AP Gov Unit 2

Which of the following best describes an exit poll?

A poll that asks voters at randomly selected voting places whom they voted for so that election results can be predicted more quickly.

Which of the following applications of affirmative action would the US Supreme Court likely consider unconstitutional?

A state university refuses acceptance of any new applicants from a specific race

Which best describes a likely reason for the information depicted in the graph?

An increase in concerns over media bias

In the case Boynton v. Virginia (1960), the Supreme Court ruled that segregation at a bus stop restaurant was illegal based on the Interstate Commerce Act. Which of the following explains how this case is similar to Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)?

Both cases struck down local ordinances that prescribed segregation

Since the 1960s, support for the Democratic Party has declined the most among which of the following groups?

Business leaders

Discrimination in public accommodations was made illegal in the United States as a direct result of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of conservative and liberal views concerning social policy?

Conservative: Individuals should not rely on government aid for their economic well-being. Liberal: The government should be responsible for helping to improve the economic position of low-income people.

Which of the following would result from the direct election of presidential candidates?

Each vote would count equally in determining which candidate won the election

The media's effect on public opinion can best be described as

Influencing which issues the public sees as important

Which of the following best describes the difference between an open and closed primary?

Only voters who register as members of a political party may vote in that party's closed primary, while independents and others may be eligible to vote in open primaries

The following question is based on the following excerpt from a major Supreme Court decision. "Such considerations apply with added force to children in grade and high schools. To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely to ever be undone..." ...We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently inequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs...are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment" The doctrine of "separate but equal" referred to above had previously been upheld by which of the following Supreme Court decisions?

Plessy v Ferguson, 1896

Which of the following is not true of regional trends in the United States?

Since the 1950s, more Americans have relocated to rural settings.

Which of the following scenarios best reflects the process of political socialization?

An individual takes a civics course in school and develops opinions about politics.

Which of the following groups would be most likely to support a constitutional amendment banning all abortions?

Conservatives

Which of the following provides the most accurate explanation of how consumer driven media increases partisan polarization?

Consumer driven media reinforces existing political biases in individuals

The term "horse race journalism" refers to the tendency of the media to

Cover campaigns by emphasizing the relative standings of the candidates in the polls rather than the issues they discuss

The agenda setting function of the media refers to the power to

Decide which issues are important enough to bring to public attention

Which of the following is a true statement about the role of the media in providing citizens with information?

Demand for instantaneous news reporting has led to the growth of 24 hour news operations and a shift to online media consumption

To which level of government did the Bill of Rights originally apply?

Federal government only

Most of the individual protections of the Bill of Rights now apply to the states because of the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution's

Fourteenth Amendment

A chief executive officer of a corporation believes that the Republican candidate for president will enact policies that are more beneficial to her business. The CEO donated the max amount allowed by law directly to the candidate's campaign fund. To increase the candidate's chances for election, the CEO also directed her corporation to donate funds to an independent political action committee to create ads criticizing the opposing candidate. According to the decision in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, which provision of the constitution protects her actions?

Freedom of speech in the 1st amendment

Which of the following sets of policies appears to be most influenced by a libertarian ideology?

Increase income taxes of the wealthy to raise revenue for social security benefits

Which of the following statements about Americans' trust in the mass media is best supported by the data in the graph?

It generally decreased over time

The primary election system of selecting presidential candidates has had which of the following effects?

It has loosened the hold of party leaders over the nomination process

On November 2, 2014, a Gallup poll reported that 51 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, while 47 percent oppose legalization. The reported margin of sampling error was +/- 4 percent. Which of the following inferences can be made from the poll?

It is unclear whether more people support marijuana legalization than oppose it.

Which of the following most accurately describes media coverage of elections?

Network news coverage is usually dominated by reporters who offer relatively short sound bites from the candidates.

Which of the following best explains how most candidates are recruited to run for office?

Political parties usually recruit and train people at the local level they believe are most fit to run for office

"Any candidate using Facebook can put a campaign message promising one thing in front of one group of voters while simultaneously running an ad with a completely opposite message in front of a different group of voters. The ads themselves are not posted anywhere for the general public to see (dark advertising) and chances are, no one will ever be the wiser. That undermines the very idea of a "marketplace of ideas," says Ann Ravel, a former member of the Federal Election Commission who has long advocated stricter regulations on digital campaigning. "The way to have a robust democracy is for people to hear all these ideas and make decisions and discuss" Ravel said. "With microtargeting, that is not happening" Which of the following scenarios reflects the most direct effect of the practice described in the passage on the electoral process?

