Chapter 1-4

Question 1

What is the main reason why politicians have a hard time resolving the issue of abortion?
A.)Politicians don’t listen to people.
B.)The parties are divided on what abortion policy should look like.
C.)Politicians don’t know what their constituents’ views are.
D.)The Country is closely divided on what abortion policy should look like.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Rules, such as those regulations debate in the senate or limiting who can vote in elections, serve as evidence that____.
A.)Politics is understandable
B.)Politics is conflictual.
C.)Political process matters
D.)Politics is everywhere

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What did James Madison argue was “worse than the disease”?
A.)Giving too much power to state legislatures.
B.)Allowing people to have too much freedom, which would lead to chaos.
C.)Giving up liberty to get rid of conflict.
D.)Allowing politicians to exercise their judgement rather than listen to the people.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which issue is commonly associated with the culture wars?
A.)The national debate.
B.)Environmental regulation.
C.)The tax code.
D.)Same-sex marriage.

Answer 4

D

Question 5

Which term describes the inability to get individuals to cooperate to achieve a common goal?
A.)Positive externality.
B.)The samaritan’s dilemma.
C.)Collective action problem.
D.)Principal-agent problem.

Answer 5

C

Question 6

Which type of equality is not typically agreed upon in American politics?
A.)Equality of opportunity.
B.)Equality before the law.
C.)Political equality.
D.)Material equality(such as equal income)

Answer 6

D

Question 7

Which concept describes the idea that actions by the government touch most aspects of your life?
A.)Politics is understandable.
B.)Politics is conflictual.
C.)Political process matters.
D.)Politics is everywhere.

Answer 7

D

Question 8

What did Aristotle call “a government ruled by the many”?
A.)Monarchy
B.)Aristocracy
C.)Polity
D.)Democracy

Answer 8

C

Question 9

Democrats tend to favor_____tax policies and are ____inclined to regulate industry.
A.)Redistributive, more
B.)Conservative, more
C.)Redistributive, less
D.)Conservative, less

Answer 9

A

Question 10

Which term describes giving each branch of government power over the other two?
A.)Separation of powers.
B.)Checks and balances.
C.)Federalism
D.)Unitary system

Answer 10

B

Question 11

An individual who opposes government social welfare policy and supporters the legalization of drugs is most likely a______.
A.)Libertarian
B.)Socialist
C.)Democrat
D.)Republican

Answer 11

A

Question 12

Passing an amendment to the U.S. constitution in congress requires a______vote in both the House and the Senate.
A.)One-half
B.)Two-thirds
C.)Three-fifths
D.)Three-quarters

Answer 12

B

Question 13

Who is the philosopher who argued that without government life would be “nasty, brutish, and short”?
A.)Thomas Hobbes
B.)John Locke
C.)Baron de Montesquieu
D.)Thomas Paine

Answer 13

A

Question 14

Madison argued that the best way to preventive tyranny of factions was to_____.
A.)Outlaw political parties.
B.)Establish a strong national government.
C.)Have various groups compete against one another in the government.
D.)Establish strong local governments.

Answer 14

C

Question 15

The “necessary and proper” clause gives flexibility to which part of government?
A.)The president
B.)The Supreme Court
C.)The bureaucracy
D.)The congress

Answer 15

D

Question 16

How are executives chosen in most other established democracies?
A.)By popular election.
B.)By electoral college.
C.)Through selection by the judiciary.
D.)Through selection by the legislature.

Answer 16

D

Question 17

What group was concerned about the constitution’s provisions for the strength of the president and the lack of specific guarentees of civil liberties?
A.)Tories
B.)Unionists
C.)Federalists
D.)Antifederalists

Answer 17

D

Question 18

Which branch has the fewest explicit powers?
A.)The president
B.)The Supreme Court
C.)The bureaucracy
D.)The congress

Answer 18

B

Question 19

What power did the president have under the Articles of Confederation?
A.)Power to raise an army.
B.)Power to veto congressional legislation.
C.)Power to negotiate foreign agreements.
D.)There was no president under the Articles of Confederation.

Answer 19

D

Question 20

A series of arguments originally published in New York newspapers supported the Constitution and outlined the political theory behind it. What are these assembled works called?
A.)Pickwick Papers
B.)Federalist papers
C.)Antifederalist papers
D.)Common sense

Answer 20

B

Question 21

The great compromise provided solutions to which issue?
A.)Balancing majority rule with minority rights.
B.)Allocating power between big and small states.
C.)Allocating power between the legislature and executive.
D.)Allocating power between national and state governments.

