A form of city government no longer in use in Texas, in which elected members served
on the governing body and also served as head administrators of city programs, is called
A) weak mayor-council.
B) city commission.
C) strong mayor-council.
D) council-manager.
E) commissioners court.
The constitutional qualifications for a president include that the president must be
A) an American citizen and a resident for at least fourteen years.
B) over twenty-five years old and a citizen for at least fifteen years.
C) over thirty years old and a citizen.
D) over thirty-five years old, a natural-born citizen, and a resident for fourteen years.
E) over forty-five years old, a naturalized citizen, and a resident for fifteen years.
________ was a well-known abolitionist who edited the North Star.
A) William Lloyd Garrison
B) Lucretia Mott
C) Frederick Douglass
D) Elizabeth Cady Stanton
E) Harriet Beecher Stowe
Since 1972, the number of White House staffers has
A) increased substantially
B) decreased substantially.
C) hovered around 500.
D) varied.
E) been larger in Republican administrations.
A form of journalism popular in the late nineteenth century that featured pictures,
comics, color, and sensationalized, oversimplified news coverage was called
A) muckraking.
B) “populist” journalism.
C) penny journalism.
D) blue dog journalism.
E) yellow journalism.
Interest group ratings of representatives and senators
A) help to reveal a member of Congress’s ideology.
B) are rarely updated by interest groups.
C) are a good way for interest groups to raise money.
D) rarely show much deviation between members of the House and Senate.
E) were popular in earlier years, but have little value today.
Congress’s role in foreign policy making includes which of the following?
A) Commanding the armed forces
B) Signing treaties
C) Appointing ambassadors
D) Appointing judges to international tribunals
E) Declaring war
Until 2002, the primary federal regulation of campaign finance occurred according to
the
A) Campaign Contributions Law.
B) Federal Election Campaign Act.
C) Campaigns and Elections Act.
D) Federal Campaign Limits Law.
E) Bipartisan Campaign Financing Act.
The idea of popular sovereignty can first be found in the
A) Mayflower Compact.
B) Declaration of Independence.
C) U.S. Constitution.
D) Gettysburg Address.
E) Voting Rights Act.
President ________ led the U.S. into World War I.
A) Franklin D. Roosevelt
B) Woodrow Wilson
C) Warren G. Harding
D) Calvin Coolidge
E) Herbert Hoover
No Child Left Behind
I. was supported by Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA).
II. employs high standards and measurable goals to evaluate American education.
III. was signed into law by President George W. Bush.
IV. expired in 2010.
A) II only
B) II and III
C) I, II, and III
D) II, III, and IV
E) I, II, III, and IV
Constitutional amendments to state constitutions can be made by initiative in ________
states.
A) all fifty
B) forty-nine
C) about half of
D) fewer than half of
E) no
In ________, the Supreme Court ruled that it had the right to hear suits brought by the
citizens of one state against another state under Article III, Section 2, of the
Constitution.
A) Chisholm v. Georgia
B) Marbury v. Madison
C) Gibbons v. Ogden
D) Fletcher v. Peck
E) McCulloch v.Maryland
Suppose President Barack Obama needs to appoint a judge to the U.S. District Court for
the Eastern District of North Carolina. To fill this position, he seeks advice from
Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC). This practice is called senatorial courtesy.
A political party meeting held at the polling places following the conclusion of the
primary election for the purpose of selecting delegates to the county convention and
adopting resolutions is known as the
A) first tier party convention.
B) precinct convention.
C) caucus meeting.
D) platform convention.
E) election selection convention.
Which of the following is MOST similar to a political machine?
A) A union
B) The Democratic Party
C) The NAACP
D) An unemployment office
E) A bowling club
An elected official in Texas who serves on the county legislative body and is
responsible for maintaining county roads in her or his precinct is known as a
A) county commissioner.
B) court commissioner.
C) district judge.
D) county prefect.
E) county councilor.
Texas has how many counties?
