question

In a democracy with whom does the supreme authority reside?

answer

with the people

question

Which political idea holds that thestate was born when one person or a small group claimed control over an area and its people?

answer

force theory

question

Which term describes the type of government in which the power to rule is held by a small elite,usually self-appointed?

answer

oligarchy

question

What is a benefit of a confederate government?

answer

Several states can cooperate in matters of common concern and still retain their separate identities.

question

Which principles are essential to a balanced democracy?

answer

majority rule and minority rights

question

Which of the following documents is not considered a landmark document of English history?

answer

the Virginia Bill of Rights

question

Benjamin Franklin's proposal for the creation of an annual congress of delegates from each of the 13 colonies was the?

answer

Albany Plan of Union.

question

Supported by the force of public opinion and practical necessity our nation's first national government was the?

answer

Second Continental Congress.

question

Which event highlighted the period of economic and political weakness following the American Revolution?

answer

Shays' Rebellion

question

The effectiveness of the Second Continental Congress was severely limited by the lack of powers to?

answer

tax and regulate trade.

question

Which proposal finally moved the Philadelphia Convention to create a Congress composed of two houses?

answer

the Connecticut Compromise

question

Consider the percentage of slaves in each State in this map. Why would the southern States be supportive of theThree-Fifths Compromise?

answer

The Compromise allowed southern States fair representation in the House, based on population.

question

In the process of creating the Constitution the delegates never wavered on?

answer

the wisdom of representative government.

question

What was the basic distinction between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists?

answer

Federalists favored ratification of the Constitution; Anti-Federalists opposed it.

question

Which feature of the Constitution was eventually created as a result of Anti-Federalists' efforts?

answer

a bill of rights

question

Which States were essential to the ratification of the Constitution and the success of the new government?

answer

Virginia and New York

question

The Constitution provides for a separation of powers among the three branches of government. What keeps one branch from having more power than the others?

answer

a system of checks and balances

question

The principle of federalism helped the Framers of the Constitution?

answer

shape a strong central government while preserving local self-government.

question

The 27th Amendment to the Constitution added in 1992, forbids sitting members of Congress from raising their pay while in session. Who wrote this Amendment and when was it written?

answer

James Madison; 1789

question

The "no-third-term" tradition became an amendment as a direct result of the fourth term of?

answer

Franklin D. Roosevelt.

question

Which term describes the powers that the Constitution does not grant to the National Government and does not at the same time, deny to the States?

answer

reserved powers

question

Which acts are part of the process of an area seeking to become a State?

answer

enabling act and act of admission

question

What is the legal process by which a fugitive from justice in one State can be returned to that State?

answer

extradition

question

Which role of a political party is derived from a business agreement that protects against loss caused by a third party?

answer

bonding agent

question

Why are Americans considered to be an "ideologically homogeneous" people?

answer

Americans generally share ideals, basic principles, and patterns of belief.

question

Which of the following was the original name for today's Democratic Party?

answer

Anti-Federalists

question

As the U.S. moved toward civil war, the Republican Party grew out of?

answer

a grouping of former Whigs and antislavery Democrats.

question

What is meant by the term divided government?

answer

One major party occupies the White House while the other major party holds a majority of seats in Congress.

question

Which of the following does not today fit into any of the four categories of minor parties?

answer

the Green Party

question

What is the primary work of each political party's national committee?

answer

staging the party's national convention every four years

question

Voting qualifications based on were the first to be removed?

answer

religion, property, and taxes

question

In which democratic countries are people free to decide whether or not they should register in order to vote?

answer

only in the United States

question

What were Connecticut and Massachusetts trying to accomplish when they adopted the first literacy qualifications in the mid-1800s?

answer

exclude voting by Irish Catholic immigrants

question

Which term describes the process by which a State or county subject to the voter-examiner and preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 can be removed from the law's coverage?

answer

bail-out

question

The organization that works to encourage young voters aged 18-25 to participate in the election process is?

answer

rock the Vote.

question

What does the term "political socialization" mean in terms of voting behavior?

answer

It is the process by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions.

question

A person who has an unusually strong influence on the views of others is called a(n)?

answer

opinion leader.

question

Which of the following is the most useful tool for measuring public opinion?