Answer 21

B

Question 22

At the American Founding, what is the best way to describe the economic inequality among classes and the economic diversity among regions?
A.)High inequality/ high diversity
B.)High inequality/ low diversity
C.)Low inequality/ high diversity
D.)Low inequality/ low diversity

Answer 22

C

Question 23

The outcome of the three-fits compromise was that each slave counted for three-fifths of a person for the purposes of ____and____.
A.)Voting;taxtation
B.)Congressional representation;taxtation
C.)Voting;congressional representation.
D.)Taxtation;congressional appropriatitions

Answer 23

B

Question 24

Which of the following is the most common process for ratifying an amendment to the U.S. constitution, after it has been passed by congress?
A.)It is ratified with the signature of the president of the United States.
B.)It is ratified with a majority vote among the Supreme Court justices.
C.)It is ratified by the public with a majority vote on a referendum on the ballot in the next election.
D.)It is ratified when the three-quarters of the state legislatures approve it.

Answer 24

D

Question 25

How were members of Congress selected under the Articles of Confederation?
A.)By the state governor.
B.)By the state legislature.
C.)By the state Supreme Court.
D.)By popular election.

Answer 25

B

Question 26

Which of the following clauses, central to congressional activity, has been interpreted differently over time through the wording has stayed the same?
A.)Establishment clause
B.)Commerce clause
C.) Enumerated powers clause
D.) Executive powers clause

Answer 26

B

Question 27

Which part of government often defines the boundaries of implied powers?
A.)The president
B.)The Supreme Court
C.) The bureaucracy
D.)The congress

Answer 27

B

Question 28

Which of the following negative powers does the president enjoy?
A.)The power to veto legislation.
B.)The power to freeze judicial salaries.
C.)The power to review the constitutionality of a law.
D.)The power to impeach federal justices.

Answer 28

A

Question 29

Conservatives favor strong____rights on same-sex marriage and strong___rights on providing health acre.
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)

Answer 29

A

Question 30

The court has recently overturned a number of congressional laws rooted in the_____.
A.)National supremacy clause
B.)Reserve clause
C.)Establishment clause
D.)Commerce clause

Answer 30

D

Question 31

Which form of revenue sharing is given to the states by the federal government with explicit conditions on how it is to be allocated?
A.)Block grants
B.)Categorical grants
C.)General revenue revenue sharing
D.)Federal mandates

Answer 31

B

Question 32

Which of the following is a drawback to strong state power?
A.)State governments are often innovators on policy solutions.
B.)State governments give citizens more access to politicians than does the natural government.
C.) State governments give citizens serval paths to pursue policy reform.
D.)State governments give different civil rights protections to their citizens.

Answer 32

D

Question 33

When did the federal government begin cooperating with the states on policy goals?
A.)1890s
B.)1930s
C.)1950s
D.)1970s

Answer 33

B

Question 34

When the federal government requires action on the part of the states but does not provide the financial resources for states to comply with the requirement, this is known as a(n):
A.)Block grant
B.)Categorical grant
C.)Unfunded mandate
D.)Federal preemption

Answer 34

C

Question 35

The imposition of national priorities on the states through congressional legislation and imposition of the national supremacy clause is called____.
A.)Cooperative federalism
B.)Dual federalism
C.)Competitive federalism
D.)Federal preemption

Answer 35

D

Question 36

Which is an example of a concurrent power?
A.)Printing money
B.)Building roads
C.)Conducting elections
D.)Declaring war

Answer 36

B

Question 37

Which analogy best describes the federalism arrangement today?
A.)Layer cake federalism
B.)Marble cake federalism
C.)Picket fence federalism
D.)Dual federalism

Answer 37

C

Question 38

States rights are protected in which of the following constitutional provisions?
A.)The ninth amendment
B.)The tenth amendment
C.)Article I of the constitution
D.)Article III of the constitution

Answer 38

B

Question 39

Which part of the U.S. constitution requires other states to recognize a legal marriage from another state?
A.)Full faith and credit clause
B.)Privileges and immunities clause
C.)Interstate commerce clause
D.)Necessary and proper clause

Answer 39

A

Question 40

Which case bolstered the federal government’s power over the states?
A.)Barron v. Baltimore
B.)McCulloch v. Maryland
C.)Dred Scott v. Stanford
D.)Mapp v. Ohio

Answer 40

B

Question 41

Which of the following would be best explained by the tenth amendment?
A.)Congress increasing the minimum wage to $10 an hour.
B.)The California state legislature declaring it was going to create its own navy.
C.)State and local control over education policy.
D.)The supreme courts recent decisions in a same-sex marriage cases.

