American Government Final Exam Multiple Choice – Flashcards

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Through citizen involvement, The United States has achieved all of the following EXCEPT
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a society with a high voter turnout
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An intentional action by the government to achieve a goal is called
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public policy
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In the 18th century, democracy was associated with
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mob rule
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What ancient British legal principle holds that all people are equal before the law, all are subjected to it, and no one is above it?
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Rule of Law
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Which of the following in NOT part of the normal public policy process>
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Formulating a problem
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The Founders drew on the ideas of the British political philosophers in perceiving the relationship between government and the governed as a social contract.
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Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
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The form of government in which people govern themselves is called a
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direct democracy
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A republic is a form a government in which power derives from
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the citizens but their representatives make policy and govern
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James Madison argued that size and diversity were assets to our new nation because competing interests, called , would check one another.
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Factions
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The vertical division of power in the Constitution is called
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Separation of Powers
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The Constitutional division of power horizontally into layers between the national and state governments is known as
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federalism
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The process by which competing interests determine who gets what, when, and how is called
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politics
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When people have a fairly consistent set of views over a range of policy choices, they are said to have a(n
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political ideology
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, on the left end of the political spectrum, favor(s) government efforts to increase equality, which includes higher taxes on the wealthy and greater provision of social benefits to support those in need.
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Liberals
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, on the right end of the political spectrum, believe that lower taxes will prompt greater economic growth that will ultimately benefit everyone, including the poor.
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Conservatives
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Which political ideology would normally support government interference that creates rules that favor traditional moral values when dealing with social issues?
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Conservatives
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The United States tends to favor , an economic system in which business enterprises and key industries are privately owned.
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capitalism
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In the 1960s, the political scientist Robert Dahl argues that policy making has a(n) , basis, with authority held by different areas.
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pluralists
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In a modern democracy, a sets forth the basic rules and procedures for how the people shall be governed, including the powers and structure of the government, as well as the rights retained by the people.
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constitution
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By the late eighteenth century, British subjects believes that the British constitution guaranteed them certain rights, including the right to be tried by a jury of their peers and
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the right not to be taxed without their consent
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Britain would repeal the Stamp Act in 1766 and replace it with the , which would then impose taxes on various imports.
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Townshend Acts
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The Coercive Acts
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gave the royal governor the right to select the upper house of the Massachusetts legislature
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acted as the common government of the states between 1775 and 1785
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The Second Continental Congress
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The Declaration of Independence listed grievances against , including the suspension of popularity elected colonial legislatures, taxing without representation, and trials without juries.
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King George the third
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Due to the fear of a powerful central government, the Articles of Confederation emphasized over order.
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freedom of national authority
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Some of the issues that confronted the delegates to the Philadelphia convention included several areas if compromise, including
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large states versus small state representation
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The Plan proposed a strong central government that could act without the states acting as intermediates, a two chamber legislative branch, a national judiciary, and a council of revision.
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Virginia
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The Plan, would have strengthened the articles by allowing Congress the authority to regulate commerce, create a national executive chosen by the legislature, and a national judiciary chosen by the executive.
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New Jersey
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Under the Connecticut Compromise
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The house of Representatives would be proportional to population, but the Senate would represent state equality.
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Under the , states were granted extra representation in the House based on the number if slaves they held.
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three-fifths compromise
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The Framers did not trust the people, so the created these two important gates against popular influence:
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The election of president and the election of the Senate
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What vote is necessary for Congress to override a presidential veto?
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Two-thirds of each chamber
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The sole power of impeachment belongs to
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The House of Representatives
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Federal judges are appointed for a term of "good Behaviour," which means that they hold their seats for
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life
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In the historical case Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court first exercised its authority to strike down laws passed by Congress if they violate the Constitution, which is known as
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Judicial Review
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Although not expressly given, implied powers were those given by
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the necessary and proper clause
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The primary reason that the framers chose to unify the country was that
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unions allow for larger states to dominate
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In a , independent states grant powers to a national government.
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confederal system
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In a virtually all power goes to the national government.
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unitary system
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A system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between the national and state government is known as
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federalism
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Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution details the powers of Congress.
