FBLA Poli Sci

Which of the following excerpts from the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen best reflects Jean-Jacque Rousseau's contribution to European political thought?

A. "Law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to assist personally, or by their representatives, in its formation."

A political scientist would most likely use the term conflict of interest when discussing which of the following situations?

A. A state senator whose family has close ties to the oil industry receives a substantial campaign contribution from an oil company.

Which of the following statements accurately describes a distinguishing characteristic of Native American life in one major North American region during the seventeenth century?

A. Buffalo hunting served as a major source of food and raw materials to make clothing and shelter for Native Americans of the Great Plains.

Which of the following third-party candidates managed to win electoral votes?

A. George Wallace in 1968

Which of the following statements about closed primaries is correct?

A. Only preregistered party members may participate in a closed primary

The "clear and present danger" test emerged from what Supreme Court case?

A. Schenck v. United States

Which of the following publications is generally regarded as being politically conservative?

A. The Wall Street Journal

During a midterm election, which of the following officials are elected?

A. The entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate

"The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic."—Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Schenck v. United States. This statement is most closely tied to the

A. clear and present danger doctrine

International cooperation is most necessary for the development of effective means of addressing which of the following global issues?

A. climate change

Which of the following government functions represents a major judicial power of the legislative branch of the U.S. government?

A. determining the punishments for federal crimes

Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs were similar in their impact on the development of government in the United States primarily because both

A. expanded the role of the federal government in improving social conditions and assisting those living in poverty.

Trial balloons are useful to politicians because they

A. help them gauge public opinion before committing to a definite stance

Beginning with the New Deal, the U.S. government has been most likely to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy under which of the following sets of circumstances?

A. inflation is low; unemployment is high; gross domestic product (GDP) is declining

The sit-in campaigns of 1960 were significant in the development of the civil rights movement primarily because they

A. inspired widespread student involvement in the movement.

Which of the following refers to citizens' ability to understand the political system?

A. internal efficacy

Superdelegates are defined as

A. party officials for whom seats are reserved at the national convention

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is most relevant in carrying out which of the following functions of government?

A. promoting justice for all citizens

What is the MOST basic definition of democracy?

A. rule by the many

In the U.S. election process, which of the following issues most often serves as a barrier to the success of third parties?

A. state laws restricting ballot access

According to current Supreme Court doctrine, the burning of the American flag in protest constitutes a form of

A. symbolic speech

A political scientist could best distinguish between an autocracy and an oligarchy by examining which of the following features of the two forms of government?

A. the extent to which political power is concentrated in the hands of a single person

In the case New York Times Co. v. United States, the Supreme Court had decided whether to allow prior restraint by weighing

A. the need for the public to be well-informed and national security

Which of the following elements of international law places the greatest limitation on the ability of the United Nations to address global issues?

A. the principle of national sovereignty

In which of the following respects do market economies differ most from command economies?

A. the types of economic incentives employed to maximize production

The Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century centered mainly on the adoption of new technologies designed to

A. turn raw cotton and wool into finished cloth.

The establishment clause of the First Amendment was at question in the Supreme Court cases of

B. Engel v. Vitale and Lemon v. Kurtzman

The House majority whip is the bridge between the

B. Speaker of the House and Congressmen of the same party

Which of the following questions most clearly reflects the role of consumers in the operation of the U.S. economy?

B. What quantity of goods and services should be produced?

The New Deal realignment of U.S. electoral politics during the 1930s centered on competing party responses to which of the following questions?

B. What role should government play in the U.S. economy?

Machiavelli's confidence in the capacity of the people to further the public good can best be interpreted as part of a broader effort to

B. adapt classical republican thought to the historical circumstances of the early modern era.

Members of Congress engage in logrolling when they

B. agree to vote for each other's bills as a means of gaining support

Which of the following government functions represents a concurrent power of the states and the federal government in the U.S. system of government?

