A twentieth-century example of government use of money to influence elections was
a. increasing the size of the military in election years.
b. increasing foreign aid in election years.
c. increasing Social Security benefits in election years.
d. reducing subsidies for mortgage insurance in election years.
e. mobilizing troops in election years.
The campaign finance reforms of 1973
a. encouraged a rapid growth in political action committees (PACs).
b. led to a slight decrease in the number of political action committees (PACs).
c. led to a significant decrease in the number of political action committees (PACs).
d. had no impact on the number of political action committees (PACs).
e. reduced PAC spending.
Which party tends to be more loyal to its candidate in presidential elections?
a. Democratic
b. Republican
c. Independent
d. Green
e. No clear-cut difference exists among the parties.
Even in the 1930s, public opinion polls showed
a. that as many as half the voters were skeptical of a federal unemployment
compensationprogram.
b. that over 90 percent of Americans was supportive of Social Security.
c. that most Americans were against the national highway system being built at the
time.
d. that most Americans wanted an activist foreign policy.
e. None of the above is true.
The definition of bureaucracy includes all of the following notions except
a. a large organization.
b. authority divided among several managers.
c. complexity of structure.
d. appointed officials.
e. an issue network.
The U.S. federal system ensures that the nation’s parties are __________ than their
Europeancounterparts.
a. more ideological
b. less ideological
c. more aggressive
d. more centralized
e. more decentralized
President __________ ordered the military to move Japanese Americans from their
homes on the West Coast to “relocation centers.”
a. Franklin Roosevelt
b. Harry Truman
c. Woodrow Wilson
d. Warren G. Harding
e. Abraham Lincoln
Starting with its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the Court has treated race as
a suspect classification such that any law making racial distinctions must
a. be reasonable.
b. be acceptable.
c. pass a test of strict scrutiny.
d. be supported by all of the states.
e. be color-bind.
After a decade of reforms, the Democrats and Republicans have come to represent two
ideologically different sets of
a. independent voters.
b. lower-income voters.
c. traditional, religious Americans.
d. first-time voters.
e. upper-middle-class voters.
Based on research, presidential debates seem to
a. determine elections.
b. be pivotal events.
c. be watched by only a few insiders.
d. have little effect on election results.
e. help incumbents.
As a group, low-income people tend to be most concerned with __________.
a. inflation
b. education
c. economic drift
d. health
e. employment
The pocketbook issuetends to preoccupy politicians most
a. early in a presidential term.
b. toward the end of a session of Congress.
c. when presidential popularity is at its peak.
d. when the economy is doing poorly.
e. just before elections.
The overriding political question throughout the evolution of Congress has been the
a. balance of power among Congress, the executive, and the judiciary.
b. distribution of powers within Congress.
c. curtailment of presidential activism.
d. role of the parties in selecting members.
e. rules pertaining to committee assignments.
The first chief justice of the Supreme was __________.
a. John Marshall
b. Oliver Ellsworth
c. Earl Warren
d. John Jay
e. Roger B. Taney
In 1856, this state became the last one to require voters to own property to vote.
a. South Carolina
b. North Carolina
c. New Hampshire
d. Georgia
e. Kentucky
The activity of lobbyists is protected by the __________.
a. First Amendment
b. Second Amendment
c. Fifth Amendment
d. Tenth Amendment
e. Fourteenth Amendment
By 2009, the federal government had become the majority stockholder in what was
once the world’s largest __________ company.
a. Steel
b. Railroad
c. Automotive
d. Telephone
e. Internet
Compared with Americans, Japanese are more likely to
a. stress social harmony and group cohesion in their social relations.
b. emphasize the virtues of individualism and competition in social relations.
c. emphasize the virtue of treating others fairly but impersonally, with due regard for
theirrights.
d. rely on individual decision making rather than decisions made by groups.
e. believe in a divine being.
Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, a citizen cannot
a. sue the government without its consent.
b. bring two suits against one individual for the same crime.
c. bring the same suit to courts in two different states.
d. appeal a case that has already been ruled on by the Supreme Court.
e. appeal a case that was decided more than one year earlier.
Iron triangles are less common today than they once were because
a. agencies today are pressured by so many interest groups.
b. they are no longer allowed by many agencies.
c. congressional leadership is so much stronger today.
d. the courts have stepped in to limit the intervention of interest groups in agency
affairs.
e. special interests have aligned themselves with congressional leaders.
To be president, a person must be
a. a natural born citizen.
b. 45 years old.
c. a legalized citizen.
d. 40 years old.
e. a veteran.