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enumerated
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The necessary and proper clause gives Congress the power to pass laws that are related to the powers
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enumerated
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the writ of protects the right of individuals who have been arrested and jailed to go before a judge who determines if their imprisonments is legal.
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Habeas Corpus
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The Constitution prohibits the state governments from doing all but which of the following?
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Professional Licensing
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The Bill of Rights originally applied to
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the national government only
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The clause makes the Constitution of the United States, plus all laws and treaties made under the Constitution, superior to state law.
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supremacy
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The , as part of the Constitution under article 1, Section 8, establishes Congress's exclusive authority to regulate commerce among the states.
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commerce clasue
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Under current U.S. law, if a heterosexual couple is married in Las Vegas, they are married in all 50 states due to the clause of the Constitution.
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Full Faith and Credit
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In what Supreme Court decision was the right of Congress to create a bank upheld?
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McCulloch v. Maryland
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In , it was determines that although Congress could prevent states from denying equality, it could not prevent businesses from doing the same thing.
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the Civil Rights Cases
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federalism recognizes that, while the national government is supreme in some spheres, the state governments remain supreme in others, with layers of authority separate from one another, an arrangement that political scientists compared to a "layer cake."
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Dual
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Over time, the Supreme Court's definition of what constituted interstate commerce grew to include
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anything that affected interstate commerce
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President Reagan cut back on categorical grants and replaced them with grants, which are more flexible and set fewer restrictions on how the states could use the money.
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block
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Federal judges are nominated by and confirmed by .
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The president; the senate
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Those rights that are so fundamental that they are outside the authority of government to regulate, are known as
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civil liberties
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The consist of the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
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Bill of rights
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If a majority wishes to abridge rights, it often falls , which is not designed to be responsive to public desires, to protect those rights.
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judiciary
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In a World War 1 speech case, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that speech was not absolute, such as a person does not have the right to falsely shout in a crowded theater.
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fire
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Too much order can lead to , a state in which the people are not free to make decisions about the private aspects of their lives.
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tyranny
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The courts have consistently ruled that speech codes
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violate the First Amendment
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The Supreme court applied the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states through the process of
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incorporation
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During times of war, the government's increased concern for order and citizen's increased concerns about security generally result in civil liberties being
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limited
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The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress must authorize hearings to determine the legality of the detention of even foreign enemy combatants, and such hearings must be consistent with the , an international treaty that protects the rights of prisoners of war
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Geneva Conventions
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In 2013, Edward Snowden revealed classified documents detailing
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That the NSA was keeping records of every phone call made in the United States
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In the 1960s, the Supreme Court ruled that certain types of nonverbal activities, such as flag burning or students wearing black armbands to school, were protected under the First Amendment as
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symbolic speech
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In 1971, the Supreme Court created the test to determine if a challenged law violates the establishment clause.
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Lemon
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In 2014, the Supreme Court found that the content of a cell phone is police search.
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not exempt from
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In Miranda v. Arizona, the Court declared that the right against self-incrimination enshrined in the Fifth Amendment applied regardless of whether there was or not.
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coercion
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In Gideon v. Wainwright the court ruled that all criminals were afforded the right to
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counsel
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The sixth amendment gives the right to a trial by a/n jury.
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impartial
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If acquitted by a jury, the clause ensures that the accused cannot be tried for the same crime again.
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double jeopardy
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The Constitutional right inferred by the Court that has been used to protect unlisted rights, such as reproductive rights, is known as the
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right to privacy
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are rights related to the duties of citizenship and the opportunities for participation in civic life that the government is obliged to protect.
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Civil Rights
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According to the text, the most important right is the right to
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vote
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The actions of the southern state governments during the period of segregation, such as denying African Americans the right to vote or use public restrooms, are examples of
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public discrimination
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The expectation that citizens may not be discriminated against and should have an equal chance to succeed in life is called equality of
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opportunity
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In Dred Scott v. Sanford, the Court ruled that not only could congress NOT ban slavery in the territories, but that blacks were not
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citizens
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Slavery is prohibited in of the U.S. Constitution.
