PLS 135 Test 1

Most Americans of African descent were not officially citizens in the United States until

1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution conferred citizenship on the freed slaves

Large media conglomerates won approximately _______ percent of daily newspapers.

75

The First Continental Congress was

A group of colonial delegates assembled in 1774 that called for a total boycott of all British goods

The power of the media to draw public attention to particular issues and problems is called

Agenda-setting

Which of the following statements best describes how Americans currently feel about laissez-faire capitalism?

Americans strongly support capitalism and economic liberty but also endorse some restrictions on economic freedoms to protect the public

The power of Congress to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with Native American tribes is found in _________ of the U.S. Constitution.

Article I

Why was the Declaration of Independence a remarkable philosophical statement for its time?

It asserted that there were "unalienable rights" that could not be abridged by governments.

Who defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre?

John Adams

Who wrote the Supreme Court opinions in both McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden?

John Marshall

Who exposed the Watergate scandal?

Journalists at the Washington Post

Who orchestrated the Boston Tea Party?

Samuel Adams

Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support

School prayer

Which media source is regulated by the federal government?

Television

What does the supremacy clause assert?

The Constitution and all laws made under it are superior to any state laws.

Which of the following statements best describes the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment?

The Fourteenth Amendment forced state governments to abide by almost every provision in the Bill of Rights, but the process took over 100 years.

Which event was most influential in the rise of a more active national government?

The Great Depression

What is the purpose of the Tenth Amendment?

To limit the powers of the federal government by reserving certain powers to the states and to the people

Which office did the framers design to be directly elected by the people?

a U.S. Representative

Political ideology is best defined as:

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

Habeas corpus refers to

a court order demanding that an individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention

What led British officials to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760's?

a deficit that was incurred as a result of the French and Indian War.

The Pentagon Papers were released as a result of

a leak by a minor Defense Department staffer.

The federal system can be best defined as:

a system of government in which power is divided between a national government and lower levels of government.

A liberal would most likely support

an expansion in governmental social services.

The term "public opinion" is used to describe

attitudes about political issues, leaders, institutions, and events.

The difference between a political value and a political attitude is that values are

basic principles, while attitudes are specific preferences.

The ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

established the separate but equal rule.

The three branches of government created by the Constitution are

executive, legislative and judicial.

The specific powers granted to the national government in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution are called the:

expressed powers

Citizenship refers to

informed and active membership in a political community

What are the three core values in American politics?

liberty, equality and democracy

Which three types of factors influence the decisions of voters at the polls?

partisan loyalty, issues and the characteristics of candidates

Colonial protesters of the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act rallied around what famous political slogan?

"No taxation without representation"

Only one-third of the Senate is up for reelection during any single election year because the framers believed that

this was a way to make the Senate resistant to popular pressure.

Throughout its history, American politics has been dominated by _____ major political party/parties.

two

Historically, realignments occur

when new issues combine with economic or political crisis to mobilize new voters and persuade large numbers of voters to reexamine their traditional partisan loyalties.

What is the ultimate goal of a political party?

winning elections

The framers of the U.S. Constitution intended to create a presidency capable of

withstanding excessive democratic popular pressure by making it subject to indirect election through the electoral college.

Women in the United States are _________ the ___________ Party.

somewhat more likely to support; Democratic

The full faith and credit clause of the Constitution requires

states to honor each other's public acts and legal decisions.

What was the most common form of taxation during the Colonial era?

taxes on commercial products and activities

Which of the following news sources reaches the most Americans?

television

A political party is an organizatioin

that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office.

In the United States, freedom of the press is protected by

the First Amendment of the Constitution.

The constitutional basis for the nationalization of the Bill of Rights is:

the Fourteenth Amendment

During the early nineteenth century, the Jeffersonian Party's base of strength was in:

the South

The New Deal coalition was severely strained and ultimately broken apart by:

the Vietnam War and the issue of civil rights

"Digital citizenship" is

the ability to participate in society online.

Which agency regulates broadcast media?

Federal Communications Commission

The first party system was characterized by conflict between the _____ and the ______.

Federalists; Jeffersonian Republicans

Which U.S. president promoted his policy agenda to the American people through "fireside chats"?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

What was the main reason why Alexander Hamilton opposed a bill of rights?

He believed it was unnecessary for a national government to possess only explicitly delegated powers.

Bicameralism is a constitutional principle that means the division of

Congress into two chambers

The issue of representation, which threatened to cause the Philadelphia Convention to fail, was resolved by the

Connecticut Compromise.

What was the Supreme Court case that declared the exclusionary rule?

Mapp v. Ohio

The wall of separation between church and state is best found in what clause of the Constitution?

The establishment clause

People's political party preferences are primarily acquired through the influence of:

Their families

Which of the following statements concerning third parties is true?

Third parties often have their programs adopted by one of the two major parties.

The first test for determining when the government may intervene to suppress political speech was called the ______ test,

clear and present danger

Politics can be defined as

conflicts over the character, membership and policies of any organization to which people belong

The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the state governments, is called

federalism

Freedom of speech and of the press have a special place in the American system because

free and open debate is an essential mechanism for determining the quality and validity of competing ideas.

The greatest challenge for journalism organizations today is

generating enough revenue to finance traditional investigative journalism.

Block grants are designed to

give the states considerable discretion in how money from the Federal government should be spent.

A representative democracy is a system of government that

gives citizens a regular opportunity to elect top government officials

Which of the following terms describe America's fundamental political values?

liberty, equality, and democracy

Conflicts over whether public schools should be allowed to assign readings from the Bible and lead nondenominational prayers are examples of disagreements over the

meaning of the establishment clause

Which clause is the source of implied powers under the U.S. Constitution?

necessary and proper

What is "niche journalism"?

news reporting targeted for a demographic of readers based on content or ideological presentation.

"Marble cake federalism" is associated with the

pattern of intergovernmental cooperation that has blurred the lines between the states and the national governments.

The belief that citizens can influence what government does is called:

political efficacy

"One person, one vote" reflects the principle of

political equality

Liberalism and conservatism are examples of

political ideologies

The belief that political authority should rest with the people themselves is called

popular sovereignty

Federal judges are appointed by the _______ and must be approved by the __________ .

president: Senate

Priming refers to the

process of preparing the public to bring specific criteria to mind when evaluating a politician or issue

The "comity" provision of Article IV of the Constitution was designed to promote national unity by

prohibiting state governments from discriminating against citizens of other states in favor of its own citizens.

According to historian Charles Beard, the framers of the Constitution were mostly concerned with

promoting their own economic interests.

Judicial Review is the power of

the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government.

Which two constitutional provisions have been at the heart of constitutional struggles between federal and state powers throughout American history?

the elastic clause and the Tenth Amendment.