answer

scientific public opinion polls

question

Media impact has become an important fact of electoral politics. Which of the following explains the limits of the media's influence on public attitudes about politics?

answer

people generally watch, listen, and read sources that agree with their own viewpoints.

question

The largest number of interest groups is based on?

answer

economic interests.

question

The decline in union membership related to the decline of the industrial sector of the economy in recent years has been partially offset by?

answer

an increase in the unionization of government workers.

question

The process by which organized interests attempt to affect the decisions and actions of public officials is called?

answer

lobbying.

question

In what way does an open primary differ from a closed primary?

answer

Any qualified voter can vote in an open primary, while only declared party members vote in a closed primary.

question

What is one of the main problems of the bed-sheet ballot?

answer

There is a drop-off in voting at or near the bottom of long ballots.

question

Which of the following issues negatively affects presidential election public funding arrangements?

answer

a decline in taxpayer contributions to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund

question

What is the theoretical reason behind the Framers' favoring of a bicameral Congress?

answer

The British Parliament was bicameral.

question

Who or what initially established the length of a normal session of Congress?

answer

the Constitution

question

How do the congressional terms of senators and representatives differ?

answer

Senators have more years in office, which gives them better job security.

question

What is an off-year election?

answer

a congressional election that occurs between presidential elections

question

Which of the following did the Framers hope would be a result of the shorter terms of the members of the House of Representatives?

answer

the shorter terms would force representatives to pay more attention to their constituents.

question

How do "delegates" view their voting responsibilities?

answer

They vote to represent the people who elected them.

question

What factor can limit the level of congressional pay?

answer

fear of election-day fallout

question

Why are special sessions of Congress rarely called?

answer

congress already meets nearly year-round

question

Along with the power to tax what power has provided much of the basis upon which Congress and the courts have built nearly all the implied powers?

answer

the Commerce Clause

question

What power did the Constitution grant Congress that was not provided for in the Articles of Confederation?

answer

the power to tax

question

What term describes the Federal Government's practice of spending more than it takes in each year and then borrowing to make up the difference?

answer

deficit financing

question

To whom does the Constitution give the primary responsibility for the conduct of American foreign policy?

answer

the President

question

What term describes the powers Congress has that relate to the daily lives of the American people?

answer

domestic powers

question

McCulloch v. Maryland upheld the concept of implied powers and set a pattern for which type of approach to interpreting the Constitution?

answer

liberal constructionist

question

What term describes the clause that is the constitutional basis for the existence of implied powers?

answer

Necessary and Proper Clause

question

According to the 12th Amendment if no one person receives a majority of electoral votes for President, who decides the issue?

answer

House of Representatives

question

In what way does Congress participate in checks and balances as a lawmaking authority?

answer

It oversees operations of various agencies in the executive branch.

question

Which governing body has been organized without interruption since its first session in 1789?

answer

the Senate

question

Looking at this map what can you say about the number of senators that represent the States around California and Wyoming?

answer

All the States on the map have two senators.

question

Why are standing committees so important to Congress?

answer

Standing committees are where most bills receive a thorough consideration.

question

Where are tax bills required to originate?

answer

House of Representatives

question

What term defines a stalling tactic by which a minority of senators seeks to delay or prevent Senate action on a measure?

answer

filibuster

question

Which presidential tradition was broken by Franklin D. Roosevelt and resolved through passage of the 22nd Amendment?

answer

no-third-term tradition

question

The formal duties assigned to the Vice President by the Constitution are to preside over the Senate and help decide the question of presidential succession. What development led to a change in the electoral college system following the election of 1800?

answer

the rise of political parties

question

Which of the following establishes the procedures for picking presidential election delegates in each State?

answer

State laws and/or party rules

question

Who determines the party platforms to be adopted at the national conventions?

answer

the party's leadership

question

Which electoral college reform plan proposal would give a share of each State's electoral vote based on each candidate's share of the State's popular vote?

answer

the proportional plan

question

What has had the most influence on the growth of presidential power since 1789?

answer

the unity of the presidency

question

Which inherent power of the President provides for the refusal to disclose certain information to Congress or the federal courts?

answer

executive privilege

question

What is a primary difference between a treaty and an executive agreement?

