Political Science 101
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Political Science 101 offers an introductory overview of the fundamental principles, concepts, and structures that define political systems and processes. Students will explore topics such as the foundations of government, the roles of institutions, political ideologies, public policy formulation, and the dynamics of international relations. Through critical analysis and case studies, the course provides insights into how political power is distributed and exercised, the impact of civic engagement, and the factors that shape governance both domestically and globally. This foundational course prepares students for more advanced study in political science and related disciplines.
Recommended Textbook
We the People 10th Edition by Benjamin Ginsberg
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Page 2
Chapter 1: American Political Culture
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Q1) In general, Americans' trust in their government has ________ since the 1960s.
A) remained stable
B) risen slightly
C) risen sharply
D) fallen slightly
E) fallen sharply
Answer: E
Q2) How is a decline in political efficacy likely to matter for the health of the American democracy?
A) It is likely to lead to an increase in political participation and a renewed interest in political life.
B) It is likely to lead to a decline in political participation and a withdrawal from political life.
C) It is likely to lead to less dishonesty by elected representatives.
D) It is likely to lower the total national debt.
E) It is likely to lead to a stronger belief in the values of liberty and equality.
Answer: B
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Chapter 2: The Founding and the Constitution
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Q1) The issue of representation, which threatened to cause the Philadelphia Convention to fail, was resolved by the ________.
A) New Jersey Plan
B) Connecticut Compromise
C) Pennsylvania Compromise
D) Delaware Deal
E) Virginia Plan
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following was NOT discussed as a purpose of government in the Constitution's Preamble?
A) to promote justice
B) to maintain peace at home
C) to guarantee an equal distribution of wealth for all citizens
D) to defend the nation from foreign foes
E) to secure the "blessings of liberty"
Answer: C
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4
Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) Which of the following is the best example of a unitary system of government?
A) The federal government sets education policies for all schools.
B) The federal government establishes general guidelines for schools but leaves most specific policy decisions up to local school boards.
C) The federal government makes funding for schools dependent on test scores but allows local school boards the freedom to determine how to best prepare students for the tests.
D) The federal government provides parents with vouchers for private schools, and local governments have no role to play in education policy.
E) The federal government provides no funding for schools and leaves education policy entirely up to local school boards.
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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Q1) Near v. Minnesota (1931) established the principle that
A) the government could block publication of newspapers during a time of crisis such as the Cold War.
B) only under the most extraordinary circumstances should the government prevent the publication of newspapers and magazines.
C) news articles that were not truthful received no First Amendment protection.
D) the news media could not publish obscene material.
E) the government cannot regulate any form of commercial speech.
Q2) Van Orden v. Perry (2005) and McCreary v. ACLU (2005) illustrate that
A) the issue of government-sponsored displays of religious symbols has not yet been definitively settled.
B) there are different opinions about whether the establishment clause should apply to state governments as well as to the federal government.
C) the free exercise clause has still not been incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment.
D) the Lemon test does not apply to cases involving school prayer.
E) the government will never be allowed to display any kind of religious symbols anywhere on government property.
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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Q1) During the late nineteenth century, the equal protection clause was
A) used as a strong tool for engineering racial equality.
B) severely limited in scope by the Supreme Court.
C) ruled to be unconstitutional.
D) more strongly defended by individual states than by the federal government.
E) not implemented because of a lack of tax revenue.
Q2) What happened to California's Proposition 187?
A) A federal judge declared it constitutional.
B) A federal judge declared most of it a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
C) It was ruled a violation of the state constitution but not the U.S. Constitution.
D) It was negated by a law passed by the California state legislature.
E) There was never a court challenge to its legality and it remains in effect.
Q3) In 1890, ________ became the first state to allow women to vote.
A) Massachusetts
B) Wisconsin
C) Wyoming
D) New York
E) California
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion
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Q1) Which of the following statements about public opinion in America is true?
A) Political knowledge is fairly high in America.
B) Citizens with low levels of knowledge are generally better able to evaluate new information and determine its relevancy to their beliefs.
