Government Study Questions Chapter 5

B

A major problem that Hispanics have encountered in grasping and wielding political power is their ______. A. universal lack of financial resources B. considerable intragroup diversity C. traditional reluctance to become involved in politics D. rapidly dwindling numbers

B

A suspect classification is one that ______. A. makes a group's claims of discrimination suspect B. treats people differently because of a classification such as race, and such laws are subject to strict scrutiny C. places suspected racists on a watch list and they are subsequently scrutinized D. classifies suspects as to whether their crimes are hate crimes

A

According to Barbour and Wright, people deny rights to others because ______. A. rights are important sources of power B. they are psychologically damaged in some way C. they do not believe in democratic values D. the Constitution demands the creation of "ins" and "outs"

True

Affirmative action is a policy of creating opportunities for members of certain groups as a substantive remedy for past discrimination. T or F

A

After the Supreme Court ruled that school desegregation must take place "with all deliberate speed," the Governor of ______ defied the order and deployed soldiers from the National Guard to block the entrance of nine Black students into Central High School in 1957. A. Arkansas B. Tennessee C. Georgia D. Mississippi

C

All three branches of government help decide which characteristics are permissible for unequal treatment, but the ______ branch is the most involved in this decision-making. A. executive B. legislative C. judicial D. bureaucratic

B

An early law at the national level that prohibited slavery in a specific part of the United States was the ______. A. Fugitive Slave Act B. Northwest Ordinance C. Alien and Sedition Acts D. Civil Rights Act

B

An effect of casino gambling on reservations mentioned in the text is that ______. A. living conditions on reservations have gotten much worse and criminal activity has increased B. Native Americans have achieved new financial prosperity by parlaying their status as semisovereign nations into a foundation for economic security C. hostility against Native Americans has increased because people oppose gambling on moral grounds D. lawmakers have tried to legalize gambling nationally

C

Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans both have ______. A. active voting populations B. common political values C. population diversity D. strong grassroots political organizations

False

Asian Americans and Native Americans both have population diversity. T or F

C

Attempts by the U.S. government to ensure that Blacks enjoyed equal citizenship in fact as well as theory after the Civil War ______. A. were generally successful with very few exceptions B. were blocked by Republicans in Congress C. were not reinitiated until the civil rights era a century later D. were not successful until the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment

B

Barbour and Wright aver that the reaction of many Americans against illegal immigration has resulted in many Hispanic Americans ______. A. becoming less politically active B. enduring discrimination aimed at undocumented workers C. dropping their demands for bilingual education D. surrendering their citizenship and moving to their country of ethnic origin

True

Civil rights are citizenship rights guaranteed to the people. T or F

B

Compared to other minorities, Asian Americans ______. A. have formed their own political parties where population size justifies it B. have lower levels of voter turnout and registration C. are strongly affiliated with the Republican Party D. are considered the largest swing voting bloc

D

Congressional policy toward Native Americans has historically varied between ______. A. creating a national tribal council and developing local tribal councils B. restricting Native Americans to reservations and reducing the size of reservations C. giving them status as independent nations and lumping them with other minorities D. assimilating Native Americans into a European-based culture and encouraging independence and self-government

B

Currently, the Supreme Court has identified ______ as a suspect class. A. sexual orientation B. race C. gender D. religion

C

During World War II, Japanese Americans ______. A. were treated fairly even though Americans in Japan were the subject of persecution B. lost their citizenship if they still had family members in Japan C. were placed in detainment camps for national security purposes D. fled America to live in Western Europe

False

Generally speaking, Cuban Americans, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans share exactly the same issues and concerns. T or F

C

In 1996 when Colorado struck down the Bowers decision, ______. A. homosexuality became a suspect classification along with race B. the Supreme Court overturned the state's power C. it was the first time gay rights were treated as a civil rights issue D. gay marriage was legalized nationally

B

In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that ______. A. school districts should have to integrate within exactly 5 years B. segregated schools were inherently unequal because the very fact of segregation made Blacks feel unequal C. busing would be used as the sole method to integrate schools D. all segregated facilities, whether they were schools or not, were unconstitutional

True

In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that segregated schools were inherently unequal because the very fact of segregation made Blacks feel unequal. T or F

B

In Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court ruled that ______. A. fair employment policies for gays were unconstitutional B. state sodomy laws were a violation of the right to privacy C. the right to same-sex marriage was protected by the U.S. Constitution D. gay couples could not be denied housing on the basis of sexual orientation