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the Thirteenth Amendment
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Full-Fledged membership in a nation is called
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citizenship
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Native Americans born on reservations did not receive natural-born citizen status until the passage of the
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Indian Citizenship act
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The period after the Civil War, when the former Confederate states gained readmission to the Union and the federal government passed laws to help emancipated slaves, is known as
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Reconstruction
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The Amendment, in addition to guaranteeing that no state shall deny any person due process of law, also prohibits states from denying any person the equal protection of the law.
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Fourteenth
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All of the following acts of discrimination were legal at some point point U.S. history EXCEPT
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New York allowed unwed fathers to block the adoption of their children but not unwed mothers.
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The courts have ruled that private discrimination is permissible unless it involves significant action.
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state
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The Court has created three standards of review to determine if a law is discriminatory. The toughest of these standards is
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strict scrutiny
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In the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education, the court ruled that segregated schools violated the clause.
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equal protection
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President John F. Kennedy has to send 25,000 federal troops to ensure the enrollment of one black James Meredith, at in 1962
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the University of Mississippi
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The Court reviews laws that discriminate against legal immigrants using strict scrutiny. However, it only reviews laws that discriminate against undocumented workers under the standard.
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rational-basis
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The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act overturned the Supreme Courts ruing in
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Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.
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In , the supreme court declared that states could not prohibit sexual activity between people of the same sex, reversing a 1986 decision that asserted homosexual activity was not a fundamental right.
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Lawrence v. Texas
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The primary way that the electorate expresses its opinion is through
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voting
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is (are) the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs about certain issues or officials.
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Public opinion
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is the extent people believe their actions affect the course of government
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Efficacy
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is the extent to which people believe the government acts in their best interest.
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Political trust
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is a method of selection that gives everyone who might be selected to participate in a poll an equal chance to be included.
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Random Sampling
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The statistical range, with a given probability, that takes random error into account is called
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confidence interval
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The psychological attachment that a person feels to a political party is called
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Party Identification
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Liberals tend to be and conservatives tend to be .
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Democrats; Republicans
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The measurement of how ideologically coherent individuals are in their political evaluations is called
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levels of conceptualization
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A condition in which differences between parties and/or the public are so extreme that disagreement breaks out, fueling attacks and controversy, is
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polarization
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Since most people cannot directly observe political events, they rely on for information about politics and government.
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Mass Media
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At the heart of a democracy lies the ability of the press to inform the people free from government interference. This demonstrates its role as
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Watchdog
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Which Amendment to the constitution protects the freedom of the press?
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First
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Which mass media task is demonstrated when a news story covers a political campaign by explaining a candidates previous experience, his or her personal temperament, and his or her view on important issues?
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informing
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Any effort to monopolize the press or curtail its freedom is met with strong protests from those fearing a trend toward rule.
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authoritarian
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is news with fewer hard facts, more emphasis on personal stories that engage (or shock) the public, and often appeals to the emotions rather the intellect.
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Infotainment
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The model argues that the press serves the interests of government only.
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propaganda
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In a process known as , people secure information from sources that agree with them, leading to the reinforcement if beliefs, not to change of beliefs.
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selective exposure
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While not overstating the power of the media, the model acknowledges that the press has a substantial impact in subtle ways.
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not-so-minimal effects
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is the ability of the media to alter the public's view on an issue by presenting it in a particular way.
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Framing
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A (n) forms when a person sees an opening or opportunity to create the for social, political, or economic purposes.
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proactive group
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The First Amendment provides for the right , which is the cornerstone of interest groups.
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of association
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The act of trying to persuade elected officials to adopt a specific policy change or to maintain the status quo is called
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lobbying
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The membership of economic interest groups tends to be exclusive because
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their purpose is to secure tangible economic evidence for themselves.
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The American Bar association (lawyers), the American Medical Association (doctors), and the American International Automobile Dealers Association (car dealers) are examples of
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professional associations
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Trade associations form out of a belief that they can better influence the policy process
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collectively
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In recent years private sector union membership has
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declined
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According to the text, one of the best known organizations that seek to influence foreign policy is the
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American Israel Public Affairs Committee
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There are three common pathways to becoming a Washington lobbyist: working on Capitol Hill, , or working on a political campaign.
