APGOV *Semester 1 Exam*
Every two years, _____ of the Senate must stand for reelection
1/3
What is recall?
16 states allow for recall of officials. A specified percentage of registered voters must sign a petition a majority vote is required for an officer to be removed not used as often as initiatives or refenda
The Federalists papers were written by
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
Why do most democracies give power to representatives rather than directly to citizens?
Bringing large numbers of citizens together for discussions and votes is difficult. Decisions may require specialized knowledge not possessed by the average citizen. Discussion of political issues takes more time than most people are willing to spend.
Which of the following is a consequence of the presidential nomination process in the United States
Candidates who win the nomination do so mainly on their own and owe little or nothing to the national party organization
Supporters of the Constitution named themselves
Federalists
Those who supported the new Constitution were called ____________, and those who opposed it were called _____________.
Federalists, Antifederalists
The ________ Amendment prohibits Congress from abridging freedom of the press
First
A key difference between the House and the Senate concerning bill procedures is the
House Rules Committee
A president can be impeached by the ____ and tried and removed from office by the _____.
House; Senate
Which of the following statements about American political parties is false
Independents outnumber Democratic Party and Republican Party identifiers, combined, in the U.S. electorate
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson's statement that "all men are created equal" is similar to which theorists's belief that government is based on the "consent of the governed"?
John Locke
Which philosopher's ideas form the basis of communism?
Marx
Where in the Constitution are political parties discussed
Nowhere in the Constitution
An environment group publishes scientifically documented lapses in EPA oversight of toxic waste dump monitoring. Which function is the environmental group engaged in
Program monitoring
Which of the following activities requires the most initiative
Running for office
The framers guessed that the _________ would reflect public opinion, especially on the crucial issues of taxes and government spending
Supreme Court
__________ occurs when a magazine informs a relatively small number of group leaders who follow news in a specific area, and those leaders in turn mobilize their followers to put pressure on public officials
The 2 step flow of communication
Which of the following was the first known act of unconventional participation in America
The Boston Tea Party
Larger states benefited most under what plan
The Virginia Plan
What are the essential premises of dual federalism
The national gov't rules by enumerated powers only. The national gov't has a limited set of constitutional purposes. Each gov't unit, both nation and state, is sovereign within its own sphere. The relationship between nation and state is best characterized by tension.
According to the NJ Plan, how was representation to be structured in Congress?
There would be 1 house, and all states would have equal representation in it
The Declaration of Independence was based on input from many people, but its primary author was
Thomas Jefferson
The largest circulation for a daily newspaper is claimed by
USA Today
Which of the following voting behaviors by a representative indicates delegate behavior
Voting according to the results of a telephone survey regarding the preference of district constituents
The style and tactics of contemporary presidential campaigns are controlled primarily by
a candidate's personal campaign organization
Direct action includes
a citizen's group appearing before the city council seeking change in an ordinance
Which metaphor best describes dual federalism?
a layer cake
Which metaphor best describes cooperative federalism
a marble cake
A media event is
a situation that is too newsworthy for the media to ignore
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison advocated
a system that would inherently control the effects of factions
If the NRA focuses public attention on the failure of gun control legislation to reduce the number of felonies committed by persons using handguns, it is engaged in which function
agenda building
Criticism of talk radio centers on its
airing of extreme views, which tends to polarize politics
Every 2 years, how many of the 435 House seats are up for reelection at the same time
all
By national law, ____________ of the seats in the House of Representatives and _______________ of the seats in the Senate are filled in a general election held every even numbered year
all; one third
A major reason for the use of committees in Congress is that they
allow members of Congress to develop and use expertise in certain policy areas
The current partisan makeup of the electorate is best described as a(n)
almost equal balance among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents
The content of a bill can be changed
at any stage of the legislative process
U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair signed a treaty designed to protect the United States and Britain from further terrorist acts by the sharing of intelligence information. Before this treaty legally takes effect in the U.S., it must
be approved by a 2/3 vote of the Senate
If the president neither signs nor vetoes a bill within 10 days while Congress is in session, the bill
becomes a law
Money awarded for broad, general purposes is called a
block grant
Children are likely to adopt their parents' party identification when
both parents strongly identify with the same party
The most distinguishing feature of American political parties has always been the absence of
centralized power
Under separation of powers, the U.S. system keeps power among branches balanced by enabling one branch to counter the actions of another by the use of
checks and balances
The basic standard of substantive democracy is that government must guarantee
civil rights and liberties
A primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot is a(n) _______________ primary.
