Final American Government

A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules is called

A social contract.

"Full faith and credit" means that states must:

honor the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states.

By 1732, the last of the colonies was established. How many colonies were there?

thirteen

All of the following factors led the founders to realize that a unitary system of government would be difficult to operate EXCEPT:

too few states participating.

Today, there are approximately __________ Native Americans living in the United States.

3.2 million

General agreement among the citizenry on an issue is:

A consensus.

A constitutional amendment can be proposed by:

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

A constitutional amendment can be ratified by:

A positive vote in conventions in three-fourths of the states, and/or a positive vote in the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.

The Jamestown colony was established as

A trading post.

The term confederation or confederal refers to:

A voluntary association in which states have most of the power.

Though the civil rights movement focused primarily on the rights of ___________, it had the effect of ____________.

African Americans; benefiting nearly all minority group

With regard to the size of government, which of the following statements is true?

Americans express contradictory opinions on the size of government.

Those who identify as libertarian tend to be concentrated:

Among the wealthy.

Taxes that the British attempted to impose on the American colonies in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War included all of the following EXCEPT

An income tax.

An agreement between two or more states is:

An interstate compact.

Inherent powers derive from the fact that the United States is

a sovereign power among nations.

Most Constitutional principles

Are sufficiently broad to be adapted to a changing society.

Jewish voters tend to

Be more liberal than average on economic and cultural issues.

In __________, the Supreme Court found that corporations could claim the rights of religious freedom.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.

The Virginia Plan

Called for a bicameral legislature.

The time limit for ratification of Constitutional Amendments:

Can be set by Congress.

Public opinion polls:

Can set informal limits on government action.

The answers given by respondents to poll questions are influenced by all of the following EXCEPT:

Compensation offered to the respondents.

socioeconomic status.

Composite of the economic status of families or individuals on the bias of occupation, educational attainment, income, and wealth.

Since 2007, the public has shown the LEAST amount of confidence in

Congress.

An opinion poll in which 79% of respondents express the same answer reflects a:

Consensus opinion.

The following statement would be compatible with __________ ideology: "The government should have no role in providing health care for the country. People should provide their own health care."

Conservative

__________ have traditionally favored state government over federal government.

Conservatives

A civil rights advocate who believed in civil disobedience might be attracted to the movement around __________, while someone promoting black power would be more at home in the movement of __________.

Dr. King; Malcolm X

The First Continental Congress

Encouraged the colonists to petition King George III to express their grievances.

One of the main actions of the Second Continental Congress was to

Establish an army and appoint a commander in chief.

Almost all __________ have a(n) ___________ system of government.

European countries; parliamentary

A random sample means that:

Every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected.

International agreements between the president and a foreign head of state that do not require legislative approval are known as:

Executive agreements.

The Constitutional Convention in 1787 was brought on by the

Failure of the Articles of Confederation.

Usually, the Gallup or Roper polls interview:

Fewer than 2,000 people in a nationwide sample.

Over time, the Supreme Court has interpreted the __________ to mean that the Bill of Rights also applies to state governments.

Fourteenth Amendment

Establishing the context of a media report is called:

Framing.

Which form of judicial review comes into play when laws are based on a suspect classification?​

strict scrutiny

The Jamestown colonists set a political precedent by

Instituting a representative assembly.

The influence of parents over their children's political socialization:

Is due to constant communication and receptivity of children to their parents' views.

The transfer of political values:

Is more likely to occur from parents to children.

Private opinion becomes public opinion when:

It concerns public issues and is publicly expressed.

When Literary Digest incorrectly predicted the results of the 1936 election after polling only its own readers, its failure was because:

It had not obtained a random sample of the population, and its readers were generally wealthy, and not reflective of the population at large.

A referendum takes place when

a state legislature refers an act of legislation to the voters for approval or disapproval.

The Bill of Rights was drafted by:

James Madison

The power of the Supreme Court to declare actions of the other branches of government to be unconstitutional is known as:

Judicial review.

Which of the following groups most supports laissez-faire capitalism?

Libertarians

The news forms of media:

Like blogs, talk radio, and cable news channels have increased political polarization.

The American system, with multiple points at which various powers can block action, often leads to

Limited government.

The generational effect refers to the:

Long-lasting impact of significant events of a particular time on the generation that came of age at that time.

In presidential elections, manual laborers, factory workers, and union members are:​

More likely to vote for Democratic candidates.

An opinion leader is:

One who is able to influence the opinions of others because of position, expertise, or personality?

