Govt 2305 Exam 2
Which of the following is most clearly and directly a civil rights question?
Can the government bar people of a specific racial group from holding a particular public office?
In the Seattle Schools case, what was the key difference between Chief Justice Roberts's approach and Justice Breyer's approach?
Chief Justice Roberts focused on the need for race-blind process while Justice Breyer focused on the need for equitable outcomes.
How many judges normally hear a case in the federal district courts?
1
What period saw the greatest increase in interest groups active in Washington?
1985 to 1995
How many justices need to vote to hear a case in order for it to appear on the Supreme Court's docket?
4
According to recent polling, what percentage of American adults are true independents?
9 to 12 percent
Which of the following statements demonstrates that in the early years of the United States, some people believed that the Bill of Rights could limit state action?
A landmark Supreme Court case was required to settle the issue as to whether the Bill of Rights could limit state action.
What is the name of the federal statute that requires administrative agencies to have a period for public comment before adopting regulations?
Administrative Procedure Act
What is the current status of the Bill of Rights in terms of its application to state actions?
Almost all, but not all, of the Bill of Rights' provisions limit state action.
Which of the following is the most accurate way of describing American society in the 18th century?
America was a society of numerous, varying forms of discrimination and inequality.
Based on this information, what would Truman's theory predict about the number of interest groups during the 1930s vs. 1965 to 1975?
Both time periods would see many new interest groups.
What was the original name of today's Democratic party?
Democratic-Republicans
Which of the following is the most accurate description of partisan competition these days?
Democrats win urban areas, and Republicans win rural areas.
At which level of the federal judiciary is the application of precedent most likely to control judicial decision making?
District Court
True or False: In a "top two" primary, the top two finishers run against each other in the general election unless one of them received a majority of the votes in the primary.
False
True or False: The 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act allows us to know how many times a lobbyist has met with a member of Congress in their office during normal business hours.
False
True or False: Voters in an open primary can switch back and forth between different parties depending on the office.
False
Who was the last independent or minor party candidate to win any electoral college votes?
George Wallace (American Independent Party), in 1968
Which of the following statements is most nearly correct?
Influence by organized interests over public policy is widely assumed but surprisingly difficult to prove.
The order that supreme court decides a case.
Issue writ of certiorari, Hear oral arguments, Meet in conference to discuss merits of case, Issue majority opinion.
What was the final outcome of Reconstruction?
It failed because the northern will to enforce the programs faded in the face of persistent southern resistance.
A local ordinance prohibits public demonstrations after 9 p.m. because of noise and because the reduced light makes guaranteeing safety more difficult. Based solely on this information, what is the best expectation for the constitutionality of the ordinance?
It is constitutional as a time, place, and manner restriction.
According to the academic literature, what form is influence by organized interests who lobby Congress most likely to take?
Legislators will modify details in response to relevant and credible information.
Are the contents of bills generally called Religious Freedom Restoration Acts ("RFRAs") constitutional protections?
No, RFRAs are statutory rights that act in addition to, but do not change, constitutional mandates.
Imagine a public university admissions program takes the top 100 best applicants every year, and then takes 20 applicants each from all racial groups that have at least 5 percent of the state's population. Would this policy be constitutional?
No, because it is effectively a form of prohibited quota.
Did the language of the Fourteenth Amendment—that everyone would have equal protection under the law—come into practice in the late 19th century?
No, the Fourteenth Amendment was not interpreted to protect Black American political rights for about a century.
Are the disparities in incarceration limited to gaps between racial groups?
No, there are also different rates by sex, age, wealth, and other attributes.
How did American policy on slavery develop after the founding?
Policies developed simultaneously that limited slavery's expansion, but also perpetuated slavery in the South.
Which of the following confirmation processes would you expect to be MOST contentious?
Supreme Court
Order the following courts from least to most likely to use strategic decision making.
Supreme Court - least, District Court - middle, Circuit Courts - most
Which of the following was the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson?
The Fourteenth Amendment did require equal public services to all races, but separate services could be equal.
Which statement summarizes the most important differences between these two time periods?
The formation of new interest groups during 1965 to 1975 was at least partly due to factors other than socio-economic disturbances and government activism.
While giving a speech at an open-mic segment of an authorized left-leaning political rally, a demonstrator begins to shout angry declarations about the need to bring about the socialist revolution as envisioned by Karl Marx. He claims that the only way to achieve this is through a violent revolution that targets America's major political institutions. The meeting was shut down by local people, who arrested the man for using violent rhetoric. Based only on this information, under the standard of Brandenburg v. Ohio, what is the most likely outcome in this situation?
