GOVT 2305 Final Review
The concept of democracy was initially defined centuries ago in ancient
Greece
In a globalized world we are sometimes closely tied through trade to former enemies. In 2014-2015, which country supplied nearly one-third of foreign students in American educational institutions?
China
The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution are collectively known as the _____ amendments.
Civil War
What was the decision in the case of Roe v. Wade?
It upheld the right of women to have abortions
Which of the following presidents failed to win a majority of the popular vote?
John F. Kennedy
National sovereignty is defined as
a political entity's externally recognized right to exercise final authority over its affairs
The Great Compromise provided for
a two-chamber legislature with equal representation for all states in one chamber and population-based representation in the other.
Every two 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 and one-third
The phrase "on background" means that media are permitted to
anonymously quote material without identifying the source.
Most cases reach the U.S. Supreme Court through________ jurisdiction.
appellate
In the U.S., freedom of press has primarily meant protection from
censorship.
The power of the president to veto laws is an example of
checks and balances
The Greek word demos, which is the root of the term democracy, means
common people
The process of transmitting information from one individual to another is called
communication
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson's statement that "all men are created equal" is similar to which theorist's belief that government is based on the "consent of the governed"?
John Locke
The separate-but-equal doctrine was first instituted in which court case?
Plessy v. Ferguson
President __________ embraced supply-side economics.
Reagan
The most visible form of congressional oversight is
a congressional hearing
U.S. Senators were no longer chosen by state legislatures after the passage of the
Seventeenth Amendment.
The case of Marbury v. Madison was based on which of these questions?
Should Congress or the Constitution prevail?
The __________ Amendment empowered the national government to collect taxes on income.
Sixteenth
the term solid south refers to
South's consistent Democratic voting record for much of the twentieth century
Freedom of religion or freedom of speech are _________ principles.
Substanstive
When the air you breathe is made cleaner as a result of lobbying done by an interest group to which you do NOT belong, you are an example of
a free rider
In the early days of America, the president was chosen by
a group of political elites in the Electoral College
A confederation can best be described as
a loose association of independent states
In the current American context, a liberal would tend to promot
economic equality ahead of freedom, and freedom ahead of social order
In the current American context, a liberal would tend to promote
economic equality ahead of freedom, and freedom ahead of social order.
In his inaugural address, President Ronald Reagan used the term freedom rhetorically to refer to
ensuring a minimal level of government involvement in day-to-day life
Social Security and veterans' pensions, which provide benefits to which individuals have a legal right and which cannot be reduced without changing the law, are also referred to as
entitlements
We elect the president via 50 state elections combined into the electoral college; thus, presidential elections are best described as ________ elections.
federal
The president has the power to appoint all but which of the following?
federal district and circuit court judges
All of the following are constitutional requirements for the presidency EXCEPT that the president must
have a college degree.
One criterion that must be met for a country to be democratic is that it must
have more than one political party.
People who ___________ are most likely to belong to interest groups.
have the most urgent need for government benefit
One result of the Second Continental Congress was
he adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
Developing budgets by using last year's budget as the base and adding an amount to cover the increased costs of doing business (inflation) and any new programs is called
incremental budgeting.
The Federal Communications Commission is a _____ that is insulated from political control by the Congress or president
independent regulatory commission
Political scientists know less about unconventional forms of political participation because
it is easier to collect data on conventional practices
Article I of the Constitution refers to the
legislative branch
Typically, a referenda is placed on the ballot by
legislators.
The broad, basic definition of government given by the text is
legitimate use of force within specified geographic boundaries to control human behavior.
Today, Americans aged 17-24 are much more __________ than the general public
liberal
It is the job of __________ to make sure that people in government know what their members want and that their organizations know what the government is doing.
lobbyists
In the modern presidency, the Cabinet
no longer provides significant decision-making input or support for the president.
The phrase "off the record" means that media are
not allowed to print the information
The acronym PAC stands for
political action committee.
Each citizen having one vote demonstrates
political equality
The text defines __________ as the actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or support government and politics.
political participation
Reapportionment is based on
population figures shown in the census
The Greek word kratos, one of the roots of the word democracy, means
power.
Which of the following best describes the concept of civil rights?
powers and privileges guaranteed to individuals and protected against arbitrary withdrawal by the government or individuals
The ______ principle indicates that what is learned first is learned best.
primacy
Democratization is the
process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to a democratic one
A tax allocated based on a person's ability to pay, rather than, for example, requiring everyone to pay an equal percentage of their income, is known as a __________ tax.
progressive
In Dred Scott, the Supreme Court decided that Congress had no power to
prohibit slavery
Originally, the Constitutional Convention's purpose was to
revise the Articles of Confederation
When it comes to interest groups, the Internet has become an increasingly important means of
soliciting new members.
