test 1 part 2

Question 1

Which of the following is a good formal definition of politics:

Answer 1

the process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on a course of common action even as they continue to disagree on the goals of the action

Question 2

Politics occurs whenever a solution to a problem requires cooperation even when that cooperation is, which of the following:

Answer 2

costly or difficult

Question 3

5. Successful politics almost always requires which of the following:

Answer 3

d. bargaining and compromise

Question 4

The fear that a party to a political negotiation may renege on or fail to abide by any agreement may lead to which of the following

Answer 4

c. war as the preferred alternative

Question 5

Political institutions include which of the following

Answer 5

a. a set of rules prescribing a political process for reaching and enforcing collective agreements

Question 6

To say we regard preferences as “givens” means which of the following:

Answer 6

individuals and groups know what they want

Question 7

All organizations are governed by rules and procedures:

Answer 7

for making and enforcing decisions

Question 8

Constitutions, charters, and bylaws all serve which of the following purposes

Answer 8

guiding the organization’s members in making essentially political decisions

Question 9

Because of the large size of populations and the complexity of the issues to be resolved, the degree of success populations in nations have in politics depends largely on which of the following:

Answer 9

whether they have developed constitutions and governments that work

Question 10

Which of the following is true of the constitution of a nation:

Answer 10

it creates the governing institutions and the set of rules prescribing the political process these institutions must follow to reach and enforce collective agreements

Question 11

Which of the following is a formal definition of a government:

Answer 11

those institutions created by a constitution and the legally prescribed process for making and enforcing collective agreements

Question 12

Government institutions consist of which of the following:

Answer 12

offices that confer on their occupants specific authority and responsibilities

Question 13

The difference between authority and power is which of the following:

Answer 13

authority is the right to make a particular decision and power is the actual influence the institution has over that action

Question 14

Institutions tend to be

Answer 14

stable and resistant to change

Question 15

“Collective action” refers to which of the following

Answer 15

. the efforts of a group to reach and implement agreements

Question 16

. A “prisoner’s dilemma” arises in which of the following instances:

Answer 16

whenever individuals who ultimately would benefit from cooperating with each other also have a powerful and irresistable incentive to break the agreement and exploit the other side

Question 17

An example of a coordination problem is which of the following:

Answer 17

members of a string quartet playing their individual portions of a piece in order to create one coherent performance

Question 18

Hobbes’ argument in Leviathan can be restated as:

Answer 18

monarchs offer a cost-effective means to collective action

Question 19

A member’s withholding his or her contribution to a group’s undertaking is referred to as which of the following:

Answer 19

a free-rider problem

Question 20

The problem that arises from the costless consumption by a large number of individuals of a public good that results in its ruination is called

Answer 20

. a tragedy of the commons

Question 21

One solution to a tragedy of the commons collective action problem is

Answer 21

privatize the collective good

Question 22

What are transaction costs

Answer 22

the time, effort, and resources required to make collective decisions

Question 23

What are conformity costs

Answer 23

the difference between what a principal desires and what the agent for that principal actually does

Question 24

Command authority cuts through both coordination and prisoner’s dilemma problems by doing which of the following

Answer 24

by conferring the authority to impose a solution regardless of the preference of others

Question 25

Like command authority, the veto is which of the following

Answer 25

unilateral

Question 26

An increase in the number of veto-holders does which of the following

Answer 26

increases transaction costs

Question 27

An example of agenda control is which of the following

Answer 27

the requirement that tax bills originate in the House of Representatives

Question 28

Assigning authority to make and implement decisions to a smaller number of persons who are expected to act on behalf of the larger group’s interest is an example of which of the following

Answer 28

delegation

Question 29

The discrepancy between what principals ideally desire and what agents actually do is called which of the following

Answer 29

the tragedy of the commons

Question 30

Modern democracies blend delegation and majority rule together into what is known as which of the following

Answer 30

. representative government

Question 31

Which of the following is true about direct democracy, where citizens participate directly in collective decision making

Answer 31

it typically is reserved for small communities and organizations

Question 32

A coalition is a combination of unlike-minded interests who

Answer 32

nonetheless agree, for their own distinct reasons, to a common course of action

Question 33

Which of the following are two features of public goods

Answer 33

their costs are borne collectively and no one can be excluded from their benefits

Question 34

Thomas Hobbes used his 1651 work Leviathan in part to do which of the following

Answer 34

defend the English monarch as a cost-effective means to collective action

Question 35

The history of fire protection in America can best be described as which of the following

