U.S. Government and Politics Test Bank
Course Introduction
U.S. Government and Politics provides a comprehensive overview of the structures, functions, and processes of the American political system. This course explores the foundations of the U.S. Constitution, the roles of the three branches of government, federalism, and civil liberties. It examines the influence of political parties, interest groups, and the media, as well as the processes of elections and policymaking. Through the analysis of historical and contemporary events, students develop an understanding of how government decisions impact society and the responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic system.
Recommended Textbook
The Enduring Democracy 3rd Edition by David A. Yalof
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16 Chapters
1193 Verified Questions
1193 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: The More Things Changethe More They Stay the Same
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69 Verified Questions
69 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21517
Sample Questions
Q1) What year did NOT see a serious economic downturn for the U. S. economy?
A) 1873
B) 1954
C) 1837
D) 1929
E) 1893
Answer: B
Q2) Who determines public policies in an indirect democracy?
A) The people
B) The courts
C) The bureaucracy
D) Religious leaders
E) Representatives
Answer: E
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3
Chapter 2: The Founding and the Constitution
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78 Verified Questions
78 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why would the writers of the Constitution have created such a difficult amendment process?
A) They distrusted the motives of the people to make rational choices.
B) They protected the Constitution from short-lived or temporary passions.
C) They did not want any person or institution to tamper with their original work.
D) They ensured that the branches of government work together.
E) They distrusted the motives and abuses of powers by state governments.
Answer: B
Q2) The Great Compromise provided for
A) a bicameral legislature with one house elected by the people and a second house selected by the first.
B) a unicameral legislature with the members selected by each state legislature.
C) a unicameral legislature elected by the people.
D) a bicameral legislature elected by the people.
E) a bicameral legislature with one house elected by the people and the second house chosen by state legislatures.
Answer: E
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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70 Verified Questions
70 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) "Marble Cake Federalism" is
A) a system in which the aims of subnational government are subordinated to the goals of the central government.
B) a system in which state and federal authority is intertwined in an inseparable mixture.
C) a system in which the authority of the state and federal governments is distinct and more easily delineated.
D) a system that affords Congress nearly unlimited authority to exercise its powers through means that often coerce states into administering and/or enforcing federal policies.
E) a system that holds that state authority acts as a significant limit on congressional power under the Constitution.
Answer: B
Q2) What is meant by the term "New Federalism"? Discuss this era in comparison with earlier eras, especially regarding the roles of federal and state governments.
Answer: Answers may vary.
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5
Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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75 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Ninth and Tenth Amendments
A) guarantee specific rights.
B) protect individuals from limitations on the right to bear arms.
C) describe prohibit excessive bail.
D) convey divisions of power between state and federal governments.
E) prohibit quartering of troops among the civilian population.
Q2) Which of the following is (are) the criterion (criteria) for determining whether the regulation of symbolic speech is justified?
A) The government interest must be valid and important.
B) The interest must be unrelated to the suppression of free speech.
C) The restriction should be no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest.
D) Options A, B, and C are true.
E) None of the above is true.
Q3) The Supreme Court has clearly refused to halt the use of the death penalty in the United States. However, through various opinions the Court has made a number of exceptions to its finding that the death penalty is not unconstitutional. List and discuss some of these exceptions.
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights, Equality and Social Movements
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76 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which type of law, passed in southern states during Reconstruction, required a payment to the government before an individual could be allowed to vote? (These laws had the worst impact on poor citizens, of which African Americans were disproportionately represented.)
A) Literacy test
B) Poll tax
C) Property tax
D) Fine
E) Race tax
Q2) Which term applied to the variety of laws enacted by state and local governments across the South in the late 1800s and early 1900s that required and enforced racial segregation, while prohibiting service in state militias and admission to colleges?
A) Jim Crow laws
B) Tuskegee laws
C) Equality statutes
D) Racial ordinances
E) Race protection acts
Q3) Discuss the direct impact of the 1964 Civil Rights Act on the rights of African Americans.
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) How is the number of U.S. Senators from each state determined?
A) The president appoints the number of senators every four years.
B) Article I requires that there be two senators from each state.
C) The number is based on the population of the state.
D) The number is determined by the state's legislature.
