American Gov't Test #1

Question 1

Belief of sociologist C. Wright Mills?

Answer 1

Corporate elites have more control over economic policy than do the elected politicians

Question 2

What is individualism?

Answer 2

The reality that officials in the US spend less money on gov. programs for the poor than other fully industrialized democracies

Question 3

2 primary sources of political conflict?

Answer 3

Scarce resources and competing values

Question 4

How have changes in modern communication affected political thinking in the United States?

Answer 4

The extreme bias and popularity of new forms of media such as cable news networks and Internet blogs have led to a rise in faulty perceptions and thus a decrease in political thinking.

Question 5

In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, what percent of Americans expressed “complete agreement” when asked whether government has a responsibility “to take care of people who can’t take care of themselves”?

Answer 5

roughly one-quarter

Question 6

Over the many decades of public debate and conflict over the American health care system, what has been the one constant?

Answer 6

Never has a majority expressed a willingness to entrust health insurance fully to government.

Question 7

Which of the following statements provides the most accurate description of democracy as practiced in the United States?

Answer 7

The people govern through elected representatives.

Question 8

Which of the following forms of government admits to no limits on its power?

Answer 8

Totalitarianism

Question 9

As described in the text, the issue of agricultural price-supports suggests that the exercise of government power conforms to which of the following models?

Answer 9

Pluralism

Question 10

What point is the author trying to make when he makes note of the fact that the White House Press Office was once run by a single individual?

Answer 10

The level to which political leaders spin their messages has increased dramatically.

Question 11

Pluralists such as ________ argue that it is the preference of the special interest that largely determines what government does.

Answer 11

Robert Dahl

Question 12

Why did President Lyndon Johnson choose not to pursue comprehensive government-based health insurance?

Answer 12

He was convinced that it could not be achieved politically

Question 13

More than ________ of Americans have a college degree—the world’s highest rate

Answer 13

1/4

Question 14

Which of the following could NOT be considered one of the aspects of the American system of government or political culture?

Answer 14

oligarchy

Question 15

Which of the following is enhanced by a democratic form of government?

Answer 15

a leader’s authority

Question 16

A handwritten note by a penniless convict brought about the Gideon v. Wainwright Supreme Court case, in which the Court ruled that

Answer 16

Gideon’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel had been violated. 

Question 17

Which of the following is a major limit on majoritarianism in the United States?

Answer 17

the fact that most of the public pays attention to only a small number of issues

Question 18

Under communism, the government

Answer 18

owns most or all major industries and also takes responsibility for overall management of the economy.

Question 19

What is untrue of majoritarianism in the US?

Answer 19

The public is interested and well-informed on all policy issues

Question 20

How does the number of lawyers in the United States compare to those in Britain, Italy, or Germany, on a per capita basis?

Answer 20

There are twice as many lawyers in the United States.

Question 21

In the American political context, John Locke’s conception of inalienable rights and the legitimacy of the social contract found its most explicit statement in

Answer 21

the Declaration of Independence.

Question 22

What was the significance of Shays’s Rebellion?

Answer 22

It demonstrated that Congress was weak and unable to respond to crises in an effective manner.

Question 23

The Three-Fifths Compromise dealt directly with the issue of

Answer 23

apportionment of taxes and seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Question 24

What reason is untrue as to why The Anti-Federalists opposed ratification of the Constitution?

Answer 24

They felt the national government would be too weak and ineffective

Question 25

Which of the following is NOT true of government under the Articles of Confederation?

Answer 25

Congress was overshadowed by the president.

Question 26

The Senate was initially designed to

Answer 26

be less responsive to popular pressure.

Question 27

In Federalist No. 10, James Madison warned against the dangers of

Answer 27

factions

Question 28

The principle of checks and balances is based on the notion that

Answer 28

power must be used to offset power.

Question 29

Marbury v. Madison (1803) became the foundation for

Answer 29

judicial review by the federal courts.

Question 30

Under the original Constitution, U.S. senators were elected by

Answer 30

state legislatures.

Question 31

________ persuaded the states to choose their presidential electors on the basis of the popular vote.

Answer 31

Andrew Jackson

Question 32

After Andrew Jackson’s time, which three candidates won the presidency after losing the popular vote?

Answer 32

Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888), and George W. Bush (2000)

Question 33

Under the U.S. Constitution, members of the U.S. House of Representatives have a ________ term, members of the U.S. Senate have a(n) ________ term, and the president has a ________ term.

Answer 33

2 year; 6 year; 4 year

Question 34

________ wrote The Federalist Papers.

Answer 34

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay

Question 35

Which of the following is a check on legislative power in the U.S. system?

Answer 35

For legislation to be passed, a majority in each chamber of Congress is required.

Question 36

In what way was the government of Pennsylvania an exception among the state governments formed after the Revolutionary War?

Answer 36

It lacked any separation of powers, and had an all-powerful legislature.

Question 37

In most democracies of the world,

Answer 37

executive and legislative powers are combined in a single body.

Question 38

The Great Compromise dealt with the issue of

Answer 38

the nature of state representation in Congress.

Question 39

Which of the following states was steadfastly opposed to the new Union and refused to ratify the Constitution until eleven other states had done so and had begun to form the new government?

Answer 39

RI

Question 40

________ initially proposed that Congress charter a national bank.

Answer 40

Alexander Hamilton

Question 41

What was the constitutional basis for the Supreme Court’s decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)?

Answer 41

Under the doctrine of implied powers, Congress had the power to create a national bank because it was assigned the powers to tax, borrow money, and regulate interstate commerce under the Constitution, and national law was supreme over conflicting state law.

Question 42

________ created the doctrine of nullification based on the premise that each state had the constitutional right to nullify a national law.

Answer 42

John C. Calhoun

Question 43

In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court justices created

Answer 43

the “separate but equal” standard.

Question 44

Why do southern states get more revenue from the federal government than most other states?

Answer 44

Poverty is more widespread in the South than other areas.

Question 45

Which of the following is true about the Supreme Court between 1865 and 1937?

Answer 45

It consistently restricted national power and decreased the power of Congress to regulate business.

Question 46

At the worst depths of the Great Depression, ________ percent of the nation’s work force was unemployed.

Answer 46

25

Question 47

Devolution has resulted in

Answer 47

a modification of fiscal and cooperative federalism, rather than their demise.

Question 48

________ was a leading figure in the American Revolution and later opposed ratification of the Constitution on the grounds that the national government should be a union of states and not also of people.

Answer 48

Patrick Henry

Question 49

Which of the following is a concurrent power?

Answer 49

TAXATION

Question 50

Federalism was invented in

Answer 50

America, 1787

Question 51

Which of the following is true of the issue of the creation of a national bank?

Answer 51

Thomas Jefferson opposed a national bank for fear it would serve only wealthy interests at the expense of ordinary citizens.

Question 52

During the six years under the Articles of Confederation,

Answer 52

Congress could not tax or conscript citizens.

Question 53

Purist theory of government?

Answer 53

Government that governs least governs best

Question 54

Utilitarian theory of government?

Answer 54

The government that governs best governs least except when it can be demonstrated that a public activity generates a net gain… (I.E. public education, sanitation, infrastructure….NOT social security, food stamps)

Question 55

Another name for utilitarians?

Answer 55

Hamiltonian liberals

Question 56

How many utiliarians in US?

Answer 56

40%…Part of Republican party

Question 57

Welfare Liberals believe..?

Answer 57

In all sectors of society there should be roughly equal prospects of culture and achievement of everyone similarly endowed

Question 58

How many welfare liberals in US?

Answer 58

40-45% and make up most of Democratic Party