Attempting to influence policy by getting individuals to contact their representatives
directly is known as
A) blitzkrieg lobbying.
B) triangulating.
C) protest lobbying.
D) grassroots lobbying.
E) logrolling.
The first legislature of the State of Texas convened
A) immediately after Texas declared independence from Mexico.
B) immediately after Texas joined the United States.
C) at the start of the Civil War.
D) during Reconstruction.
E) following the adoption of the Texas Constitution of 1876.
Today, lawyers can have jurors excused for any reason EXCEPT
I. level of education.
II. race.
III. political party identification.
IV. sex.
A) I and II
B) III and IV
C) II and IV
D) I, II, and III
E) II, III, and IV
The ability of the governor to reject one or more items of an appropriations bill is the
A) post-adjournment veto.
B) pocket veto.
C) line-item veto.
D) appropriations veto.
E) partial veto.
Why are a high percentage of Texas legislators lawyers and businesspeople?
A) They are more skilled and experienced in the kind of high-pressure legal, political,
and competitive demands associated with being a legislator.
B) They are wealthier and better able to accept the meager pay and irregular legislative
sessions.
C) Their jobs are less demanding, which gives them additional time to serve as
legislators.
D) Government decisions have a greater impact on lawyers and businesspeople.
E) The Constitution give preferential treatment to those in the legal and business
professions in terms of easier access to the ballot.
Why was the Bill of Rights a politically necessary addition to the Constitution?
A) The Framers wanted to outline states’ powers.
B) The Framers feared the people would revolt.
C) It was a compromise to appease Anti-Federalists.
D) The Bill of Rights was necessary for the system of checks and balances.
E) The institutional powers specified in the original Constitution were unclear.
The title page of Leviathan depicts
A) what Hobbes believes a social contract should contain.
B) a giant ruler with subjects giving up all rights to him.
C) a giant ruler whose body consists of the bodies of his subjects.
D) Locke ridiculing Hobbes’s view of man as nasty and brutish.
E) a biblical sea monster representing foreign governments.
In Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that ‘separate but equal”
A) was constitutional by a 5-4 vote.
B) was unconstitutional by a 5-4 vote.
C) was unconstitutional by an 8-1 vote.
D) was constitutional by an 8-1 vote.
E) was constitutional by a 9-0 vote.
The Cabinet system was established by
A) Article II.
B) the Articles of Confederation.
C) tradition.
D) Thomas Jefferson.
E) John Adams.
In 1887, Congress adopted the Interstate Commerce Act, which was designed to
A) regulate any and all interstate commerce.
B) regulate railroads.
C) facilitate business transactions among the states.
D) prohibit short hauling of goods.
E) regulate trucking.
The BEST example of a voter canvassing technique is
A) campaign stops.
B) computerized telephone calls.
C) fund-raising activities.
D) candidate debates.
E) television ads.
The crafting of appropriate and acceptable proposed courses of action to ameliorate or
resolve public problems is called
A) agenda setting.
B) public administration.
C) policy adoption.
D) policy resolution.
E) policy formulation.
To shape policy and provide direction to the bureaucracy, the president can issue
A) laws.
B) edicts.
C) executive orders.
D) vetoes.
E) pardons.
Economist Milton Friedman advocated for
A) the privatization of primary and secondary education.
B) a national government takeover of primary and secondary education.
C) charter and magnet schools.
D) nationally standardized testing for the primary and secondary grades.
E) educational tracking from kindergarten on.
Many successful Republican candidates in 2010 identified with the _______ movement.
A) Progressive
B) Populist
C) Independent
D) Tea Party
E) Big Government
In most instances, a police officer seeking an arrest warrant from a magistrate must
meet the requirements of probable cause, which are
A) evidence beyond a reasonable doubt a crime was committed, and that the person
named in the criminal complaint committed the offense.
B) a preponderance of evidence that a crime was committed, and that the person named
in the criminal complaint committed the offense.
C) a scintilla of evidence that a crime was committed, and that the person named in the
criminal complaint committed the offense.
D) any level of suspicion on the part of the officer that a crime may have been
committed, and that the person named in the criminal complaint might have committed
the offense.
E) tangible evidence that a crime was committed, and that the person named in the
criminal complaint committed the offense.