answer

Treaties must be approved by the Senate; executive agreements do not.

question

How can a President use a line-item veto?

answer

only through an amendment to the Constitution

question

Which bureaucratic feature allows people to work on a complex task based on a set of known standards and with little interruption?

answer

formalized rules

question

Which of the following is an agency of the Executive Office of the President?

answer

the Office of Management and Budget

question

Which informal advisory body was not created by the Constitution or Congress although its advisors are subject to Senate confirmation?

answer

the Cabinet

question

Which independent executive government agency was created as a result of the need for reform and the assassination of President James Garfield?

answer

Civil Service

question

16. What distinguishes the independent regulatory commissions from other independent agencies?

answer

The regulatory commissions are largely beyond the reach of presidential direction and control.

question

What produces the largest amount of federal revenue in the United States?

answer

individual income tax

question

In order to resolve its deficit spending the Federal Government borrows money from a variety of investors. Which term describes the result of this government borrowing?

answer

public debt

question

What is discretionary spending?

answer

Budgetary spending about which Congress and the President can make choices.

question

Who is responsible for carrying out the government's monetary policy?

answer

Federal Reserve Board

question

What is the right of legation?

answer

the right of every nation to send and receive diplomatic representatives

question

What is the relationship between the military and the Federal Government?

answer

The military is subordinate to the elected civilian leadership.

question

Which two principles have directed the foreign policy of the United States since World War II?

answer

collective security and deterrence

question

Which council of the United Nations bears the major responsibility for maintaining international peace?

answer

the Security Council

question

Which kind of jurisdiction does a court exercise when it hears a case on appeal from a lower court?

answer

appellate

question

Who must confirm a President's selection of every federal judge?

answer

the Senate

question

Which courts are the "courts of first instance" in the federal judiciary?

answer

district courts

question

Which court is the final authority on the meaning of the Constitution?

answer

the Supreme Court

question

Which courts conduct trials that serve the disciplinary needs of the armed forces?

answer

courts martial

question

What was the original intent of the first ten amendments to the Constitution?

answer

to restrict the new National Government

question

What does the Supreme Court use to decide whether a State law amounts to an "establishment" of religion?

answer

the Lemon test

question

In addition to the right of free expression what fundamental right do the 1st and 14th amendments guarantee?

answer

the right to hear what others have to say

question

Which right was named by the Supreme Court as part of the freedoms of assembly and petition?

answer

the right of association

question

Which power gives States the authority to protect and promote the well being of the people?

answer

police power

question

Which of the following prevents evidence gained as the result of an illegal act by police from being used at the trial of the person from whom it was seized?

answer

exclusionary rule

question

Which court order is directed to an officer holding a prisoner to show why the prisoner should not be released?

answer

writ of habeas corpus

question

In which of the following situations does double jeopardy not apply?

answer

A person violates a federal law and a State law in a single act.

question

What is the underlying principle behind the right of the accused to "take the Fifth"?

answer

The accused does not have to prove his or her innocence.

question

What makes the United States a heterogeneous country?

answer

its diverse population

question

Which group is the largest minority group in the United States?

answer

Hispanic Americans

question

Which test is used most often to help the Supreme Court decide equal protection cases?

answer

the rational basis test

question

Where is the only reference to gender found in the Constitution?

answer

19th Amendment

question

Which legislation forbids anyone from refusing to sell or rent a dwelling to any person on the grounds of race color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability or to rent to a family with children?

answer

Civil Rights Act of 1968

question

What does this chart indicate about the earnings of women and men with high school and college diplomas?

answer

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

question

Which term describes the legal process by which a loss of citizenship occurs?

answer

expatriation

question

Which event caused the largest single instance of collective naturalization in the United States?

answer

ratification of the 14th Amendment

question

What dictated the division of ancient Greece into many small independent city states?

answer

the geography of the region

question

What was a major consequence of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire?

answer

the collapse of organized government

question

As feudalism faded, what fostered the development of centralized power and the establishment of national governments and legal systems?

answer

the rise of monarchy

question

Which term describes the policy of several European monarchies seeking control of foreign lands beginning in the late 1400s and 1500s?

answer

colonialism

question

Which English political theorist put forth the idea of the natural rights of all human beings including the rights to life, liberty, and property?

