Constitutional Foundations
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Course Introduction
Constitutional Foundations explores the historical origins, philosophical underpinnings, and structural elements of constitutional government, with a primary focus on the development and interpretation of constitutions in democratic societies. The course examines the evolution of constitutional principles such as separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, and individual rights. Students analyze landmark documents, key court cases, and major debates over constitutional change, emphasizing how these foundations shape political institutions and society. The course provides essential frameworks for understanding the role of constitutions in ensuring the rule of law and protecting civil liberties.
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We the People 10th Edition by Benjamin Ginsberg
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Page 2
Chapter 1: American Political Culture
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Q1) Which of the following is an example of the process of direct democracy?
A) citizens in a state approving the use of medical marijuana
B) a citizen calling her representative to complain about potholes on local roads
C) a citizen who was never active in politics choosing to run for Congress
D) a group of citizens coming together to debate the pros and cons of higher taxes
E) a citizen deciding to contribute money to his preferred presidential candidate
Answer: A
Q2) Affirmative action is controversial because
A) Americans argue about whether it promotes or restrains equality.
B) the unemployment rate for Caucasian males has tripled since the 1970s.
C) some argue that it limits political equality in order to promote cost effectiveness.
D) it is a legacy of the Jim Crow era.
E) some argue that it undermines popular sovereignty.
Answer: A
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3
Chapter 2: The Founding and the Constitution
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Q1) During the ratification debates, who were the Antifederalists?
A) those who opposed the new Constitution because they wanted a weaker central government
B) those who opposed the Constitution because it did not create a strong enough central government
C) those who opposed the Constitution because it did not provide women with the right to vote
D) those who supported the Constitution
E) those who believed that the United States should enter into a confederation with Britain and Canada
Answer: A
Q2) During the national debate over ratification of the new Constitution, the Federalists
A) supported a return to the Articles of Confederation.
B) opposed the Constitution and preferred decentralized government.
C) supported the Constitution and preferred a strong national government.
D) supported a return to British rule.
E) refused to support the Constitution unless a Bill of Rights was added.
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) The privileges and immunities clause of Article IV is also referred to as the
A) Bill of Rights
B) federalism clause
C) vesting clause
D) comity clause
E) dual sovereignty clause
Answer: D
Q2) ________ powers exist when both state and national governments possess a certain level of authority.
A) Implied
B) Reserved
C) Expressed
D) Concurrent
E) Police
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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Q1) ________ argued that there was a "wall of separation" between church and state.
A) George Washington
B) James Madison
C) Ben Franklin
D) Alexander Hamilton
E) Thomas Jefferson
Q2) The words under God were added to the Pledge of Allegiance
A) in the midst of the Cold War, as a response to the "godless communism" of the Soviet Union.
B) during the Civil War, to tie the Union's war effort to religion.
C) in 1823, during a religious revival called the Second Great Awakening.
D) as a result of campaign promises made by the Republican Party during the election of 1980.
E) immediately following the ratification of the Constitution in 1788.
Q3) The Lemon test involves what part of the Constitution?
A) free speech
B) the establishment clause
C) due process
D) equal protection of the laws
E) the free exercise clause
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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Q1) During World War II, ________ forced federal officials to address discriminatory hiring practices by threatening massive labor marches on Washington, D.C.
A) Thurgood Marshall
B) A. Philip Randolph
C) Martin Luther King, Jr.
D) Harry Truman
E) Rosa Parks
Q2) Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail to pass?
A) It won approval in the House but not in the Senate.
B) It won approval in the Senate but not in the House.
C) It was not ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states.
D) The Supreme Court had declared the amendment unconstitutionally vague before it could be submitted to the states.
E) It was vetoed by President Ronald Reagan.
Q3) Many advances in civil rights have been accomplished through federal legislation. Describe the different parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What has it accomplished, and what kind of enforcement mechanisms have been established? What civil rights legislation has been passed since 1964?
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion
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Q1) Which of the following statements about the ideological preferences of Americans is FALSE?
A) More Americans have identified themselves as conservatives than as liberals over the last twenty years.
B) The percentage of Americans identifying themselves as liberals has increased significantly since the 1990s.
C) More Americans have identified themselves as moderates than as liberals over the last twenty years.
D) Prior to 2000, there were almost no Americans who identified themselves as liberal.
E) More Americans have identified themselves as libertarians rather than as conservatives over the last twenty years.
Q2) Which of the following is true about Latino voters in the United States?
A) Latino voters did not help George W. Bush get reelected in 2004.