During the 2008 elections,
A) the presumptive Democratic nominee was determined quickly.
B) John McCain held an early and sustained lead in the Republican primaries.
C) Barack Obama trailed Hillary Clinton in most fundraising efforts.
D) Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama on Super Tuesday by a landslide.
E) John McCain’s victory in the New Hampshire Primary re-established his presidential
campaign.
The membership of the Texas Supreme Court includes
A) a chief justice and eight other justices.
B) twelve justices.
C) a chief judge and nine other judges.
D) nine justices appointed by the governor.
E) a chief justice appointed by the governor and eight other justices elected statewide in
partisan elections.
In D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court
A) ruled that the USA PATRIOT Act was constitutional.
B) struck down a law prohibiting the sale of handguns.
C) ruled that the Second Amendment applied only to militias.
D) urged the Congress to grant statehood to the District of Columbia.
E) overturned the Court’s earlier decision in Mapp v. Ohio (1961).
The reduction of tensions and increased contact between the United States and the
Soviet Union beginning in the late 1960s was called
A) dtente.
B) the Khrushchev Thaw.
C) the Nixon Doctrine.
D) engagement.
E) easement.
Civil rights organizations used the Voting Rights Act to challenge which of these types
of elections in Texas?
A) Single-member district
B) At-large-by-place municipal elections
C) At-large-by zone elections
D) At-large-by ward elections
E) None of the above
Why are some provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) so controversial?
I. Teachers are saying they are forced to “teach to the test.”
II. Other areas, such as civics, art, and music, are not required by the act.
III. Critical thinking, socialization, and analysis, all critical components of education,
are not measured by NCLB-approved tests.
IV. State and local governments are given less leeway in addressing specific local
needs.
A) I and II
B) II and III
C) III and IV
D) I, II, and III
E) I, II, III, and IV
Many members of the Constitutional Convention
A) wanted to prevent the president from having a council of advisers like the British
king.
B) voted to make explicit mention of the Cabinet in the Constitution.
C) wanted members from the Senate to rotate into the Cabinet.
D) concluded that the president should have the authority to require written opinions
from executive department officers.
E) believed the Cabinet should be able to veto a presidential decision.
The Electoral College was modified by the ________ Amendment.
A) Tenth
B) Eleventh
C) Twelfth
D) Thirteenth
E) Fifteenth
All of the following are true of reconciliation EXCEPT that it
A) allows Republicans and Democrats to forge closer ties.
B) was used to help pass the 2010 health care reform bill.
C) is used relatively frequently.
D) limits House and Senate debates on any bill to twenty hours.
E) was part of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
Suppose you are a candidate and you want to re-craft your campaign message. With
which of the following staff members would you MOST likely work closely to create a
compelling and effective message?
A) Communications director
B) Press secretary
C) Volunteers
D) Finance chair
E) Internet team
In Gibbons v. Ogden, the U.S. Supreme Court
I. articulated an expansive view of congressional powers.
II. gave Robert Fulton the exclusive right to operate steamships on the Hudson River.
III. concluded that commerce should be given a broad definition.
IV. declared that the states had sole authority to regulate commerce.
A) I only
B) II and III
C) I and II
D) III and IV
E) I and III
One Texas governor in the past fifty years was a staunch advocate of the initiative and
referendum process. Who was he or she?
A) Dolph Briscoe
B) Bill Clements
C) Mark White
D) Ann Richards
E) George W. Bush
Generally, the percentage of people who believe sending troops to Iraq was a mistake
has __________ over time.
A) decreased significantly
B) decreased only slightly
C) remained stagnant
D) increased
E) fluctuated
The ________ Amendments were added to appease the Federalists’ concerns regarding
enumerated rights.
A) First and Fourth
B) Second and Third
C) Fourth and Eighth
D) Ninth and Tenth
E) Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Certificates issued by the government that may be applied toward the costs of attending
public or private schools are ______.
A) tickets
B) educational grants
C) tuition remission forms
D) vouchers
E) school charters
Of the following, who pays the highest percentage of their income in state and local
taxes in Texas?
A) Texas legislators
B) Republicans
C) Lawyers
D) The poor
E) The wealthy
Republic Party activists are overwhelmingly
A) liberal.
B) conservative.
C) xenophobic.
D) libertarian.
E) progressive.