B. chartering banks and corporations

As influences on the historical development of political thought, Confucianism and classical republicanism were most alike in their shared emphasis on the

B. cultivation of civic virtue.

To be an effective citizen in a democratic system of government most often requires that individuals are willing and able to

B. educate themselves on the critical issues of the day.

Impeachment might be seen as the political equivalent of

B. indictment

The consumer price index (CPI) is used to measure

B. inflation

The traditional criticism of Congress is that

B. it is too slow to act

Most American voters would likely be considered _____ on the political spectrum.

B. moderates

A reporter who uncovers and publicizes government corruption or scandal is known as a

B. muckraker

In the congressional process of lawmaking, the role of conference committees can be best described as

B. reconciling differences between House and Senate versions of bills.

An amendment that is typically unrelated to the bill under discussion is called a

B. rider

The member of Congress who introduces a bill is its

B. sponsor

During World War II, which of the following aspects of U.S. society changed most dramatically?

B. the gender composition of the industrial workforce

Which of the following examples best illustrates what political scientists mean when they use the term natural rights?

B. the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

In the U.S. model of government, the constitutional principle of federalism was designed to carry out which of the following purposes of government?

B. to form a more perfect union

The principles of federalism, checks and balances, and the rule of law were all incorporated in the U.S. Constitution primarily to achieve which of the following goals?

B. to limit the power of government

Voter registration became inextricable tied with driver's license registration after the passage of the

C. "Motor Voter Act" of 1993

Which of the following states has become increasingly important in recent presidential elections due to rapid population growth?

C. Florida

The Twenty-fifth Amendment was put into practice when

C. Gerald Ford was nominated for Vice President by Richard Nixon

An editor of a public-school newspaper intends to publish a controversial editorial should be aware of the Supreme Court decision in

C. Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

When historians discuss the failure of appeasement policy during the 1930s, they most often reference events surrounding the

C. Nazi annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938.

Differences concerning which of the following issues caused the greatest dissension between British authorities and American patriots in the decade preceding the outbreak of the American Revolution?

C. Parliament's insistence on its claims to sovereignty in legislative matters

In the absence of the Vice President, which of the following presides over the Senate?

C. President pro tempore

The "graying of America" will bring which of the following issues more attention?

C. Social Security and Medicare

Which of the following statements about congressional representation is correct?

C. The House of Representatives is more racially diverse than the Senate

Which of the following statements best describes a major difference between the U.S. presidential system of government and Great Britain's parliamentary system?

C. The legislative and executive branches in the U.S. system of government are separate.

Which of the following has NOT increased since 1960?

C. The number of newspapers in major cities

A freshman congresswoman who wants to have influence over taxation bills should seek a seat on the

C. Ways and Means Committee

Divisions between Anti-Federalists and Federalists centered mainly on which of the following questions?

C. What effect would the creation of a stronger central government have on the rights and powers of the states?

Quorum rules in the Senate and the House of Representatives are intended to prevent

C. a minority of the house from passing legislation by itself

In United States v. Nixon, the U.S. Supreme Court limited executive power by ruling that

C. claims of executive privilege did not outweigh the demands of due process of law in criminal proceedings.

The most likely way for a president to successfully pass legislation through Congress is if

C. his approval ratings are high

Which of the following policy initiatives on the part of the U.S. government would most likely lead to an increase in the cost of foreign-produced consumer goods in the United States?

C. imposing import quotas on a wide range of goods

The national government has the exclusive power to do all of the following EXCEPT

C. levy taxes

A "dark horse" is best described as a(n)

C. little-known candidate who is unexpectedly nominated by a major party

During the final quarter of the twentieth century, the increasing globalization of the U.S. economy most adversely affected the interests of wage earners in which of the following economic sectors?