closed
By signing the Declaration of Independence, the rebels
committed an act of treason
The framers of the Constitution intended _________ to be the strongest branch of government
congress
Most news printed about Congress comes from
congressional press releases and prepared reports
Which of the following has traditionally been considered true of voters primary elections, but has recently been called into question?
democratic primary voters are more liberal than average Democratic identifiers; Republican primary voters are more conservative than average Republican identifiers
Private ownership of the media in the U.S. makes the American news industry
dependent on advertising revenues
A strategy that relies on a group representative's personal contact with policymakers is
direct lobbying
Each state has 1 vote in the electoral college for
each of its representatives and senators
Capitalism is best described as a(n)
economic system in which production and property are privately owned, with a minimum of government interference
An election trend wherein voters elect candidates from the political party they do not normally vote for and persist in this behavior for several elections would be identified as
electoral realignment
The first objective of campaign advertising is to
ensure that a candidate has a high level of name recognition among voters
The constitutional provision found in Article I, Section 8, which gives Congress the means to execute its powers, is an example of what type of power
enumerated
Which of the following concepts became a major objective of government after industrialization and urbanization
equality
When one person has the same chance to succeed in life as another, this is called
equality of opportunity
liberals
favor the use of government to foster equality
The Senate delay tactic of talking a bill to death is called
filibustering
The principle of responsiveness requires that legislators
follow the general contours of public opinion
Government's "original dilemma" is how best to balance
freedom and order
The concepts associated with the values commonly pursued by government include
freedom, order, and equality
A state moves its primary to an earlier date to encourage presidential candidates who would otherwise have skipped that state to campaign there. This is known as
front-loading
The media executives, news editors, and prominent reporters who decide which events to report and how to report them are known as
gatekeepers
When an election immediately follows a new U.S. census, incumbents typically enjoy the advantage of
gerrymandered districts
Campaigns use polls to
get feedback about the success or failure of various campaign tactics, discover voters' perceptions of candidates, devise adjusted strategies, and discover voters' opinions about certain issues
Which of the following statements reflects the role public opinion should play according to the majoritarian model of democracy
gov't should do what a majority of the public wants
The general term for money paid by one level of government to another is
grant-in-aid
Which of the following involves an interest group's rank-and-file membership as well as outreach to ordinary people outside the organization
grassroots lobbying
The most important job of the party leaders in Congress is to
guide bargaining and negotiation regarding the content of legislation
During a presidential election, the tendency of journalists to limit coverage of campaign events to coverage of the candidate who leads in the polls at the time is known as
horse race jouranlism
The procedural view of democracy is most concerned with
how government decisions are made
The internet was started
in 1969, with support from the U.S. Department of Defense
The single most important factor leading to the Constitutional Convention was
inability of the national or state government to maintain order under the articles
The effect of national emergencies and judicial interpretations on federalism has been to
increase the power of the national government
The primary goal of interest groups is to
influence public policy
A citizen's group gathers enough signatures on a petition to force a popular vote on a statewide lottery proposal. This proposal would represent a(n)
initiative
When the authors say that we live in an era of "globalization," they mean that citizens and nations are increasingly
interdependent
The number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency
is 270
An interest group entrepreneur
is an interest group leader or organizer
The number of seats granted to each state in the House of Representatives
is reapportioned every 10 years after the national census
Spray painting political slogans on a building, a form of unconventional behavior, has what effect on government
it is stressful
An open election
lacks an incumbent
A congressional committee that holds a hearing to determine whether the Department of Agriculture is administering the food stamp program as Congress intended is engaging in
legislative oversight
The broad, basic definition of government given by the text is
legitimate use of force within specified geographic boundaries to control human behavior
When members of Congress vote in party meetings to select committee chairpersons subject to leadership approval, the person selected is typically chosen primarily on the basis of
length of service on the committee and membership in the majority party
In forging a new gov't, the biggest concern of the colonial revolutionaries was
limiting its powers
When the Senate votes to invoke cloture, it
limits the amount of time that may be spent debating a bill
Characteristics frequently associated with nonvoters are
low education, low income, and being relatively young
the oldest objective of government is
maintaining order
The most powerful person in the Senate is the
majority leader
In the congressional setting, casework refers to
members helping constituents with problems
An underlying assumption of the concept of descriptive representation is that
minorities can be effectively represented only be people of their own kind
All of the following are principles of procedural democracy except
minority rights
In recent years, state government power has changed to become
more professional
Are the Speaker of the House's duties listed in the constitution?
