American Government Final Test Solutions
Course Introduction
American Government provides a comprehensive introduction to the institutions, processes, and functions of the United States government. The course explores the foundations of American political thought, the Constitution, federalism, and the structure and roles of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. It also examines the impact of political parties, interest groups, the media, civil rights and liberties, public opinion, and the policymaking process. Through analysis of historical and contemporary issues, students gain a deeper understanding of American democracy and citizenship.
Recommended Textbook
Politics in America 2014 Elections and Updates Edition 10th Edition by Thomas R. Dye
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18 Chapters
1885 Verified Questions
1885 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Politics: Who Gets What,When and How 1
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Governmental authority differs from that of churches in that one can leave a church.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Civil disobedience is never justified in a democracy.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) What is the relationship between political science and politics?
A)Politics are more important since they are the political reality.
B)Politics is the subject of political scientists.
C)Political science dictates the functioning of politics.
D)Political science is more important because it provides a theoretical basis.
Answer: B
Q4) In a democracy,the majority is always right.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Political Culture: Ideas in Conflict
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A __________ is a document issued by a foreign country that allows a citizen of one nation to visit another.
A)birth certificate
B)passport
C)green card
D)visa
Answer: D
Q2) which of the following is the largest of the Christian religious affiliations of Americans?
A)Mormon
B)Catholic
C)evangelical Protestant
D)mainline Protestant
Answer: C
Q3) Great income inequality would be typified by a large percentage of all households in the highest and lowest income brackets.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 4
Chapter 3: The Constitution: Limiting Governmental Power
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A constitution is a written document establishing the structure,functions,and limitations of a government.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) What happened at the Annapolis Convention?
A)Delegates called for a convention to rework the Articles of Confederation.
B)The Declaration of Independence was approved by all thirteen states.
C)Delegates resolved disputes between Virginia and Maryland regarding commerce and navigation rights.
D)The Articles of Confederation were scrapped and a new constitution was written and approved.
Answer: A
Q3) The __________ favored a weak national government and strong state governments.
Answer: Anti-Federalists
Q4) The __________ Amendment protects freedom of assembly.
Answer: First
Q5) __________ Rebellion exposed the problems under the Articles of Confederation.
Answer: Shays's
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Chapter 4: Federalism: Dividing Governmental Power
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Unlike the United States,the European Union incorporates features of both federalism and __________.
Q2) The New Deal best exemplifies which type of federalism?
A)dual
B)combined
C)competitive
D)cooperative
Q3) A __________ grant is a large grant to a state by the federal government with only general spending guidelines.
A)block
B)business
C)commerce
D)credit
Q4) Which part of the Constitution lists the delegated,or enumerated,powers?
A)Article I,Section 2
B)Article I,Section 8
C)Article IV,Section 1
D)Article IV,Section 3
Q5) Discuss how the devolution revolution impacted social service policy and legislation in the 1990s.
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Chapter 5: Opinion and Participation: Thinking and Acting in Politics
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Major shifts in public opinion in the United States generally do not translate into policy change.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following groups is more typically a nonvoting group?
A)better-educated Americans
B)less-educated Americans
C)middle-income Americans
D)upper-income Americans
Q3) Brian makes financial contributions to political campaigns,votes regularly,often contacts his representatives in Congress,and has joined several political organizations in his hometown.Which of the following demographic factors is consistent with this profile of Brian's level of participation in politics?
A)Brian is more highly educated than political nonparticipants.
B)Brian's income is on par with the incomes of political nonparticipants.
C)Brian is under 30 years of age,younger than many typical political nonparticipants.
D)Brian supports a family of four on his $31,000 salary.
Q4) How informed is public opinion?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Mass Media: Setting the Political Agenda
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these was extended to the Internet in Reno v.American Civil Liberties Union?
A)the Sullivan rule
B)shield laws
C)journalistic privileges
D)First Amendment protection
Q2) In Reno v.American Civil Liberties Union,the Supreme Court gave __________ the task of filtering Internet content for those under the age of eighteen.
A)the FTC
B)parents
C)the FCC
D)Internet providers
Q3) When it comes to television,skillful politicians understand that,historically,__________.
A)content trumps perception in the minds of most voters
B)what they say is more important than how they say it
C)voters are mostly concerned wtih issues than fluff
D)image is more important than substance
Q4) Public awareness of a candidate is often referred to as __________ recognition.