Answer 35

the evolution of a private good to a governmental responsibility

Question 36

A parliamentary system is different from a presidential system primarily for which of the following reasons

Answer 36

in a presidential system, the executive and legislative branches are separate

Question 37

In his treatise The Wealth of Nations, Scottish economist Adam Smith declared that the exchange of goods and services among private parties in an open marketplace does which of the following:

Answer 37

generates a public good in the form of prosperity

Question 38

Blame for the free riding and other forms of shirking that hampered the early American Revolutionary War effort should be placed on which of the following:

Answer 38

unfit commanders and unwilling troops

Question 39

Which of the following is true about the slogan “no taxation without representation

Answer 39

it was actually closely tied to an assertion of home rule

Question 40

The first American constitution created a confederation, which can best be described as which of the following

Answer 40

a highly decentralized governmental system in which the national government derives limited authority from the states rather than directly from the citizens

Question 41

By declaring independence, the delegates to the Continental Congress thrust upon themselves the responsibility for supplying essential public goods, including which of the following

Answer 41

defense and commercial markets

Question 42

Under the Articles of Confederation, the States faced a classic prisoner’s dilemma for which of the following reasons

Answer 42

with no enforcement mechanism in place, no state would contribute its share of the revenue so long as it suspected others might not contribute

Question 43

Charles, Baron de Montesquieu inspired the Framers of the Constitution with which of the following

Answer 43

his discussion of the classification of governmental functions and forms as the legislative, executive, and judicial

Question 44

James Madison attributed the failure of the confederation to which of the following

Answer 44

faulty institutions

Question 45

The intent behind Madison’s Virginia Plan was that representatives in the lower house of the bicameral system would control the selection of other officers of government. These representatives had special legitimacy in formulating national policy for which of the following reasons

Answer 45

. they were directly elected by the people

Question 46

In order to solve the nation’s collective action problems, the Virginia Plan gave the national government authority to do which of the following

Answer 46

. make whatever laws it deemed appropriate and veto any state laws it regarded as unfit

Question 47

When Madison fashioned independent executive and judicial branches that could contain efforts by the states to subvert national policy, he was establishing which of the following

Answer 47

checks and balances

Question 48

The checks and balances contained within the Constitution result in which of the following

Answer 48

some capacity of each of the three branches to limit the power of the other two

Question 49

Modern presidents have asserted that the “take care clause” of Article II allows them to take whatever action the nation’s well-being requires provided that which of the following is true

Answer 49

the action is not expressly forbidden by the Constitution or public law

Question 50

The Senate’s power to confirm appointments and to ratify treaties are examples of which of the following

Answer 50

. a legislative check on presidential duties

Question 51

the veto

Answer 51

allows the executive to perform a checking function on the legislature

Question 52

If a candidate fails to receive an absolute majority of votes in the Electoral College, the election is thrown into which of the following

Answer 52

the House of Representatives, where each state gets one vote

Question 53

Which of the following is true of the Supreme Court’s authority to overturn federal laws and executive actions

Answer 53

judicial review

Question 54

The supremecy clause of the Constitution declares which of the following

Answer 54

national laws take precedence over state laws

Question 55

A “logroll” refers to which of the following

Answer 55

a standard bargaining strategy in which two sides swap support for dissimilar policies

Question 56

. In order to keep the amendment of the Constitution from being too easy of an option for a popular majority to accomplish, the Framers did which of the following

Answer 56

they imposed heavy transaction costs on changing the Constitution

Question 57

In Federalist No. 10, Madison defines a faction as “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest

Answer 57

adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community and in particular to the stability of government

Question 58

The Madisonian view of democracy often is referred to as which of the following

Answer 58

pluralism

Question 59

On October 17, 1781, the American collaboration with __________ finally paid off with a decisive victory over Great Britain at Yorktown, Virginia, which ended the war

Answer 59

france

Question 60

In the early colonial era, Britain ceded to the Americans the responsibility for managing their own domestic affairs, including taxation. This is known as

Answer 60

home rule

Question 61

Britain responded to the Boston Tea Party with the Restraining Acts and Coercive Acts, which did what

Answer 61

. in part closed the Boston Harbor to all commerce, dissolved the Massachusetts assembly, forced Americans to quarter or house British soldiers, and ordered Americans charged with protest crimes be sent to England for trial

Question 62

At the First Continental Congress, called by Boston resistance leader Samuel Adams, the delegates from the colonies did which of the following

Answer 62

passed resolutions condemning British taxes and administrative decrees and adopted the Declaration of American Rights

Question 63

Which of the following was the primary point of Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense

