Politics exam 1

Common Law

(civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions

Where can the provision which states that all persons born in the United States are citizens be found?

14th amendment

Nationwide recognition of same-sex marriage was the result of which of the following?

A 2015 supreme court decision

Grandfather Clause

A clause in registration laws allowing people who do not meet registration requirements to vote if they or their ancestors had voted before 1867.

Feminism

A female movement for gender equality.

Strict Scrutiny

A heightened standard of review used by the Supreme Court to determine the constitutional validity of a challenged practice.

Civil Law

A law that governs relationships between individuals and defines their legal rights.

A constitutional amendment can be proposed in which of the following formats?

A national convention called by congress at the request of two-thirds of the state legislature and/or a two-thirds vote in each chamber of congress.

Civil Disobedience

A nonviolent, public refusal to obey allegedly unjust laws.

Affirmative Action

A policy in educational admissions or job hiring that gives special attention or compensatory treatment to traditionally disadvantaged groups in an effort to overcome present effects of past discrimination.

When people have a fairly consistent view over a range of policy choices, they are said to have which of the following?

A political ideology

What is legitimacy?

A popular acceptance of the right and power of a government or other entity to exercise authority.

Under the articles of confederation, which of the following headed congress?

A presiding officer selected from among its members

Which of the following best describes the government of the United States?

A republic

Because the delegates wanted to prevent the imposition of tyranny by either the majority or the minority, the government they proposed had which of the following?

A separation of powers

White primary

A state primary election that restricts voting to whites only; outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1944.

Literacy test

A test given to persons to prove they can read and write before being allowed to register to vote

What did Thomas Jefferson call the purpose of the establishment clause?

A wall of separation

The case of New York Times v. United States was responsible for which of the following?

Affirming the no-prior-restraint doctrine in the Pentagon Papers case.

The articles of confederation did which of the following?

Allowed the states to retain most of their power

The constitution would not have been ratified in several important states if the federalists had not assured the states of which of the following?

Amendments to the constitution would be passed to protect individual liberties against incursions by the national government.

Gender discrimination

Any practice, policy, or procedure that denies equality of treatment to an individual or to a group because of gender.

The Virginia plan was a proposal of 15 resolutions that did which of the following?

Called for a national executive who would be elected by the legislative body.

A belief that government should have no role in providing health care and that people need to be responsible for their own health care fits which of the following ideologies?

Conservative

Which of the following is the term for the fundamental law underpinning the structure of government and the rule of law?

Constitution

Which of the following best describes the constitutional status of the claimed right to choose physician-assisted suicide?

Determined by the supreme court to be an issue best handled by each state.

Beginning in 1897, the supreme court slowly began to use the protection of "life, liberty, or property" in what clause of the fourteenth amendment to incorporate some of the provisions of the bill of rights as binding on the states?

Due process

When did the modern movement for LGBTQ rights begin?

In 1969, following a riot that broke out when police raided the Stonewall Inn

What did the U.S Supreme Court do in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?

It agreed that segregation of races is not a violation of the constitution.

Which of the following is accurate regarding the efforts to amend the constitution to include an equal rights amendment for women?

It has passed through congress but failed to secure the necessary support in the states.

Which of the following is consistent with what the supreme court has ruled on the issue of sexual harassment?

It is considered sexual harassment when words or actions of a sexual nature interfere with the employee's work or create a "hostile environment"

Which of the following is true of elite theory?

It is the perspective that society is ruled by a small number of people who exercise power to further their self-interests.

Which of the following statements best describes the police power of the states?

It is the state's authority to legislate for the protection of the health, welfare, safety, and mortals of the people.

Which of the following best describes incorporation theory?

It is the view that the provisions of the bill of rights are extended to individuals for protection against action by states.

What is the purpose of block grants given to state or local governments?

It is to be spent in the way the state or local government decides to spend it.

Shay's rebellion plays an important role in American history for which of the following reasons?

It made obvious the weaknesses of the government under the Articles of confederation.

During the time of the constitutional convention, why was federalism a viable compromise to the delegates?

It maintained state traditions while creating a strong national government to handle common problems.

Which of the following is true of the bill of rights when it was ratified?

It was made up of ten amendments

Which of the following changes occurred with capital punishment from 1972 to 1976?

It was prohibited because the supreme court deemed laws too vague and wanted more precise laws enacted to ensure consistency.

The great compromise resolved the impasse between which of the following two groups?

Large and small states regarding representation

What were Jim Crow laws?

Laws that were enacted by southern whites in the late nineteenth century to establish segregation policies.

Which of the following groups would favor government efforts to increase equality and more support for those in need?

Liberals

Which of the following political philosophies holds the belief that individuals are responsible for their well-being, proposes a limited role of government, and supports policies favoring traditional values?

Libertarianism

What did the bill of rights do as originally intended in the constitution?

Limits only the power of the national government, not that of the states.

The supreme court first declared that the courts have the power to overturn government acts that conflict with the constitution in which of the following cases?

Marbury v. Madison

What did Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. advocate as a means to achieve racial justice?

Nonviolent civil disobedience

The struggle over power or influence within organizations that can grant benefits or privileges best defines which of the following?