E) The number is determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Q2) The president may refuse to act upon or sign a bill for which he/she is opposed. If Congress passes a bill and sends it to the president within 10 days of the end of a congressional session and the president does not act on the bill, then the bill does not become law. This procedure is known as
A) the pocket veto.
B) a presidential override.
C) a filibuster.
D) cloture.
E) presidential oversight.
Q3) As an elected member of Congress prepares to vote on a proposed bill, he/she is influenced by a number of factors. List at least five modern factors and describe how they may affect the legislation process.
Q4) What is a filibuster? Why is it used? How does it work, and how does it end?
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Chapter 7: The Presidency
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72 Verified Questions
72 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) During major historical events such as the attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001, why does the role and position of president become so important?
A) The Constitution requires that Americans follow the president's advice.
B) The president becomes a strong voice to command the nation's attention, calm fears, provide direction, and employ resources.
C) Congress is often unwilling to lead during emergencies so the president's role and authority increases.
D) The states have sole power to respond to threats against them by foreign powers but they rely on the president for guidance.
E) Congress is incapable of taking any type of action against foreign enemies so this responsibility is left to the president.
Q2) How many presidents have voluntarily resigned?
A) None
B) One
C) Two
D) Three
E) Five
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Page 9
Chapter 8: The Federal Bureaucracy
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70 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) As an agency under direction of the Congress, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) makes budget recommendations to Congress. What is the other primary purpose of the CBO?
A) It recommends salaries for legislators.
B) It presents a completed budget to the president each year for his/her approval.
C) It conducts research, such as program effectiveness studies, at the direction of Congress.
D) It serves as the treasury for the Congress.
E) It functions as a bank within the capitol building.
Q2) An ongoing debate in American government is the question of which level of government should have the authority to provide programs and services to citizens. Beginning in the 1980s many of the services provided by the federal government were relinquished to the state governments. This process is known as
A) deregulation.
B) devolution.
C) privatization.
D) reinvention.
E) revolution.
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Chapter 9: The Judiciary
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Sample Questions
Q1) Fully explain the pre-trial and trial process in civil litigation and in the criminal justice system.
Q2) To "Bork" means
A) to create a canoe from the bark of a birch tree.
B) to create a boat by burning out the center of a tree trunk.
C) to nominate former Solicitors General to the bench as especially well-qualified.
D) to challenge a president's nominee through well-financed and organized interest group opposition.
E) to appoint bearded justices as embodying the picture of wisdom and temperance.
Q3) Approximately how many cases do the state courts process each year?
A) 100,000 cases
B) 500,000 cases
C) 1 million cases
D) 35 million cases
E) 2 billion cases
Q4) Describe the limitations to which the courts must adhere.
Q5) Compare and contrast appellate and original jurisdiction.
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11
Chapter 10: Public Opinion
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73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following would NOT be included in a list of demographic factors that define an individual and his or her political values?
A) Age
B) Race
C) Gender
D) Political party in office
E) Economic status
Q2) Which president encouraged and empowered the rise of the "common man"?
A) John Adams
B) Warren Harding
C) John Quincy Adams
D) Andrew Jackson
E) Franklin Pierce
Q3) What is meant by political socialization? What is meant by primacy tendency? Describe how political socialization by family, friends and peers, schools, media, and religion impact the opinions and preferences of an individual.
Q4) Define a scientific poll. Define and explain the limitations on a scientific poll imposed by sample size, sampling error, random sampling, and confidence level.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Interest Groups
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72 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT an advantage of interest group activity?
A) Interest groups provide all groups in society with an opportunity to win support for their ideas and positions.
B) Joining groups and working for the interests of the group is a natural inclination of citizens and should be encouraged as a method of representation in our democracy.
C) Interest groups work to concentrate benefits for the few while distributing costs to the many.
D) The right of association is a basic right protected implicitly by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which affords individuals the right "peaceably to assemble."
E) The system is fair in that it gives all groups an equitable opportunity to compete.
Q2) How do interest groups differ from political parties? How are they similar? Give some examples.
Q3) What guarantees does the First Amendment provide to interest groups?
Q4) Discuss the definition and purpose of a political action committee (PAC). By what limitations, if any, is a PAC legally bound?
Q5) How has the Internet changed how interest groups function?
