Political Institutions
Chapter Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course explores the structure, function, and significance of political institutions in shaping governance and public policy. Students will examine the origins and evolution of various political systems, including democracies, authoritarian states, and hybrid regimes, focusing on core institutions such as legislatures, executives, judiciaries, and bureaucracies. The course analyzes how these institutions interact with one another and with broader societal forces, influencing policy outcomes, political stability, and citizen engagement. Emphasis is placed on comparative perspectives, enabling students to critically assess the effectiveness and adaptability of political institutions across different historical and cultural contexts.
Recommended Textbook
AM GOV 2015 2016 4th Edition by Joseph Losco
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Chapter 1: Citizenship in Our Changing Democracy
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Q1) The vast number of voluntary associations that consist of citizens working together on issues of common concern is called
A)government.
B)social capital.
C)direct democracy.
D)civil society.
E)liberal democracy.
Answer: D
Q2) How many of the 50 states grant their citizens the power of recall?
A)6
B)18
C)24
D)37
E)50
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Constitution: the Foundation of Citizens Rights
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Q1) Which amendment states that any rights not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution are reserved for the people?
A)First
B)Third
C)Fifth
D)Ninth
E)Tenth
Answer: D
Q2) What percentage of state legislatures must approve a constitutional amendment for that amendment to be officially accepted?
A)50%
B)60%
C)66.7%
D)75%
E)87%
Answer: D
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Federalism: Citizenship and the Dispersal of Power
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Q1) Based on the U.S.Constitution, the powers to pass ex post facto laws or bills of attainder are both
A)enumerated powers.
B)reserved powers.
C)concurrent powers.
D)implied powers.
E)prohibited powers.
Answer: E
Q2) Creative federalism sought to eradicate racial and economic injustice by A)using taxation policies to coerce businesses to adopt national standards for worker rights.
B)forcing states to abide by federal standards for worker and citizen rights.
C)withholding money from states for other purposes until they removed harmful discriminatory barriers.
D)moving to a greater use of block grants so that states could implement related local programs.
E)targeting money directly at citizen groups and local governments.
Answer: E
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties: Citizens Rights Versus Security
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Q1) Which of the following statements about abortion rights in the United States is LEAST accurate?
A)The Supreme Court has accepted the constitutionality of laws that banned the use of public facilities or Medicaid funds for abortions.
B)When the Court legalized abortion in 1973, the practice was already legal in all but thirteen states.
C)Viability tests have allowed for greater restrictions on abortions that take place during the second trimester.
D)In Roe v.Wade the Supreme Court ruled that the government was entitled to place restrictions on abortions that occur in the third trimester.
E)The Supreme Court's rulings on abortion have been based largely on the implicit constitutional guarantee of privacy.
Q2) Are there currently any boundaries on political speech in the United States? Should there be? Defend your answer, whether it was yes or no.
Q3) What is selective incorporation and what is its constitutional basis? How has it been used to expand the rights and liberties of Americans?
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights: Toward a More Equal Citizenry
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Q1) Which minority group is MOST responsible for pioneering the civil rights tactics other groups have adopted since the 1960s?
A)Asian Americans
B)gay and lesbian Americans
C)African Americans
D)Hispanic Americans
E)Native Americans
Q2) Women's struggle for equality differs from other civil rights struggles primarily because women
A)have faced fewer obstacles to employment.
B)have faced fewer obstacles to political participation.
C)are not a minority.
D)have no history of agitating for their rights.
E)have acquired their rights more fully and quickly than other groups, especially African American men.
Q3) Describe the impact of the African American civil rights movement on other oppressed groups.Which tactics developed by African Americans did members of these other groups adopt? Which tactics did they develop on their own? Which group has had the most success in bringing about legal changes to secure equal rights?
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion
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Q1) At the onset of an electoral contest, a campaign usually checks the public's knowledge of its candidate by means of
A)an exit poll.
B)a benchmark survey.
C)a trial heat survey.
D)a tracking poll.
E)a push poll.
