Unit 2 exam/quiz review

The U.S. Public Health Service was founded in _____.

1798

Social security was established in _____.

1935

Between 1959 and 2012, the percentage of elderly Americans living in poverty went from about ____ percent to ____ percent.

35; 10

A majority system, which is used on a limited basis in the United States, requires that a candidate must win ________ to win an election.

50 percent plus one of all votes cast

About _______ percent of African Americans voted for Barack Obama in 2008.

95

Social Security is a good example of _____.

A contributory program

________ once wrote that "America was a nation of joiners."

Alexis de Tocqueville

Economic aid is an economic ________; sanctions are an economic ________.

Carrot; stick

Which of the following is NOT a goal of American domestic policy?

Closing the gap between rich and poor

The Constitutional task for Congress in going to war is:

Declaring war

______ warned Americans against too much involvement with foreign relations.

George Washington

Which of the following nations does NOT have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council?

Germany

Why is Marbury v. Madison an important case

In this case, the justices authorized the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review over laws passed by Congress.

Which of the following statements is true?

Individuals customize the political information they receive through their choices of news outlets.

The nineteenth-century policy of _____ was based on the geographic distance of the United States from other countries.

Isolationism

______ led the exposure of the Watergate scandal.

Journalists at the Washington Post

The fact that interest groups favor the wealthy and well educated can be understood as a reflection of what eternal dilemma in American politics?

Liberty is often inconsistent with equality.

A(n) _______benefit is one where potential recipients must document their genuine need.

Means-tested

The most noteworthy example of the policy of deterrence was the ______.

Nuclear arms race

The traditional American distrust of diplomacy has resulted in which situation?

Presidents often use military or political leaders outside the State Department during a crisis

In order for a political party to select a candidate to run in the general election, it holds a(n) ________.

Primary election

Which official is NOT a major actor in American foreign policy?

Secretary of Veterans Affairs

The three main goals of American foreign policy are _____.

Security, economic prosperity, and the creation of a better world

Which of the following domestic social policy is currently the most costly to the government?

Social Security

Brief quotes and short characterizations of the day's events in news coverage are called ____.

Sound bites

Individuals and organizations can give an unlimited amount to _________.

Super PACs

Which program was designed to help augment the benefits to the aged, blind, and disabled?

Supplemental Security Income

Which if the following news sources reaches the most Americans?

Television

What is one reason that political parties and politicians view Latinos as a critically important group?

The Latino population in the United States is large and rapidly growing.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the government and media in the United States today?

The government does not own but regulates the content and ownership of broadcast media.

Which of the following statements is true about the news media?

The mass media have an enormous impact on public opinion.

Which of the following statements is NOT a reason why the No Child Left Behind Act has been controversial?

The standards were too lenient and almost every school met them easily.

What is the chief task of the National Security Advisor?

To coordinate the differences among the key foreign policy makers

Education is NOT a constitutional right, and therefore the Supreme Court does not hear cases regarding education.

True

How does an entitlement differ from a right?

Unlike an entitlement, a right cannot be taken away by an act of Congress.

Which war was officially declared by Congress?

War of 1812

________ has released thousands of secret government documents.

WikiLeaks

A political ideology is best defined as

a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about government

The Supreme Court justices formally articulated the right to privacy in a case involving

access to birth control

The term public opinion is used to describe

beliefs and attitudes toward different issues, events, and people.

Which of the following is NOT a goal of American social policy?

closing the gap between rich and poor

The representation of a government to other foreign governments is called ______.

diplomacy

If a man is arrested because his home was searched by police without a legal warrant, he could argue in court that he had been denied

due process of law

Which of the following programs most benefits the working poor?

earned income tax credits

The right of due process is best described as the right of

every person not to be treated arbitrarily by a government official or agency.

In 2007 and 2008, the government faced a housing crisis caused by

foreclosures

________ is a strategy that attempts to mobilize the widest and most favorable climate of opinion.

going public

What were the most common favors political bosses distributed to loyal party members during the era of political machines?

jobs

The phrase stare decisis means

let the decision stand

A(n) ______ benefit is one where potential recipients must document their genuine need.

means-tested

Spending on medical programs such as Medicare and Medicaid has proven difficult to control because

of the growing number of people eligible, and because of rising health care costs.

Which of the following has Congress NOT done in recent years in order to limit the influence of interest groups?

outlawed all contact between lobbyists and members of Congress during legislative sessions

The central thrust of federal housing policy has been to

promote home ownership

The fact that the United States remains silent in the face of human rights violations by a number of countries illustrates that

promoting human rights is less important to American foreign policy than security concerns and economic interests.

Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support

school prayer

Which of the following groups are more than twice as likely as other Americans to be below the poverty line?

single mothers

Which of the following is NOT a component of American foreign policy?

social security

Which of the following social policies is currently the most costly to the government?

social security

A policy of deterrence is likely to fail against terrorist groups because

terrorist groups are nonstate actors who may believe that their lack of a fixed geographic location prevents their targets from retaliating militarily.

The jurisdiction of each federal court is derived from

the Constitution and federal law