answer

,John Locke

question

Which word describes the Spanish system of giving control of Indians to a settler for forced labor?

answer

encomienda

question

Why was there no large middle class in African and Asian countries to balance the interests of the vast numbers of poor and of the few elite following the era of colonial control?

answer

Most former colonies had underdeveloped economies.

question

In addition to the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the election of Boris Yeltsin what else contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union?

answer

the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev

question

Democratization refers to a change from dictatorship to democracy marked by free and fair elections. Which term defines the longer process for establishing the essentials of democracy?

answer

democratic consolidation

question

What did the people of Bosnia experience as a result of the weakening of Communist rule in Yugoslavia?

answer

They suffered genocide.

question

How do the democracies of the United Kingdom and Mexico differ?

answer

The United Kingdom has a constitutional monarchy, and Mexico has a federal system.

question

What makes the House of Commons more powerful than the House of Lords?

answer

The House of Commons chooses the prime minister and the cabinet.

question

Which term describes the United Kingdom's process of returning the delegation of authority from the central government back to the regional governments of Scotland Wales, and Northern Ireland?

answer

devolution

question

What term do economists use to describe the basic resources used to make all goods and services?

answer

factors of production

question

A market in which buyers and sellers are free to buy and sell as they wish is known as a?

answer

free market

question

Which term is used to describe businesses owned by a single individual?

answer

sole proprietorships

question

A rebuilt bicycle is worth a certain amount because it takes that much labor to produce it. Who did Marx believe should be compensated for the bicycle?

answer

The laborer who rebuilt the bicycle should receive the value in full.

question

What is the name for any country that provides extensive social services at little or no direct cost to consumers?

answer

a welfare state

question

In which type of economy do government bureaucrats plan for the development of the economy over a period of years?

answer

command economy

question

Who holds the decision-making power in a communist-run nation?

answer

the Communist Party

question

How did China's Great Leap Forward and the Four Modernizations differ?

answer

The Great Leap Forward eliminated all elements of free enterprise; the Four Modernizations is moving China toward a market economy.

question

Which two principles are the foundation of every State's constitution?

answer

popular sovereignty and limited government

question

Which basic steps are central to the process for changing a State's constitution?

answer

proposal and ratification

question

Which State power is central to the protection and promotion of public health public safety, public morals, and the general welfare?

answer

police power

question

Legally and in the strictest sense who may introduce a bill in either house in any State's legislature?

answer

only a member of the State legislature

question

Who is the principal executive officer in each of the 50 States?

answer

the governor

question

Which term describes the voters' removal of an elected official from office before his or her term is over?

answer

impeachment

question

Which branch of the law regulates wrongful acts involving injury to one's person property, or reputation in a situation not covered by the terms of a contract?

answer

tort law

question

Which type of trial is heard by a judge alone?

answer

bench trial

question

What is a court of "first instance"?

answer

a court for first-time offenders

question

What distinguishes tribal governments from local and State governments?

answer

Tribal governments are considered sovereign nations.

question

What term describes an urban political unit within a township that usually exists as a separate government entity?

answer

a municipality

question

What is the principle reason for the existence of a city?

answer

for convenience

question

Which type of city government was first formed when Galveston Texas, was devastated by a hurricane?

answer

the commission form

question

What does a city seeking aid often have to do to be eligible for Federal Government grants and loans ?

answer

It must provide a master plan for future growth.

question

Which of the following has most affected city growth since World War II?

answer

the suburban boom

question

What is the most expensive item in every State's budget?

answer

education

question

Which of the following statements is true about U.S. roads and highways?

answer

The Federal Government is a partner with the States in funding highways.

question

Which term describes a tax that is levied without regard for race nationality political party membership, or other unreasonable factors?

answer

the Equal Protection Clause

question

Which of the following taxes is not levied according to a person's ability to pay?

answer

a regressive tax

question

How does a township differ from a county?

answer

Townships are subdivisions of counties.

question

Who collects property taxes in a county government structure?

answer

the county clerk

question

Which county government official would you contact for a copy of your birth record?

answer

the county clerk

question

Which of the following is a source of weakness in county organization?

answer

the size and number of counties in a State

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