Q2) In the year after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,
A)over 100 gun laws were passed around the country, most of which loosened restrictions.
B)over 100 gun laws were passed around the country, most of which tightened restrictions.
C)over 100 gun laws were passed around the country, about half of which loosened restrictions, while the other half tightened restrictions.
D)support for gun control was much stronger in the House than it was in the Senate.
E)Congress passed a law banning assault weapons and imposing universal background checks.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Political Participation: Equal Opportunities and Unequal Voices
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Q1) Since the early 1990s
A)the Republicans have had the overall edge in party identification.
B)the Democrats have had the overall edge in party identification.
C)party identification has been essentially equal for the two parties.
D)the edge in party identification has seesawed back and forth between the two main parties on an annual basis.
E)party identification measurements have been unreliable.
Q2) What are the various factors that influence how a voter will vote?
Q3) Which of the following political activities requires access to the most varying types of resources (i.e., time, money, skills)?
A)voting
B)campaign work
C)protesting
D)contributing to a political cause
E)affiliating with a political organization
Q4) What strategies have been taken to reduce voter turnout? Which segments of the population are the primary targets of these strategies? Are these strategies democratic?
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Chapter 8: Interest Groups in America
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Q1) Explain why people join interest groups.What incentives encourage participation? Which of these incentives are most important? Which interest groups have been able to wield these incentives to elicit the most support, in either numbers or resources? Are the interest groups with the most numbers also the ones with the most money, or is there a notable discrepancy between these figures?
Q2) Which of the following statements about congressional reactions to contacts between members of Congress and lobbyists is LEAST accurate?
A)Starting in 1946, lobbyists had to register with congressional officials.
B)In 2007, Congress passed an act effectively closing loopholes and leveling access to members of Congress.
C)A rash of scandals in the early twenty-first century contributed to congressional efforts to curb the influence of lobbyists.
D)Members of Congress can no longer accept outright gifts, meals, or trips from lobbyists.
E)Congress has imposed new rules that make it more difficult for members to insert earmarks anonymously.
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Chapter 9: Parties and Political Campaigns
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Q1) Explain how the American political system has changed over time.What were the defining characteristics of each of the five main party eras? What forces produced the changes that brought one era in and ushered out another? What were the strengths and weaknesses of each era? Despite the changes from era to era, can one nonetheless discern a consistent American political tradition or traditions?
Q2) Which billionaire defied the two-party system by waging substantial presidential runs in 1992 and 1996 as a third-party candidate?
A)Nelson Rockefeller
B)H.Ross Perot
C)Ralph Nader
D)George Soros
E)Carl Lindner
Q3) The orthodoxy in political science holds that realignments are signaled by one or more
A)close elections.
B)critical elections.
C)rebounding elections.
D)major shift elections.
E)periodic elections.
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Media: Tuning in or Tuning Out
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Q1) A 2008 study of online users revealed that those who are hungry for information are MOST likely to
A)spend more time blogging their own opinions than informing themselves.
B)ignore the web pages of traditional media giants altogether.
C)seek sites that challenge their point of view.
D)look for entertainment online and for news through television and print media. E)browse sites that match their views.
Q2) Americans aged 18-29 are LEAST likely to get their national and international news from
A)television.
B)newspapers.
C)the Internet.
D)radio.
E)magazines.
Q3) Discuss the history of the media in the United States.What major technological changes have affected it? How have these changes altered the way Americans receive information? What changes are most salient today? How have these developments already changed the public's relationship with news media, and how might they further change it?
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Chapter 11: Congress: Doing the Peoples Business
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Q1) Congresspersons who try to balance their constituents' needs with their own best judgment are said to act as A)delegates.
B)trustees.
C)politicos.
D)placeholders.
E)caucuses.
Q2) Which of the following statements about Congress is LEAST accurate?
A)Congress is a bicameral institution.
B)The Senate was initially seen as the protector of minority rights against majoritarian tyranny.
C)The House was initially seen as the chief governmental representative of the majority of the people.
