Complete Final
Under the Civil Rights Act, plaintiffs must show that an employer deliberately discriminated against them in order to win a lawsuit.
True
Roe v. Wade prohibits states from making abortions illegal based on the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
True
Television reaches more Americans than any other single source of news.
True
The Anti-federalists feared an overly strong central government under the new Constitution.
True
The Constitution guarantees that a state cannot discriminate against someone from another state.
True
The Equal Rights Amendment failed because it did not secure support from the required number of states necessary for ratification
True
The Federal Communications Commission no longer requires broadcasters who air controversial issues to provide time for opposing views.
True
The New Deal Coalition broke down during the 1960s.
True
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 led to an immediate increase in the number of African Americans registered to vote in the South.
True
The most important sources for setting a news agenda are newspapers.
True
There have been at least five party systems in U.S. history.
True
What were the Alien and Sedition Acts?
A. laws passed in the 1790s that made it a crime to say or publish anything that would defame the government of the United States
Which media source is most critical in setting news agendas?
A. newspapers
A state government's authority to regulate the safety, health, and morals of its citizens is called ______ power.
A. police
The process by which underlying political values are formed is known as
A. political socialization.
The substantive liberties found in the Bill of Rights
A. put limits on what government shall and shall not have the power to do.
The Bill of Rights was written because
A. the Antifederalists demanded it as the price of ratification of the Constitution.
The Constitution's guarantee of freedom of the press can be found in
A. the First Amendment.
Which of the following best explains where the standard organizational structure of a political party originated?
A. the competitive organizing activities of the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists
Who is the incumbent?
A. the current officeholder, running for re-election
The Bill of Rights was ratified by the states in
C. 1791.
Most Americans are unified in their belief in the principles of liberty, equality, and democracy.
True
Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the authority of states to require segregation.
True
Which of the following statements best describes perceptions of racism among blacks and whites?
A. Blacks are more likely than whites to believe that racism is very common in the United States today.
According to the text, the constitutional problem relating to the incorporation of the Bill of Rights can be expressed as the following question:
A. Does the Bill of Rights put limits only on the national government, or does it limit state governments as well?
The Alien and Sedition Acts were
A. Federalist attempts to silence the Republican press.
Which of the following is the best example of a unitary system of government?
A. The federal government sets education policies for all schools.
Which of the following best describes the distinction between civil liberties and civil rights?
A. Unlike civil liberties, civil rights place positive obligations on the government to take action.
Which of the following occurs when one party becomes dominant after replacing another party that has dominated national politics for a lengthy period of time?
A. an electoral realignment
Which group has had great popularity on radio talk shows?
A. conservatives
The term gender gap refers to
A. differences in political opinions between men and women.
Nations that adopt a federal arrangement tend to have
A. diverse ethnic or language groups.
The Bill of Rights
A. is the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
The Supreme Court's decision in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette was significant because
A. it endorsed the free exercise of religion even when it is offensive to the beliefs of the majority.
The Supreme Court case concerning smoking peyote during Native Americans' religious rituals demonstrates that the Court's key problem in ruling on religious freedom is to determine
A. the difference between religious beliefs and conduct that is based on religious beliefs.
Which constitutional clause has been central in debates over gay and lesbian marriage?
A. the full faith and credit clause
People's political party preferences are primarily acquired through the influence of
A. their families.
Historically, realignments occur
A. when new issues combine with economic or political crises to mobilize new voters and persuade large numbers of voters to reexamine their traditional partisan loyalties.
Based on recent polling data, what percentage of Americans disagreed with the statement "Any group should be allowed to hold a rally for a cause"?
B. 31 percent
During the Founding era, who were the strongest supporters of adding a bill of rights to the Constitution?
B. Antifederalists
Why is Palko v. Connecticut an important case?
B. The Supreme Court explained the process for determining which parts of the Bill of Rights would protect individuals against states as well as the national government.
Why do radio stations repeat the news so often throughout the day?
B. The audience is constantly changing since most people listen to the radio in their cars.
Which of the following transpires when one party controls the presidency while another party controls one or both houses of Congress?
