 2008 Iowa Caucuses.
The American Medical Association’s lobbying against universal health care in the 1930s
is an example of the interest group theory.
Ethnic minorities are well represented among Texas judges.
The governor gives his State of the State address to a joint session of the Texas
legislature at the start of a new biennial session, conveying his wishes to the legislature.
This is a use of one of the governor’s available tools to win support for his legislative
agenda
The difficulty of getting media access to the Supreme Court is a safeguard against
further politicization of the judicial branch.
President George W. Bush’s performance played a large part in Senator John McCain’s
defeat in 2008.
The United States ranks behind almost all industrialized nations in the number of
women in its national legislature.
The Constitution has only changed through formal amendments.
Because of the decentralized executive power set by the Texas Constitution, the
governor must rely on personal and political skills to act effectively as the chief
executive officer of Texas.
Mancur Olson argues that it is not rational to join groups.
The functional head of the state political party is often the governor or the party
chairperson.
Critics charge that the USA Patriot Act expands civil liberties needlessly in a time of
war.
Texas’s population completed the transition from primarily rural to primarily urban in
the 1940s.
Australia and the United States had similar assimilation goals for their indigenous
people.
The geographic size of Texas contributes to the importance of money in electoral
campaigns.
Which of the following best describes the Speaker’s race?
A) Each legislator votes on the candidate for Speaker who is nominated by that person’s
party.
B) A statewide election in which citizens select the leader of the Texas Senate
C) Legislators vote for a Speaker from a list of five candidates compiled by the
governor.
D) Potential Speakers collect signed pledges from Senators (and even Senate
candidates) before the vote is actually held.
E) The member of the majority party with the greatest seniority becomes Speaker.
A ________ is a live event where the president addresses the nation directly.
A) press release
B) press briefing
C) press conference
D) penny press
E) press backgrounder
The Texas legislature
A) currently does not have any Hispanic members.
B) overrepresented African Americans during the years of Democratic dominance.
C) prohibits service by Native Americans unless they give up their tribal affiliations.
D) has been dominated by Anglos.
E) fairly closely represents Texas in terms of socio-demographic characteristics.
One of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation up to that point in
American history was the ______ Act, passed in 1970.
A) Clean Air
B) Clear Air
C) Clean Water
D) Clear Water
E) Clear Air and Water
When secular law conflicts with religious beliefs, freedom of religion is
A) suppressed.
B) guaranteed by the Second Amendment.
C) allowed, but only after a court order is obtained.
D) always upheld.
E) sometimes denied.
The increasing complexity of the policy-making process within bureaucracies is MOST
reflected in the growth of
A) iron triangles.
B) issue networks.
C) interagency councils.
D) policy councils.
E) political action committees.
According to political scientist Richard Neustadt, the president’s power to persuade is
crucial to his
A) charisma.
B) exercise of ultra-constitutional powers.
C) ideological entrepreneurship.
D) political leadership.
E) reelection campaign.
Which of these was NOT one of the mainstays of Spanish colonization of Texas?
A) The mission, which performed civilian as well as religious functions
B) The presidio, which provided frontier defense
C) The rancho, which sustained civilian life
D) The mills, which supported alcohol and tobacco trade
E) Towns or civilian settlements
In ________, the Supreme Court found that segregation of rail transportation was
constitutional because separate but equal accommodations did not violate the equal
protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
A) Civil Rights Cases
B) Slaughterhouse Cases
C) Plessy v. Ferguson
D) Bradwell v. Illinois
E) Brown v. Board of Education
According to ____, life without government would be ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and
short.”
A) John Locke
B) St. Thomas Aquinas
C) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
D) Thomas Hobbes
E) Aristotle
The Executive Office of the President was established in 1939 to
A) formalize the informal structure of the Cabinet.
B) act as a liaison with the legislative branch.
C) aid in the war effort.
D) help the president direct the activities of the executive branch.
E) improve the accuracy of military intelligence to the president.
Over time, the number of federal employees in the executive branch has
A) grown substantially and continuously.
B) grown, but then fell to pre-1900 levels.
C) stagnated somewhat after World War I.
D) fallen considerably since the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
E) peaked during the New Deal, fell, then generally increased thereafter.
