Critical Thinking Test

A __________ watcher is a citizen who is paid by the parties to keep a watchful eye on the voters and the officials.

Poll

In 1962 the Supreme Court gave a neutral ruling concerning public school:

Prayer

The Electoral College makes the decision to elect which of the following?

President

The ________ is the leader in Parliament's House of Commons.

Prime Minister

What do the parties have to depend largely on for their campaign funding?

Private donations

A hospital would be included in which service?

Public Safety

A contested election means that the losing candidate calls for a:

Recount

The term for "correcting a wrong that was done" is

Redress

The Populist Party of the 1890s was an example of a party formed chiefly to help a __________________________________________.

Specific group of people

The alternative to voting a straight ticket is to vote a _______

Split Ticket

Select six countries with multiparty systems.

Sri Lanka Denmark France Japan Belgium Italy

The Federalists believed in a __________ central government.

Strong

Choose the type of government style that best fits the example given below. The government passes laws to protect the rights of its citizens.

Pluralism

The Democrats won all the elections from 1828-1860 except in 1840 and ________

1848

Mark the statements that are TRUE.

- A school is an acceptable building used for a polling place. - A fire station is an acceptable building used for a polling place. - A church is an acceptable building used for a polling place. - A library is an acceptable building used for a polling place.

Select the statements which are TRUE concerning your voting rights and responsibilities.

- You must be 18 years of age. - You must vote in your designated precinct. - There will be a ballot box to receive your voting ballot. - Your name and address will be verified at a registration table.

Mark the sentences that are true.

-The Republican Party began as a series of anti-slavery political meetings held in the Midwest in 1854. -During the election of 1824, Andrew Jackson won the most electoral votes, but not the majority needed to be elected President. - The Anti-Federalist would limit the Federal government strictly to the powers the constitution delegated to it. -Third parties play a highly important role in the strengthening the two major parties.

Mark the statements that are TRUE.

-The federal power of the country is known as the central government. -Ronald Reagan was praised for making the economy strong during the 80s. -Phil Gramm spent over 9 million dollars in his Presidential bid in 1996.

Which of these Bible passages instruct us to pray for those in authority?

1 Timothey 2:1-4

The Sixth Amendment gives a citizen of the U.S. a right to:

A speedy trial

The Democrats fought almost bitterly at times over:

All of the above

The Republican party was formed in response to what issue?

Anti-slavery views, the oppositions to the extension of slavery.

__________ believed that if a person found and achieved his function in life, he would be truly happy.

Aristotle

What early method of nominating political candidates required people to hold meetings to discuss the positives and negatives of candidates?

Caucus

The federal power of the country is known as the ____________ government.

Central

Which political party function involves putting where a candidate stands on the "issues" into writing?

Choosing a candidate

The _________ court is also known as the Court of Appeals.

Circuit

China has what type of government?

Communist

Inspectors and judges are responsible for the proper ___________ of the election.

Conduct

What is NOT the function of political parties?

Conducting a census

The Supreme Court watches the actions of the President to make sure he is acting according to what document?

Constitution

Human thought and lifestyle within a certain time period or place is known as a

Culture

Marx wrote about his disagreement with the free enterprise system in ________ .

Das Kapital

Discussing and even arguing over points of a matter is called:

Debating

The __________ party is the oldest political party in the United States.

Democratic

The two major American political parties are the ______________ party and the __________________ party.

Democratic Republic

What political party emerged from the struggling factions of the Democratic-Republicans?

Democrats

Most one-party systems are associated with __________.

Dictatorship

A Senate ___________ is when one party controls the House and another party controls the Senate.

Divided government

Jurisdiction means the power to:

Establish diplomatic relations

Check the boxes that are true.

Nine justices serve in the Supreme Court. There are 12 courts of appeal in the judiciary system. Federal judges on the Supreme Court serve for life.

A Presidential candidate does not need private financing. He can actually run a campaign using only his own personal money.

False

A diplomat who resides in a foreign country where he represents his home country is called an elector.

False

A member of the House of Representatives may not introduce a bill.

False

Conventions are still the most popular way of nominating political candidates on the county, state, and national level.

False

If the President doesn't want to deal with a bill and lets it sit for twelve days while Congress is in session, it automatically becomes law.

False

The House of Lords is more powerful than the House of Commons.

False

The executive branch is one of the three branches of the U.S. government; this branch mainly interprets the federal laws and upholds or negates them.

