APGOV *Semester 1 Exam*

Every two years, _____ of the Senate must stand for reelection

1/3

What is recall?

16 states allow for recall of officials. A specified percentage of registered voters must sign a petition a majority vote is required for an officer to be removed not used as often as initiatives or refenda

The Federalists papers were written by

Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison

Why do most democracies give power to representatives rather than directly to citizens?

Bringing large numbers of citizens together for discussions and votes is difficult. Decisions may require specialized knowledge not possessed by the average citizen. Discussion of political issues takes more time than most people are willing to spend.

Which of the following is a consequence of the presidential nomination process in the United States

Candidates who win the nomination do so mainly on their own and owe little or nothing to the national party organization

Supporters of the Constitution named themselves

Federalists

Those who supported the new Constitution were called ____________, and those who opposed it were called _____________.

Federalists, Antifederalists

The ________ Amendment prohibits Congress from abridging freedom of the press

First

A key difference between the House and the Senate concerning bill procedures is the

House Rules Committee

A president can be impeached by the ____ and tried and removed from office by the _____.

House; Senate

Which of the following statements about American political parties is false

Independents outnumber Democratic Party and Republican Party identifiers, combined, in the U.S. electorate

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson's statement that "all men are created equal" is similar to which theorists's belief that government is based on the "consent of the governed"?

John Locke

Which philosopher's ideas form the basis of communism?

Marx

Where in the Constitution are political parties discussed

Nowhere in the Constitution

An environment group publishes scientifically documented lapses in EPA oversight of toxic waste dump monitoring. Which function is the environmental group engaged in

Program monitoring

Which of the following activities requires the most initiative

Running for office

The framers guessed that the _________ would reflect public opinion, especially on the crucial issues of taxes and government spending

Supreme Court

__________ occurs when a magazine informs a relatively small number of group leaders who follow news in a specific area, and those leaders in turn mobilize their followers to put pressure on public officials

The 2 step flow of communication

Which of the following was the first known act of unconventional participation in America

The Boston Tea Party

Larger states benefited most under what plan

The Virginia Plan

What are the essential premises of dual federalism

The national gov't rules by enumerated powers only. The national gov't has a limited set of constitutional purposes. Each gov't unit, both nation and state, is sovereign within its own sphere. The relationship between nation and state is best characterized by tension.

According to the NJ Plan, how was representation to be structured in Congress?

There would be 1 house, and all states would have equal representation in it

The Declaration of Independence was based on input from many people, but its primary author was

Thomas Jefferson

The largest circulation for a daily newspaper is claimed by

USA Today

Which of the following voting behaviors by a representative indicates delegate behavior

Voting according to the results of a telephone survey regarding the preference of district constituents

The style and tactics of contemporary presidential campaigns are controlled primarily by

a candidate's personal campaign organization

Direct action includes

a citizen's group appearing before the city council seeking change in an ordinance

Which metaphor best describes dual federalism?

a layer cake

Which metaphor best describes cooperative federalism

a marble cake

A media event is

a situation that is too newsworthy for the media to ignore

In Federalist No. 10, James Madison advocated

a system that would inherently control the effects of factions

If the NRA focuses public attention on the failure of gun control legislation to reduce the number of felonies committed by persons using handguns, it is engaged in which function

agenda building

Criticism of talk radio centers on its

airing of extreme views, which tends to polarize politics

Every 2 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; one third

A major reason for the use of committees in Congress is that they

allow members of Congress to develop and use expertise in certain policy areas

The current partisan makeup of the electorate is best described as a(n)

almost equal balance among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents

The content of a bill can be changed

at any stage of the legislative process

U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair signed a treaty designed to protect the United States and Britain from further terrorist acts by the sharing of intelligence information. Before this treaty legally takes effect in the U.S., it must

be approved by a 2/3 vote of the Senate

If the president neither signs nor vetoes a bill within 10 days while Congress is in session, the bill

becomes a law

Money awarded for broad, general purposes is called a

block grant

Children are likely to adopt their parents' party identification when

both parents strongly identify with the same party

The most distinguishing feature of American political parties has always been the absence of

centralized power

Under separation of powers, the U.S. system keeps power among branches balanced by enabling one branch to counter the actions of another by the use of

checks and balances

The basic standard of substantive democracy is that government must guarantee

civil rights and liberties

A primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot is a(n) _______________ primary.

