Which of the following statements best describes the history of American federalism? |
Throughout American history, there has been considerable debate about the allocation of responsibilities between the states and the federal government. |
In a federal system, governmental responsibilities are |
shared by both state and federal authorities. |
What constitutional clause affirms that national laws and treaties, made under the authority of the Constitution, are the supreme law of the land? |
the supremacy clause |
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. |
The specific powers granted to the national government in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution are called the |
expressed powers. |
Which of the following powers do state governments not have? |
to coin their own money |
What is the purpose of the Tenth Amendment? |
to limit the powers of the central government by establishing reserved powers for states and individuals |
Which is the best example of a concurrent power under the federal constitution? |
the power to regulate commercial activity |
The full faith and credit clause of the Constitution |
requires states to normally honor each other’s public acts and legal decisions. |
Which clauses of the Constitution involve the relationships among various states? |
the full faith and credit clause and the privileges and immunities clause |
The source of an implied power under the Constitution is the ______ clause. |
necessary and proper |
What is the main purpose behind the privileges and immunities clause of Article IV? |
It prevents states from discriminating against nonresidents. |
Which of the following statements best describes the discussion of local government found in the Constitution? |
Local government has no status in the Constitution. |
The Constitution says which of the following things about relationships between states? |
No state shall enter into a contract or agreement with another state without the approval of Congress. |
Which of the following statements about the structure of American federalism is true? |
It has contributed to the longevity of the U.S. government by allowing many divisive policy decisions throughout American history to be made by states. |
Who wrote the Supreme Court opinions in both McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden? |
John Marshall |
Which clause of the Constitution has been critical in allowing the growth of national power? |
the commerce clause |
Which of the following Supreme Court cases limited federal power? |
United States v. Lopez and Printz v. United States |
Block grants are designed to |
give the states considerable say in how the money should be spent. |
What is one of the biggest problems with federal block grants? |
There is a need for greater accountability in how the funds are actually spent by the states. |
During the era of dual federalism, what was the primary goal of the federal government’s domestic policies? |
to assist the development of commercial activity within and between the states |
What was the overall importance of the Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland? |
The Court interpreted the delegated powers of Congress broadly, creating the potential for increased national powers. |
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) was important because |
it established the supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce. |
What was a major reason that the slogan "states’ rights" became tarnished in the 1950s and 1960s? |
It had been used by southern opponents of the civil rights movement to support racial segregation. |
Which constitutional amendment has been used to restrict the scope of authority by the federal government over the states? |
Tenth |
Which of the following is a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights? |
Trial by jury |
The federal census of population is taken every five years. |
False |
A U.S. senator elected at the general election in November takes office the following year on what date? |
January 3 |
A President elected at the general election in November takes office the following year on what date? |
January 20 |
A person appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court is appointed for a term of __________ |
life, given good behavior |
When the Constitution was approved by the original colonies, how many states had to ratify it in order for it to be in effect? |
9 |
To serve as President of the United States, a person must have attained: |
35 years of age |
What words are required by law to be on all coins and paper currency of the U.S.? |
In God We Trust |
The Supreme Court is the chief lawmaking body of the state. |
False |
If a vacancy occurs in the U.S. Senate, the state must hold an election, but meanwhile the place may be filled by a temporary appointment made by |
The governor of the state |
A U.S. senator is elected for a term of _____ years. |
6 |
Who passes laws dealing with piracy? |
Congress |
The number of representatives which a state is entitled to have in the House of Representatives is based on |
population |
When a jury has heard and rendered a verdict in a case, and the judgment on the verdict has become final, the defendant cannot again be brought to trial for the same cause. |
True |
By a majority vote of the members of Congress, the Congress can change provisions of the Constitution of the U.S. |
False |
Capital punishment is the giving of a death sentence. |
True |
The Legislatures of the states decide how presidential electors may be chosen. |
True |
Communism was the type of government in: |
Russia |
If no candidate for President receives a majority of the electoral vote, who decides who will become President? |