B. a divided government
The due process clause of the Fifth Amendment is best described as
B. a procedural civil liberty.
The federal system can be best defined as
B. a system of government in which power is divided between a national government and lower levels of government.
When a ruling political party is supplanted by a new dominant political force, it is called
B. an electoral realignment.
The news source that eighteen- to twenty-nine-year-olds most commonly turn to is
B. broadcast television.
In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court announced that
B. children cannot be required to salute the flag if it violates their religious faith.
The procedural liberties found in the Bill of Rights
B. define how the government is supposed to act.
The specific powers granted to the national government in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution are called the
B. expressed powers.
The United States, Canada, and Switzerland can all be described as ______ systems of government while France can be described as a ______ system of government.
B. federal; unitary
Which of the following rights has never been incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment?
B. right to bear arms
Which of the following news sources reaches the most Americans?
B. television
Which of the following news sources typically provides the least depth while covering topics?
B. television
The Federalist Party disappeared forever as a result of
B. the War of 1812.
The wall of separation between church and state is best found in what clause of the Constitution?
B. the establishment clause
What is the purpose of the Tenth Amendment?
B. to limit the powers of the central government by establishing reserved powers for states and individuals
Throughout its history, American politics has been dominated by
B. two major political parties.
The United States began its tradition of the ______ during the eighteenth century.
B. two-party system
Which of the following is the best example of a substantive civil liberty?
C. "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion."
Based on recent polling data, what percentage of Americans is worried about government monitoring of personal information?
C. 56 percent
What was the main reason that Alexander Hamilton did not want a bill of rights?
C. He believed it was unnecessary for a government that possessed only specifically delegated powers.
Which statement is correct?
C. More local news reporters than national reporters are inclined to give politicians positive coverage.
Which of the following statements about agencies of socialization is incorrect?
C. The conditions under which individuals and groups are recruited into and involved in political life have no impact on political values and orientations.
What is the key difference between those who have gone to college and those who have not?
C. There is a higher level of political participation among those with a college education.
A political ideology is best defined as
C. a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the government.
Which of the following is the best description of a political party?
C. an organization that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office
The ______ of the First Amendment protects an individual's right to believe and practice whatever religion she or he chooses.
C. free exercise
Freedom from government control is what most Americans call
C. liberty.
The source of an implied power under the Constitution is the ______ clause.
C. necessary and proper
Which of the following rights is not found in the original, unamended Constitution?
C. prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments
In a federal system a majority of governmental responsibilities are
C. shared by both state and federal authorities
A short, attention-grabbing phrase that summarizes a position is called a
C. sound bite.
George H. W. Bush's 1988 statement "Read my lips, no new taxes" is a good example of a(n)
C. sound bite.
The judicial doctrine that places a heavy burden of proof on the government when it seeks to regulate or restrict speech is called
C. strict scrutiny.
What were the two major parties in the United States during the 1830s and 1840s?
C. the Democrats and the Whigs
The constitutional basis for the nationalization of the Bill of Rights is
C. the Fourteenth Amendment.
In what year was freedom of speech extended to protect against the acts of state governments?
D. 1925
Which of the following is not a liberty protected by the Bill of Rights?
D. equal protection of the laws
According to the text, which of the following is the most important, but not the most popular, source of news?
D. newspapers
What constitutional clause affirms that national laws and treaties, made under the authority of the Constitution, are the supreme law of the land?
D. the supremacy clause
Which of the following was not a date of an electoral realignment?
E. 1994
Based on recent polling data, what percentage of Americans believed that gays should have equal employment rights?
E. 89 percent
Which of the following terms describe America's fundamental political values?
E. liberty, equality, and democracy
Which of the following powers do state governments not have?
E. to coin their own money
Affirmative action programs were first established in the 1960s.
False
After Brown v. Board of Education, schools in the South quickly desegregated.
False
During the formation of an individual's initial political orientation, the influence of family counts for very little.
False
Federal systems are most commonly found in countries that have a highly homogenous population.
False
Less than 50 percent of Americans believe that gays should have equal employment rights.
False
Newspapers are among the most heavily regulated media in the United States.
False
Since the 1960s, the number of groups seeking protection of their civil rights has decreased.
False
The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
False
The Tenth Amendment gives the national government expressed powers over state governments.
False
The Whig Party's period of political domination came right after the Civil War.
False
The first political parties in the United States were the Democrats and the Republicans.
False
The full faith and credit clause demands that the U.S. government run a balanced budget.
False
Federal rules grant individuals an opportunity to respond to personal attacks made on television or the radio.
True
Differences in opinion can be influenced by one's gender.
True
Families, social groups, and schools are important institutions where people are politically socialized.
True
