In the first major civil rights case addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court, Dred Scott v.
Sandford, which of the following best describes the issues at stake?
a. the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise and whether slaves were U.S.
citizens
b. whether Missouri could remain part of the union and whether women could bring
suits in federal court
c. the constitutionality of the Emancipation Proclamation and whether slaves were U.S.
citizens
d. whether women were U.S. citizens who should be allowed to vote and whether
slavery in Missouri was legal
e. the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise and whether Missouri could remain
a part of the union
What Supreme Court decision determined that no limits could be placed on the amount
of his or her own money a candidate spends in an election?
a. Citizens United v. FEC
b. Buckley v. Valeo
c. McCain v. NRA
d. BCRA v. United States
e. Citizens United v. Valeo
New York Times Co. v.Sullivan held that there must be proof of which of the following
in order to find libel against a public figure?
a. property loss
b. actual malice
c. an audience
d. a written record
e. actual harm
Under current federal law, Ohio would not have to give “full faith and credit” to which
of the following?
a. an adoption from Michigan
b. a divorce from Canada
c. an opposite sex marriage from Massachusetts
d. a same sex marriage from Iowa because same-sex marriage is illegal in Ohio
e. a marriage between two cousins from Nebraska because marriages between first
cousins are illegal in Ohio
Which of the following is most consistent with the foreign policy of isolationism?
a. a country’s refusal to intervene in an armed conflict between two other countries
b. a country’s willingness to use diplomatic sanctions to pressure another country to
address human rights violations
c. the George W. Bush administration’s policy of actively rooting out terrorism before a
threat has fully developed
d. the United States’ involvement in World War II
e. multilateral trade agreements
George Gallup undoubtedly had a vested interest in fostering reliance on public opinion
polls. Why?
a. He was a politician.
b. He was a pollster.
c. He was a pluralist.
d. He held majority opinions.
e. He held minority opinions.
What is a trade association?
a. a coalition of public interest groups in a specific policy area, such as environmental
policy
b. an organization that coordinates exchanges of information and resources among
multiple interest groups
c. a type of labor union
d. an organization that represents businesses within a specific industry
e. an organization that represents the federal government during the negotiation of
international trade agreements
What did the Supreme Court determine was unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of
Education?
a. integrated schools
b. poll taxes
c. segregation of schools
d. unequal school funding
e. school busing
When did the last political realignment occur, according to most political scientists?
a. 1860
b. 1894
c. 1932
d. 1968
e. 2000
Which of the following statements best describes contemporary relationships between
presidents and Congress?
a. They are always passive, with Congress dominating the executive branch.
b. They are consensual in times of economic growth.
c. They are generally antagonistic.
d. They are generally hostile during periods of unified government.
e. They are always antagonistic during periods of foreign conflict.
What was the Supreme Court’s justification for overturning the separate-but-equal
doctrine?
a. The Supreme Court did not have all of the facts when it adopted the
separate-but-equal doctrine.
b. The separate-but-equal doctrine was never intended to apply to people.
c. The quality of life for African Americans in the South had deteriorated considerably
since the adoption of the separate-but-equal doctrine.
d. The Supreme Court needed to step in because the South had been unwilling to
segregate educational facilities as required by Plessy v. Ferguson.
e. Segregated schools stigmatize minority children and are inherently unequal.
Agenda setting affects the executive branch more than it affects the Supreme Court due
to __________.
a. bias
b. press releases
c. press conferences
d. media influence
e. framing
Which of the following accurately states how the Supreme Court clarified the scope of
the Thirteenth Amendment in The Slaughterhouse Cases in 1873?
a. This amendment abolishes slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United
States.
b. Groups other than newly freed slaves, such as Hispanics and Asian Americans, are
not covered by the amendment.
c. All former Confederate states must ratify the Thirteenth Amendment as a condition
for readmission to the union.
d. Newly freed slaves who are vagrant may be fined for vagrancy and hired out to
employers to satisfy their fines, as this does not constitute involuntary servitude.
e. Groups other than newly freed slaves, such as Hispanics and Asian Americans, are
also covered by the amendment.
The Committees of __________ were used by colonists to keep each other abreast of
developments with the British.
a. Collegiality
b. Collaboration
c. Congress
d. the Continent
e. Correspondence
Most of the world’s nations, including China, France, and Great Britain, have
__________ as their type of government, as discussed in the “Explore Your World” box.
a. unitary systems
b. confederations
c. democracies
d. federal systems
e. republics
As depicted in Figure 2.1, What Are the Separation of Powers and How Do Checks and
Balances Work Under the U.S. Constitution?, the executive branch is in charge of
which of the following?
a. passing federal laws
b. declaring war
c. interpreting federal laws
d. making foreign treaties
e. establishing lower courts
In what year was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?
a. 1776
b. 1788
c. 1789
d. 1798
e. 1791
The conference of the U.S. Supreme Court is __________.
a. open to the justices and the public
b. limited to the justices themselves
c. open to the justices and other court staff
d. open to the justices and the president
e. open to the justices and all members of Congress
Which of the following is an example of the exercise of America’s soft power?