closed

By signing the Declaration of Independence, the rebels

committed an act of treason

The framers of the Constitution intended _________ to be the strongest branch of government

congress

Most news printed about Congress comes from

congressional press releases and prepared reports

Which of the following has traditionally been considered true of voters primary elections, but has recently been called into question?

democratic primary voters are more liberal than average Democratic identifiers; Republican primary voters are more conservative than average Republican identifiers

Private ownership of the media in the U.S. makes the American news industry

dependent on advertising revenues

A strategy that relies on a group representative's personal contact with policymakers is

direct lobbying

Each state has 1 vote in the electoral college for

each of its representatives and senators

Capitalism is best described as a(n)

economic system in which production and property are privately owned, with a minimum of government interference

An election trend wherein voters elect candidates from the political party they do not normally vote for and persist in this behavior for several elections would be identified as

electoral realignment

The first objective of campaign advertising is to

ensure that a candidate has a high level of name recognition among voters

The constitutional provision found in Article I, Section 8, which gives Congress the means to execute its powers, is an example of what type of power

enumerated

Which of the following concepts became a major objective of government after industrialization and urbanization

equality

When one person has the same chance to succeed in life as another, this is called

equality of opportunity

liberals

favor the use of government to foster equality

The Senate delay tactic of talking a bill to death is called

filibustering

The principle of responsiveness requires that legislators

follow the general contours of public opinion

Government's "original dilemma" is how best to balance

freedom and order

The concepts associated with the values commonly pursued by government include

freedom, order, and equality

A state moves its primary to an earlier date to encourage presidential candidates who would otherwise have skipped that state to campaign there. This is known as

front-loading

The media executives, news editors, and prominent reporters who decide which events to report and how to report them are known as

gatekeepers

When an election immediately follows a new U.S. census, incumbents typically enjoy the advantage of

gerrymandered districts

Campaigns use polls to

get feedback about the success or failure of various campaign tactics, discover voters' perceptions of candidates, devise adjusted strategies, and discover voters' opinions about certain issues

Which of the following statements reflects the role public opinion should play according to the majoritarian model of democracy

gov't should do what a majority of the public wants

The general term for money paid by one level of government to another is

grant-in-aid

Which of the following involves an interest group's rank-and-file membership as well as outreach to ordinary people outside the organization

grassroots lobbying

The most important job of the party leaders in Congress is to

guide bargaining and negotiation regarding the content of legislation

During a presidential election, the tendency of journalists to limit coverage of campaign events to coverage of the candidate who leads in the polls at the time is known as

horse race jouranlism

The procedural view of democracy is most concerned with

how government decisions are made

The internet was started

in 1969, with support from the U.S. Department of Defense

The single most important factor leading to the Constitutional Convention was

inability of the national or state government to maintain order under the articles

The effect of national emergencies and judicial interpretations on federalism has been to

increase the power of the national government

The primary goal of interest groups is to

influence public policy

A citizen's group gathers enough signatures on a petition to force a popular vote on a statewide lottery proposal. This proposal would represent a(n)

initiative

When the authors say that we live in an era of "globalization," they mean that citizens and nations are increasingly

interdependent

The number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency

is 270

An interest group entrepreneur

is an interest group leader or organizer

The number of seats granted to each state in the House of Representatives

is reapportioned every 10 years after the national census

Spray painting political slogans on a building, a form of unconventional behavior, has what effect on government

it is stressful

An open election

lacks an incumbent

A congressional committee that holds a hearing to determine whether the Department of Agriculture is administering the food stamp program as Congress intended is engaging in

legislative oversight

The broad, basic definition of government given by the text is

legitimate use of force within specified geographic boundaries to control human behavior

When members of Congress vote in party meetings to select committee chairpersons subject to leadership approval, the person selected is typically chosen primarily on the basis of

length of service on the committee and membership in the majority party

In forging a new gov't, the biggest concern of the colonial revolutionaries was

limiting its powers

When the Senate votes to invoke cloture, it

limits the amount of time that may be spent debating a bill

Characteristics frequently associated with nonvoters are

low education, low income, and being relatively young

the oldest objective of government is

maintaining order

The most powerful person in the Senate is the

majority leader

In the congressional setting, casework refers to

members helping constituents with problems

An underlying assumption of the concept of descriptive representation is that

minorities can be effectively represented only be people of their own kind

All of the following are principles of procedural democracy except

minority rights

In recent years, state government power has changed to become

more professional

Are the Speaker of the House's duties listed in the constitution?