A) 254
B) 150
C) 34
D) 31
E) The number varies according to the population of the state, as reported every 10
years by the census.
Among members of the Senatedead or alivewho took up residence in a state for the sole
purpose of running for the Senate in an upcoming election are
I. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
II. Barack Obama.
III. Robert Kennedy, Jr.
IV. Alan Keyes.
A) I and III
B) II and IV
C) I, II, and III
D) I, III, and IV
E) II, III, and V
The differences between the Democratic and Republican Parties are MOST evident in
A) the selection of chairpersons.
B) the structure of the conventions.
C) the party platforms.
D) the selection of delegates.
E) their organizational structure.
Categorical grants
A) are a remnant of the New Deal.
B) were at the core of Ronald Reagan’s devolution revolution.
C) often involve state matching funds.
D) are given to states without conditions.
E) are virtually identical to block grants.
Federal courts are not considered to be above the political fray for all of the following
reasons EXCEPT:
A) Senators play a major role in the selection of potential justices from their states.
B) Elected presidents nominate justices.
C) The Senate must confirm justices.
D) Interest groups often participate in the appointment process.
E) The Department of Justice is actively involved in promoting the public interest in the
courts.
In general, local governments get ________ of their budgets from state funds.
A) none
B) one-fourth
C) one-third
D) three-fourths
E) all
Assume you have been arrested for a crime in Texas. To establish an administrative
record of your arrest, you are fingerprinted, photographed, and the charges against you
are explained. What is this phase of the criminal justice process?
A) Arraignment
B) Booking
C) Pretrial motions
D) Arrest
E) Interrogation
In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that slaves were
A) not to be counted the same as whites when counting state population.
B) not U.S. citizens.
C) U.S. citizens.
D) prohibited in the North.
E) allowed to bring suits in federal courts.
All of the following are reforms encouraged by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben
Bernanke EXCEPT
A) a focus on the whole financial system, not just individual banks.
B) strengthening capital requirements for banks.
C) the creation of one national bank to limit bank failures.
D) the creation of a council of regulators to police risky financial practices.
E) safe dismantling of failing financial firms.
Public counsels in Texas are appointed by the governor to protect
A) the interests of corporations before regulatory agencies.
B) the interests of poor people who have been charged with a crime but cannot afford
an attorney.
C) the interests of regulatory agencies from public criticism.
D) the interests of the public before regulatory agencies.
E) state bureaucrats from lawsuits by interest groups.
A formal document that proposes a law and is submitted to the legislature by one of its
members is called a
A) bill.
B) statute.
C) resolution.
D) amendment.
E) enactment.
According to projected population trends, which group in Texas is projected to be the
largest in twenty years?
A) Anglos
B) African Americans
C) Hispanics
D) Asians
E) Foreign-born Texans
Each judicial district has a U.S. attorney whose main job it is to
A) be the chief enforcer of civil law.
B) be the chief federal law enforcement officer.
C) be the chief investigator.
D) be the major representative of the president.
E) represent the federal government before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The number of PACs in the United States reached its peak in the
A) 1970s.
B) 1980s.
C) 1990s.
D) 2000s.
E) 2010s.
Mandates occur when a candidate wins by a certain percentage (generally 60 percent or
more), thus constitutionally empowering him or her to fulfill the campaign agenda.
The major issue on most voters’ minds during the 2010 midterm elections was
A) health care.
B) education.
C) the economy.
D) tax reform.
E) energy policy.
Which of the following is NOT an argument against adding the initiative process to the
Texas Constitution?
A) Provisions in the current state constitution often reflect narrow interests.
B) Not many Texans take part in special elections where constitutional amendments are
submitted.
C) Texans pay little attention to the actions of elected officials now.
D) Voters are already ill informed about politics and public policy.
E) The initiative process reduces the power of a legislature and moves policy
deliberations into an often hostile public arena.
The Department of Homeland Security was created as a response to
A) the Vietnam War.
B) the Persian Gulf War.
C) the War of 1812.
D) the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
E) the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.