AMERICAN GOV post tests 1-11

Why is promoting descriptive representation valuable in itself?

It encourages trust in the system among various demographic groups.

"Conservative" and "liberal" are examples of

ideologies

A runoff election is likely when a state uses __________ voting.

majorityc

As a condition of admitting California to the United States as a free state, representatives from southern states demanded Congress pass what law?

the Fugitive Slave Act

McCulloch v. Maryland is an important case because

the Supreme Court interpreted the implied powers of Congress broadly, creating the potential for increased national powers.

Block grants consist of federal aid to state or local governments that is

to be spent within a specified policy area, with very few restrictions.

Why was the Brown v. Board of Education case filed?

to challenge the separate but equal doctrine

The American Congress has how many chambers?

two

Article II, Section I is the foundation of the president's constitutional authority. It is known as the

vesting clause.

What is the difference between a categorical grant and a block grant?

Categorical grants are for spending on specific items and programs, whereas block grants allow states to determine how they are spent.

Which of the following people was an important leader in the fight for Latino rights in America?

Cesar Chavez

What act prevented Chinese immigrants already in the United States from becoming citizens and halted almost all immigration from China?

Chinese Exclusion Act

Redistributive tax policies and few restrictions on individual behavior are generally tenets of the __________ Party.

Democratic

How are the number of electors for each state determined in the Electoral College?

Each state receives an elector for every member of the House and Senate it has.

_____________________take place between the executive branch and a foreign government. They can be reversed by subsequent presidents.

Executive agreements

In an attempt to pay back their student loans a bit faster, Mary and Bob commit identity theft and impersonate others to use their credit cards. The government prosecutes them but loses due to lack of evidence. After more evidence surfaces, it attempts to prosecute Mary and Bob again. In doing so, it may be violating which amendment?

Fifth

__________ refers to the media's ability to decide which issues are covered and which are ignored and to provide either more or less information about important political issues.

Filtering

The Lemon test is most clearly related to which amendment?

First

The most powerful member in the Senate is known as the

Majority Leader.

This person was a supporter of nonviolent protest as outlined in their "Letter From a Birmingham Jail."

Martin Luther King Jr.

What does it mean that most political judgments are latent opinions?

Most Americans form their opinions only as needed.

The head of the House of Representatives is known as the

Speaker of the House.

Why is there so much debate over the meaning of the Second Amendment?

The wording of the right to bear arms is ambiguous and open to interpretation.

The __________ Plan called for representation based on population, whereas the __________ Plan called for equal representation for each state. The two plans were eventually combined in the __________ Compromise, which created a two-house legislature featuring one house based on each plan.

Virginia; New Jersey; Great

What was the name of the legislation that required presidents to seek congressional approval for major military operations around the world?

War Powers Resolution

Which of the following purposes does the whip system NOT serve?

Whips help members with their reelection campaigns.

Basic political freedoms that protect citizens from governmental abuses of power are known as

civil liberties.

Who is the incumbent?

the current officeholder, running for reelection

When Donald Trump hosted Saturday Night Live during the Republican presidential primary season, NBC had to give other candidates free advertising slots so that they did not violate which rule?

the equal time provision

What document is the legal foundation for the civil liberties of American citizens?

the first 10 amendments of the Constitution

American economic identity tends to center on __________ and __________.

the free market; economic individualism

The view that "my vote will not make a difference" is an important part of what question in political science?

the paradox of voting

We refer to the level of support for expanding the government's role in society as what?

the policy mood

Which of the following is an example of checks and balances in action?

the president vetoing congressional legislation

After working for the government for years, Geordi goes to work for an engineering firm that lobbies for more government funding. This is an example of which concept?

the revolving door

Which of the following is NOT a natural right outlined in the Declaration of Independence?

the right to bear arms

What is the president's most important check on the power of Congress?

the veto

Framing is the influence on public opinion as a result of

the way a story is presented or covered, including the details, explanations, and context offered in the report.

Why did the Founders incorporate separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism into the structure of American government?

to counter the effects of powerful factions

What are the two broad purposes of all forms of government?

to provide order and promote the general welfare

With longer terms and a broader constituency, members of the Senate are more likely than members of the House to adopt which approach to representation?

trustee

Who runs in an open seat congressional election?

two challengers, one from each major party

The vast majority of countries in the world today have which system of government?

unitary

What does the Fourth Amendment provides protection from?

unreasonable searches and seizures

Members of the House of Representatives are selected by

voters in single-member districts.