the United States House of Representatives |
Of the original 13 states, the one with the largest representation in the first Congress was |
Virginia |
Of which branch of government is the Speaker of the House a part? |
Legislative |
The Vice President presides over |
the United States Senate |
How many votes must a person receive in order to become President if the election is decided by the U.S. House of Representatives? |
270 |
Impeachments of U.S. officials are tried by |
the United States Senate |
Any power and rights not given to the U.S. or prohibited to the states by the U.S. Constitution are specified as belonging to whom? |
the state or the people |
When did civil rights become part of the U.S. Constitution? |
Civil rights were incorporated with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. |
What goal did members of the abolitionist movement pursue? |
the end of slavery |
The term peculiar institution described |
slavery. |
The Seneca Falls Convention was significant because it |
marked the starting point of the modern women’s movement. |
What is the key question behind civil rights protection? |
What is the proper meaning of equal rights? |
The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees |
the right to vote for African American men. |
The Reconstruction era in the South came to an end because |
Northern Republicans agreed to remove federal troops from the South and give up on their support for civil liberties if Southern Democrats allowed Rutherford B. Hayes to become president. |
What was the Supreme Court’s response to the Civil Rights Act of 1875? |
It declared the act unconstitutional because it protected against acts of private discrimination, not state discrimination. |
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson |
It declared the act unconstitutional because it protected against acts of private discrimination, not state discrimination. |
In 1890, ______ became the first state to allow women to vote. |
Wyoming |
The NAACP had the most success with which political strategies for combating racism? |
lawsuits |
"Strict scrutiny" is the level of judicial review the federal courts give to all cases that involve |
racial classifications. |
Legally enforced segregation in public schools is a form of ______ discrimination. |
de jure |
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was |
the fourth civil rights bill passed by Congress since Brown v. Board of Education. |
In the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress vastly expanded the role of the executive branch and the credibility of court orders by |
requiring that federal grants-in-aid to state and local government for education be withheld from any school system practicing racial segregation. |
One step taken toward the desegregation of public schools was |
busing children from poor urban school districts to wealthier suburban ones. |
The Supreme Court’s decisions on school desegregation policies since 1991 generally suggest that |
the Court will be willing to end desegregation plans even when predominantly minority schools continue to lag significantly behind white suburban schools. |
The right to vote was strengthened in 1975 when Congress |
made literacy tests illegal and mandated bilingual ballots or other assistance for non-English-speaking Americans. |
What forbade workplace discrimination based on race? |
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 |
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act |
was a valuable tool for the women’s movement in the 1960s and 1970s because it prohibited gender discrimination. |
Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail to pass? |
It was not ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states. |
The Supreme Court case Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992) is important because it |
asserted that violations of Title IX of the 1972 Education Act could be remedied with monetary damages. |
The 1947 federal court case Mendez v. Westminster was significant because |
its decision to overturn school segregation of Mexican American students in California served as a precursor to Brown v. Board of Education. |
What was the purpose of California’s Proposition 187? |
It barred unauthorized immigrants from receiving most public services. |
To draw voting districts so that one group or party is unfairly advantaged is called |
gerrymandering. |
In general, Americans’ trust in their government has ______ since the 1960s. |
fallen sharply |
The belief that you can influence how your government acts is called |
political efficacy. |
According to the text, democracy functions best when |
citizens are informed. |
According to the text, which of the following is not a necessary part of the knowledge a citizen must possess? |
the economic interests of other citizens |
Government can best be defined as the |
institutions and procedures by which a territory and its people are ruled. |
Which of the following is not an example of a public good? |
a job |
A government that is formally limited by laws and rules is called |
constitutional. |
John Locke and John Stuart Mill are important philosophers for which of the following ideologies? |
liberty and political rights |
According to the text, what is the goal of politics? |
to have a say in a government’s leadership, organization, and policies |
Politics can be defined as |
conflicts over the character, membership, and policies of any organization to which people belong. |
The ______ is the most important concept for the theory of pluralism. |
group |
Throughout American history, the concept of liberty has been linked to the |
idea of limited government. |
The Bill of Rights was designed to protect |