A unicameral legislature is one with

Only one body or house.

Women are more likely than men to:

Oppose the use of force abroad.

The Anti-Federalists

Opposed the new Constitution.

The process by which people acquire political beliefs and attitudes is called:

Political socialization.

In recent years:

Professionals with advanced degrees have moved toward supporting the Democrats.

The values that shape American political culture include shared beliefs about the most important values in the American political system, including liberty, equality, and:

Property.

The Great Compromise:

Proposed a bicameral legislature with equal representation in the Senate.

The aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs shared by some portion of the population is:

Public opinion.

Respondents are given misleading information in the questions they are asked in order to persuade them to vote against a candidate in:

Push polls.

The Fairness Doctrine:

Required radio and television to be balanced in presenting controversial issues.

American women are more likely to support

Social welfare programs.

African Americans today tend to be

Somewhat conservative on certain cultural issues such as gay marriage and abortion.

The Federalists:

Supported the new Constitution.

Public perceptions of the most important problem facing the nation:

Tend to be stories that have been given a large volume of media coverage.

After the Civil War, the __________ Amendment abolished slavery while the __________ Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote.

Thirteenth; Fifteenth

The first draft of the Declaration of Independence was written by

Thomas Jefferson.

The president of the United States is chosen by

The Electoral College

The voting age of eighteen was set by:

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment.

The idea of a gender gap is:

The difference in the percentage of women voting for a certain candidate and the percentage of men doing the same.

In a parliamentary system

The legislature chooses the chief executive.

Since the early 1990s, the American people have consistently shown more confidence in _________ than in any other institution:

The military.

The Bill of Rights provided for:

The protection of individual liberties from the national government.

The effects of government can be found in

The schools most children attend. The food you eat. The distribution of the assets of the deceased. The sales tax you pay on purchases.

Internet polls may be inaccurate because

They lack a random sample.

The concept of separation of powers was included in the Constitution to prevent:

Tyranny by either the majority or the minority.

The Mayflower Compact

Was necessary to preserve civil obedience and public authority.

In response to the Great Recession of 2000s, we initially saw _________________, followed by _________________.

a boost in federal funding to the states; states cutting spending and government employment

The government of the United States is best described as

a democratic republic.

Politics is

a process that resolves conflict within a society and is a struggle over power or influence within organizations or informal groups.

A procedure allowing the people to vote to dismiss an elected official from state office before his or her term has expired is called

a recall.

Someone preferring a strong national authority might like a __________, while someone wanting a weak national authority would prefer __________.

a unitary system; a confederal system

The estimated cost to deport all unauthorized immigrants is

about $400 billion.

The population of unauthorized immigrants in the United States is

about 11 million and stable.

The policy in admissions or hiring that gives special consideration to traditionally disadvantaged groups to overcome the present effects of past discrimination is known as

affirmative action.

In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the U.S. Supreme Court

agreed that separation of races is not a violation of the Constitution.

Capitalism is

an economic system marked by the private ownership of wealth-creating assets, free markets, and freedom of contract.

A comprehensive set of beliefs about the nature of people and the role of government is called?

an ideology.

An ongoing organization that performs certain functions for society is referred to as

an institution

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is an example of:

an interstate compact

The term used to describe "an absence of government" is

anarchy.

A government that has the power to make and enforce law but which lacks the acceptance of the people is said to have

authority but not legitimacy.

A federal grant that funds a general functional area with fewer restrictions on the states is a:

block grant.

Strings attached to federal grants are:

called federal mandates and are designed to force states to comply with federal policies.

The American Indian population experienced a _________, largely due to __________.

catastrophic collapse; diseases brought over from Europe

The Supreme Court case, In re Gault, provided that

children have a constitutional right to counsel.

Suing someone because they have violated a business contract is an example of

civil law.

In the United States, we have religious freedom, both to practice a religion of our choosing and to be free of state-imposed religions. ​ This idea is one of many freedoms known as

civil liberties.

The expressed or enumerated powers include the ability of the federal government to:

coin money, set standards for weights and measures, determine rules for citizenship, and to declare war and establish post offices.

Powers held jointly by the national and state governments are called:

concurrent powers.

The population of the United States is expected to

continue to grow due to immigration.

A government program that is funded by the national government but run and managed by state governments is emblematic of:

cooperative federalism.

Under Presidents Nixon and Reagan, we saw a __________, mainly through __________.

devolution of power to the states; block grants

The constitutional amendment process was designed to be __________ in order to ________________.

difficult; prevent tyranny of the majority

A poll tax was used to

dissuade African Americans and poor whites from voting

In a federal political system, authority is:

divided between the central government and regional or subdivisional governments.