When comparing wealth levels of white Americans and black and Hispanic Americans,

white households on average have far more wealth than minority households.

Segregation that exists because of circumstances that occur outside the law is called ____________ segregation.

de facto

Laws mandating that students of different races had to attend different schools is an example of what kind of segregation?

de jure

Kiki lives in a country where the leaders are selected through free and fair elections. This is most consistent with which important American value?

democracy

What is the name for the effect on public opinion by which many citizens move away from moderate positions and toward either end of the political spectrum?

ideological polarization

Public opinion is considered __________ when many citizens have positions on either end of the political spectrum.

ideologically polarized

The MOST extreme response that Congress can take to try to control the president is

impeaching the president.

What is the tool used by Congress to remove a president for abuse of power?

impeachment

Antifederalists' concerns about the Constitution

included a concern that it did not specifically list protected civil liberties.

What does grassroots lobbying involve?

interest group members contacting their elected officials

An organization of people who share common political interests and aim to influence public policy by electioneering and lobbying is known as a(n)

interest group.

Cases involving gender discrimination fall under which legal test?

intermediate scrutiny

Ultimately, which branch of government determines the balance of power between the federal and state governments?

judicial

Mass associations have ______ as members

large numbers of individuals

Congress's bicameral structure reflects an attempt to reconcile which competing interests of the early nation?

large versus small states

Sasha is asked on a survey about her views on banking reform by the government, a topic that she has not thought about very often. Sasha answers that she is in favor of it. What is her answer an example of?

latent opinion

What is the proper term for an opinion constructed on the spot?

latent opinion

What is the source of the president's statutory authority?

laws enacted by Congress

Which branch has the power of the elastic, or necessary and proper, clause? l

legislative

Whom do direct lobbyists generally target in their efforts?

legislators who are in favor of the group's goals

The Stonewall Rebellion was a major moment in the history of civil rights of which group?

lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people

Leia often votes Democratic. She is in favor of government programs to help the needy, and she is pro-choice. Which ideology does Leia most likely exemplify?

liberal

Separation of powers and federalism were important parts of the solution for what tension faced by the Founders?

majority rule versus minority rights

Runoff elections are usually found in combination with what other election rule?

majority voting

Newspapers, television stations, and podcasts are all examples of

mass media.

News Corp. is a major corporation that owns Fox Broadcasting, Fox News, DirecTV, more than 40 other cable channels, several major newspapers including the Wall Street Journal, several weekly magazines, and a variety of film studios. News Corp. is an example of which of the following media concepts?

media conglomerate

When it comes to the criminal justice system, blacks are

more likely than whites to be convicted of the same crime and serve longer sentences once convicted.

In a unitary government, which level of government holds the ultimate authority?

national

Dual federalism is a form of federalism in which

national and state governments are seen as distinctive entities providing separate services.

The Founders viewed the Senate as the more likely of the two houses to debate and act for

national interests.

As outlined in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," what was one of the key parts of civil rights protests in the South in the early 1960s?

nonviolence

Which of the following is NOT an agent of political socialization?

one's party identification

What did the "separate but equal" doctrine do?

permitted a system of segregated social facilities

In the area of education policy, the local, state, and national governments all share responsibility for setting policy and carrying it out. Most officials in the education area, though, do not really interact with local, state, and national government officials who work in the areas of agriculture or health care. This is an example of what kind of federalism?

picket fence

Generally the public looks to __________ who agree with them when they look for political information.

political actors

Which is the process, often shaped by other people and the surrounding culture, by which a person forms political opinions?

political socialization

Parents, events, and political actors are all sources of

political socialization.

The total group of people whom researchers or pollsters want to study and know the opinions of is known as the

population

When Congress holds a hearing about the way the National Security Agency is spending its money, this is an example of it using which power?

power of the purse

Prior restraint is when the government

prevents the media from publishing something.

To win a party's nomination, a candidate must win the

primary election.

Laws enacted by Congress provide the president with __________ authority.

statutory

The toughest test for allowable discrimination, which is used in situations involving potential discrimination against racial minorities, is the _____ test:

strict scrutiny

Executive agreements

take place between the executive branch and a foreign government and can be reversed by subsequent presidents.

Redistributive tax policy involves

taxing the wealthy at higher rates than the poor to help create greater social equality.

When representatives help constituents interact with government programs or agencies, they are engaging in

casework.

A group of people who share a common goal and try to influence the government toward achieving that goal are known as a

faction.

When was the era of "Jim Crow" laws?

1877 to 1964

About how many Senate seats are in contest in any given election?