liberty. |
In American political culture, economic freedom means |
capitalism |
Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education reveal two very different visions of what political value? |
equality |
"One person, one vote" reflects the principle of |
political equality. |
What is the most important check on majority rule in the United States? |
the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights |
Low voter turnout and political apathy endanger |
democracy. |
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. |
Under the United States’ first constitution |
there was no president. |
Under the Articles of Confederation, the relationship between the states and the federal government can best be compared to |
the United Nations’ relationship with member states. |
Which statement about government under the Articles of Confederation is false? |
Members of Congress had significant independence from their states. |
Shays’s Rebellion was significant because it |
convinced many observers that the government of the Confederation had become dangerously inefficient and indecisive. |
According to the text, the writing of the Constitution demonstrates the |
marriage of interests and principles. |
Which of the following statements best describes the motivations of the Founders in writing the Constitution? |
The Founders’ primary goal was to devise a system consistent with the dominant philosophical and moral principles of the day while also promoting commerce and protecting private property from radical state legislatures. |
During the Philadelphia Convention, in order to win concessions from large states, representatives from smaller states like Delaware threatened to |
form alliances with foreign nations. |
James Madison believed that in the Constitutional Convention the greatest conflict of interests was between |
northern states and southern states. |
The Great Compromise led to the |
creation of a bicameral Congress. |
The framers employed the separation of powers and federalism in order to |
prevent the new government from abusing its power. |
The framers of the Constitution attempted to create a government that could do all of the following except |
lead to the eventual inclusion of nonwhites in political life. |
Which of the following statements about the House and the Senate is false? |
The House has the power to overturn a president’s veto while the Senate does not. |
In order to signify that the enumerated powers were meant to be a source of strength to the national government and not a limitation on it, the Founders |
included the elastic clause in the Constitution. |
Judicial review is the power of |
the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government. |
The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the states, is called |
federalism. |
The principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency is what Montesquieu calls a |
mixed regime. |
The procedural restraints found in the Bill of Rights |
define how the government is supposed to act. |
According to the text, what is the constitutional problem relating to the nationalization of the Bill of Rights? |
Does the Bill of Rights put limits only on the national government, or does it limit state governments as well? |
Which of the following is the best description of the Supreme Court’s first ruling on the issue of the nationalization of the Bill of Rights in 1833? |
The Bill of Rights limits the national government but not state governments. |
The process by which the Supreme Court has expanded specific parts of the Bill of Rights to protect citizens against state and federal actions is called |
selective incorporation. |
In Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court ruled that government action toward religion is |
permissible only if it is secular in purpose, neither promotes nor inhibits religion, and does not lead to excessive entanglement with religion. |
The first modern free speech case in which the Supreme Court interpreted the full scope of the First Amendment was |
in the years right after World War I. |
The Supreme Court case Near v. Minnesota established the principle that |
only under the most extraordinary circumstances should the government prevent the publication of newspapers and magazines. |
"Due process of law" in the United States is generally defined by the |
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth amendments. |
The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth amendments are largely about |
protections for those accused of committing a crime. |
The ______ rule forbids the introduction in trial of any piece of evidence obtained illegally. |
exclusionary |
A recent controversy that has tested the constitutional definition of "search and seizure" has been |
mandatory drug testing. |
Miranda v. Arizona was important because it produced rules that must be used |
by the police before questioning an arrested criminal suspect. |
The term eminent domain describes |
the power of the government to take private property for public use. |
The Supreme Court formally articulated the right to privacy in a case involving |
access to birth control. |
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Roe v. Wade (1973) have been extremely important in the development of |
a constitutional right to privacy. |
Which of the following news sources reaches the most Americans? |
television |
Which statement is NOT correct? |
National news reporters, as opposed to local reporters with less access, are generally more favorable toward politicians. |
Which media source is most critical in setting news agendas? |
newspapers |
Cheap, tabloid-style papers produced in the nineteenth century were collectively referred to as |