National _____ means that each national government is given the right to govern its own people as it wishes and no other nation can interfere with that.
sovereignty
The Daughters of Liberty opposed British rule by
spinning their own cloth rather than buying imported British products
A distribution of opinions that shows little change over time is called a _____ distribution.
stable
The bias in favor of existing decisions is captured by the Latin expression
stare decisis
When adopted, the Bill of Rights imposed limits on _________, but not on
the national government; state governments
Judicial review is
the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws invalid if they violate the Constitution.
A country in which the government is described as laissez-faire is one in which
there is no government control
Typically, what fraction of the voting-age population will vote in a primary election?
two-thirds
The idea that all adults within the boundaries of a political community should be allowed to vote is known as
universal participation
Compared with citizens in other democracies, Americans are
unwilling to join demonstrations.
What is the main way in which citizens control government?
voting in free elections to choose leaders
Over time, the Supreme Court has used the __________ to apply the specifics of the Bill of Rights to the states.
Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause
What was the purpose of the Twelfth Amendment?
It required the electoral college to vote separately for president and vice president
The _____ Party is not considered a political party.
Tea
When a leader assembles crowds to confront businesses and local governments to demand a hearing, he or she is engaging in
direct action
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 established the right to nondiscrimination in public accommodations and
employment opportunity.
The view that judges should generally defer to the decisions of elected officials in their decisions is known as
judicial restraint
People who are not religious are more likely to be categorized as
libertarian
Before it could take effect, the Constitution had to be ratified by __________ states
9
In Brown v. Board of Education II, the Supreme Court ordered that public school systems must desegregate
"with all deliberate speed."
The predictions of the Gallup Poll for nineteen presidential elections since 1936 have been deviated from actual voting results by less than ___ percentage point(s)
1
Until 2000, the last time a candidate won most of the popular votes but did not win the presidency was in
1888
The Internet was started in
1969, with support from the U.S. Department of Defense.
According to a 2013 poll, ____ of Americans think the political parties do an adequate job of representing the American people.
24%
The delegation of powers is the process by which _____ gives the executive branch the additional authority needed to address new problems.
Congress
John ____ is an American politician, lawyer and the senior United States Senator from Texas, serving since 2002. He is a member of the Republican Party and the current Senate Majority Whip for the 115th Congress.
Cornyn
Ted ____ is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013.
Cruz
The Department of ________ is the largest government department in terms of number of employees.
Defense
States' rights supporters believe that congress should restrict its activities to
Enumerated Powers
James Madison made all but which of the following arguments in his essay, Federalist No. 10?
Factions can be eliminated without removing Americans' freedoms.
candidates eventually favored by most party identifies usually win their party's nomination. There have been only two exceptions to this rule: aldi stevenson in 1952 and _____ in 1972
George McGovern
Supporters of the Constitution named themselves
Federalists
The _________ guaranteed citizenship to all persons, including blacks.
Fourteenth Amendment
The civil rights guarantee of "equal protection of the laws" is located in the
Fourteenth Amendment.
How did "white flight" affect the inner-city schools?
Most of the inner-city schools were predominantly black.
Which amendment to the Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote?
Nineteenth Amendment in 1920
The amendment granting women's suffrage is the
Nineteenth Amendment.
_____ jurisdiction refers to the authority of a court to hear a case before any other court hears the case.
Original
Which of the following statements is correct with respect to school prayer?
Public schools must open their doors to after-school religious activities on the same basis as other after-school programs
The power to declare war resides with the
Senate only.
Which of the following statements is NOT true of the Supreme Court?
The justices try to time their departures to give the president of the opposite party an opportunity to fill the replacement.
Which president first provided space in the White House for reporters?
Theodore Roosevelt
The Constitution does not give the president power to
declare war.
Which of the following is true about election campaigns?
They have evolved to being candidate centered.
The phrase "wall of separation between church and state" originated with
Thomas Jefferson.
The amendment lowering the voting age to eighteen is the
Twenty-sixth Amendment
Supreme Court review is granted to a case
by the permission of any four justices
If a congressional staff member is asked to track down a missing Social Security check, that staff member is involved in
casework.
The original draft of the Declaration of Independence
condemned the king's support of the slave trade.
An advertisement that criticizes an opponent and advocates policies of the sponsoring candidate is an example of a __________ ad.
contrast
The constitutional expressly gives the federal government the power to ____ within the states.
create a postal system
An incumbent is someone who
currently holds office
A politician who appeals to and often deceives the masses by manipulating their emotions and prejudices is a
demagogue.
George Mason and others believed that omitting the Bill of Rights would
deter many states from adopting the Constitution.
In general, the public tends to dislike interest groups because they
do not offer equal representation to all
The term "electoral college" became known in the United States
during the twentieth century.