Answer 41

C

Question 42

What system of government did the Articles of Confederation establish?
A.)Unitary
B.)Federal
C.)Confederal
D.)Monarchy

Answer 42

C

Question 43

Ronald Regan’s plans to increase states’ rights led to an increase in____.
A.) Block grants
B.)Categorical grants
C.)Federal taxes
D.)Federal mandates

Answer 43

A

Question 44

The Eleventh Amendment’s protections of states sovereign immunity guarantee that____.
A.)residents of one state cannot sue the government of another state.
B.)State governments cannot commit a legal wrong.
C.)Ambassadors from a foreign countries cannot be detained by state governments.
D.)State governments can sue the federal government.

Answer 44

A

Question 45

Which of the following freedoms guaranteed in the bill of rights is thought to imply a right to privacy?
A.)Right to bear arms
B.)Right to refuse to quarter soldiers.
C.)Right to secure legal counsel
D.)Right to request a jury trial

Answer 45

B

Question 46

What is the best summary of the current position of the Supreme Court on the second amendment?
A.)The court has upheld most gun control laws, both at the state and national level, arguing that there is no individual right to own guns.
B.)The court has upheld most gun control laws at the state level but struck down federal gun control laws, arguing that the second amendment only applies to congress.
C.)The court has struck down some state and national limitations on gun ownership, arguing that the second amendment protects an individual right to bear arms.
D.)The court has refused to take a general position on the individual right to bear arms.

Answer 46

C

Question 47

What are civil liberties not absolute
A.)Equality for a group under the law is hard to define.
B.)Individual freedoms may conflict with the public good.
C.)Laws are often outdated and don’t characterize modern society.
D.)The bill of rights protections were intentionally weakened by antifederalists.

Answer 47

B

Question 48

Civil liberties are rooted in what document?
A.)The declaration of independence
B.)The federalists papers
C.)The Magna Carta
D.)The bill of rights

Answer 48

D

Question 49

Which test does the Supreme Court use to establish wether there has been “excessive government entanglement in religion”.
A.)Lemon test
B.)Kreutz test
C.)Miller test
D.)Meyer test

Answer 49

A

Question 50

In what case did the Supreme Court first establish the right to privacy
A.)Roe v. Wade
B.)Lawrence v. Texas
C.)Griswold v. Connecticut
D.)Gonzales v. Oregon

Answer 50

C

Question 51

The inclusion of the bill of rights in the constitution reflects the___concerns that the federal government would be too___.
A.)Antifederalists;strong
B.)Antifederalists;weak
C.)Federalists;strong
D.)Federalists;weak

Answer 51

A

Question 52

Which amendment has been used as the basis for selective incorporations?
A.)The eight amendment
B.)The fourteenth amendment
C.)The tenth amendment
D.)The nineteenth amendment

Answer 52

B

Question 53

In 1972, the Supreme Court banned the death penalty for what reason?
A.)It deprived individuals of their rights to “life, liberty, or property.”
B.)It was cruel and unusual.
C.)It was being inconsistently applied and violated the due process of law.
D.)It was racially biased.

Answer 53

C

Question 54

The bill of rights originally protected individuals from which level of government?
A.)All levels of government
B.)State governments
C.)Local governments
D.)Federal governments

Answer 54

D

Question 55

The establishment clause is invoked under which of the following circumstances?
A.)Allowing “conscientious objectors” to avoid the military draft.
B.)Outlawing polygamy
C.)Prohibiting prayer in a public schools
D.)Allowing the amish to keep children home from school after the eighth grade.

Answer 55

C

Question 56

Flag burning is an example of___that is currently___under the first amendment.
A.)Symbolic speech; protected
B.)Symbolic speech; not protected
C.)Hate speech; protected
D.)Hate speech; not protected

Answer 56

A

Question 57

The Miranda rights are protections that primarily fall under which constitutional amendment?
A.)The third amendment
B.)The fourth amendment
C.)The fifth amendment
D.)The seventh amendment

Answer 57

C

Question 58

Protections from unreasonable searches and seizures are guaranteed by which constitutional amendment?
A.)The third amendment
B.)The fourth amendment
C.)The fifth amendment
D.)The seventh amendment

Answer 58

B

Question 59

Which test does the court use to determine if speech is considered dangerous and should not be legally protected?
A.)lemon test
B.)Clear and present danger test
C.)Miller test
D.)Direct incitement test

Answer 59

D