The police unconstitutionally stopped speech that was too vague and unrealistic to pose an imminent threat.
Is there any enforcement mechanism in place to protect citizens from constitutional violations committed by police officers while conducting an investigation?
There was no enforcement mechanism in the text of the Fourth Amendment, but the Court created one, the Exclusionary Rule.
Which of the following phrases best describes American constitutional civil liberties protections?
They are short, abstract statements of general goals.
How did America's Founders decide to deal with individual liberties?
They ratified a set of 10 constitutional amendments explicitly protecting individual liberties.
Which of the following best describes the political role of women in the early United States?
Women were systematically excluded from formal politics.
Which of the following is NOT a factor that increases the likelihood that a case will be heard on the merits by the Supreme Court?
a case involving multiple state governments
What would we call a country whose laws attempt to write out regulations and rules for as many situations and actions as possible?
a civil or Roman law country
According to this video, which of the following is most likely to lead to the creation of a successful new party?
a group of established politicians who split off from the Democrats or Republicans
What was the period known as Reconstruction in the United States?
a period after the Civil War in which the federal government forced social, economic, and political changes to allow recently freed slaves to participate in public life
What is abolitionism?
a political and philosophical movement to end the institution of chattel slavery
Which of the following terms describes the strategy of making campaign contributions in order to be on the good side of the winner?
access
According to James Madison, which of the following functions will minority factions perform?
clog the administration
Which of the following are subject to regulation despite the First Amendment?
contributions by an individual to a political party
What is the term for money spent on independent expenditures that cannot be traced to its original source?
dark money
Which of the following is the correct term for the situation described in the text of a policy or rule, regardless of how it is applied in practice?
de jure
Which entity did the Bill of Rights initially limit?
federal government
Which of the following factors is now the most important in a president's decision about who to nominate to the Supreme Court?
ideology of nominee
Civil liberties protections can be found in which of the following places?
in the main text of the Constitution, its amendments (including the Bill of Rights) and other laws and legal rulings
Assume a state establishes a college tuition grant solely for male students in response to declining male enrollment in state colleges. What level of scrutiny is likely to be applied to this policy by a judge?
intermediate scrutiny
In which of the following areas have the "conservative" and "liberal" major parties switched positions over time?
international trade and civil rights
Which type of organized interest is most likely to endorse candidates and mobilize voters?
labor unions
Which of the following is a key components of the Republican coalition?
legal immigrants from Europe
What percentage of the private nonagricultural workforce currently belongs to a labor union?
less than 10 percent
According to the Supreme Court, which of the following is a sufficient justification for regulating campaign contributions or spending?
limiting corruption and the appearance of corruption
Which of the following would be illegal for a 501c3 organization such as the American Cancer Society?
making campaign contributions in congressional elections
Who was responsible for creating the first organized political parties in the United States?
members of Congress
Which of the following statements best describes slavery in the colonial period in the lands that would become the United States of America?
part of a global colonial slave trade managed by European great powers, especially in their Western Hemisphere colonies
Which of the following are likely results of polarization in Congress?
party discipline and policy gridlock
Which of the following are commonly referred to as "Super PACs"?
political action committees that only make independent expenditures
Which of the following is NOT a policy position likely to be taken by a CONSERVATIVE judge?
pro-environmental protection
Which of the following types of incentives to support an interest group are least likely to be effective, given the temptation to free ride?
purposive
Which of the following is the primary explanation for a two-party system, according to Duverger's Law?
single-member districts with plurality winners
Prior to the 1960s, which level of party organization was the most powerful?
state
Which of the following is a major explanation for the realignment of the "solid South"?
the 1965 Voter Rights Act
Which of the following had the strongest effect on the importance of party organizations at different levels?
the development of mass fundraising techniques
Which of the following actors is limited in their ability to restrict individual expression by the First Amendment? (Select all that apply.)
the federal government a state university
Which of the following entities do civil liberties govern the relationship between?
the government and individual entities
How did women gain the de jure right to vote?
through a constitutional amendment
What feature was key in deciding whether a Bill of Rights provision would be incorporated?
whether the judges believed the right was essential to a free, ordered society
A state program that distributes funds for certain projects provides funds to religious organizations. Which of the following is most likely to be most important in determining whether this is permissible under the Constitution?
whether the projects are primarily for a secular goal like public safety or education