no

In general, libertarianism

opposes all government action except that which protects life and property

The text identifies _______ as an important "external source of influence" on Congress

parties, the president, constituents, interest groups

Each citizen having one vote demonstrates

political equality

The 2-party system in the U.S. is supported by which aspect(s) of the political system

political history and socialization

The set of values and beliefs that a person holds about the purpose and scope of government is called

political ideology

The process whereby one becomes aware of politics, learns political facts, and forms political values is called

political socialization

The Greek word kratos, one of the roots of the word democracy, means

power

The principle of universal participation may still be met even if some adults (such as recent immigrants) are excluded from participation if this exclusion is based on

practical or political reasons in a particular country

A direct primary is

preliminary election to choose party candidates

Of the following major objectives of government, the most recent one is

promoting equality

Broadcast media include

radio and television

The minority counterpart to a committee chairperson is called a

ranking minority member

Republicanism is a form of government in which power

resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives

A republic is a government

resting on the consent of the governed

The goal of the 1st Continental Congress was to

restore harmony between Britain and the colonies

To create social and economic equality, governments must

restrict individual freedom

A _____ is a temporary committee established to deal with issues that either overlap or fall outside the areas of expertise of standing committees

select committee

Members of the Senate serve ___-year terms

six

Agreement among substantive theorists breaks down when the discussion moves from civil rights to

social rights and economic rights

Franklin Roosevelt's four freedoms include

speech, from fear, religion, from want

Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is an example of ____________ behavior.

supportive

When state laws conflict with national laws, the situation is resolved by the ________________ clause.

supremacy

Americans tend to __________ their local governments

take little interest in

The development of the news media in the U.S. has been shaped by

technological innovation, trends in entertainment, political attitudes toward the scope of gov't

The shift away from dual federalism and toward cooperative federalism was a response to the problems associated with

the Great Depression

If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes, the election is decided by

the U.S. Supreme Court

A result of the 2nd Continental Congress was

the adoption of the Declaration of Independence

Pluralists would argue that gov't should not always follow public opinion due to

the apathy and lack of knowledge of the general public

The basic definition of public opinion is

the collected attitudes of citizens on a given issue or question

How does incumbency affect a candidate's chances for re-election

the incumbent candidate almost always has an advantage

The most heated debates at the Constitutional Convention focused on

the legislative branch

A popular election is the primary mechanism for democratic government in which model?

the majoritarian model

Compared with majoritarian thought, the pluralist model of democracy shifts the focus of democratic decision making from ____ to ____.

the mass electorate; organized groups

Antifederalists attacked the proposed constitution on the grounds that

the national gov't it created was too strong

The chief obstacle to ratification of the Constitution by the states was

the omission of a bill of rights

In the article "GOP an Irresponsible Opposition Party", Ruth Marcus believes that the Republican Party is irresponsible because

the party is not presenting a plan of its own

The Great Compromise resolved what issue

the power of large vs. small states

A vote on a bill in the Senate results in a tie. What would likely be the official outcome of the vote on the bill?

the president's party would prevail

A dispute over floor debate procedure in the House would be settled by

the rules Committee

What role do interest groups play in educating policymakers about political issues

they are an important source of political information

The Articles of Confederation failed because

they did not provide an effective means for the gov't to raise money, they did not include an independent leader to direct the gov't, and they did not give the gov't power to regulate commerce

In recent elections, when the candidates of the major parties have declined public funding of their campaigns,

they have often raised and spent more money than they would have been allowed under the limits of the law

People often seem inconsistent in their political beliefs because

they may favor government action to promote one value but not another

Coverage of a well-known youth celebrity's drug abuse scandal that will highly impact teenagers is known as a __________event.

time-sensitive

in the senate, the starting time, length, and conditions of debate on legislation are set by

unanimous consent agreements

The idea that all adults within the boundaries of a political community should be allowed to vote is known as

universal participation

The text defines suffrage and franchise as the right to

vote

A voter who voted for Democrat Ted Kennedy for senator and Republican George W. Bush for president in 200

voted a split ticket

A congressional representative is following the trustee philosophy when he or she

votes according to his or her conscience, even if doing so means going against the wishes of the majority back home

At the Constitutional Convention, the institution of slavery

was opposed by some but preserved in order to maintain unity among the states

A house incumbent may be considered vulnerable if he or she

won the last election by a slim margin, has been involved in a major political scandal, has a political ideology inconsistent with that of his or her district

Which of the following is a conventional form of political participation

writing letters to public officials