the penny press. |
Approximately what percent of Americans are completely offline? |
20 |
Niche journalism refers to |
news reporting targeted for a demographic of readers based on content or ideological presentation. |
The decentralization of news refers to |
the decline of national media reporting and the revitalization of local news coverage. |
The following are all concerns raised by the growing popularity of online news except |
a reduction in the diversity of perspectives that can potentially be heard. |
Approximately what percentage of daily newspapers is owned by large media conglomerates? |
75 percent |
What percentage of radio stations in the United States are devoted to talk, news, or public affairs? |
20 percent |
The development of media giants with access to a variety of media holdings raises the question of whether |
there is enough competition among the media to produce a diverse set of views and opinions. |
The power of the media to draw public attention to particular issues and problems is called |
agenda setting. |
Besides their ideological biases, journalists also exhibit selection biases in favor of news stories they view as |
having a great deal of dramatic or entertainment value. |
When the media focus on a candidate’s relative standing in the polls instead of substantive issues, they are demonstrating ______ coverage. |
horse race |
The Pentagon Papers were released as a result of |
a leak by a minor Defense Department staffer. |
The Valerie Plame affair is important because it illustrates |
how prominent political figures can manipulate news coverage and secure the publication of stories that serve their purposes through leaking information to journalists. |
The press release was created |
in the early twentieth century by a public relations firm working for a railroad. |
Which of the following statements about adversarial journalism is false? |
Adversarial journalism disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s. |
Which statement about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is false? |
The FCC was established in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson. |
Which governmental regulation provides candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages? |
the equal time rule |
The fairness doctrine required that |
broadcasters who air controversial issues provide time for opposing viewpoints. |
The proliferation of news sources in recent years has |
encouraged polarization because many media outlets seek to position themselves within a discrete ideological or partisan niche rather than maintain a middle-of-the-road stance. |
Which of the following is not an important national newspaper? |
Newsweek |
The______ regulates broadcast media. |
Federal Communications Commission |
One positive consequence of the decline in traditional newspapers and Washington, D.C. bureaus is |
the revival of local news coverage. |
The best description of the ideal of pluralism is that |
interests should be free to compete with each other for governmental influence. |
Which of the following is a main theoretical assumption of pluralism? |
Competition among interests will produce balance, with all interests regulating each other. |
The Teamsters and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) are examples of what kind of interest group? |
a labor group |
Interest groups are concerned with the ______ of government, while political parties are concerned with the ______ of government. |
policies; personnel |
The National League of Cities is a good example of a |
public-sector interest group. |
It is difficult for political scientists to categorize unrepresented interests because |
there are no organizations that can present their identities and demands. |
The major organizational factors shared by most interest groups are |
leadership, money, an agency or office, and members. |
Successful interest groups quickly become |
bureaucratized. |
Members of interest groups in the United States are typically people |
with higher levels of income and education. |
If one enjoys the benefits of a group’s collective efforts but did not contribute to those efforts, one is called a |
free rider. |
What are political parties more capable of doing than interest groups? |
organizing people on a mass scale |
The free-rider problem occurs because |
the benefits of a group’s actions are broadly available and cannot be denied to nonmembers. |
A ______ is the best example of an informational benefit provided by many interest groups. |
newsletter |
One way that the AARP has been effective at overcoming the free-rider problem is by providing ______ benefits to its members. |
selective |
The increased number and importance of interest groups |
is a response to an increase in the size and activity of government. |
The New Politics movement gave rise to what type of interest group? |
public interest |
Which of the following groups would be considered part of the New Politics movement? |
the Sierra Club |
Lobbying is |
an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of Congress or a state legislature. |
The practice of lobbying is protected by |
the First Amendment. |
In the world of lobbyists, to be "Microsofted" has come to mean a company has |
become vulnerable to adverse legislation and investigation as a result of failing to lobby the federal government. |
A loose, informal relationship of public officials, interest groups, and activists who are all concerned with the same policies is called a(n) |
issue network. |
Which of the following groups has had the greatest success with a strategy of litigation? |
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People |