False

The Prohibition Party was founded in 1869 solely for the purpose of preventing the manufacturer and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States. The Prohibition Party is an example of a party that ___________________________.

Has only one goal

What are the TWO houses of Parliament?

House of Commons House of Lords

What is a person called who currently holds an office?

Incumbent

Which is FALSE concerning the use of the voting machine?

It was invented in 1898

Select the three branches of our government.

Judicial Executive Legislative

In the early days of our democracy, voting was done _________

Orally

Both Houses of Congress are part of the what branch of the government?

Legislative

The House of Representatives and the Senate make up what branch of government?

Legislative

The Government Printing Office is maintained by which of these?

Legislative branch

________ was the first Republican Presidential candidate to win the office in 1861.

Lincoln

Which level of government improves society by creating mass transportation, libraries, and ordinances for citizen welfare?

Local

The __________ ballot is a handicap because the voters cannot possibly learn enough about the candidates for all offices to vote intelligently.

Long

Who is considered to be the father of modern political science?

Machiavelli

A subcommittee often makes changes and adds amendments to a bill before it is recommended to the full committee. This is known as ________ a bill.

Marking up

Being in agreement with the standards of right conduct is called

Morality

What committee sends political leaders to certain states to campaign for their party's candidate?

National Committee

If a political party puts the party agenda above the needs of the people it is known as _____________.

Partisan politics

What are the three ways someone can get his name put on the primary ballot of his party?

Petition Self-announcement Convention

Nearly all of the states offer an absentee-voting system for people who are

Physically disabled Ill Absent on business

The Eighth Amendment deals with:

Not allowing excessive bail or punishment

In absentee voting, a person marks the ballot and then swears before a __________ that he is a registered and qualified voter. He then sends his ballot to the county _______.

Notary Public Clerk

Federal courts have the right to do which of the following to laws that they feel are violating the Constitution?

Nullify

Three political writings of John Milton are:

Of Reformation in England The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Commonwealth The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates

The Australian ballot is another name for a ______

Secret ballot

You go to vote and notice that only the candidates for the highest offices are listed on your ballot.Which type of ballot are you using?

Short Ballot

The Republican National Committee publishes a monthly digest of information for Republicans called

The Republican

Whenever the other house of Congress significantly alters a bill, a conference committee must be formed to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate bills. These differences in the bill are known as:

Versions

The President pro tempore is the presiding officer of the Senate whenever the ________ is not present.

Vice President

The Anti-Federalist would limit the Federal government strictly to:

The powers the constitution delegated to it

What event coincided with the emergence of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist political parties in the United States?

The writing and adoption of the Constitution

It's a bad sign for a bill if:

The subcommittee lets it sit and does nothing

One similarity between the United States Supreme Court and the British House of Lords is that:

They are both appointed for life

Governments are important because:

They enforce rules that control conduct within a population

The Socialist Worker's Party and the American Communist Party are considered to be what type of third party?

Those made up of left-wing protest groups

A bill that becomes law is called legislation.

True

A primary is an early election in which delegates select and nominate candidates for office.

True

A sitting bill is a bill that is inactive in Congress.

True

A taxpayer can be involved in the financial part of the election process by marking a box on his/her tax return requesting that a certain amount of his tax go into the Presidential retirement fund.

True

Both the Democratic and Republican parties have a state committee in each state.

True

If a committee does not act on a bill, it's the same as if the bill has been voted down.

True

If you speak of a right-wing party, you are speaking of a group which holds liberal views.

True

In state elections, only the governor, lieutenant governor, and members of the state legislature would be elected under the short-ballot system.

True

Paul tells Timothy that all leaders should be prayed for.

True

Planks are parts of the party platform in the form of issues that are presented to the people. Civil rights, taxes, and energy are a few examples of the issues.

True

Some states require that local elections must come during the in-between years when no national elections are held.

True

The Republican Party appealed to groups such as farmers, industrialists, and merchants.

True

The Republicans won fourteen of the eighteen Presidential elections held between 1860 through 1928.

True

The legislative system is given powers granted to it by the Constitution in Article I.

True

The President may serve a maximum of how many terms in office?

Two

Congress can override a Presidential veto by ________ majority vote.

Two-thirds

One way to cut down on the number of elections is to not have an election when all the persons running are ____________, which happens frequently.

Unopposed

Which type of primary is being described below? Voters need not reveal their party membership. The voter chooses the ballot of the party's primary in which he or she would like to vote. Voters of all parties and independents enjoy freedom of party choice.

Wide-open Primary