Answer 63

only in the creation of an independent republic would the people find contentment

Question 64

Which of the following was one of the events that mobilized states behind reforming the Articles of Confederation

Answer 64

Shays’ Rebellion

Question 65

The centerpiece of the Virginia Plan was which of the following

Answer 65

a bicameral national legislature

Question 66

A central feature of the Great Compromise was which of the following

Answer 66

a bicameral legislature with the upper chamber representation equal for all states and the lower chamber representation based on population

Question 67

What did the Great Compromise do, in part

Answer 67

. it reserved to the House of Representatives alone the right to originate revenue legislation

Question 68

The broad list of enumerated powers available to Congress in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution includes the power to do which of the following

Answer 68

declare war, maintain an army and navy, and borrow money

Question 69

The “commerce clause” of the Constitution

Answer 69

gave Congress the authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states

Question 70

The “necessary and proper clause” of the Constitution

Answer 70

provides Congress with the authority to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers enumerated by the Constitution

Question 71

The Framers of the Constitution carved out a major role for the president in domestic legislation in part by enabling the executive to check congressional action through which of the following:

Answer 71

the presidential veto

Question 72

Although a convoluted concept, as a device, the Electoral College is designed to do which of the following

Answer 72

mix state, congressional, and popular participation in the election process

Question 73

The supremacy clause contained in Article IV of the Constitution declares which of the following

Answer 73

that national laws take precedence over state laws when both properly discharge their government’s respective responsibilities

Question 74

Which of the following is true of the issue of judicial review, or the Supreme Court’s authority to overturn federal laws and executive actions as unconstitutional

Answer 74

it was never quite resolved by the Constitutional Convention

Question 75

Which of the following is true about the process for amending the Constitution

Answer 75

it does not require the unanimous consent of the states

Question 76

In short, which of the following is true about Federalist No. 10

Answer 76

it conveys the theory of pluralism that guided Madison

Question 77

. In short, which of the following is true about Federalist No. 51

Answer 77

it explores how and why the governmental system that emerged from the convention might actually work

Question 78

Over the past century, determination of national civil liberties policy has shifted

Answer 78

from nearly the exclusive jurisdiction of states and communities to Washington, D.C.

Question 79

Advances in national civil liberties policy have frequently involved

Answer 79

reigning majorities that assert their prerogatives over the objections of individuals and groups who did not wish to conform to prevailing social norms and rules

Question 80

The first ten amendments to the Constitution were designed to do which of the following

Answer 80

limit the capacity of government to impose conformity costs on those individuals and minorities whose views differ from the majority

Question 81

Which of the following best describes the language of the Bill of Rights

Answer 81

. it seems generally clear and unequivocal but sometimes is ambiguous

Question 82

In Federalist No. 84 Alexander Hamilton poses the question, “Why declare that things shall not be done which there is no power to do?” He was expressing which of the following concerns:

Answer 82

that a list of rights in the Constitution might imply the federal government had the authority to restrict the freedoms not expressly protected

Question 83

A unified national citizenship is provided for in the Constitution

Answer 83

by the Fourteenth Amendment

Question 84

. In the 1873 Slaughterhouse Cases, the Supreme Court stated that ____________________ would “fetter and degrade the State governments by subjecting them to the control of Congress

Answer 84

the broad application of the Fourteenth Amendment to state policy

Question 85

The Supreme Court first began selectively incorporating into the Fourteenth Amendment those provisions of the Bill of Rights dealing with

Answer 85

personal freedoms such as those protected in the First Amendment

Question 86

The “criminal anarchy” for which Benjamin Gitlow was arrested and convicted was which of the following:

Answer 86

organizing labor strikes

Question 87

Which of the following has been a problem for the Supreme Court and law enforcement when it comes to obscenity:

Answer 87

adequately defining obscenity and drafting objective standards that enable judges and police to distinguish the merely pornographic or sexually explicit from the truly obscene

Question 88

The difficulty with the doctrine for obscenity policy as set forth by the Supreme Court in the 1957 case Roth v. United States is which of the following

Answer 88

every key word in the passage is ambiguous and subject to lenient or restrictive interpretations

Question 89

An independent press plays an indispensable role in maintaining a representative democracy for which of the following reasons

Answer 89

without reliable information about the performance of officeholders, citizens would be
hard-pressed to monitor their agents, and politicians would find it difficult to communicate with their constituents

Question 90

Which of the following is true about the religious freedom provision of the First Amendment

Answer 90

it prohibits Congress from passing any legislation “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”