a. President John F. Kennedy’s authorization of the Bay of Pigs
b. President George W. Bush’s demand that the Taliban government of Afghanistan turn
over Osama bin Laden and close terrorist camps
c. the Paris Peace Agreement
d. the Roosevelt Corollary
e. Secretary of State Clinton’s visit to Africa to address members of the small-business
program in Zambia
Which of the following is a power specifically denied the states by the Constitution?
a. conducting elections
b. establishing local governments
c. maintaining a militia
d. providing for public health, safety, and morals
e. regulating interstate commerce
Which of the following is a method of ratification for a constitutional amendment?
a. by three-fourths of the state legislatures
b. by three-fourths of the state governors
c. by three-fourths of voting-age citizens
d. by half of the state legislatures
e. by half of the state governors
In the House of Representatives, who is second in authority to the Speaker of the
House?
a. majority leader
b. majority whip
c. minority leader
d. minority whip
e. president pro tempore (or pro tem)
According to the box “Who Are Federal Judges?”, recent presidents have used judicial
appointments to increase the __________ of individuals serving at the highest levels of
the U.S. government and to curry favor with traditionally underrepresented groups.
a. education level
b. qualifications
c. experience level
d. diversity
e. numbers
The 1996 Telecommunications Act resulted in expanded media services. What helped
expand media services in the nineteenth century?
a. cheap paper
b. color printing
c. muckraking
d. talk radio
e. yellow journalism
Why has the United States taken a keen interest in China in recent years?
a. The United States wants to ensure that China does not fall into communist rule.
b. The United States wants China to be a bastion of democracy in an otherwise volatile
area of the world.
c. China has a large supply of oil that can be exported to the United States.
d. China is a large market in an increasingly global economy.
e. China has begun to implement increasingly isolationist foreign and defense policies.
Most candidates running in a general election tend to move their campaigns toward the
__________.
a. far right of the party line
b. far left of the party line
c. current domestic issues
d. ideological center
e. current international issues
Over time, Americans’ expectations of government have generally __________.
a. increased
b. remained the same
c. decreased
d. been eliminated
e. not been measured
Imagine you are a journalist covering a scandal that may destroy a member of
Congress. You obtain your information from a source at the Department of Justice. In
your story, you make no reference to the source’s name or to the Department of Justice.
This source is __________.
a. on the record
b. off the record
c. on background
d. on deep background
e. secret
According to the “How Has Campaign Financing Changed Over Time” feature, the
largest increase in 527 political committees occurred in which year?
a. 2002
b. 2004
c. 2006
d. 2008
e. 2010
How does grassroots/outside lobbying differ from other efforts by interest groups to
influence government?
a. Grassroots/outside lobbying focuses more than other forms of advocacy on
cultivating relationships with elected officials.
b. Grassroots/outside lobbying is more effective than other forms of advocacy.
c. Grassroots/outside lobbying is more heavily regulated than other forms of advocacy.
d. Grassroots/outside lobbying focuses more than other forms of advocacy on
influencing public opinion to support groups’ goals.
e. Grassroots lobbying is more costly than other forms of advocacy.
Which of the following is an example of an economic interest group?
a. the National Rifle Association
b. the American Association of Retired People (AARP)
c. the Chamber of Commerce
d. the National Organization for Women
e. the National Education Association
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 imposed regulations on large segments of the
electronic media.
How are Cabinet secretaries similar to independent agency administrators?
a. Both are appointed by the president.
b. Neither can be fired by the president.
c. Both typically remain in office over multiple presidential administrations.
d. Both are part of federal civil service system.
e. Both can be removed from office by Congress.
The Fifteenth Amendment guarantees citizens the right to vote regardless of
__________.
a. race
b. gender
c. age
d. property ownership
e. involvement in insurrection
Why is a candidate’s moving to the left or the right during the nomination phase both an
advantage and a disadvantage?
a. It gives a candidate a more defined ideological position, but most voters pay little
attention to ideology.
b. While moving to one end of the spectrum might motivate a party base during
nomination, it might actually alienate more moderate or on-the-fence voters of the
general election.
c. Such a move decreases divisions within one political party, but it provides banter for
the media.
d. Extreme views usually give candidates the edge, but they are forced to hold true to
that message throughout the campaign.
e. The general public, who usually view these moves as appealing during nomination,
change their minds when these candidates go to the debates after nomination processes.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of the rule-making requirements specified in the
Administrative Procedure Act?
The __________ Court, named after the Chief Justice presiding over the U.S. Supreme
Court at the time, supported laws that deterred police misconduct.
One definitive period of electoral __________, where power is transferred from one
party to another, started with the rise of the New Deal coalition.
Explain how nullification was used by the South during the Civil War.
Compare and contrast the use of nonviolent protest (also known as civil disobedience)
and litigation during the civil rights movement. Which was more successful and why?
How does the president exercise control over the federal bureaucracy?
What is media consolidation, and what are its consequences?
Why do adjustments to interest rates by the Federal Reserve Board matter?
The __________ favored a weak national government and strong state governments.
__________ committees are standing committees that include members from both
houses of Congress and are set up to conduct investigations or special studies.
In the American federal system, there are __________ levels of government that share
power.
The __________ has primary responsibility for foreign, military, and defense policy in
the United States.
Discuss the development of hate speech as an unprotected speech form.
If you are financially secure, you are more likely to support the __________ party.
Describe the elements of a political realignment, when a dominant party coalition
replaces another. Illustrate using one particular period from U.S. history.