33

How many House seats are in contest in any given election?

435

The group that believed that the new government created under the Constitution had too much power and could become tyrannical was known as the

Antifederalists

What group was concerned about the Constitution's provisions for the strength of the president and the lack of specific guarantees of civil liberties?

Antifederalists

What are the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution known as?

Bill of Rights

In _________________, the Supreme Court ruled that homosexual behavior was not protected by the Constitution, but overruled this decision nearly 20 years later.

Bowers v. Hardwick

Which case ended segregation in public schools?

Brown v. Board of Education

_______ keep most of the power in the hands of local organizations.

Confederations

Who has the power of the purse under the constitutional framework?

Congress

Which of the following amendments provides the MOST substantial grounding for modern civil rights legislation?

Fourteenth Amendment

Which of the following best describes the idea of "consent of the governed"?

Government gains its legitimacy from the people.

The constitutional proposals of New Jersey and Virginia found a middle ground in the

Great Compromise.

How does the level of income inequality in America compare to other developed nations?

Incomes are more unequal in America.

Why was the court case Plessy v. Ferguson important?

It established the idea of separate but equal.

The Supreme Court uses the __________ test to determine whether a practice violates the First Amendment's establishment clause.

Lemon

Which group formally received the right to vote in 1924?

Native Americans

Which states have the first primary and caucus in the nation every four years?

New Hampshire and Iowa

Which of the following is NOT one of the three themes about politics in the textbook?

Politics is done for the public good.

Which concept describes the idea that actions by the government touch most aspects of your life?

Politics is everywhere.

Which of the following best summarizes the influence of public opinion on government?

Public opinion has wide-ranging effects on government officials.

While court rulings on affirmative action have left substantial grey areas, which of the following best summarizes the current legality of affirmative action in college and university admissions decisions?

Race may be one of several factors in a holistic approach to determining admissions.

What are your Miranda rights?

Right to remain silent, to talk to a lawyer, and to have one provided for you

One of the key early sparks of the mid-twentieth century civil rights movement happened when ________ refused to give up a seat on a bus to a white person.

Rosa Parks

Why do politicians have a hard time resolving the issue of abortion?

The country is divided on what policy should look like.

What is the best explanation for why the number of lobbyists and interest groups has increased over time?

The number of things the federal government is involved in has increased.

Which of the following MOST clearly demonstrates that political process matters?

The political party in power has extensive control over the policies that are enacted.

What is the purpose of the president's using the veto as a threat?

The president can influence the legislative process in Congress.

Cases like McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden had what effect on the balance of power between the national and state governments?

They cemented the national government's supremacy in the early days of the Republic.

Why did the colonists create such a weak government in the Articles of Confederation?

They feared a strong government after their experience under the British as colonists.

How has the Supreme Court ruled on attempts to establish English as the official language in several states?

They have upheld such attempts.

Congress passes a bill and adjourns, and the president does not respond to the bill. The bill then dies. What is this called?

a pocket veto

What is an executive order?

a proclamation by the president that changes policy without congressional approval

Which of the following describes a federal system of government?

a system with powers shared across more than one level of government

Recess appointments

allow the president to bypass Senate confirmation temporarily.

A lobbying method initiated by an interest group that is designed to look like the spontaneous, independent participation of many individuals is called

astroturf lobbying.

In a federal system, power is distributed

between state and national governments.

Media that is transmitted over airwaves, such as radio and basic television stations, is known as _______ media.

broadcast

Kevin is having trouble with his Social Security checks not arriving on time, so he contacts the office of his member of the House. His representative's office then gets in touch with the Social Security Administration and straightens out the issue for Kevin. This is an example of

casework

Groups with headquarters, often in Washington, D.C., and with members and field offices throughout the country are known as

centralized groups.

Which term describes giving each branch of government power over the other two?

checks and balances

Imagine two government actions. The first is a Supreme Court ruling that the government cannot prevent someone from sending out pamphlets protesting a war. The second is a part of the bureaucracy that reviews complaints about racial and gender discrimination of employers. The first example deals primarily with ______, while the second is more about ______.

civil liberties; civil rights

The fact that an individual is better off when refusing to cooperate leads to

collective-action problems.