Political parties will rely increasingly on social media ads to reach different coalitions of voters

Which of the following best defines civil liberties?

Provisions in the Bill of Rights that provide guarantees against arbitrary interference by government

Interest groups use political action committee (PACS) to

Raise and spend money on election campaigns

In Gideon v. Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that

Sixth Amendment right-to-counsel provision applies to those accused of major crimes under state laws

A state has 11 electoral votes. In a presidential election, the Democratic candidate receives 48 percent of that state's popular vote, the Republican candidate receives 40 percent of the vote, and an independent candidate receives 12 percent of the vote. If the state is similar to most other states, how will the electoral votes most likely be allocated?

The Democratic candidate will receive all 11 electoral votes.

Which of the following amendments to the Constitution most likely provides the basis for a driver to challenge the constitutionality of police use of sobriety checkpoints in enforcing drunk driving laws?

The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure

How is a president chosen when none of the candidates receives a majority of the electoral college vote?

The House chooses a new president by a majority vote of its state delegations

Which of the following best explains the trend of significantly increased black voter registration and stable white voter registration?

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

In a public opinion poll, a polling company used an online survey tool to randomly contact respondents who did not have telephone line in addition to contacting people over the phone. Which of the following best explains this decision?

The company wanted to ensure that the sample of the population was truly random.

Which of the following describes the potential impact on the electorate when daily media coverage of elections focuses primarily on the newest poll results?

The electorate will be less able to accurately compare the policy platforms of candidates running in the election

Using both of the maps above, which of the following best explains the role that ideology has played in the shaping of corporate tax rates?

The maps indicate that states that have high corporate tax rates are more likely to enact liberal policies.

A recent poll indicates that 60 percent of all people in the United States support a flat tax system. Which of the following supports the credibility of the poll result?

The poll reported a sampling error.

In a public opinion poll of a representative sample of a population, 1200 people were asked to agree, disagree, or express neutrality toward the following statements. Statement A: The government should spend more money on welfare. Result: 35 percent of the respondents agreed. Statement B: The government should spend more money on helping the poor. Result: 60 percent of respondents agreed. In the results above which of the following most likely accounts for the different results?

The questions contained a difference in wording

Critics of the winner-take-all aspect of the electoral college are most likely to make which of the following arguments?

The winner take all system of the electoral college encourages presidential candidates to focus their time and effort disproportionately on battleground states with larger populations

Which of the following describes a consequence of the growing concentration of ownership of the news media?

There is increased similarity of network news coverage

According to the bar graph which of the following statements will be true in the year 2060?

Those identifying as white alone will remain a majority

In which of the following situations would the Supreme Court be most likely to utilize the doctrine of selective incorporation?

When an individual claims that a right protected by the Bill of Rights is infringed upon by a state

A primary election in which voters are required to identify a party preference before the election and are not allowed to split their ticket is called

a closed primary

A writ of habeas corpus refers to

a person's right to know the reasons for his or her imprisonment

Which of these are advantages of size and location of the United States?

buffered from foreign attack, room for the population to grow and expand, and abundant resources

When the party members meet to nominate a candidate for office, they participate in which of the following?

caucus

Voter turnout tends to be highest among

college-educated voters

The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the Equal Rights Amendment, and Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972 were all directed toward the goal of

equality for women

Typically, presidential candidates implement their campaign strategies by

focusing on larger, competitive states, because they might tip the balance of the electoral college

Brown v. Board of Education was a significant Supreme Court ruling because it

held the "separate but equal" concept to be a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

The process of extending the protections of the Bill of Rights by means of the Fourteenth Amendment to apply to the actions of state governments is known as

incorporation

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to

make most rights contained in the Bill of Rights applicable to the states

Children are most likely to adopt the party identification

of their parents.

Jim Crow laws, still in place in the early 1960s in the South, were outlawed by the

passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

In Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court declared that

police must inform criminal suspects of their constitutional rights before questioning suspects after arrest

A major difference between political parties and interest groups is that

political parties seek to gain control of government, while interest groups seek to influence public policy

Political socialization is the process by which

political values passed to the next generation

An election in which there is a significant shift in the bases of electoral support from one political party to another is called a

realigning election

The passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a significant political event because it

was instrumental in increasing the number of African American and other minority voters

Critical elections in the United States typically have occurred

when groups of voters have changed their traditional patterns of party loyalties

According to the clear and present danger test, speech may be restricted

when it incites violent action