A style of federalism in which the states and national government act as equals with independent spheres of authority is:

dual federalism

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution

effectively established the national voting age at eighteen years.

Seeking trade, waging war, and entering into treaties are all a part of the United States':

enumerated powers.

A century ago, most immigrants came to the United States from __________, while today most come from ___________.

europe; Latin American and Asia

The Nineteenth Amendment

expanded the right to vote to women.

A __________ is a serious crime punishable by a year or more in prison.

felony

The U.S. Latino population is growing more quickly than other ethnic populations due to

immigration and a higher fertility rate.

States have the power to ________________ but cannot _________________.

impose taxes on income and license marriages; make treaties or wage war with foreign nations

Government is a(n) _____________ that __________________.

institution; has ultimate decision making authority

The repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" came

into full enforcement in 2011.

The following statement would be compatible with __________ ideology: "The government should act to create jobs during an economic crisis."

liberal

National authority has traditionally been preferred by:

liberals.

The tests commonly administered as a precondition for voting were called

literacy tests.

One thing holding back political participation by Latinos is that​

many are immigrants and not yet citizens.

The law has given children certain defenses against criminal prosecution because

of their presumed inability to have criminal intent.

"A state of peace and security"

order

The inability of Congressional Republicans and Democrats to agree on legislation is a result of

political polarization.

The struggle over power or influence within organizations that can grant benefits or privileges best defines:

politics.

Minimum wage laws are __________ but __________.

popular among voters; unpopular among economists.

The capitalist system of the United States is based on

private property rights.

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the U.S. Supreme Court held that

public school segregation of races violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In the Bakke case, the Supreme Court ruled that

race cannot be the sole factor in admissions decisions

Unlike liberals or conservatives, socialists advocate

replacing investor ownership of businesses by government ownership.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963

requires employers to provide equal pay for substantially equal work.

De facto segregation means

segregation because of residential racial patterns and concentration of populations, not because of laws.

Through recent decisions on immigration and voting rights, the Supreme Court has:

sent a mixed message on states' rights.

The use of __________ was instrumental in bringing about the integration of lunch counters, buses, and trains.

sit-ins

The approval of __________ in __________ was required to ratify the new Constitution.

special state conventions; nine out of thirteen states

The Fifteenth Amendment

stated that the right to vote shall not be abridged on account of race

After the Civil War, most African Americans

stayed in the South.

In the United States, basic guarantees of liberty are found in

the Bill of Rights.

The provision that states that all persons born in the United States are citizens can be found in the

the Fourteenth Amendment.

Industries such as ___________ are dependent on undocumented workers.

the agriculture industry

Police power

the authority to legislate for the health, welfare, safety, and morals of the people, and is delegated to the states to make laws not prohibited by the national or state constitutions.

The controversy that led to the Civil War was:

the dispute over states' rights and national supremacy.

The clause in the Constitution that grants Congress the power to do whatever is necessary to execute its enumerated or expressed powers is called:

the elastic or necessary and proper clause.

Liberty

the greatest freedom of the individual consistent with the freedom of other individuals.

The fertility rate of 2.1, with which populations are expected to eventually stabilize, is known as

the long-term replacement rate.

In a unitary system of government, ultimate government authority is located at:

the national or central level.

In the case of Gibbons v. Ogden:

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

The concept of universal suffrage refers to

the right of all adults to vote for a representative in government.

The term civil rights refers to

the rights of all Americans provided for in the Fourteenth Amendment and what the government must do to ensure freedom from discrimination.

Theorists describe pluralism as

the struggle among groups to gain benefits for their members.

States cannot use their powers to thwart national policy because of:

the supremacy clause.

The famous court case of ​McCulloch v. Maryland dealt with the issue of:

the supremacy clause.

Devolution is defined as:

the transfer of government power from the national government to state governments.

All of the following are true of the history of Asian Americans EXCEPT

they are currently among the poorest racial minority groups.

The Supreme Court's recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act:

upheld the act, making for a major states' rights victory.

Aristocracy means rule by

wealthy families.

The white primary in southern states allowed

whites to exclude African Americans from voting in Democratic primaries.

The term Hispanic is used by the U.S. federal government to describe anyone:

who can claim heritage from a Spanish-speaking country.

A court case dealing with the minimum age requirement to purchase tobacco products would be treated

with rational basis review.