Modern trade agreements designed to balance the flow of goods among countries have
their theoretical roots in
A) interventionism.
B) the goals of the Treaty of Paris of 1763.
C) constitutionalism.
D) mercantilism.
E) the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Which best describes the Texas judicial system?
A) Simplistic and straightforward
B) Punitive and easily comprehensible
C) Restrictive and corrupt
D) Predatory and vindictive
E) Complicated and confusing
The Institute of Texan Cultures identifies how many ethnic groups in Texas?
A) Four
B) Five
C) Nine
D) Seventeen
E) Twenty-seven
Television and radio are regulated by the federal government because
A) there is an unlimited supply of broadcast stations.
B) television and radio are considered dangerous to the spirit of democracy.
C) the airwaves are public property.
D) it is specifically allowed by the Constitution.
E) media profits are not legally allowed to exceed certain levels.
A judge on which of the following courts would have the most prestige?
A) State court of appeals
B) Constitutional county court
C) Statutory county court
D) Texas Court of Criminal appeals
E) Justice of the peace court
The House of Representatives and the Senate combined have ________ members with
full voting privileges.
A) 435
B) 475
C) 605
D) 575
E) 535
Research by political scientists finds that
A) interest groups play no significant role in the judicial process.
B) federal courts never listen to arguments made by interest groups.
C) the more interest groups that file petitions in support of certiorari, the more likely
the Court is to accept the case for review.
D) only conservative interest groups can influence the Court.
E) only liberal interest groups can influence the Court.
In some governments, politicians may be required to prove their religious knowledge to
be considered suitable for office. In the United States, however, this is expressly
prohibited by
A) the Freedom of Religion Act.
B) the First Amendment.
C) Article VI of the Constitution.
D) Article I of the Constitution.
E) the Sixth Amendment.
Perhaps the biggest policy issue concerning school districts in Texas over the past 30
years has been
A) public school finance.
B) charter schools.
C) home-rule school districts.
D) single-member district elections.
E) cumulative voting.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin consistently received high marks from the public and the
media.
The Anti-Federalists demanded a series of amendments to the Constitution to protect
individual liberties known as
A) the libertarian amendments.
B) the Anti-Federalist amendments.
C) the Bill of Rights.
D) Mr. Madison’s Mistake.
E) the confederation amendments.
Lyndon B. Johnson aired one of the most controversial political ads in the history of the
United States in 1964. Why was it so shocking?
A) It suggested his opponent was a sexual predator.
B) It implied Barry Goldwater would use nuclear weapons with little hesitation.
C) Negative ads had not been used previously.
D) His campaign only aired it once.
E) Akin to Johnson’s demeanor, the ad contained derogatory language.
Which is NOT one of the variables which determine gubernatorial power?
A) Tenure (length and limit of term)
B) Percentage of Electoral College vote
C) Budget control
D) Signing/vetoing of bills
E) Appointment power
The Ms. President badge was established by the Girl Scouts
A) to encourage the election of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
B) in coordination with Ms. magazine.
C) to encourage young girls to think about running for political office.
D) to train girls to run for class president.
E) to socialize men to accept the idea of and vote for a female president.
The Texas legislature typically meets in regular session
A) once a year for 140 days.
B) twice a year for 70 days each time.
C) once every two years for 140 days.
D) once every three years for 210 days.
E) continuously every year.
According to Aristotle’s classifications of government, rule by a few whose interests are
served by the public is
A) an aristocracy.
B) a dictatorship.
C) a democracy.
D) a monarchy.
E) an oligarchy.
The idea that judges should use their power broadly to further justice is called
A) stare decisis.
B) original intent.
C) judicial restraint.
D) judicial activism.
E) judicial moderation.
The 2008 Republican Party platform
A) supported the addition of a constitutional amendment calling for the appointment of
judges who respect traditional family values.
B) opposed the use of nuclear power.
C) did not mention al-Qaeda and Afghanistan.
D) pledged to triple the tax exemption for dependents.
E) pledged to cut corporate loopholes and tax havens.
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1967 to provide a way
to
A) define the line of presidential succession.
B) remove the secretary of state from the line of presidential succession.
C) provide guidance during impeachment proceedings.
D) ensure that vacancies in the office of the vice president can be filled without
election.
E) eliminate the Electoral College.