B) Latino voters helped George W. Bush get reelected in 2004.
C) Mitt Romney received 70 percent of the Latino vote in the 2012 presidential election.
D) Latinos do not pay much attention to immigration policy.
E) Latinos tend to be highly supportive of the Republican Party.
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Chapter 7: The Media
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Q1) One positive consequence of the decline in traditional newspapers and Washington, D.C., bureaus is the
A) death of niche journalism.
B) revival of local news coverage.
C) end of "horse race" coverage during elections.
D) decrease in the amount of political coverage found in traditional media outlets.
E) decline in biased and incorrect information about the federal government.
Q2) A majority of newspaper reporters identify themselves as ________.
A) liberal
B) conservative
C) anarchist
D) nonpolitical
E) socialist
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a reason that Americans prefer online news?
A) the convenience of getting the news online
B) the up-to-the-moment currency of the information available online
C) the depth of the information available online
D) the diversity of online viewpoints
E) the accuracy and objectivity of the information found online
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Chapter 8: Political Participation and Voting
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Q1) One-third of all Asian Americans live in ________.
A) California
B) New York
C) Florida
D) Texas
E) Washington, D.C.
Q2) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Voter turnout in California decreases in a presidential election when the race is not close.
B) Citizens are generally less knowledgeable about politics in battleground states.
C) States do not vary much when it comes to voter turnout.
D) Voter turnout in Oregon increases in a presidential election when the race is not close.
E) Texas is a "safe" Democratic state.
Q3) Describe the influence of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status in political participation. How do these differences affect the character and level of political participation?
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Q1) Internal mobilization occurs when
A) conflicts within the government create divided factions that try to mobilize popular support.
B) party leaders try to rally support for their platforms once they are in the government.
C) citizens deemed to be undesirable outsiders are excluded from the party.
D) all of a party's funds come from soft money.
E) a political party contacts its members in order to encourage them to vote.
Q2) The Alien and Sedition Acts
A) were virtually impossible to enforce.
B) were enacted by the Federalists in the late 1790s.
C) made it illegal to criticize the government.
D) allowed the Jeffersonians to expand their political power.
E) all of the above
Q3) Which of the following tasks does a party's national committee NOT perform?
A) raising funds
B) resolving disputes between factions of the party
C) selecting presidential and vice-presidential candidates
D) enhancing the media image of the party
E) heading the political party during the period between conventions
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Chapter 10: Campaigns and Elections
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Q1) Early presidential primaries and caucuses are more important because they
A) allocate more than 85 percent of all delegates in the nomination process.
B) encourage more candidates to run for the nomination in later primaries and caucuses.
C) determine who the vice presidential nominee will be.
D) can help a candidate secure media attention and financial support.
E) are held in the largest, most populated states.
Q2) Campaign consultants do all of the following EXCEPT ________.
A) conduct public-opinion polls
B) organize direct mailings
C) develop the issues on which the candidate will focus
D) produce television commercials
E) print ballots for the election
Q3) ________ was NOT a Republican candidate for president in 2012.
A) Herman Cain
B) Rick Perry
C) Newt Gingrich
D) John Boehner
E) Michele Bachmann
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Groups and Interests
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Q1) Most initiative campaigns today are sponsored by
A) candidates for political office who see it as a way to engage in money swapping.
B) issue networks that want to change government policies without attracting attention from the public.
C) citizens who care deeply about a given issue.
D) interest groups seeking to circumvent legislative opposition to their goals.
E) political parties seeking to raise public awareness about a particular issue.
Q2) Individuals and organizations can give an unlimited amount to ________.
A) U.S. House candidates
B) U.S. Senate candidates
C) U.S. presidential candidates
D) political parties
E) super PACs
Q3) Lobbyists
A) have substantial influence in setting the political agenda.
B) help to craft specific legislation.
C) build coalitions around specific policy issues.
D) build coalitions in Washington, D.C., in particular.
E) all of the above
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Congress
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Q1) According to ________ representation, a legislator should be viewed as a person who is hired to represent the interests of his or her constituents.
A) agency
B) sociological
C) mirroring
D) trustee
E) contract
Q2) ________ were the only two presidents to be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives.
A) Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon
B) James Buchanan and Warren Harding
C) Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover
D) Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton
E) Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
Q3) The four joint committees in Congress are
A) budget, veterans' affairs, labor, and health.
B) economic, taxation, library, and printing.
C) foreign affairs, welfare, currency, and trade.
D) globalization, human rights, employment, and citizenship.
E) justice, agriculture, education, and technology.