D)Senators' terms of office are three times longer than those of representatives.
E)When the Constitution was first put into effect, it made senator and representative the only two federal offices that would be elected directly by the people.
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Chapter 12: The Presidency: Power and Paradox
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Q1) Third-party presidential candidates can receive retroactive public financing for their campaigns
A)if they are on the ballot in at least 20 states.
B)if they are on the ballot in at least 30 states.
C)if they receive at least 1 percent of the vote.
D)if they receive at least 5 percent of the vote.
E)if they have kept detailed records of their expenditures.
Q2) The 2008 presidential campaign is noteworthy for
A)witnessing the nomination of the first African American candidate for president from a major party.
B)including the most sustained campaign for president by a woman.
C)including the first major party candidate to forego public funding during the general election since such funding first became available.
D)all of these: the nomination of the first major party African American presidential candidate; the most sustained campaign for president by a woman; and the first major party general election candidate to forego public funding since such funding first became available.
E)None of these answers is correct.
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Chapter 13: Bureaucracy: Citizens As Owners and Consumers
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Q1) Which of the following statements about whistle-blowing is MOST accurate?
A)It is a common practice and one of the most consistent checks on executive abuse.
B)While whistle-blowing is a theoretical possibility, there are no instances of it in American history.
C)Congress has offered financial rewards to whistle-blowers in some instances.
D)Most civil servants view whistle-blowing as an excellent career move that will help them jump several GS grades.
E)In order to maintain smoothly-functioning bureaucracies, Congress has made most instances of whistle-blowing illegal.
Q2) The Postal Service, which was created by Congress and which reinvests its profits into itself rather than distributing them among shareholders, is an example of A)a proxy administration.
B)a line organization.
C)a government corporation.
D)an independent regulatory agency.
E)a government-sponsored enterprise.
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Page 15
Chapter 14: The Courts: Judicial Power in a Democratic Setting
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Q1) Which federal office is known as the "tenth justice" because of the Supreme Court's high receptivity to its petitions?
A)attorney general
B)President of the United States
C)solicitor general
D)Speaker of the House
E)Secretary of Justice
Q2) Which Supreme Court justice was a surprise supporter of Obamacare in the 2012 Independent Business et al.v.Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services decision?
A)Antonin Scalia
B)Anthony Kennedy
C)Ruth Bader Ginsberg
D)Sonia Sotomayor
E)John Roberts
Q3) Discuss the changing role and ideology of the Supreme Court.During what periods of time has it seemed to be most active? When has it retreated into the shadows? How has it helped to shape American history? Is the Court more likely to react to or to set historical trends?
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Chapter 15: Public Policy: Responding to Citizens
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Q1) By 2014, the amount of private debt from student loans was about
A)$70 billion.
B)$130 billion.
C)$380 billion.
D)$520 billion.
E)$1 trillion.
Q2) What is the first step in the policymaking process?
A)policy formation
B)agenda setting
C)problem recognition
D)policy adoption
E)policy evaluation
Q3) Which of the following is an example of a policy whose benefits and costs are both widely distributed?
A)Social Security
B)funding for public schools
C)air pollution controls
D)agriculture subsidies
E)tax policy
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Page 17
Chapter 16: Foreign and Defense Policy: Protecting
American Interests in the World
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Q1) Which of the following statements about the U.S.relationship with international organizations is LEAST accurate?
A)The U.S.is one of five countries with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
B)During the 1990s, the U.S.successfully courted UN support for several major foreign policy initiatives, including the First Gulf War.
C)The U.S.has consistently refused to engage in military actions without the expressed consent of the UN's Security Council.
D)By tradition, the U.S.gets to select the president of the World Bank.
E)The U.S.works closely with international organizations such as WHO to address actual and potential health threats throughout the world.
Q2) The National Security Council was created
A)by the Washington administration.
B)during the Civil War.
C)in the months before the U.S.entered World War I.
D)shortly after the end of World War II.
E)after the intelligence failures that resulted in the attacks of September 11, 2001.
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