C) Citizens with high levels of knowledge are generally better able to evaluate new information to determine its relevancy to their beliefs.
D) Almost 90 percent of Americans can name their U.S. senators and U.S. representatives.
E) Poor Americans are vocal proponents of higher levels of social welfare spending.
Q2) ________ promoted his policy agenda to the American people through "fireside chats."
A) Warren Harding
B) Franklin Roosevelt
C) Harry Truman
D) John Kennedy
E) Ronald Reagan
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Chapter 7: The Media
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Q1) A website devoted entirely to reporting on climate change and other environmental issues is an example of ________ journalism.
A) protest
B) adversarial
C) niche
D) nonprofit
E) public
Q2) The Vietnam War initiated the growth of ________ journalism.
A) yellow
B) advocacy
C) adversarial
D) corporate-driven
E) government-regulated
Q3) Much of the national news that is published in local newspapers is provided by
A) UPI
B) the Associated Press
C) Fox News
D) CNN
E) National Public Radio
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Chapter 8: Political Participation and Voting
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Q1) About ________ percent of eligible voters turn out for midterm congressional elections.
A) 10
B) 33
C) 50
D) 61
E) 76
Q2) ________percent of Americans remain offline in 2014.
A) Two
B) Ten
C) Twenty
D) Thirty-three
E) Forty-five
Q3) One-third of all Asian Americans live in ________.
A) California
B) New York
C) Florida
D) Texas
E) Washington, D.C.
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Issues such as the environment, health care, retirement benefits, and taxation are on the political agenda in the United States because
A) these are the only issues that are important to all Americans.
B) these are the only problems that have yet to be solved by the free market.
C) contemporary political parties mainly compete for the support of middle-class Americans and these issues are important to the middle class.
D) the Constitution limits the federal government's powers to legislating on these issues.
E) these are the only issues where Democrats and Republicans consistently agree with each other.
Q2) From the end of the Civil War to the 1890s, the ________ Party was the party of the North, while the ________ Party was the party of the South.
A) Democratic; Republican
B) Republican; Democratic
C) Federalist; Whig
D) Whig; Federalist
E) Socialist; Republican
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Chapter 10: Campaigns and Elections
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Q1) Who is the incumbent?
A) the current officeholder, running for re-election
B) the candidate who raises the most money during the campaign
C) the official candidate for a political party, running in the general elections
D) whoever is leading in the polls on the day of the election
E) a candidate who is running against a current officeholder in an election
Q2) Describe the role of money in campaigns. Among other things, explain how money is regulated in the United States and how the Supreme Court justices have interpreted the First Amendment in recent years with regard to campaign finance.
Q3) A ________ is an effort by political candidates and their staffs to win backing and support by voters in the quest for political office.
A) gerrymander
B) campaign
C) caucus
D) platform
E) national convention
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Groups and Interests
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Q1) Lobbying is
A) an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting indirect pressure, through advertisements and media coverage, on members of Congress or a state legislature.
B) an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of Congress or a state legislature.
C) an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting indirect pressure, through phone calls or e-mails, on members of Congress or a state legislature.
D) the act of working on a re-election campaign.
E) making illegal campaign contributions to government officials.
Q2) Describe some of the different strategies that interest group representatives may employ to gain influence on public policy. Describe the different approaches taken by various interest group officials in pursuit of their policy agenda.
Q3) What is an interest group? Describe some different types of interest groups active in American politics. What are some of the similarities these different types share in terms of organization and recruitment?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) A proposed piece of legislation is called a ________.
A) bill
B) referendum
C) proposal
D) cloture
E) filibuster
Q2) Most members of the House attempt to stay on good terms with the Speaker of the House because the Speaker
A) has the authority to call all party unity votes.
B) possesses the power of recognition.
C) controls all committee assignments.
D) approves all requests for logrolling.
E) makes all decisions regarding how leadership PACs will distribute their funds.
Q3) The House Ways and Means Committee has jurisdiction over ________.