no
In general, libertarianism
opposes all government action except that which protects life and property
The text identifies _______ as an important "external source of influence" on Congress
parties, the president, constituents, interest groups
Each citizen having one vote demonstrates
political equality
The 2-party system in the U.S. is supported by which aspect(s) of the political system
political history and socialization
The set of values and beliefs that a person holds about the purpose and scope of government is called
political ideology
The process whereby one becomes aware of politics, learns political facts, and forms political values is called
political socialization
The Greek word kratos, one of the roots of the word democracy, means
power
The principle of universal participation may still be met even if some adults (such as recent immigrants) are excluded from participation if this exclusion is based on
practical or political reasons in a particular country
A direct primary is
preliminary election to choose party candidates
Of the following major objectives of government, the most recent one is
promoting equality
Broadcast media include
radio and television
The minority counterpart to a committee chairperson is called a
ranking minority member
Republicanism is a form of government in which power
resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives
A republic is a government
resting on the consent of the governed
The goal of the 1st Continental Congress was to
restore harmony between Britain and the colonies
To create social and economic equality, governments must
restrict individual freedom
A _____ is a temporary committee established to deal with issues that either overlap or fall outside the areas of expertise of standing committees
select committee
Members of the Senate serve ___-year terms
six
Agreement among substantive theorists breaks down when the discussion moves from civil rights to
social rights and economic rights
Franklin Roosevelt's four freedoms include
speech, from fear, religion, from want
Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is an example of ____________ behavior.
supportive
When state laws conflict with national laws, the situation is resolved by the ________________ clause.
supremacy
Americans tend to __________ their local governments
take little interest in
The development of the news media in the U.S. has been shaped by
technological innovation, trends in entertainment, political attitudes toward the scope of gov't
The shift away from dual federalism and toward cooperative federalism was a response to the problems associated with
the Great Depression
If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes, the election is decided by
the U.S. Supreme Court
A result of the 2nd Continental Congress was
the adoption of the Declaration of Independence
Pluralists would argue that gov't should not always follow public opinion due to
the apathy and lack of knowledge of the general public
The basic definition of public opinion is
the collected attitudes of citizens on a given issue or question
How does incumbency affect a candidate's chances for re-election
the incumbent candidate almost always has an advantage
The most heated debates at the Constitutional Convention focused on
the legislative branch
A popular election is the primary mechanism for democratic government in which model?
the majoritarian model
Compared with majoritarian thought, the pluralist model of democracy shifts the focus of democratic decision making from ____ to ____.
the mass electorate; organized groups
Antifederalists attacked the proposed constitution on the grounds that
the national gov't it created was too strong
The chief obstacle to ratification of the Constitution by the states was
the omission of a bill of rights
In the article "GOP an Irresponsible Opposition Party", Ruth Marcus believes that the Republican Party is irresponsible because
the party is not presenting a plan of its own
The Great Compromise resolved what issue
the power of large vs. small states
A vote on a bill in the Senate results in a tie. What would likely be the official outcome of the vote on the bill?
the president's party would prevail
A dispute over floor debate procedure in the House would be settled by
the rules Committee
What role do interest groups play in educating policymakers about political issues
they are an important source of political information
The Articles of Confederation failed because
they did not provide an effective means for the gov't to raise money, they did not include an independent leader to direct the gov't, and they did not give the gov't power to regulate commerce
In recent elections, when the candidates of the major parties have declined public funding of their campaigns,
they have often raised and spent more money than they would have been allowed under the limits of the law
People often seem inconsistent in their political beliefs because
they may favor government action to promote one value but not another
Coverage of a well-known youth celebrity's drug abuse scandal that will highly impact teenagers is known as a __________event.
time-sensitive
in the senate, the starting time, length, and conditions of debate on legislation are set by
unanimous consent agreements
The idea that all adults within the boundaries of a political community should be allowed to vote is known as
universal participation
The text defines suffrage and franchise as the right to
vote
A voter who voted for Democrat Ted Kennedy for senator and Republican George W. Bush for president in 200
voted a split ticket
A congressional representative is following the trustee philosophy when he or she
votes according to his or her conscience, even if doing so means going against the wishes of the majority back home
At the Constitutional Convention, the institution of slavery
was opposed by some but preserved in order to maintain unity among the states
A house incumbent may be considered vulnerable if he or she
won the last election by a slim margin, has been involved in a major political scandal, has a political ideology inconsistent with that of his or her district
Which of the following is a conventional form of political participation
writing letters to public officials