Which of the following statements about PACs is most accurate? |
The number of ideological/public interest PACs has increased dramatically since 1980, while the number of labor PACs has remained essentially the same. |
When interest groups take out advertisements and hold marches, these are examples of |
mobilizing public opinion. |
In recent years, the religious right has had a great effect on American politics through |
grassroots mobilization. |
A political ideology is best defined as |
a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the government. |
The term public opinion is used to describe |
beliefs and attitudes toward different issues, events, and people. |
The belief that government is a wasteful and dangerous institution and should be limited to as few activities as possible is an example of a political |
ideology. |
The process by which underlying political values are formed is known as |
political socialization. |
The term gender gap refers to |
differences in political opinions between men and women. |
The fact that Democratic Party leaders have become more liberal and Republican Party leaders more conservative is important because |
partisans in the public tend to rely on party leaders for cues on the appropriate positions to take on major political issues. |
______ is the core political value most highly prized by American conservatives. |
Liberty |
Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support |
school prayer. |
Studies of political opinion show that |
few individuals possess ideologies so cohesive that they will automatically shape all their opinions. |
The concept of a marketplace of ideas refers to |
the competition between varying opinions and ideas that are aired in public forums. |
"Retail politics" refers to |
campaigns where candidates meet citizens face-to-face to discuss politics. |
A frequent cause of measurement error in polls is due to |
poorly worded questions. |
In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of ______ when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records. |
selection bias |
The median voter theorem states that |
the most reliable strategy for a politician to take in winning reelection is to adopt policies that are consistent with the preferences of centrist voters. |
Research into public opinion and public policy has shown that |
more affluent and more educated citizens have a disproportionate influence over politics and public-policy decisions. |
The main problem with voting as a form of political participation is that |
citizens cannot communicate very much information by only casting a ballot. |
Political ______ is the process in which large numbers of people are organized for political action. |
mobilization |
Which of the following statements about the digital divide is not true? |
All racial and ethnic groups in the United States are equally likely to have online access. |
Approximately ______ of eligible voters turn out for midterm congressional elections. |
one-third |
Studies show that people are most likely to participate in politics when |
someone asks them to get involved. |
Which of the following is true about political participation? |
African Americans and Latinos are less likely to participate in politics than whites. |
The Supreme Court |
has ruled that campaign spending is a form of free speech. |
A political party is |
an organization that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office. |
One important cause of the United States’ two-party system is |
single-member electoral districts. |
Third-party candidates are better off under what system of election? |
proportional representation |
Historically, realignments occur |
when new issues combine with economic or political crises to mobilize new voters and persuade large numbers of voters to reexamine their traditional partisan loyalties. |
Which of the following transpires when one party controls the presidency while another party controls one or both houses of Congress? |
a divided government |
A "safe district" is |
a district where a majority of voters identify with their member of Congress’s party. |
Third parties in the United States typically represent |
social and economic interests that are disregarded by the two major parties for certain reasons. |
A party’s platform is best understood as a |
negotiated agreement between the party’s various factions. |
State and local party organizations do all of the following except |
litigate against unfavorable policies. |
An individual’s psychological attachment to one party or another is called a party |
identification. |
A party activist is an individual who |
not only votes, but also contributes time, energy, effort, and financial resources to party affairs. |
Which of the following statements about partisan identification in the United States is most accurate? |
Party identification varies significantly by income, race, and gender. |
De-alignment refers to |
the decline of partisan attachment within the electorate, the growth in the number of voters identifying themselves as independents, and the rise of "split-ticket" voting. |
The Constitution |
is almost completely silent on the rules regarding how political parties must go about selecting a candidate to run for any elective office. |
Competition between political parties ______ voter turnout. |
promotes |
Strong parties may provide an important link between government and |
democratic participation. |
When a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting in that party’s election, it is called a(n) |
closed primary. |
A runoff election is likely to occur when |
there are more than two candidates running in the election. |
Plurality and majority systems tend to |
