2. Federal Courts, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights

Question 1

The framers of the original Constitution thought that which of the following would best protect judicial independence?

(A) Presidential nomination and senatorial confirmation
(B) The circuit-riding system
(C) An odd number of Supreme Court justices
(D) Judicial impeachments
(E) Life tenure during good behavior

Answer 1

(E)

Question 2

Which of the following was a consequence of the New Deal legislation passed during the Great Depression under the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt?

(A) States gained additional powers to pass legislation to relieve the economic problems of the Depression.
(B) The federal government became a more important agent of change than in previous presidential administrations.
(C) New presidential appointments to federal courts limited the judicial powers of the Supreme Court.
(D) Social policy became the primary concern of state governments.
(E) Presidents have been much more likely to defend their creation of emergency acts by claiming executive privilege.

Answer 2

(B)

Question 3

The power of judicial review was established in

(A) McCulloch v. Maryland
(B) Gitlow v. New York
(C) Dandridge v. Williams
(D) Miranda v. Arizona
(E) Marbury v. Madison

Answer 3

(E)

Question 4

Which of the following is a check on the power of the United States Supreme Court?

(A) Congress controls the number of justices who may sit on the Court.
(B) The Court has the power to enforce its decisions.
(C) Cases involving a state’s laws can be heard only through the Court’s original jurisdiction.
(D) The Court reviews all legislation after the president signs it into law.
(E) Congress cannot rewrite or repass a law that the Court has declared unconstitutional.

Answer 4

(A)

Question 5

Which of the following accurately describes a type of opinion that Supreme Court Justices issue

I. A majority opinion
II. A concurring opinion
III. A dissenting opinion

(A) I only
(B) I and II only
(C) I and III only
(D) III only
(E) I, II, and III correct

Answer 5

(E)

Question 6

The practice whereby individual senators can veto federal judicial nominations in their respective states is called

(A) logrolling
(B) preferential treatment
(C) senatorial prerogative
(D) senatorial courtesy
(E) judicial selection

Answer 6

(D)

Question 7

All of the following statements correctly describe judicial appointments at the federal level EXCEPT:

(A) Congress nominates and confirms all appointments to the federal judiciary.
(B) Federal judicial appointments are typically evaluated by the American Bar Association or the Federalist Society.
(C) If a senator is a member of the president’s party, tradition may allow the senator to exercise an informal veto over an individual being considered from the senator’s state.
(D) Presidents seldom recommend for judicial appointment individuals from the opposition political party.
(E) Federal judgeships are often considered by presidents as patronage positions.

Answer 7

(A)

Question 8

When judicial nominees come before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify, the Senate is fulfilling which of its roles?

(A) Oversight
(B) Advice and consent
(C) Appropriations
(D) Judicial review
(E) Ratification

Answer 8

(B)

Question 9

If a party to a federal civil lawsuit loses the case and chooses to appeal, it would take the appeal to the

(A) United States District Court
(B) United States Courts of Appeals
(C) United States Supreme Court
(D) state superior court
(E) state supreme court

Answer 9

(B)

Question 10

Which of the following statements about Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka is correct?

(A) It declared segregation by race in the public schools unconstitutional.
(B) It established the principle of one person, one vote.
(C) It required that citizens about to be arrested be read a statement concerning their right to remain silent.
(D) It declared Bible reading in the public schools unconstitutional.
(E) It declared segregation by race in places of public accommodation unconstitutional.

Answer 10

(A)

Question 11

Which of the following best defines the term “judicial activism”?

(A) The tendency of judges to hear large numbers of cases on social issues
(B) The efforts of judges to lobby Congres for funds
(C) The unwillingness of judges to remove themselves from cases in which they have a personal interest
(D) The attempts by judges to influence election outcomes
(E) The attempts by judges to influence public policy through their case decisions

Answer 11

(E)

Question 12

Which of the following Supreme Court cases involved the principle of one person, one vote?

(A) Baker v. Carr
(B) Roe v. Wade
(C) Mapp v. Ohio
(D) Korematsu v. United States
(E) Gideon v. Wainwright

Answer 12

(A)

Question 13

In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court establish the precedent that a right to privacy stems from several amendments in the Bill of Rights?

(A) Griswold v. Connecticut
(B) New York Times v. Sullivan
(C) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
(D) Lawrence v. Texas
(E) Planned Parenthood v. Casey

Answer 13

(A)

Question 14

The federal government may restrict civil liberties during a time of war citing

(A) An increase in the number of interest groups
(B) An increase in coercive monopolies
(C) The need to protect First Amendment Rights
(D) The need to protect national security
(E) Separation of powers

Answer 14

(D)

Question 15

How is the Constitution amended?

