After World War I, the United States returned to a state of “normalcy” in foreign policy,
which meant
a. a continued commitment to international peacekeeping.
b. reassuring the public that the United States would act in the role of world policeman.
c. a sharp increase in military spending in order to honor commitments made to the
allied powers.
d. a reduction in military forces and defense spending and a return to isolationism.
e. the annexation of additional territory in the Western Hemisphere.
In 2012, most Republican Party presidential primaries and caucuses allocated delegates
a. in a 70/30 split between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
b. on a winner-take-all basis.
c. on a proportional basis.
d. according to the results of “beauty contests.”
e. according to the results of a poll among superdelegates.
In order for a treaty to go into effect, it must be
a. signed by the members of the UN Security Council.
b. approved by three-fourths of the state legislatures.
c. passed by a Supreme Court majority.
d. approved by a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
e. approved by a majority vote in both houses of Congress.
The key to success for interest groups is
a. using a narrow range of strategies.
b. access to government officials.
c. having a small number of members.
d. having members that are concentrated in one area.
e. focusing on a broad range of issues.
At the federal level, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) of 1990 made it a crime to
a. create sexually explicit illustrations of children.
b. distribute child pornography overseas.
c. offer child pornography that does not actually exist.
d. knowingly receive sexually explicit depiction of children through the mail.
e. sell child pornography on the Internet.
The Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment protected freedom of speech
from state infringement in the _________ case.
a. Schenk v. United States
b. McCulloch v. Maryland
c. Gibbons v. Ogden
d. Gitlow v. New York
e. Marbury v. Madison
In the history of the United States, no president has ever
a. been impeached and acquitted.
b. died while in office.
c. been impeached and convicted.
d. resigned from office.
e. been impeached.
One of the important differences between public bureaucracies and private corporations
is that government bureaucracies
a. are not organized to make a profit, whereas private corporations are.
b. have a single set of leaders, whereas private corporations do not.
c. are much larger than private corporations.
d. are not intended to serve the citizenry as private corporations are.
e. present an opportunity for career advancement, whereas private corporations do not.
The concept of senatorial courtesy refers to the
a. Senate approving judges only if they belong to the same party that is in control of the
Senate.
b. practice of allowing senators to have the exclusive right to nominate candidates for
the federal district courts in their state.
c. practice of allowing members of the House to participate in the nomination process.
d. practice of allowing a senator to veto a judicial appointment for federal district courts
in his or her state.
e. Senate’s deferring to the president and routinely approving his or her nominees.
Which of the following statements best describes the George W. Bush Administration’s
stand on enemy combatants?
a. Enemy combatants could be held indefinitely.
b. Enemy combatants are treated like prisoners of war.
c. Enemy combatants are not supposed to be detained by military tribunals.
d. Enemy combatants could request warrants without having to justify the request.
e. Enemy combatants were reclassified as enemy aliens.
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.
Immigrants who are not yet citizens possess
a. all the same civil rights as U.S. citizens.
b. all the civil rights granted to them by their home country, plus most of the rights
granted to U.S. citizens.
c. fewer civil rights than any other identifiable group in the United States.
d. more civil rights than American Indians.
e. no civil rights.
Which of the following statements about midterm elections is true?
a. Voter turnout increases in midterm elections.
b. The President’s party will usually gain seats in Congress.
c. Voter turnout falls sharply in midterm elections.
d. The President’s party will always be unaffected by midterm elections.
e. Incumbents are more likely to lose midterm elections.
When the economy is faced with inflation, according to monetary policy, what should
the government do?
a. It should follow a loose monetary policy.
b. It should raise taxes.
c. It should follow a tight monetary policy.
d. It should lower taxes.
e. It should take total control of the economy.
Oversight is
a. the process by which Congress follows up on the laws it has enacted.
b. the process by which Congress reviews the actions of subcommittees.
c. the time of the year that Congress chooses its leadership.
d. when the President supervises the activity of the judicial branch.
e. when Congress passes legislation.