decrease the number of political parties. |
Split-ticket voting |
increases partisan divisions in government. |
The principle of "one person, one vote" was established by the Supreme Court in the |
1960s. |
Early presidential primaries and caucuses are more important because |
they can help a candidate secure media attention and financial support. |
What is a referendum? |
It is the practice of voting directly for proposed laws. |
Who is the incumbent? |
the current officeholder, running for re-election |
A major factor in John Kennedy’s 1960 presidential victory over Richard Nixon was |
that Kennedy had a much stronger performance than Nixon during televised debates. |
If a citizen votes for a candidate because he or she approves of the candidate’s past record, it is called |
retrospective voting. |
The majority of PACs represent |
business and professional groups. |
The term soft money refers to |
money donated to a party to sponsor party building and voter registration. |
The attempt of bureaucracies to translate laws into specific rules and actions is called |
implementation. |
Bureaucracy, literally translated, means |
rule by offices and desks. |
Since the 1950s, compared with the entire workforce, the number of federal employees has |
gradually declined. |
Public bureaucracies are powerful because |
legislatures, chief executives, and the people delegate vast power to them to make sure a particular job is done. |
Which of the following was forced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission to recall several car models after identifying problems with their gas pedal accelerators? |
Toyota |
Which of the following statements about the merit system is not true? |
Every member and official of a government agency has been appointed as part of the merit system. |
Civil servants were given legal protection against being fired without a show of cause in order to |
cleanse bureaucracy of political interference while upgrading performance. |
The first regulatory agencies established by Congress were |
independent regulatory commissions. |
A bureau charged with putting restrictions and obligations on individuals or corporations in the private sector is called a ______ agency. |
regulatory |
The response to the Department of Homeland Security’s color-coded terror-level warning system reveals |
that bureaucratic agencies, like politicians, must pay attention to public opinion. |
The USA PATRIOT Act |
allows the attorney general to detain any foreigner suspected of posing a threat to internal security. |
What has been one of the greatest difficulties in establishing the new Department of Homeland Security? |
adjusting to the many different bureaucratic cultures now part of a single operation |
The greatest number of federal government professionals working abroad are under the authority of the Department of |
Defense |
What was the chief bureaucratic flaw identified by the 9/11 Commission? |
There was a lack of communication between the domestic and foreign security agencies. |
Congress was attempting to strike a balance between the need for secrecy in national security and the right of individuals to know what their government is doing when it passed the ______ Act. |
Freedom of Information |
Which of the following statements best describes the trend in government secrecy since 2001? |
The number of classified documents has increased substantially since 2001 while the pages of material that have been declassified has declined sharply. |
______ policy concerns banks, credit, and currency. |
Monetary |
In order to change the level of national economic activity and defend the value of the dollar in international trade, the federal government |
manipulates interest rates. |
Which of the following is not a key strategy used to promote bureaucratic reform? |
regulation |
During the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, how many federal agencies or programs were terminated? |
0 |
One drawback of devolution is that |
the standards associated with particular programs become increasingly variable between states. |
The "virtual fourth branch of government" refers to |
government contracting. |
Which president’s approach to the managerial presidency featured a deep belief in the importance of scientific expertise in government service? |
Barack Obama |
Which of the following is not a way in which Congress can exercise oversight? |
having members of Congress work part-time for a particular agency that is struggling to meet the demands Congress has placed on it |
Individual members of Congress can discover questions of public responsibility when engaged in |
constituent case work. |
Congress is a ______ legislature with ______ members. |
bicameral; 535 |
Constituency service is so important that |
party leaders will not ask any member to vote in a way that conflicts with the interests or opinions of the member’s district. |
A senator or representative running for re-election is called the |
incumbent. |
Gerrymandering refers to |
the manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group. |
One reason why redistricting is controversial is that |
computer technologies allow legislatures to know statistically what kinds of people live where and this can be used to give one party an advantage over the other. |
Who has the most real power in the Senate? |
the majority and minority leaders |
The jurisdiction of standing committees |
is defined by the subject matter of legislation, which often parallels the major cabinet departments or agencies. |
"Closed rule" and "open rule" refer to congressional provisions regarding |
floor debate on a bill. |
Cloture is |
the process by which three-fifths of the Senate can end a filibuster. |