C. manufacturing

The political ideology known as libertarianism advocates

C. minimal government involvement on both social and economic issues

In the party nominating process that precedes U.S. presidential elections, one important difference between primary elections and caucuses is that in states that use caucuses

C. participants publicly select candidates rather than cast secret ballots.

Compared with totalitarian governments, authoritarian governments are more likely to

C. permit some measure of pluralism in social organization.

The process through which an individual's political beliefs are shaped by family, education, religion, and other factors is known as

C. political socialization

The activities of participants in the settlement house movement pioneered by Jane Addams most clearly exemplify the Progressive movement's commitment to the

C. promotion of equality of opportunity.

With regard to religion, the Supreme Court has ruled that

C. some practices are not protected by the Constitution, regardless of religious beliefs

Which of the following protections contained in the Bill of Rights can best be used to illustrate the responsibilities as well as the rights of U.S. citizenship?

C. the Sixth Amendment protection of the rights of the accused in criminal proceedings to a public trial and a jury of one's peers

Which of the following features of government is most commonly shared by modern constitutional democracies?

C. the popular election of members of the legislative branch of government

There are few pro-choice Republicans and pro-life democrats in Congress mostly because

C. the primary system favors candidates whose positions on abortion are acceptable to party activists

A political scientist would most likely employ modernization theory in a study examining which of the following topics?

C. the relationship between economic development and the process of democratization in a given country

Which of the following statements most clearly reflects a major goal of the World Bank?

C. to reduce global poverty through the promotion of foreign investment

A phrase coined by Nixon to describe people who uphold traditional values in spite of the counterculture is

D. "silent majority"

Which of the following events provides the best example of how conflict between Europeans and Native Americans combined with tensions between eastern elites and western settlers to shape social and political development in England's North American colonies during the seventeenth century?

D. Bacon's Rebellion

A caucus is I. A meeting to select national party convention delegates II. An interest group consisting of members of Congress III. A variation on the state primary, used in Iowa

D. I, II, and II

Which of the following were considered "swing states" in the 2016 presidential election?

D. Ohio and Pennsylvania

Which of the following characteristics of representative democracies best represents a major difference with direct democracy?

D. Representative democracies are generally able to address complex governmental problems more efficiently.

Which of the following correctly shows the order of presidential succession after the Vice President?

D. Speaker of the House, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State

A major function of the United Nations Economic and Social Council is to

D. coordinate UN policy on sustainable development and the environment.

Political scientists would likely find the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas most useful when examining the:

D. development of natural law theory

Which of the following activities most clearly represents a major role of the Department of State in U.S. relations with other nations?

D. forging partnerships with other countries to devise means of addressing shared international problems

As leader of the Soviet Union, Lenin used the principles of democratic centralism and the dictatorship of the proletariat mainly to

D. justify the suppression of opposing parties and factions.

A major difference between pure competition and monopolistic competition market structures is that firms in monopolistic competition structures are

D. likely to have greater control over the prices they charge for their products.

The establishment of the Republican Party during the mid-1850s can best be seen as a response to

D. northern concerns about the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

A candidate who is elected to office with 48% of the votes has achieved a

D. plurality

A historian exploring the relationship between economic change and the growth of ideas about natural rights in Western Europe during the early modern era would most likely focus on which of the following features of the developing capitalist system?

D. private ownership of property

Which of the following actions can be best described as a civic responsibility of U.S. citizenship?

D. registering to vote and participating in the democratic process

Temporary committees that are established for a limited time period and for a special purpose are known as

D. select committees

People are most likely to believe that state governments, not the federal government, should

D. set academic standards for public schools

Entrapment occurs when

D. the actions of law enforcers induce an individual to commit a crime

Which of the following milestones in the history of the civil rights movement was most directly influenced by the adoption by activists of the strategy of civil disobedience?

D. the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson asserted that George III had "made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries." Which of the following features of the government established by the U.S. Constitution most directly addressed this criticism?

D. the system of checks and balances.

For which of the following reasons would a British political leader most likely invoke Magna Carta?

D. to protest measures designed to limit the due process rights of citizens

Critics of the Electoral College contend that the system should be abolished primarily because it:

D. undermines the one-person, one-vote doctrine.