Which statement is correct about libel laws?
a. Laws governing libel are much stricter in Great Britain than in the United States
making it easier for British politicians to sue newspapers for publishing articles that
defame or ridicule them.
b. Laws governing libel are much stricter in the United States than in Great Britain
making it easier for American politicians to sue newspapers for publishing articles that
defame or ridicule them.
c. The Official Secrets Act in the United States makes it difficult for reporters to publish
stories dealing with national security.
d. The Freedom of Information Act in Great Britain makes it easy for reporters to get
access to many public documents.
e. None of the above is true.
In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court held that
a. states could tax a federal bank.
b. state militias were subservient to the federal armed services.
c. the federal government could pass any laws necessary and proper to the attainment of
constitutional ends.
d. the federal government had the power to regulate commerce that occurred among
states.
e. the judicial branch had the power to determine the legitimate governing power in
thestates.
One reason the NAACP’s strategy of using the courts to further black civil rights
worked was that it
a. avoided focusing on the clearest abuses.
b. presented broad economic demands to whites.
c. avoided direct confrontation with a conservative Supreme Court.
d. did not require a broad legislative alliance.
e. avoided the complications that often surround appellate processes.
The practice of mandating busing plans to remedy school segregation patterns was
approved in the case of
a. Brown v. Board of Education.
b. Sipuel v. County Trustee.
c. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.
d. Green v. County School Board of New Kent County.
e. Plessy v. Ferguson.
The ___________ to the U.S. Constitution ensured that the residents of the District of
Columbia could vote in presidential elections.
a. Nineteenth Amendment
b. Twentieth Amendment
c. Twenty-First Amendment
d. Twenty-Second Amendment
e. Twenty-Third Amendment
The Greek city-state, or polis, extended the right to vote to everyone except
a. slaves.
b. women.
c. minors.
d. those without property.
e. All of the above are true.
If the United States had adopted a parliamentary system, we might have expected all of
the followingexcept
a. quicker adoption of majoritarian policies.
b. more centralization of bureaucratic authority.
c. even more opportunities for citizens to challenge government policies.
d. greater executive control of government.
e. higher and more centralized taxation.
The current chief justice of the Supreme Court is __________.
a. Anthony Kennedy
b. David Souter
c. Warren Burger
d. John Paul Stevens
e. John G. Roberts Jr
When Bill Clinton came into office in 1992, his foreign policy advisers were drawn
from the ranks of those who believed in ___________.
a. isolationism
b. containment
c. disengagement
d. antiappeasement
e. imperialism
Individuals have power when they are able to
a. get elected to office.
b. be present at behind-the-scenes political meetings.
c. serve their fellow human beings.
d. get others to do what they want them to do.
e. vote without being influenced by outside forces.
Eugene Debs of the Socialist Party won __________ of the vote in the presidential
election of1912.
a. 6 percent
b. 15 percent
c. 25 percent
d. 31 percent
e. 43 percent
When those below the age of 21 were first allowed to vote in presidential elections,
they
a. flocked to the Republican candidates.
b. flocked to the Democratic candidates.
c. almost uniformly voted for Independent candidates.
d. generally voted for Richard Nixon.
e. did not flock to any particular party or candidate.
In 1952, a total of 23 percent of the electorate identified as independents.
The police power is generally recognized as a state power.
College-educated people tend to join more organizations.
Until the twentieth century, the Supreme Court refused to allow the delegation of broad
discretionary power to administrative agencies.
Americans have generally become more tolerant, yet most believe there should be
limits to tolerance. What, then, explains the tremendous amount of liberty enjoyed by
groups sometimes feared by themajority?
The Federalist Papers were written in order to mobilize support for the Constitution.
A republic is a government in which a system of representation operates.
Explain what a “categorical grant” is, and why their incorporation into block grants
never seemed to quite satisfy critics.
If officers have probable cause to search an automobile, they can also search things that
are being carried by passengers.
In areas where many non-English speaking persons live, election authorities can supply
ballots to voters that are written in their own language.
The progressive side of the culture war takes the position that moral rules have to be
evaluated in light of circumstances.
In the 2012 presidential elections, a large majority of Latinos voted Republican.
In recent years, the number of self-described independents has steadily increased.
The colonists saw “higher law” as something that was discoverable in nature.
Discuss some recent rulings of the Supreme Court that suggest something like a revival
of state sovereignty is taking place.
The ability of the family to inculcate a strong sense of party identification has declined
in recent years.
In the Greek city-state, only property holders were allowed to be citizens.
Identify the three-pronged test that the Supreme Court has employed to assist in
decision making for cases involving concerns about separation of church and state.
The courts have so far declined to submit laws that treat men and women differently to
the strict scrutiny test.