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Chapter 12: The Media and American Politics
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76 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who was the first president to use radio to communicate with constituents?
A) Abraham Lincoln in 1865
B) Theodore Roosevelt in 1901
C) Franklin Roosevelt in 1932
D) John Kennedy in 1960
E) Ronald Reagan in 1980
Q2) Why is it essential that the media operate free of government control?
A) The government has no expertise in media management.
B) The government is incapable of providing media coverage.
C) This is the only way in which the media can be truly objective in its reporting and coverage.
D) Private interests are always more honest and objective than those of the government.
E) Profits from the media industry belong in the private sector.
Q3) The leading newspaper on financial events is
A) the Wall Street Journal.
B) the New York Times.
C) the San Francisco Chronicle.
D) USA Today.
E) the Chicago Tribune.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Political Parties and Voting
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86 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Majoritarianism is
A) the principle that the choice supported by the most voters is the choice that prevails.
B) the idea that all citizens in a nation have the right to vote.
C) the percentage of voters that can be expected with reasonable certainty to cast a ballot for each of the two major political parties.
D) the idea that all voters will ultimately make the same decision for the good of the country.
E) the principle that refuses to hear the vote of minorities.
Q2) Most major political parties are organized with the primary structure and activity being at the
A) federal level, where the funding is significant.
B) regional level, because most fundraising is done based on geographic area of the country.
C) national level, where the bulk of the work of elections is carried out.
D) local or grassroots level, where party supporters meet and get out the vote.
E) congressional district level.
Q3) Is nonvoting a problem? Discuss some reasons for and against nonvoting in America. What is your opinion on the matter?
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Chapter 14: Campaigns and Elections
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82 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the purpose of "exploratory committees"?
A) They seek negative publicity on electoral opponents.
B) They are part of a money-making ploy used by politicians.
C) Potential presidential candidates use them to assess the feasibility of making a formal declaration of official candidacy.
D) They represent the electoral equivalent of an ethics investigation.
E) They are committees appointed by Congress to assess the needs of Americans.
Q2) A seat in a congressional district that has relatively similar numbers of Democratic and Republican voters is known as a(n)
A) open seat.
B) safe seat.
C) closed seat.
D) marginal seat.
E) midterm seat.
Q3) Describe the major stages or steps that an individual candidate experiences between his/her first serious interest in the upcoming presidential election to the point of winning or losing the election.
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Chapter 15: American Domestic Policy
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74 Verified Questions
74 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the differences between a progressive tax, a regressive tax, and a flat tax. Give examples of the individuals or groups that benefit most from each of these taxing formats.
Q2) Widely used in the 1980s and 1990s, but have since increasingly come under stricter legislative control, __________ is a health care arrangement in which prepaid group arrangements limit costs through flat monthly rates.
A) Aid to Dependent Families
B) pay-as-you-go plans that charge premiums only when used
C) Medicaid
D) state-funded children's care plans
E) health maintenance organizations (HMOs)
Q3) A tariff is one in which
A) the tax rate on an individual's income increases as the amount gets larger.
B) the tax is imposed on personal income and employers.
C) all entities are taxed at the same rate as a proportion of income.
D) the tax exacts a larger percentage of income from a lower wage earner than from a higher income earner.
E) a fee is levied on imports.
Q4) Describe the impact of entitlements on the budgetary process.
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Chapter 16: American Foreign Policy
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75 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are the underlying interests/benefits associated with U.S. foreign aid distributions? Analyze the arguments in favor of and opposed to American foreign aid. What is the trickle-down theory and is it still relevant?
Q2) Though World War I began in Europe in 1914, the United States did not enter the war until 1917. What was the primary reason for this delay?
A) The United Nations had forbidden the United States to intervene.
B) The United States had no allies at the time among the European nations.
C) The United States advocated a policy of isolationism and neutrality until its shipping was directly attacked by Germany.
D) The United States saw the war as a European problem and thus stayed clear of intervention.
E) The United States did not have the military personnel or equipment to fight a major war.
Q3) What benefits come from increasing our relations with Russia? What progress and decline have we seen in recent years that affect this relationship?
Q4) Describe the policy and philosophy behind the Monroe Doctrine, and explain how it fundamentally opposed the concept of isolationism.
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Page 18