Which of the following is NOT a major ideology in modern America?

communism

Under the strict scrutiny standard, a law that discriminates based on race must be shown to serve some _____ in order to be upheld.

compelling state interest

The first form of government adopted by the United States was

confederal

The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association is an interest group that has 50 state-level organizations that make up most of the association. This is an example of what kind of set up?

confederation

Which ideology is most often associated with support for low taxes, a free market, and more traditional social practices?

conservative

Marble cake federalism, in which each of the layers mix together, is an analogy for which type of federalism?

cooperative

Marcy lives in a district where her member of the House is the same race and religion as she is. Seeing someone in the House who shares her background helps build her trust in the government. This is an example of the argument for what kind of representation?

descriptive

Officially, state legislatures redraw district boundaries every 10 years to ensure that

districts are approximately equal in population.

Some civil liberties are rooted in the ___________ clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; the grounding for civil rights is found in the ______________ clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

due process, equal protection

Libertarians are big supporters of

economic individualism.

Protections against cruel and unusual punishments can be found in which amendment?

eighth

Which of the following is an example of an outside strategy?

electioneering

What is the Electoral College?

electors from each state who cast ballots for president and vice president

The goal of equality in American politics has generally meant all of the following EXCEPT

equal income and/or wealth.

The idea that the United States should not have an official religion is most clearly found in the

establishment clause.

Any evidence that is gathered illegally or unconstitutionally cannot be used in a subsequent trial. This is known as the

exclusionary rule.

The integration of the armed forces in 1948 and the establishment of affirmative action in government hiring in 1961 and 1965 are examples of civil rights reform being pushed by which branch?

executive

According to Madison, what does people's self-interest lead to?

factions

What system of government splits power across local, state, and national levels?

federalism

J. Jonah Jameson, editor of the newspaper the Daily Bugle, has to decide every day which stories his paper will cover and which they will not. He will generally cover any story involving crime and punishment, but he rarely runs stories about political corruption. This is an example of what media effect?

filtering

Which of the following is NOT an American political value identified in the textbook that helps resolve conflict?

fraternity

Which of the following is NOT a way in which power is divided among different groups in the American governmental system?

free riders

Civil liberties listed in the Bill of Rights include all EXCEPT which of the following?

freedom from discrimination

The clear and present danger test is directly related to which freedom in the First Amendment?

freedom of speech

If you decide to drive across the country from Virginia to Oregon, you do not need to stop at every state's border to get a new driver's license. This is the best example of which constitutional clause?

full faith and credit

If one state recognizes a marriage sanctioned by another state, which constitutional clause is being exemplified?

full faith and credit clause

Gibbons v. Ogden in 1824 was important because it

gave the national government significant new authority to regulate interstate commerce.

Attempts to use the redistricting process for political advantage are called

gerrymandering.

The elastic clause

gives Congress the ability to pass laws related to its expressed powers.

Astroturf lobbying is the name given to the artificial form of what type of lobbying?

grassroots

Which of the following options is a form of expression that is offensive or abusive, particularly in terms of race, gender, or sexual orientation, and is currently protected under the Constitution?

hate speech

What makes the president an active player in the legislative process?

having a veto over potential legislation

Imagine that you are the editor at a major daily newspaper. The government finds out that you are about to run a story detailing sensitive government information, so it sues you to prevent you from publishing it. Which of the following is the government attempting to engage in?

prior restraint

The American Bar Association represents the interest of lawyers while the American Medical Association represents the interests of doctors. These are examples of what kind of group?

professional associations

The idea by which some people have justified discrimination on the grounds that some people should be denied equal rights for their own good is known as what?

protectionism

One reason governments exist is to help people overcome the collective action problem in providing _______ goods.

public

Which of the following terms best matches this definition - citizens' views on politics and government and on what government is and should be doing?

public opinion

Order these three judicial "tests" from most likely to permit to discrimination to least likely to permit discrimination:

rational basis, intermediate scrutiny, strict scrutiny

While members of Congress hold many goals while in office, for most the primary goal is

reelection.

Which of the following is NOT an example of electioneering?

releasing a research report

The so-called Culture War is being fought over

religious and moral issues.

Because it would be impossible to ask all 300 million people living in the United States their opinion, we instead collect a __________ when doing surveys.

sample

Under a system of dual federalism, the national and state governments are

seen as distinct entities providing separate services.

Miranda rights advise an individual of the Fifth Amendment's protection from

self-incrimination.

NAACP litigation leading up to Brown v. Board of Education challenged and weakened the __________ doctrine.

separate but equal

The president gets to appoint important members of the bureaucracy, but the Senate has to confirm those appointments before they go into place. This is an example of which type of power?

shared

John Lewis, a representative from Georgia, has become an expert on civil rights. This is an example of which norm in Congress?

specialization

The president represents the country symbolically and politically through his or her role as the head of

state