Question 91

Madison and Jefferson both subscribed to the view that the First Amendment erects a “wall of separation between church and state

Answer 91

but this is only one interpretation, as separation is not mentioned in the Constitution itself

Question 92

The Supreme Court has interpreted the Fourth Amendment to allow for police searches and seizures of evidence without a warrant under all of the following circumstances, except for which of the following

Answer 92

when using a thermal imaging device to conduct a blanket sweep of neighborhoods to search for basement marijuana fields

Question 93

The constitutional right to privacy is to be found in the Constitution’s penumbras, which are best defined as

Answer 93

implicit zones of protected rights on which the existence of the explicit rights depend

Question 94

Which of the following is true about the Supreme Court’s 1973 opinion in Roe v. Wade:

Answer 94

it ended abortion’s varying legality across the states

Question 95

The nationalization of civil liberties in the Bill of Rights

Answer 95

was not a popular idea and Madison’s proposal to amend the Constitution to apply them directly to the states was defeated in Congress

Question 96

Which of the following statements is true about the Constitution, as it emerged from the Philadelphia convention in 1787

Answer 96

it did not seriously address civil liberties

Question 97

The process of “incorporation” by the Supreme Court refers to which of the following

Answer 97

bringing state laws and practices under Bill of Rights protections by applying the Fourteenth Amendment to the states

Question 98

Although the Antifederalists lost their battle against ratification of the Constitution, which of the following is true

Answer 98

they salvaged a major political concession in the Bill of Rights, which is their chief legacy to future generations of Americans

Question 99

In 1833, in the case of Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court reasoned that the whole thrust of the Bill of Rights was

Answer 99

directed exclusively at restraining federal power

Question 100

The second sentence of the Fourteenth Amendment, which includes both the “equal protection clause” and the “due process clause,” means in part

Answer 100

. all persons enjoy the same civil liberties and rights, which the states cannot deny without following reasonable, legally established procedures applied equally to everyone

Question 101

The first provision of the Bill of Rights to be incorporated by the Supreme Court into the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause was

Answer 101

. the Fifth Amendment’s ban on taking private property without just compensation

Question 102

From the 1920s through the 1940s, the Supreme Court incorporated into the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment the First Amendment freedoms, which include:

Answer 102

speech, press, and religion

Question 103

. In part, the incorporation decisions handed down by the Supreme Court since 1925 have done which of the following

Answer 103

offered new opportunities for litigation and have generated the dramatic growth in the civil liberties docket of the Supreme Court

Question 104

madisons view has been

Answer 104

largely realized

Question 105

Incorporation of provisions of the Bill of Rights into the Fourteenth Amendment occurred through which of the following:

Answer 105

. judicial interpretation

Question 106

In 1919, Charles Schenk’s advocacy of resistance to the draft led to the Supreme Court’s creation of which of the following

Answer 106

. the clear and present danger test

Question 107

Although in Gitlow v. New York the Supreme Court established the Fourteenth Amendment’s jurisdiction over the states when it came to free speech, which of the following was also true

Answer 107

defendant Gitlow still had his state-level conviction upheld and went to prison

Question 108

The Supreme Court has held all of the following to be expression protected by the First Amendment except which of the following

Answer 108

obscenity

Question 109

The case of Miller v. California reformulated the standard for obscenity and did which of the following:

Answer 109

it shifted primary authority for obscenity policy back to the states and, implicitly, local governments

Question 110

The history of the concept of a public trial

Answer 110

has less to do with prosecuting criminals than with preventing law enforcement officers from meting out arbitrary justice

Question 111

Although the First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, before independence which of the following was true:

Answer 111

many of the early colonies designated official churches which believers and non-believers alike were forced to attend and support with taxes

Question 112

Which of the following is true about the religious freedom provision of the First Amendment, which prohibits any legislation respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

Answer 112

it at first only applied to actions of the federal government

Question 113

The free exercise clause of the First Amendment has been interpreted to allow which of the following

Answer 113

door-to-door solicitations but not animal sacrifice

Question 114

Despite the Fifth Amendment’s ban on self-incrimination, a witness can be compelled to testify against himself under which of the following circumstances

Answer 114

if granted immunity from prosecution

Question 115

The Supreme Court has held the death penalty to be which of the following

Answer 115

cruel and unusual as applied but, since 1976, allowed because the defects in state sentencing procedures were remedied

Question 116

In 2004, the Court’s first ruling concerning detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay held that:

Answer 116

despite the prison’s location on foreign soil, federal courts have jursidiction to hear habeas corpus petitions brought by the prisoners held there