A filibuster allows members of the Senate to |
prevent a vote on a bill by speaking continuously on the floor. |
The filibuster is likely to remain a feature of legislative politics in the United States because |
it is universally regarded as an essential part of every legislative assembly. |
Conference committees are |
temporary, involve members from both houses of Congress, and are charged with reaching a compromise on legislation once it has been passed by both the House and the Senate. |
How can a president’s veto be overridden by Congress? |
by a two-thirds vote in both houses |
According to the text, which of the following is not an important influence on the legislative agenda of Congress? |
the federal courts |
Oversight can best be described as |
the efforts of Congress to supervise the manner in which its laws are implemented by the executive branch. |
What are the greatest dangers associated with a trustee model of representation? |
Representatives may become inattentive to the wishes and opinions of their constituents. |
One problem with the delegate model of representation is that |
few people are well informed about all political issues. |
What did the framers mean to accomplish by indirect election of the president? |
to make the president responsible to state and national legislatures |
______ powers are specifically established by the language of the Constitution. |
Expressed |
When Congress delegates power to the executive branch, it |
substantially enhances the importance of the presidency. |
When the president infers powers from the "rights, duties, and obligations" of the presidency, these are called |
inherent powers. |
The president must share foreign policy powers with the |
Congress. |
The goal of the War Powers Resolution was to |
limit the power of the president to commit American troops to military action without authorization from Congress. |
Why is the president’s State of the Union address important? |
It is an opportunity for the president to set the legislative agenda by initiating proposals and directing public attention to the executive’s goals. |
The State of the Union address is |
mandated by the Constitution. |
Which of the following has caused an increase in the president’s delegated powers? |
the increasing scope and complexity of legislation |
The Office of Management and Budget is important because |
its personnel are an integral part of virtually every conceivable presidential responsibility, such as overseeing regulatory proposals, reporting on agency activities, and preparing the national budget. |
After the president and vice president, which office is next in the line of succession? |
Speaker of the House |
According to the text, what are the three most common ways for a president to expand his base of power? |
party support, popular mobilization, and administrative control |
What is the general tendency of a president’s popularity? |
Presidents usually start out popular and decline over the next four years. |
The decline of voting and political participation by Americans has which of the following effects? |
It enhances the power of the president while weakening Congress. |
Which of the following is the essence of the rule of law? |
Every state must judge government officials by the same laws as its citizens are judged. |
Prior cases whose principles are used by judges to decide current cases are called |
precedents. |
The jurisdiction of each federal court is derived from |
the Constitution and federal law. |
A writ of habeas corpus declares that |
the government must show a legal cause for holding someone in detention. |
Original jurisdiction refers to |
the court with the authority to hear a case first. |
Which of the following statements best describes the Supreme Court? |
The Court has no discretion whatsoever to decide which cases it will hear because its jurisdiction is defined entirely by the Constitution. |
Why is the Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison important? |
In this case, the Court authorized itself to exercise judicial review over laws passed by Congress. |
The Court’s power to review acts of Congress has not been seriously questioned because |
the Court has been reluctant to strike down congressional laws and has overturned only a small number over the last 200 years. |
The requirement of standing means that parties in a case must |
have a concrete injury or interest at stake. |
The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court has |
increased dramatically since 1940. |
The phrase stare decisis means |
"let the decision stand." |
Senatorial courtesy describes the practice of |
senators from a president’s party approving of a judicial nominee from their home state. |
The power of the Supreme Court to review state actions and legislation comes from |
Marbury v. Madison. |
What is common law? |
law made by judges through their decisions, not through specific statutes |
When Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops into Little Rock High School in 1957, it demonstrated that |
the president may make unilateral use of the emergency powers to protect states against domestic disorder. |
An executive order is |
a rule or regulation issued unilaterally by the president, with the status of a law. |
The main political value of the vice president is to |
bring the president votes in the election from a group or region that would not otherwise be a likely source of support. |
When are the president’s partisan ties most important? |
in dealing with Congress on legislative matters |
A bicameral legislature is one that has |
two chambers or houses. |
American Government 2305 FINAL REVIEW
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