A

In the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case, the Supreme Court determined that ______. A. separate but equal public conveniences were constitutionally permissible B. segregated state law schools fell afoul of the Fourteenth Amendment C. gender-segregated public schooling was only permissible under limited circumstances D. grandfather clauses were an unconstitutional way of limiting the franchise

D

In the first half of the 20th century, the status of Blacks was that ______. A. they had no rights in law or practice B. congress tried to protect their rights but it was blocked by the Supreme Court C. the president tried to protect their rights but he was blocked by Congress D. no branch of government was willing to enforce the laws giving rights to Blacks

C

In the immediate aftermath of the Brown decision, ______. A. most public schools were desegregated without controversy B. the civil rights movement's momentum came to a crashing halt C. many local authorities resisted the desegregation of their schools D. the Eisenhower Administration did almost nothing to enforce it

A

In the states of Kentucky and ______, convicted felons are never allowed to vote. A. Virginia B. Vermont C. New York D. Texas

D

Laws that treat men and women differently are subject to ______. A. strict scrutiny B. the minimum rationality test C. the Lemon test D. an intermediate standard of review

C

Log Cabin Republicans refers to ______. A. Republicans who oppose gay marriage B. a libertarian faction within the Republican Party C. conservative gays active on the political right D. Republicans who voted for President Barack Obama

B

Native Americans face a particularly difficult task in winning battles in American politics because ______. A. the courts have not been inclined to protect them B. they do not have the right to vote C. the unity of the many tribes makes them unsympathetic D. the average citizen views them as highly successful

B

Poll taxes were levied on individuals who wanted to ______. A. own land B. vote C. marry D. export goods

D

Reconstruction was the post-Civil War period in which the federal government ______. A. supported the implementation of the Black codes B. allowed Northerners to pillage the conquered lands of the South C. ignored the efforts of the Ku Klux Klan to suppress Blacks' civil rights D. attempted to rebuild the South's economy

A

Regarding the role of women in contemporary politics, which statement is false? A. Female candidates spend less money than do male candidates. B. Women are not as likely as men to want to go into politics. C. Women are the most underrepresented group in Congress and the state legislatures. D. Representation of women in the state legislatures is at an all-time high.

A

Segregation has been harder to overcome in the North than in the South because ______. A. segregation in the North is de facto segregation B. segregation in the North is de jure segregation C. northerners opposed segregation more strenuously than southerners D. northerners are politically more powerful than southerners

D

Social and economic statistics tend to show that ______. A. African Americans have completely overcome the effects of systematic discrimination B. African Americans are now greatly advantaged over Whites because of civil rights laws C. African Americans have gotten no benefit from recent civil rights policies D. inequality still pervades the American system

C

Southern laws mandating segregation had the practical effect of creating ______. A. equally provisioned public amenities for individuals of all races B. public accommodations that both Blacks and Whites could use C. separate public facilities for Blacks and Whites D. improved public education for Black schoolchildren

False

Suspect classification is a heightened standard of review to assess the constitutionality of laws that limit some freedoms. T or F

True

The 1964, Civil Rights Bill was designed to reduce or eliminate racial discrimination in public accommodations. T or F

D

The 2008 presidential election was important because it ______. A. demonstrated that African Americans are still not taken seriously as presidential candidates B. split the nation along racial lines C. demonstrated that a woman could not run for the presidency unless she stressed "women's issues" D. demonstrated that women and African Americans can be serious contenders for the presidency

D

The American Disabilities Act was passed in ______. A. 1960 B. 1970 C. 1980 D. 1990

D

The American government has ______. A. consistently tried to maintain Native American culture B. provided massive assistance to Native Americans to help them assimilate into American culture C. maintained Native Americans on their ancestral lands as much as possible D. deprived Native Americans of their ancestral lands, thus destroying their culture, while providing them with very little aid in order to make them independent

B

The Americans with Disabilities Act was controversial because ______. A. republicans accused Democrats of making a political issue out of those with disabilities B. many of the required changes in physical accommodations are extremely expensive to install C. it instituted quotas for businesses regarding the hiring of those with disabilities 'D. supporters of disabled rights did not believe the act went far enough

A

The Black codes and Jim Crow laws were different because the latter ______. A. never explicitly stripped Black people of their civil rights on the basis of their race B. secured Republican dominance of the South to the present day C. encouraged Black voters to participate in local and national elections D. focused solely on hampering Blacks' economic power rather than limiting their political rights

