AP Gov Review Questions

A corporate lobbyist would be LEAST likely to have an informal discussion about a pending policy matter with which of the following?

A federal judge in whose court a case important to the corporation is being heard

Which of the following activities by interest groups best illustrates attempts to educate members of Congress on public policy?

A green energy group sending a research report to congressional offices

The process shown in the diagram is outlined in which of the following parts of the United States Constitution?

Article V

The primary responsibility for determining monetary policy in the United States rests with the

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Which of the following criticisms of political campaigns is the author of the political cartoon most likely to agree with?

Candidates rely too heavily on professional consultants.

To enforce the Fourteenth Amendment more clearly, Congress passed the

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Which of the following is a type of primary election that requires registration as a party affiliate to vote?

Closed

Which of the following would result from the direct election of presidential candidates?

Each vote would count equally in determining which candidate won the election.

Which of the following is NOT a core value of United States political culture?

Economic equality

Which of the following form an "iron triangle"?

Executive department, Congressional committee, interest group

Policy that describes the impact of the federal budget (including taxes, spending, and borrowing) on the economy is referred to as which of the following?

Fiscal policy

When none of the presidential candidates receives a majority of the votes in the electoral college, the winner is chosen by the

House of Representatives only

A member of Congress who advocates for a more Keynesian approach to solving a recession will likely support which of the following policies?

Increasing federal spending on infrastructure programs

Which of the following describes the Twenty-Fourth Amendment?

It eliminated poll taxes.

Which of the following is true of the electoral college system?

It encourages candidates to concentrate their campaigns in competitive, populous states.

Which of the following is an accurate statement about the voter turnout rate in the United States?

It is lower than in most other Western democracies.

Which of the following serves as an explanation for the differences between generations in voting patterns?

Major political events affecting political attitudes

Which of the following is an effect of the Seventeenth Amendment?

People could participate in the political process by directly electing the senators.

A person votes for Democratic candidates based on the belief that the policies of the Democratic Party will be personally beneficial. This type of voting matches which of the following voting behavior models?

Prospective voting

In Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the

Sixth Amendment right-to-counsel provision applies to those accused of major crimes under state laws

Which of the following arguments best supports a claim that the electoral college violates democratic principles?

Smaller states are disproportionately advantaged by the two additional electoral votes granted to each state for its senators.

Which of the following best explains why eligibility criteria vary by state as shown on the information graphic?

States can create criteria for voting rights so long as they do not violate the United States Constitution.

The United States Supreme Court has used which of the following to incorporate the Bill of Rights into state law?

The Fourteenth Amendment

Which of the following is most likely responsible for the increase in the number of southern African American state legislators between 1960 and 1992 as shown in the graph?

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Two interest groups are competing for influence in Congress. One group represents banking institutions, while the other advocates for consumer protections. A critic of the influence of interest groups would make which of the following claims?

The banking interest group likely has greater financial resources and access to policy makers than the consumer protection group.

Of the following, which has been used most to expand the power of the national government?

The commerce clause of the Constitution

The Supreme Court has ruled which of the following concerning the death penalty?

The death penalty is not necessarily cruel and unusual punishment.

Which of the following is the most accurate statement about political parties in the United States?

The percentage of voters identifying themselves as either Democrats or Republicans has been declining since the 1970's.

The graphic illustrates which of the following statements about political parties?

There is an ongoing debate between political parties over the power and scope of the federal government, even as economic and demographic changes have altered party coalitions.

Which of the following is true of amicus curiae briefs?

They are used by interest groups to lobby courts.

An election involving more than two candidates in which the person who receives the most votes is the winner is called

a plurality election

Since the early 1980s, the Republican Party platform has been increasingly influenced by

evangelical Christians

The reserved powers of the state governments can best be described as those powers

granted to states as part of the implied powers doctrine

When a child's parents both identify strongly with the same political party, the child will most likely

identify with the parents' party

An important change in political culture since 1950 is that United States citizens have become

less trusting of governmental institutions and leaders

One of the best strategies that interest groups can use to achieve their goals is

lobbying members of Congress to make small changes in existing policy

With respect to prayer in public schools, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that

state-sponsored prayer violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment

The process known as front-loading refers to

the tendency of states to choose an early date on the primary calendar

Since 1960 the presidential election process has been affected by an increase in all of the following EXCEPT the

turnout of votes

Interest groups engage in all of the following activities EXCEPT

using the franking privilege

Voter turnout tends to be highest among

working-class voters

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the establishment clause and the free exercise clause?

Establishment Clause - Prohibits the federal government from promoting religion or creating a national religion. Free Exercise Clause - Protects an individual's religious beliefs and reasonable religious practices.

Which of the following is LEAST characteristic of the history of political parties in the United States during the twentieth century?

The splitting of the two major parties into a multiparty system

Critics of the winner-take-all aspect of the electoral college are most likely to make which of the following arguments?

The winner-take-all system of the electoral college encourages presidential candidates to focus their time and effort disproportionately on battleground states with larger populations.

Which of the following explains why any attempt to reduce Social Security benefits is difficult?

There are many voters who support Social Security.

Supporters of voting restrictions are most likely to make which of the following arguments?

Voting restrictions are needed to prevent voter fraud.

Many scholars argue that categorical grants-in-aid do which of the following?

Weaken the power of state governors and legislators

Since the 1960s, support for the Democratic Party has declined the most among which of the following groups?

White southerners

The activities of the Federal Reserve Board have the most direct influence on

bank interest rates

In 1987 the cooperation among the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Organization for Women (NOW), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to defeat Robert Bork's nomination to the United States Supreme Court was an example of

coalition building

In the process and structure of public policymaking, "iron triangles" refer to the

networks of congressional committees, bureaucratic agencies, and interest groups that strongly influence the policy process

Which of the following is an accurate comparison of rights protected and not protected by the First Amendment?

Protected by the First Amendment - The right to burn a flag Not Protected by the First Amendment - Obscenity

Which of the following most likely explains the difference in result of the two polls?

Question format

Which of the following is a likely effect of the trend depicted in the bar graph on voting and elections?

The Democratic Party will win more elections, based on current voting trends.