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Chapter 13: The Presidency
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Q1) What is required for Congress to override a presidential veto?
A) a majority of both houses of Congress
B) two-thirds of both houses of Congress
C) three-fourths of both houses of Congress
D) a unanimous vote of both houses of Congress
E) cannot be overridden unless it concerns the budget, in which case it requires a three-fourths vote of both houses
Q2) Congress's tendency in recent years to give executive agencies fewer clear guidelines for implementing laws is the result of
A) the greater scope and complexity of the tasks that American government has undertaken.
B) the reduced scope and complexity of the tasks that American government has undertaken.
C) frequent requests made by state governments to transfer more power to the executive branch.
D) numerous initiatives passed by voters that require less legislative specificity.
E) a series of Supreme Court decisions that ruled executive mandates were unconstitutional.
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Chapter 14: Bureaucracy in a Democracy
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Q1) The first regulatory agencies Congress established were ________.
A) in the Department of Commerce
B) independent regulatory commissions
C) government corporations
D) in the Labor Department
E) within the Environmental Protection Agency
Q2) The creation of the U.S. Northern Command was important because it
A) was the first time the Department of Defense had taken such an action without presidential approval.
B) ultimately led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
C) unified, for the first time in American history, the Air Force, the Navy Department, and the War Department.
D) breached the long-standing line between domestic law enforcement and foreign military operations for the first time.
E) was the first time the Department of Defense had taken such an action without congressional approval.
Q3) Describe and evaluate the key strategies used to promote reforming the federal bureaucracy. What are some of the challenges associated with each different approach? Explain.
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Page 16
Chapter 15: The Federal Courts
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Q1) The doctrine of ________ requires courts to follow authoritative prior decisions when ruling on a case.
A) stare decisis
B) habeas corpus
C) lex talions
D) ex post facto
E) a priori
Q2) Under normal rules of oral argument, each lawyer has ________ to present his or her case before the Supreme Court.
A) 30 minutes
B) 1 hour
C) 90 minutes
D) 2 hours
E) unlimited time
Q3) Marbury v. Madison was decided in ________.
A) 1789
B) 1803
C) 1861
D) 1911
E) 1938
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Chapter 16: Government and the Economy
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Q1) Which of the following is NOT a power of the Federal Reserve Board?
A) the power to increase or decrease the interest rate it charges on the loans it extends to member banks
B) the power to control the reserve requirement
C) the power to buy and sell government securities in order to increase or decrease the supply of money in the economy
D) the power to manipulate the interest rate charge by one bank to another on loans in the federal funds market
E) the power to enforce the federal government's antitrust policies
Q2) Which of the following statements about the Federal Reserve Board is FALSE?
A) The Federal Reserve Board is part of the Department of the Treasury.
B) The Federal Reserve Board is the main organization for setting monetary policy.
C) The members of the Federal Reserve Board are selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
D) The president cannot remove the members of the Federal Reserve Board for political reasons.
E) The Federal Reserve Board sets the federal funds rate.
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Chapter 17: Social Policy
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Q1) What was the significance of Goldberg v. Kelly (1970)?
A) It established the right of noncitizens to receive public assistance.
B) It held that public assistance benefits could not be revoked without due process of law.
C) It held that unequal welfare benefits were a violation of the equal protection clause.
D) It allowed the executive branch, rather than Congress, to set public assistance rates.
E) It held that the government could revoke assistance benefits without cause.
Q2) The main change in welfare policies since 1996 is ________.
A) increased use of noncash assistance
B) increased benefits
C) decreased use of means testing
D) decreased use of job training programs
E) increased use of direct cash assistance
Q3) What are some different types of social policies? Describe the differences between contributory and noncontributory programs and provide examples of both. What are some current concerns regarding social policy spending?
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Chapter 18: Foreign Policy and Democracy
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Q1) Which of the following is NOT an influential interest group affecting American foreign policy?
A) organized ethnic groups
B) economic interest groups
C) diplomats from foreign nations
D) human rights interest groups
E) environmental groups
Q2) What is the main job of the director of national intelligence?
A) to head the National Intelligence Agency
B) to act as the primary adviser to the president on foreign policy matters
C) to act as the primary adviser to Congress on foreign policy matters
D) to serve as a mediator between the CIA, FBI, and National Security Council
E) to collate and coordinate intelligence coming in from multiple sources and to report this information to the president
Q3) In a crisis, which of the following has the greatest foreign policy influence?
A) the president
B) Congress
C) the Senate
D) the Supreme Court
E) the public
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