When one person has the same chance to succeed in life as another, this is called
equality of opportunity.
An increasingly complex U.S. society has caused the government at all levels to
expand
For most people, the first agent of political socialization is
family
Franklin Roosevelt's four freedoms included all of the following except
freedom from inequality.
The value of the goods and services actually produced is called the nation's
gross domestic product.
A power NOT specifically mentioned in the Constitution but necessary if another specific grant of power is to be carried out is called aNo _________ power.
implied
The Constitution did not give Congress the authority to establish the Internal Revenue Service. Congress did so, however, to implement its power to "lay and collect taxes." This is an example of the use of aNo _________ power.
implied
When the authors say that we live in an era of "globalization," they mean that citizens and nations are increasingly
interdependent
In broad terms, to discriminate means to
make or recognize differences
From World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the national budget allowed for the most spending in the area of
national defense.
When Roger B. Taney became chief justice in 1836, the Court imposed firm limits on the powers of
national government
A constitutional clause that allows for a broad interpretation of implied powers is known as the__________ clause.
necessary and proper
An important idea of pluralist theory is that
new interest groups naturally form when the need arises
A _____ is a designation as an official candidate of a political party.
nomination
A form of government that puts power in the hands of an elite is a
oligarchy
An autocracy is a political system ruled by
one individual.
Every two years, _________ of the Senate must stand for reelection.
one third
According to democratic theory, the most important factor in determining voter choice in an election should be
past performance and proposed policies
The business cycle is
periods of expansion and inflation alternating with periods of contraction and unemployment.
With regards to the executive office, prior to the Constitution, the Articles of Confederation
provided for no independent executive
Services that benefit all citizens and are not likely to be produced by the voluntary acts of individuals are known as
public goods.
A ___________ requires that a specified proportional share of some benefit go to a given group.
quota
Benign discrimination is based on
reason.
Alexis de Tocqueville believed that the American tendency to join associations
reflected a strong democratic culture.
The main focus of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was to
relax the rules governing media ownership.
The three-fifths compromise resolved the issue of
representation of slaves.
The chief objective of the First Continental Congress was to
restore peaceful relations between the colonies and Great Britain
In recent years, the Supreme Court has denied states the power to execute individuals who are
seventeen years old.
The notion that governmental authority springs from the consent of the governed is derived from
social contract theory.
The fifty-five signatories of the Declaration of Independence were courageous in their actions because
signing the Declaration was treason and punishable by hanging and drawing and quartering.
One of the most convincing explanations for the persistence of the two-party system in the United States lies in its use of
single winners chosen by a simple plurality of votes.
Which standard used by the Supreme Court when deciding whether a law or policy is constitutional says that the law or policy must be justified by a "compelling governmental interest?"
strict scrutiny
The Bill of Rights is at the core of our
substantive theories of democracy
To appeal means to
take a case to a higher court.
The essence of supply-side economics is that
taxes should be cut to stimulate investment, and government regulation of business should be decreased.
Although terrorism is an unconventional political action, it is generally not counted as unconventional political participation because
terrorists do not seek to influence government but to destroy it.
The government first took steps to provide income security in the wake of
the Civil War.
The main argument against the need for a bill of rights was that
the Constitution established a government of limited powers; because it was not given the power to regulate individual liberties, no bill of rights was necessary.
The Framers wanted to build public opinion into our government structure by creating
the House of Representatives
One result of ____________ was the direct primary, in which candidates must campaign not only for election, but also for the nomination of their party.
the Progressive movement in the 1920s
A major event that led to greater British taxation of American colonies was
the Seven Years' War.
In the last 200 years, Congress has tremendously increased the scope of the national government by using
the Tenth Amendment.
The broad, basic definition of politics given by the text is
the authoritative allocation of values for a society.
By law, the U.S. presidential election occurs
the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Democrat Andrew Jackson won the presidency in 1828 in
the first mass election in U.S. history.
Mass media refers to
the means of communicating to audiences.
Upon ratification, the Constitution directed for senators to be chosen by
the president.
Home rule is
the right of municipal governments to enact their own legislation in certain administrative areas.
When it was first ratified, the Constitution provided that the vice president would be
the runner-up in the electoral college
Criminal offenses such as arson, theft, and murder are almost always the sole responsibility of which entity?
the state
Where in the Constitution are political parties discussed?
they are not discussed in the Constitution
Including the Bill of Rights, __________ amendments have been added to the Constitution
twenty-seven
Each state has __________ senators
two
The basic premise of federalism is that
two or more governments share power and authority over the same land and people
The four most important functions of a political party are structuring the voting choice in elections, proposing alternative government programs, coordinating the actions of government officials and
nominating candidates for election to public office.
The free-rider problem increases the difficulty of attracting
paying members
Persons possess __________ and governments possess
rights; powers.