D

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was struck down by the Supreme Court because, according to their interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment at the time, ______. A. state laws were allowed to be discriminatory on any basis other than race B. the protections created by the privileges and immunities clause only applied to the federal government C. Congress did not have the ability to regulate interstate or intrastate trade D. its provisions only stopped state governments, not individuals, from discriminating on the basis of race

C

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States is a(n) ______ form of democratic participation. A. elitist B. participatory C. pluralist D. individual

D

The Lilly Ledbetter Act ______. A. requires a woman claiming gender discrimination in the workplace to do so within the first 150 days of employment B. requires affirmative action remedies in cases of gender discrimination in the workplace C. was pushed through Congress by business interests to water down gender discrimination regulations D. extended the time period available to a woman claiming gender discrimination in the workplace

A

The Supreme Court of ______ declared that banning same-sex marriage violated the state's equal protection and due process clauses. A. Massachusetts B. New York C. New Jersey D. Minnesota

B

The argument for affirmative action is that ______. A. people who have been discriminated against deserve positions, even if they are not qualified B. there is no other decisive evidence for proving that discrimination has ended C. if businesses and universities do not use it, they will be sued D. politicians like it

A

The candidacy and election of Barack Obama had which effect? A. It increased optimism among Blacks about their future. B. It clearly improved the candidacies of Blacks in future elections. C. It led to a decreased turnout among Whites in 2008. D. It led to the abolition of systemic racism.

A

The civil rights movement of the 1950s-1960s was most successful in eliminating ______ but was far less successful in eliminating ______. A. de jure discrimination; de facto discrimination B. de facto discrimination; de jure discrimination C. economic differences among the races; political differences among the races D. differences in levels of educational attainment among the races; differences in levels of social attainment among the races

False

The civil rights movement of the 1950s-1960s was most successful in eliminating de facto but was far less successful in eliminating de jure discrimination. T or F

D

The concepts of strict scrutiny and suspect classification are used by the Supreme Court to answer what question? A. When is torture of suspected terrorists permitted? B. When can we suspect minorities of taking advantage of civil rights laws? C. When can the police act on their suspicions that someone is an illegal alien? D. When can the law treat people differently?

True

The decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas overturned Plessy v.Ferguson. T or F

D

The decision in ______ overturned Plessy v. Ferguson. A. Sweatt v. Painter B. Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada C. Korematsu v. United States D. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

D

The first Hispanic Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was ______. A. Alberto Gonzales B. Elian Gonzales C. Bill Richardson D. Sonia Sotomayor

D

The lack of immigration from Asia during much of the first half of the 20th century can be attributed most directly to ______. A. the fact that most Asians preferred to immigrate to European democracies because of patterns of discrimination in the United States B. the lack of political opportunities available to Asians in the United States C. the fact that Asians have never seen the United States as providing economic opportunities for them D. legislation passed by Congress that restricted immigration from China and Japan

A

The legal methods used to deny African Americans the right to vote, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, were overcome by ______. A. passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the Constitution B. an executive order issued by President Lyndon Johnson C. changes in the political leadership of the southern states D. passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution

D

The major, nationwide impact of the Brown v. Board of Education decision was that it ______. A. motivated African Americans to align themselves with Mexican Americans to bring about school desegregation B. instituted busing to overcome de facto discrimination C. caused school desegregation in the South to move ahead rapidly D. served as a catalyst for the civil rights movement

C

The only resolution that did not receive the unanimous support of the delegates to the Seneca Falls Convention was the one that advocated ______. A. an end to slavery B. equal rights for Asian Americans C. women's suffrage D. Southern secession from the Union

D

The rights given Blacks in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments did not really help African Americans following the Civil War because ______. A. the amendments did not apply to all the states B. the nation was slow to ratify these amendments C. African Americans were not allowed access to courts D. Congress, the president, and southern state governments made little effort to enforce them

B

The significance of suspect classification is that it ______. A. allows the government to call into question whether a group requires protection from discriminatory laws B. is crucial in a group's struggle for civil rights C. requires the police to read a suspect his or her rights before questioning D. was the sole basis for the decision in Brown v. Board of Education

True

The significance of suspect classification is that it is crucial in a group's struggle for civil rights. T or F

