Which of the following is true regarding politics and the Great Depression?
a. The Great Depression shattered the working-class belief in Democratic economic
competence.
b. Hoover supported federal relief for the unemployed and the destitute.
c. Roosevelt’s relief programs were generally not available to African Americans,
resulting in African Americans’ antagonism toward the Democratic Party that lasted for
decades.
d. The Great Depression shattered the working-class belief in Republican economic
competence.
e. The Republican ascendancy lasted from the early 1930s until the late 1960s.
Because of the large number of Representatives in the House of Representatives,
a. House members tend to filibuster.
b. the Senate acts on legislation far more quickly than the House.
c. more formal rules are needed to govern how Congress operates.
d. House members invoke cloture more often.
e. a constitutional amendment has been proposed to decrease the size of the House and
to increase the number in the Senate.
In United States v. Nixon, the Supreme Court ruled that
a. a sitting president cannot be sued in civil court for offenses that occurred before the
president took office.
b. executive privilege could not be used to prevent evidence from being heard in
criminal proceedings.
c. congressional approval must be granted before presidents make use of executive
privilege.
d. the president is immune from criminal prosecution except for impeachable crimes.
e. members of the Secret Service cannot be required to testify against the president.
Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique
a. provided the credo for the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s
Clubs.
b. focused national attention on the unequal status of women in American life.
c. argued that women should not work outside the home.
d. advocated Marxism as a solution to women’s problems.
e. acknowledged that birth control should not be readily available because it would
encourage women to engage in marital infidelity and premarital sex.
In the 1944 case of Smith v. Allwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled the
______ to be a violation of the Fifteenth Amendment.
a. literacy test
b. poll tax
c. grandfather clause
d. white primary
e. black primary
It was not until the _______ was ratified that the Bill of Rights began to be applied to
the states.
a. Twelfth Amendment
b. Thirteenth Amendment
c. Fourteenth Amendment
d. Fifteenth Amendment
e. Sixteenth Amendment
Which of the following best describes what Common Cause does?
a. It helped establish, then repeal, Prohibition.
b. It has led to an overhaul of the Internal Revenue Service.
c. It works to make governmental institutions more responsive to the needs of the
public.
d. It is the smallest interest group in the country in terms of numbers.
e. It strives to ignore national priorities of the public.
Those with high incomes tend to
a. lean toward the left.
b. vote Democratic.
c. favor government action to promote economic equality.
d. oppose government intervention in the economy.
e. favor government action to benefit the poor.
In 1954, fewer than 20 percent of adults identified themselves as ______, whereas
today that share is about 40 percent.
a. Republicans
b. Democrats
c. Libertarians
d. Socialists
e. Independents
Policy implementation is
a. concerned with how policies are carried out by bureaucrats, the courts, police, and
individual citizens.
b. the process of making the media aware of an issue.
c. the discussion of proposals between governmental officials and the public.
d. concerned with a specific strategy for a proposal.
e. a study conducted to see what happens after a policy is first established.
The American Revolution ended when Britain recognized American independence in
the
a. Treaty of Paris.
b. Treaty of Bretton Woods.
c. Treaty of Geneva.
d. Treaty of Stockholm.
e. Declaration of Independence.
Which of the following statements about “527” groups is true?
a. They have not impacted campaigns.
b. They were named after the number of members legally required to form the group.
c. They run issue ads to energize voters.
d. They must pay taxes which fund elections.
e. They are no longer active.
Agency capture is when
a. an agency takes over an industry.
b. the industry that is being regulated gains control over the agency that is supposed to
regulate it.
c. the agency completely ignores an industry that it is supposed to regulate.
d. the agency abolishes a private corporation and merges it with itself.
e. pork-barrel spending occurs.
Today, the members of the cabinet
a. are an informal group of presidential advisers.
b. are limited to the heads of the fifteen executive departments.
c. include fourteen department secretaries and the attorney general, plus other top
officials chosen by the president.
d. include only the heads of the Departments of State, Justice, Defense, and Treasury,
plus the heads of the EPA, CIA, and FBI.
e. are a subset of any six executive department heads, chosen by the president.
All of the following are true EXCEPT that
a. civil liberties and civil rights are the same thing.
b. civil rights refer to the rights of Americans to equal protection under the law.
c. civil liberties are limitations on the governmentwhat government cannot do.
d. civil rights specify what government must do to ensure freedom from discrimination.
e. most minorities in this nation have suffered from discrimination.
Privatization is
a. the replacement of government services with services provided by private firms.
b. when the Small Business Administration gives loans to individuals.
c. hiring practices of the bureaucracy.
d. the replacement of private services with state or local government services.
e. the abolition of entire government departments.
To be considered obscene, a work must
a. be offensive to a specific religious group.
b. lack serious redeeming literary, artistic, political, or scientific merit.
c. be determined to be commercial speech.
d. employ graphics, as opposed to mere text.
e. portray actual sexual intercourse.