A) taxes, trade, and entitlement programs
B) foreign relations and national security
C) rules governing debate on the floor and committee assignments
D) highways and waterways
E) agricultural and food issues
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Page 14
Chapter 13: The Presidency
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Q1) When Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops into Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957, it demonstrated that the
A) president may make unilateral use of the emergency powers to protect states against domestic disorder.
B) president requires the federal court's approval before using troops in domestic disturbances.
C) use of the president's emergency powers against domestic disorder necessitates a request by the governor of the state in question.
D) president needs congressional authorization to use troops in both domestic and international situations.
E) president can only use troops in domestic situations when the health and safety of children under the age of 18 is threatened.
Q2) The Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970 directly by ________.
A) an executive order
B) congressional legislation
C) a treaty with Canada and Mexico
D) executive privilege
E) a Supreme Court decision
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Bureaucracy in a Democracy
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Q1) Devolution describes a process through which
A) Congress gives up some of its power to the executive branch.
B) the federal government is downsized by delegating the implementation of programs to state and local governments.
C) state and local governments are downsized by delegating the implementation of programs to the federal government.
D) the United States delegates some of its power to the United Nations.
E) the federal government is downsized by completely cutting wasteful programs.
Q2) Which of the following is the most constitutionally essential way to make the bureaucracy responsible?
A) more efficient executive management
B) further devolution
C) congressional oversight
D) more administrative courts
E) more government regulation
Q3) Describe the organizational structure of the federal bureaucracy. What are the differences between departments, agencies, and bureaus? Explain the lines of authority within the executive branch. How is the federal bureaucracy staffed, and how has this changed since the nineteenth century?
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Page 16
Chapter 15: The Federal Courts
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Q1) Which of the following best describes the role of the solicitor general?
A) The solicitor general is the chief legal counsel for the White House.
B) The solicitor general is the lawyer who represents the United States before the Supreme Court in cases where the federal government is a party.
C) The solicitor general is the chief lawyer for Congress who makes advisory opinions on the constitutionality of legislative proposals.
D) The solicitor general is the head of the Department of Justice.
E) The solicitor general is the chief legal counsel to the U.S. military.
Q2) A single lawsuit involving thousands of smokers suing a tobacco company would be a good example of ________.
A) a class-action suit
B) a plea bargain
C) a public law
D) amicus curiae
E) standing
Q3) Explain the basic structure of the federal judicial system. Describe the three different levels of federal courts. How are the lower courts created? What was the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court?
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Chapter 16: Government and the Economy
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Q1) The most consistently powerful nongovernment actors in determining economic policy are ________.
A) labor unions
B) environmental groups
C) business organizations
D) foreign nations
E) private citizens
Q2) The ________ insures bank deposits up to $250,000.
A) Federal Reserve Board
B) Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
C) U.S. Department of Treasury
D) Office of Management and Budget
E) Council of Economic Advisors
Q3) The recession of 2008 led to the loss of ________ million American jobs.
A) 1
B) 5
C) 8
D) 16
E) 25
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Page 18
Chapter 17: Social Policy
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Q1) ________ are programs where the government provides a tax deduction for spending on health insurance and other benefits by both employers and employees.
A) Noncompulsory benefits
B) Tax expenditures
C) Direct services
D) Earned income tax credits
E) Supplemental Security Incomes
Q2) Between 1959 and 2012, the percentage of elderly Americans living in poverty went from about ________ percent to ________ percent.
A) 50; 35
B) 35; 10
C) 65; 25
D) 30; 45
E) 40; 30
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 president established prevention as the centerpiece of his foreign policy?
A) George W. Bush
B) Richard Nixon
C) Jimmy Carter
D) Bill Clinton
E) Barack Obama
Q2) The policy of striking a nation that you fear might be contemplating hostile actions is called ________.
A) diplomacy
B) appeasement
C) détente
D) prevention
E) deterrence
Q3) In 2005, which of the following set off a new set of power struggles in Washington, D.C., over control of the intelligence community?
A) the creation of the Department of Homeland Security
B) the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as the secretary of Defense
C) the appointment of a national intelligence "czar"
D) the placing of the FBI and the CIA into the same federal department
E) the firing of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
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