B

The site of Rosa Park's activism and a major bus boycott took place in ______, and eventually resulted in the courts' ruling that separate bus accommodations are not equal. A. Atlanta, GA B. Montgomery, AL C. Little Rock, AR D. Memphis, TN

A

The state of female representation in legislatures is that women are ______. A. the most underrepresented group in Congress and state legislatures B. overrepresented in many state legislatures C. overrepresented in the Senate but underrepresented in the House of Representatives D. achieving a greater level of representation in Congress than are African Americans

B

The states of Maine and ______ do not limit the rights of convicted felons to vote in any way. A. Virginia B. Vermont C. New York D. Texas

B

The text points out how Native Americans face the dilemma that they ______. A. want to join American culture completely but are blocked from doing so B. are asked to make concessions that are incompatible with their culture, but they depend on the American government to get them out of poverty C. want to maintain their culture but they are blocked from doing so D. could benefit from the gambling industry, but taking advantage of the gambling industry would violate their values

A

The women's movement was most successful with a strategy of ______ in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A. changing laws state by state B. threatening opposition politicians with electoral defeat C. supporting strong female candidates for office D. mass demonstrations and sit-ins

D

Traditionally, voter turnout has been ______. A. roughly the same for Hispanic voters as that for non-Hispanic White voters B. impossible to estimate accurately due to the presence of massive voter fraud among Hispanics C. higher among Puerto Ricans than in the Cuban American community D. lower than average for Hispanics due to poverty and class issues

C

Which of the following is an example of a procedural policy? A. Title IX B. busing C. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 D. affirmative action

D

Which of the following is unconstitutional? A. affirmative action programs in hiring B. desegregating schools with busing C. economic boycotts D. fulfilling quotas of minorities in school admissions

C

Which of these is a true statement concerning age discrimination? A. Mandatory retirement policies remain a serious threat to the rights of older people. B. Older Americans are less active and effective in protecting their rights than younger Americans. C. Americans under 18 years of age are denied many basic rights granted to those who are older. D. The sick elderly lack many basic rights to protect them from abusive caretakers.

D

Which of these is a true statement concerning gay and lesbian rights? A. Sodomy laws are constitutional according to the U.S. Supreme Court. B. Gays and lesbians have traditionally faced only overt discrimination. C. Gays and lesbians make up a smaller percentage of the electorate than Hispanics. D. Gay and lesbian interest groups give substantial amounts of money to political campaigns.

C

Which of these is a true statement regarding public opinion on gay and lesbian rights? A. The public overwhelmingly supported the ban on gays in the military. B. Older generations are more supportive of gay rights than are younger generations. C. Most people support legislation that protects gays and lesbians from housing discrimination. D. More people oppose same-sex adoption than same-sex marriage

C

Which statement concerning affirmative action is true? A. It has been universally recognized as an effective remedy for racism. B. It continues to be implemented in every state. C. It is intended to be a substantive remedy for past discrimination. D. Statistics indicate that Blacks are now even with Whites on most economic measures.

C

Which statement concerning discrimination on the basis of race or ethnic identity in the United States is true? A. Discrimination is clearly defined and easily identified. B. Most groups follow a similar script for fighting discrimination. C. Different groups have had different degrees of success in fighting the effects of discrimination. D. Discrimination has driven all groups to be mostly members of the Democratic Party.E. The overall percentage of the population made up of racial and ethnic minorities is declining.

D

Which statement concerning the status of women in early 19th-century America is true? A. They could own and profit off of property. B. They could not marry men without American citizenship. C. They could initiate divorce proceedings. D. They could not gain custody of their children in case of divorce.

B

Which statement is true concerning age discrimination? A. The Supreme Court has declared age to be a suspect classification. B. Older people are better organized to protect their rights than younger people. C. The most frequent act of discrimination against older people is housing discrimination. D. Older people are denied many basic rights that are granted to younger people.

D

Women gained the right to vote by a strategy of ______. A. gaining the support of the president B. winning support at the national level and then using that to win in the states C. solely by a program of massive demonstrations in major cities that gained them publicity and support D. gaining the right to vote in states where they had support and expanding their support over time

A

______ are citizenship rights guaranteed to the people. A. Civil rights B. Civil liberties C. Special privileges D. Naturalized rights

A

______ discrimination is discrimination that is the result not of law, but rather of tradition and habit. A. De facto B. De solis C. Ad hoc D. De jure