Politics

Which of the following best defines the concept of civil rights?

Powers and privileges guaranteed to individuals and protected by the government to ensure equal protection and freedom from discrimination.

Which of the following is prohibited by the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

Private and governmental acts of discrimination

The capitalist system in the United States is based on which of the following?

Private property rights

Which of the following best describes prior restraint?

Prohibiting an activity, such as expression, before that activity has actually occurred.

de jure segregation

Racial segregation that occurs because of laws or administrative decisions by public agencies.

For states to pass a law that also happens to restrict religious practices, the law must have what type of aim or purpose?

Secular

de facto segregation

Segregation resulting from economic or social conditions or personal choice.

Which of the following shows that the founding fathers wanted to create distance between the people and their government?

Selection of senators by state legislatures

Which of the following policy issues did the supreme court rule upon in 2018 in a major victory for state=based power and rights?

State government employee unions

The advantages of a federal system of government include which of the following?

State governments are frequently testing grounds for new governmental initiatives.

According to article IV of the constitution, which of the following best describes the full faith and credit clause?

States must adhere to civil acts and judicial decisions of other states.

The United States Supreme Court has created three standards of review to determine if a law is discriminatory. What is the toughest of these standards, requiring that a law be narrowly tailored, called?

Strict scrutiny

What must be proved for a public figure to obtain a damage award under libel laws?

That the statement in question contained a reckless disregard for the truth.

Which of the following political institutions settles conflicts related to power sharing between the states and the national government?

The United States Supreme Court

What does the exclusionary rule prohibit?

The admission of illegally seized evidence at trial

In the United States, basic guarantees of liberty are found in which of the following documents?

The bill of rights

What did the ruling in the 1833 supreme court case of Barron v. Baltimore hold?

The bill of rights did not apply to state laws

The necessary and proper clause of article I, Section 8 of the constitution is also known as which of the following?

The elastic clause

The commerce clause is the basis for which of the following?

The expansion of federal power, especially in the 20th century.

During the constitutional deliberations, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison wrote 85 essays known as which of the following?

The federalist papers

What did the supreme court rule in Lemon v. Kurtzman?

The government must avoid excessive entanglement with religion.

The bill of rights limits the power of which of the following?

The government over the rights and liberties of individuals.

Which of the following was a weakness of the articles of confederation?

The inability of congress to raise funds

In a unitary system of government, the ultimate government authority is associated with which of the following levels?

The national or central level

What clause in the constitution grants congress the power to act in order to execute its enumerated or expressed powers?

The necessary and proper clause

Which of the following statements regarding the Gibbons v. Ogden case is true?

The power to regulate interstate commerce was determined to be an exclusive national power of the federal government.

The concept of political socialization refers to which of the following?

The process by which beliefs and values are transmitted to new immigrants and to our children.

The concept of universal suffrage refers to which of the following?

The right of all adults to vote for a representative in government

intermediate, or exacting, scrutiny

The standard by the courts to determine whether a law or government action improperly discriminates against women

Rational Basis Review

The standard used by the courts to determine the constitutionality of a law or government action if neither strict scrutiny nor intermediate scrutiny applies.

Which of the following describes the doctrine of dual federalism?

The state and federal governments have separate functions and powers.

In the constitution, why are reserved powers not clearly defined or established?

The states had all the power when the constitution was written because of the articles of confederation.

The assertion that national law has primacy over state law is the constitution in which of the following clauses?

The supremacy clause

What preemptive power is rooted in the constitution that allows congress to impose national priorities on states through national legislation?

The supremacy clause

The constitution vests all judicial authority of the United States in which of the following, as well as in other inferior courts?

The supreme court

Why did the framers of the constitution not create a direct democracy?

They believed the rights of the minority would be suppressed by the dominating majority.

Which of the following would be true of libertarians?

They would strongly oppose most government activities

Today, girls can participate in many different sports in high school and collegiate athletics. This is in large part due to which of the following?

Title IX

What was the purpose of the poll tax?

To dissuade African Americans and poor whites from voting

What was the purpose of the nineteenth amendment?

To expand the right to vote to women

What must be proved for a public figure to obtain a damage award under libel laws?

Unreasonable searches and seizures

While the Brown ruling was historic, the ruling itself did little to desegregate schools due to its ambiguous statement that schools should desegregate how?

With all deliberate speed

poll tax

a special tax that had to be paid as a qualification for voting

Criminal Law

a system of law concerned with the punishment of those who commit crimes.

Sexual harassment

any unwanted remark, behavior, or touch that has sexual content

suspect classification

category or class, such as race, that triggers the highest standard of scrutiny from the Supreme Court

Transgender persons

persons who experience a mismatch between their gender identity and the gender assigned to them at birth

Slander

the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.

Majority

the age at which a person is entitled by law to the right to manage her or his own affairs

Separate but equal doctrine

the doctrine established in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that African Americans could constitutionally be kept in separate but equal facilities

Suffrage

the right to vote

Civil Rights

the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality.

Reverse Discrimination

the situation in which an affirmative action program discriminates against those who do not have minority status