(A) By Supreme Court decision
(B) By ratification through the vote of state legislatures
(C) By presidential veto
(D) By popular vote
(E) By Electoral College vote

Answer 15

(B)

Question 16

An oral statement that is false and intended to damage an individual is known as

(A) slander correct
(B) libel
(C) testimony
(D) argument
(E) free speech

Answer 16

(A)

Question 17

Which of the following principles protects a citizen from imprisonment without trial?

(A) Representative government
(B) Separation of powers
(C) Due process
(D) Checks and balances
(E) Popular sovereignty

Answer 17

(C)

Question 18

All of the following are constitutional rights that neither the federal government nor the states can restrict EXCEPT the right to

(A) remain silent during questioning
(B) be represented by counsel
(C) be indicted by grand jury correct
(D) not be tried for the same offense twice
(E) receive a trial by jury in a criminal case

Answer 18

(C)

Question 19

The right to keep and bear arms can be found in

(A) The Armed Services Committee
(B) Korematsu v. United States
(C) The War Powers Act
(D) The Articles of Confederation
(E) The Second Amendment

Answer 19

(E)

Question 20

Citizen’s rights to privacy can be found in

(A) The balance of powers
(B) The Bill of Rights correct
(C) The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(D) Baker v. Carr
(E) The bureaucracy

Answer 20

(B)

Question 21

An election is a realigning or critical election if

(A) one party controls the Congress and the other controls the presidency
(B) voter turnout is higher than expected
(C) it occurs during a major war
(D) there is a lasting change in party coalitions correct
(E) the same party controls both Congress and the presidency

Answer 21

(D)

Question 22

In the United States political system, the situation when one party controls the presidency while the opposing party controls both houses of Congress is known as

(A) separation of powers
(B) checks and balances
(C) divided government correct
(D) dual federalism
(E) power elite

Answer 22

(C)

Question 23

Which of the following is true of political parties?

(A) They are highly centralized organizations that rely very little on state participants.
(B) They establish guidelines of behavior and insist that their candidates follow these guidelines.
(C) They require all members to pay dues.
(D) They try to gain control of government by winning elections. correct
(E) They generally concentrate their efforts on a single policy area.

Answer 23

(D)

Question 24

Which of the following factors has most contributed to the persistence of the two-party system in the United States?

(A) Plurality rules for determining election outcomes correct
(B) Representation via multimember districts
(C) Proportional representation in legislatures
(D) Constitutional provisions for parties outlined by the framers
(E) The influence and number of interest groups in politics

Answer 24

(A)

Question 25

The third two-party system, in place since 1856, is made up of

(A) The Federalists and the Anti-Federalists
(B) The Know-Nothings and the Whigs
(C) The Democrats and the Republicans correct
(D) The Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists
(E) The Patriots and the Tories

Answer 25

(C)

Question 26

As compared with Republicans and Democrats, Independents in the United States are typically

(A) less likely to vote in elections correct
(B) less likely to engage in split-ticket voting
(C) more likely to join an interest group
(D) more likely to have a strong sense of political efficacy
(E) more likely to share the ideology of their family members

Answer 26

(A)

Question 27

The formation of numerous numbers of political action committees in the 1970s was a result of

(A) The passage of bills by Congress attempting to limit the amount of money entering elections correct
(B) Gideon v. Wainwright
(C) Corruption in Congress
(D) The growing influence of women’s rights groups
(E) The creation of a new executive agency

Question 28

Critics of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, better known as the McCain-Feingold Act, challenged it in the Supreme Court claiming it as a violation of rights found in the

(A) First Amendment correct
(B) Ninth Amendment
(C) Ways and Means Committee
(D) Twenty-Fifth Amendment
(E) Necessary and Proper Clause

Answer 28

(A)

Question 29

In the electoral history of the United States, third parties have been effective vehicles ofprotest when they

(A) aligned themselves with one of the major parties
(B) presented innovative programs in Congress
(C) dramatized issues and positions that were being ignored by the major parties correct
(D) chose the president by depriving either of the major parties of an electoral collegevictory
(E) supported a political agenda that appealedespecially to women

Answer 29

(C)

Question 30

Individuals who identify themselves as conservative would most likely support which of the following?

(A) Establishing universal health care
(B) Lowering barriers to trade correct
(C) Increasing luxury taxes
(D) Tightening environmental regulations
(E) Increasing protective tariffs

Answer 30

(B)

Question 31

In the past 30 years, the single most important variable in determining the outcome of an election for a member of the House of Representatives has been

(A) incumbency correct
(B) the candidate’s personal wealth
(C) the previous political office the candidate held in the district
(D) the candidate’s membership in the political party of the president
(E) the candidate’s positions on key social issues

Answer 31

(A)

Question 32

The weakening of political parties is most often traced to

(A) the single-member, winner-take-all system
(B) the growth of political action committees (PACs)
(C) Progressive Era reforms correct
(D) voters’ increasing level of education
(E) voter apathy

Answer 32

(C)