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Chapter 7: Political Parties: Organizing Politics
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Following the Revolutionary War,defenders of the Constitution were known as __________.
A)Whigs
B)Federalists
C)Democrat-Republicans
D)Anti-Federalists
Q2) Today,a supporter of a third party is likely to be a(n)__________.
A)nominal Democrat
B)committed Republican
C)independent voter
D)extreme liberal
Q3) Who is included in the "party-in-the-electorate"?
A)party officers who seek to educate the public on key party stances
B)party officers who seek to steer the electorate through media spin
C)public officials who are registered with one major party
D)voters who identify with a particular political party
Q4) Political __________ are parties and interest groups that function as intermediaries between individuals and government.
Q5) Some political scientists have theorized that realigning elections occur every __________ years.
9
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Chapter 8: Campaigns and Elections: Deciding Who
Governs
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Elected officials can contact and mobilize voters much more easily because of what communication benefit,which allows for self-promotion?
A)franking privilege
B)challengers
C)voter targeting
D)congressional constituency
Q2) In terms of the 2012 presidential election,why did President Obama retain office? What factors contributed to his victory,and what contributed to his challenger Mitt Romney's loss?
Q3) According to the current rules of political engagement,a candidate for office needs to __________.
A)avoid negative advertising at all costs
B)begin advertising early
C)appeal to voters' intellects,not their emotions
D)avoid defining the opponent
Q4) A spin __________ is a spokesperson employed to give a favorable interpretation of events to the media,especially on behalf of a political party or candidate.
Q5) What kinds of campaign finance receive little or no scrutiny?
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Chapter 9: Interest Groups: Getting Their Share and More
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) To retain their tax-free status,nonprofit organizations must refrain from direct lobbying.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following statements,if true,would undermine the theory of pluralism?
A)Members of Congress have become increasingly dependent on political action committee (PAC)contributions to fund their campaigns.
B)Political action committees (PACs)are not always successful in securing favorable government policies.
C)Membership in labor unions has decreased over the past several decades.
D)Individuals with shared grievances do not always come together to form interest groups.
Q3) Business groups have more offices and representatives in Washington,D.C.,than all other types of organizations.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Are interest groups beneficial or harmful to the functioning of democracy?
Q5) __________ groups are organizations that seek to influence public policy.
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Chapter 10: Congress: Politics on Capitol Hill
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true of majority-minority districts?
A)Creation of majority-minority districts has been beneficial to Democrats.
B)Creation of majority-minority districts has not increased racial minorities in Congress.
C)Creation of majority-minority districts was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
D)Race is a significant factor in drawing the lines of majority-minority districts.
Q2) The role of Senate minority leader is important because __________.
A)he or she represents the opposition in negotiations with the majority leader
B)he or she serves as chief assistant to the majority leader
C)he or she serves as the national spokesperson for the party
D)the House does not have this position
Q3) As shown in Figure 10.1,following the advice of Benjamin Franklin,what form of legislature does Congress take?
A)bicameral
B)direct
C)trilateral
D)unicameral
Q4) Cloture is the only way to end a(n)__________.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: The President: White House Politics
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) How did the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 change the budget?
A)The Bureau of the Budget was created to assist Congress in budget preparation for presentation to the president.
B)The Bureau of the Budget was created to assist the president in budget preparation and presentation to Congress.
C)Executive departments began to submit their budget requests to Congress before sharing them with the president.
D)The Cabinet was granted the formal power of approving the budget prior to the budget being sent to Congress.
Q2) The __________ is an advisory group chosen by presidents.The group rarely functions as a decision-making body,but officers are powerful because they head giant administrative organizations.
A)White House staff
B)Cabinet
C)Executive Office of the President
D)office of the vice president
Q3) According to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment,if a vacancy occurs in the office of the vice president,the __________ nominates a new vice president.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Bureaucracy: Bureaucratic Politics
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) One consequence of ambiguity in the laws passed by Congress is that government agencies exercise __________ in the implementation of those laws.
Q2) What is a goal common to both the Pendleton Act and the Hatch Act?
A)reducing the exercise of administrative discretion
B)reducing the influence of partisan politics on the federal bureaucracy
C)increasing presidential control of the federal bureaucracy
D)increasing congressional control of the federal bureaucracy
Q3) According to Max Weber,bureaucracies are characterized by hierarchical authority structures.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A method of budgeting that focuses on requested increases in funding for existing programs,accepting as legitimate their previous year's expenditures,is __________.