______ forbade discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or national
origin.
a. Plessy v. Ferguson
b. The Civil Rights Act of 1964
c. The Fourteenth Amendment
d. The Civil Rights Act of 1968
e. The Equal Opportunity Act
The bad tendency rule meant that
a. speech may be curtailed if there is a possibility that such expression might lead to
some evil.
b. Congress could prevent any speech it did not like.
c. if some people could be hurt by what was said, such speech was not protected.
d. anyone could advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government.
e. repeat criminal offenders could be preemptively detained.
The framers of the Constitution assumed that most national power would be held by the
a. executive branch.
b. legislative branch.
c. Department of Defense.
d. bureaucracy.
e. judicial branch.
Political attitudes are more likely to be shaped by peer groups when
a. people are over the age of fifty.
b. it is not an election year.
c. people within the peer group do not have strong party identification.
d. the peer groups are involved directly in political activities.
e. members of the peer group are all of the same gender.
Unlike liberals or conservatives, socialists advocate
a. civil liberties.
b. economic liberty.
c. capitalism.
d. property rights.
e. ownership of businesses by the government or by cooperatives.
In the area of freedom of speech, which of the following is NOT true?
a. High schools can impose restrictions on speech that are not allowed in colleges.
b. High school officials may censor school publications.
c. Some universities have prohibited “hate speech.”
d. Campus speech restrictions have usually been ruled unconstitutional.
e. The Supreme Court ruled that universities may not impose mandatory student activity
fees.
Title III of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946
a. was Congress’ first attempt to control lobbyists and lobbying activities.
b. is also known as the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
c. provided for regulation more than for disclosure.
d. failed to include a definition of “lobbyist.”
e. proved to be very effective.
In terms of judicial implementation or enforcement of Supreme Court rulings, the Court
a. has now acquired it own police force.
b. has no enforcement powers and depends on the cooperation of the other two branches
of government to carry out its decisions.
c. does not make decisions that have to be enforced.
d. allows Congress to set up legislative review.
e. originally had enforcement powers, but those powers have since been eroded by
federal legislation.
Today, most immigrants to the United States come from
a. Europe.
b. Latin America and Asia.
c. Canada.
d. Africa and the Middle East.
e. India and the Middle East.
The first permanent English colony in the Americas was a settlement at
a. Massachusetts Bay.
b. Roanoke.
c. Jamestown.
d. Charles Town.
e. Philadelphia.
The best definition of foreign policy is
a. a nation’s external goals as well as the techniques and strategies used to achieve them.
b. the formal agreements that are approved by the World Court.
c. interactions with other countries that are not related to economics.
d. the collection of treaties that are ratified by the Senate.
e. the manner in which the armed forces are deployed.
Who wrote drafts of the Declaration of Independence before the American Revolution
formally started?
a. John Locke
b. John Adams
c. Thomas Jefferson
d. George Washington
e. Benjamin Franklin
Which of the following statements best explain why the representation function is often
a source of conflict for individual lawmakers?
a. The interests of constituents in a specific district may be at odds with the demands of
national policy.
b. The laws they make might be what their constituents want.
c. Trading votes might be useful in getting constituents what they need.
d. The House often helps the Senate members meet the needs of constituents.
e. The President often meddles in the affairs of individual states or House districts.
The policy in admissions or hiring that gives special consideration to traditionally
disadvantaged groups to overcome the present effects of past discrimination is known
as
a. affirmative action.
b. legislative mandate.
c. civil liberties.
d. civil rights.
e. the Lincoln dilemma.
Which of the following statements best defines discouraged workers?
a. People who work in businesses that they created
b. People who took control of businesses from someone else
c. People who work less than forty hours a week
d. People who are ineligible to work in the United States
e. People who have dropped out of the labor force and are no longer looking for a job
All of the following are true of the Supreme Court EXCEPT
a. the Supreme Court’s term begins on the first Monday in October.
b. of all the cases decided each year in U.S. courts, the number of cases reviewed by the
Supreme Court represent less than one in four thousand.
c. decisions of the Supreme Court profoundly affect our lives.
d. the Supreme Court has never heard a case involving the issue of capital punishment.
e. the Supreme Court has decided cases involving freedom of speech, the right to bear
arms, campaign finance, and abortion.