Which of the following is true about Presidential emergency powers?
a. They are listed in the Twenty-second Amendment.
b. They have never been exercised.
c. They are listed in each amendment of the Bill of Rights.
d. They were first enunciated in the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v.
Curtiss-Wright Export Corp.
e. They are not outlined in the Constitution.
Candidates in state and local elections are mostly chosen by
a. who looks the best on TV.
b. Republican Party caucuses.
c. superdelegates from the Democratic Party.
d. direct primaries.
e. indirect primaries.
Most interest groups form to represent __________ interests.
a. economic
b. agricultural
c. foreign
d. environmental
e. professional
One of the main ways third parties have influenced American politics is by
a. refusing to allow their policies to be adopted by a major party.
b. sometimes determining the outcome of an election by pulling votes from one of the
major-party candidates.
c. focusing their efforts on getting judges appointed to the bench rather than winning
elections for the executive or legislative branches.
d. winning elections to state legislative bodies.
e. gaining control of several municipal governments.
The phrase “don”t ask, don”t tell” refers to a policy toward gay men and lesbians
a. governing their employment by the CIA and the FBI.
b. allowing them to serve in the military so long as they did not declare that they were
gay or commit homosexual acts.
c. regulating when they are allowed to adopt.
d. allowing them to serve in Congress so long as they did not declare that they were gay
or commit homosexual acts.
e. adopted by the Hollywood movie industry.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1962 made the redistricting of state legislative seats
a. illegal.
b. a justiciable question.
c. unable to be reviewed in court.
d. legal only in Illinois.
e. the sole power of the President.
Which of the following statements about recruiting candidates is true?
a. Recruiting candidates is easier for Republicans.
b. Recruiting candidates is easier for higher offices with more prestige.
c. Recruiting candidates is harder for the office of register of deeds.
d. Recruiting candidates is harder for the office of county treasurer.
e. Recruiting candidates is easier for local offices than any other.
A lawsuit seeking damages for “all persons similarly situated” is called
a. a class-action suit.
b. an amicus curiae suit.
c. a writ of certiorari.
d. a criminal suit.
e. a procedural motion.
Which of the following is true regarding the establishment of cabinet departments?
a. The first cabinet department to be created was Treasury and the most recently created
was Education.
b. The first cabinet department to be created was State and the most recently created
was Homeland Security.
c. The first cabinet department to be created was War and the most recently created was
Energy.
d. The first cabinet department to be created was Treasury and the most recently created
was Health and Human Services.
e. The first cabinet department to be created was State and the most recently created
was Veterans Affairs.
Transmitting political values
a. is more likely to happen from parents to children.
b. is less likely to happen from educators to students.
c. is equally likely to happen from educators as from parents.
d. most likely happens when children, influenced by educators, influence parents in
turn.
e. never happens from children to parents.
All of the following developments took place in the colonial period EXCEPT
a. the colonists developed a concept of limited government.
b. the colonists exercised a large measure of self-government.
c. the colonists passed the Pennsylvania Frame of Government, which foreshadowed
our modern Constitution.
d. Louisiana was established as the last of the thirteen colonies.
e. the colonists acquired crucial political experience.
Which Presidential power or duty is most likely to give the president tremendous public
exposure, which can be an important asset in a campaign for reelection?
a. Chief oversight officer
b. Chief legislator
c. Independent status
d. Head of state
e. Resident of the White House
Individual health insurance mandates and the ability of states to ban same-sex marriage
are two issues that
a. have been decided by the Supreme Court recently.
b. are currently being decided by the Supreme Court.
c. the Supreme Court has refused to consider.
d. can only be decided by the states.
e. have been criticized for being unfunded mandates.
The generational effect in politics refers to
a. the way in which political socialization produces opinions.
b. the increased tension between the two major political parties.
c. the tendency for persons to become more conservative as they grow older.
d. the long-lasting effect of the events of a particular time on the political opinions of
those who came of age at that time.
e. the way in which the family influences voting.
The free exercise clause guarantees
a. the free exercise of religion.
b. the free exercise of armed self-defense.
c. free speech, particularly as related to religious beliefs.
d. freedom to choose private education paid for by the state.
e. the free endorsement of candidates by religious groups.
Which of the following is true about the Soviet bloc?
a. Its formation was the turning point in World War II.
b. It was made up of countries that had seceded from the Soviet Union.
c. It consisted of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries with Communist
regimes.
d. It was designed to prevent supplies from entering West Berlin in 1948.
e. It was the alliance set up by the United States and Western Europe to counter the
Soviet Union.
Case law includes all of the following EXCEPT
a. constitutional amendments.
b. judicial interpretations of common law principles and doctrines.
c. judicial interpretations of constitutional provisions.
d. judicial interpretations of statutes.
e. judicial interpretations of administrative agency regulations.
The concept of checks and balances allows
a. each branch of the government to be able to check the actions of the others.
b. the president to veto judicial decisions.
c. the president to pass laws during a time of crisis.
d. Congress to select justices of the Supreme Court.
e. the Treasury to print paper currency.