A)adjudication
B)incremental budgeting
C)outsourcing
D)bureaucratic budgeting
Q5) The president appoints,but cannot dismiss,officials who serve on __________.
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Chapter 13: Courts Judicial Politics
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Only the Supreme Court is established by the Constitution.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How many justices currently serve on the Supreme Court?
A)five
B)six
C)twelve
D)nine
Q3) Which of the following is the authority vested in a particular court to hear and decide the issues in a particular case?
A)jurisdiction
B)judicial review
C)jurisprudence
D)confirmation
Q4) Which of the following is within the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court?
A)federal criminal matters
B)tax disputes
C)military tribunals
D)controversies between the states
Q5) Justices who do not agree with the outcome of a case write __________ opinions.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Politics and Personal Liberty
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Communications Decency Act of 1996 tried to ban Internet pornography,but the Supreme Court held the act unconstitutional on what grounds?
A)The act would do nothing to eliminate child pornography on the Internet.
B)Parents should be in charge of protecting their children from the Internet.
C)The Internet is outside the reach of governmental protection.
D)The Internet deserves the highest protection from government intrusion.
Q2) In matters of religion,the Free Exercise Clause protects individuals from which of the following?
A)discrimination
B)persecution
C)governmental intrusion
D)segregation
Q3) The right to privacy is construed as part of the penumbra of __________ in the Constitution.
A)applied rights
B)non-explicit rights
C)express rulings
D)explicit rights
Q4) __________ include profanity,obscenity,and threats.
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Chapter 15: Politics and Civil Rights
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The rights of individuals that government must protect from discriminatory treatment on the basis of classifications such as race,gender,and ethnicity are
A)public policies
B)equal rights
C)civil rights
D)voting rights
Q2) Why did Congress pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965?
A)in order to facilitate the prosecution of those who had restricted the voting rights of African Americans
B)to eliminate restrictions on voting that have been used to discriminate against blacks and other minority groups
C)because Congress was afraid the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.would lead a boycott of white businesses if the legislation was not passed
D)to prevent the race riots from spreading from African American neighborhoods into traditionally white neighborhoods
Q3) Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat on a public bus was an act of __________ that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
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Chapter 16: Politics and the Economy
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Congress could,if it wished,reduce the power of the Federal Reserve Board or even abolish it.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The __________ tax package contained a variety of new credits and special treatments,including a lower tax rate on corporate stock dividends.
A)Bush 2003
B)Clinton 2001
C)Reagan 1989
D)Obama 2012
Q3) What was the purpose of the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)?
A)to abate criticism of the U.S.banking system
B)to bail out the nation's financial institutions
C)to decrease the Fed's control over monetary policy
D)to increase the money supply in the national marketplace
Q4) When members of Congress talk about the ___________,they are talking about the difference between annual government expenditures and revenues.
Q5) The federal government uses fiscal policy when it raises ___________.
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Chapter 17: Politics and Social Welfare
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103 Verified Questions
103 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the name for benefits of social welfare programs for which individuals are eligible by law?
A)social insurance
B)public assistance
C)entitlements
D)social assistance
Q2) Which of the following is true of Social Security over time?
A)Both the number of recipients of Social Security and the number of contributing workers per recipient have increased.
B)Recipients of Social Security have increased and the number of contributing workers per recipient has declined.
C)Recipients of Social Security have decreased and the number of contributing workers per recipient has increased.
D)Both the number of recipients of Social Security and the number of contributing workers per recipient have decreased.
Q3) Medicare is designed to help the __________ population.
Q4) ___________ is a social welfare program for the elderly that all qualifying individuals receive at a certain age.
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Chapter 18: Politics and National Security
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who won the Vietnam War?
A)the Warsaw Pact
B)NATO
C)communists
D)South Korea
Q2) Most of the American people oppose the war in Afghanistan and oppose increasing troop levels there,while also saying that they approve of the way President Obama is handling the situation.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The __________ is the international organization created after World War II to promote global peace and security.
A)NAFTA
B)United Nations
C)League of Nations
D)Warsaw Pact
Q4) The Cold War strategy of __________ was intended to prevent nuclear warfare by having a large enough nuclear arsenal that the Soviet Union would not dare challenge the United States.
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