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working in the executive branch
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When lobbyists deal directly with legislators and their staff to seek specific policy or to stop one they are engaging in a(n) strategy.
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inside
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Groups formed to raise and contribute funds to support electoral candidates, subject to campaign finance laws, are
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political action committees
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What supreme court decision began the growth of PACS?
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Buckley v. Valeo
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Given the amount of money that PACs spend on campaign support, many are concerned that
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Pacs exert a disproportionate influnce over legislators
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In Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, the court ruled that individuals, corporations, and unions can
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spend as much money as they want on campaign ads.
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In McCutcheon et al. v. Federal Election Commission, the court expanded the right of a(n) to spend unlimited money on federal elections but not on one candidate
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individual
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Robert Dahl uses the term to describe his view of democratic society in which interest groups will compete over policy goals, and elected officials are mediators of group conflict.
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pluralists
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The relationship between interest groups, members of Congress, and federal agencies is referred to be scholars as the
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iron triangle
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Movement of members of Congress, lobbyists, and executive branch employees into paid positions in each other's organizations is known as
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the revolving door
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Over a hundred years ago, Robert Michels coined the phrase to describe when interest group leaders do not properly serve their members, and argues that larger interest groups were especially susceptible to unresponsive or abusive leaderships.
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iron law of oligarchy
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When a group lobbies for public goods or collective benefits that are so widespread that members and nonmembers alike receive them, incentives to join the group disappear. Olson called this the
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free rider program
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Political parties provide a key function in American politics by providing voters with a mechanism in which to
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hold government accountable
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The main purpose of a political party is to in order to control government and implement its policies.
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win elections
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Classic political scientists, such as V.O. Key, use the term to describe the general patterns of voters' party identification and their behavior on election day.
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party in the electorate
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An attachment or allegiance to a political party is referred to as
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party identification
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One manner in which political parties select candidates when more than one person is seeking the office is to hold a(n)
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primary election
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The state of Oklahoma, as well as several others, has a closed primary. This means that voters must
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affiliate with a political party
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A(n) primary is one in which voters do not have to affiliate with a party before voting. Instead, voters are given ballots with each party's list of candidates; they can chose which ballot use but are restricted to voting for only one party's set of nominees.
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open
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Initially the idea of was not intended to be part of the makeup of the U.S. political system.
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political parties
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James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, writing in Federalist n=10 and 51, predicted the rise of , groups of individuals who share a common political goal and ally with each other on a temporary basis to accomplish that goal
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factions
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After winning the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson used his victory to transformation his fledgling political party into a viable, long-term organization known as the Part.
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Democratic-Republican
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Parties used the patronage system as a way to
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build party loyalty
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The nature of a single-member plurality system in the United States encourages a party system.
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two-
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The median voter theorem suggests that all things being equal, if voters select candidates based upon ideology, the
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party closer to the middle wins
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From 1832 to 1856, the Dominated American politics and presidential elections.
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Democratic and Whigs
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What type of vote requires ti win more than any other candidate?
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Plurality votes
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was given credit for forcing the two major party candidates in 1992, President George H. W. Bush and Governor Bill Clinton, to address the federal deficit
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Ross Perot
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There are several ways that the two major parties restrict third party access, including challenging signatures for ballot access and preventing
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them from participating in presidential debates
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When voters identify with a party in repeated elections, it is referred to as
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party alignment
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A set of consistent political views about the way government should work is referred to as
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political ideology
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The constitutional requirements regarding elections indicate that the Framers wanted to set up barriers against
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direct democracy
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According to the U.S. Constitution, only the was(were) to be elected directly by the people.
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House of Representatives
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When political parties offer voters a clear choice through a distinct range of policies and programs, they are acting as
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responsible parties
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How many electoral votes does each state get?
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Equal to the number of senators and members of the House of Representatives.
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To win the presidency, a candidate needs to win electoral votes.
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270
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If no candidate achieves a majority of electoral votes, the decides the outcome of the election
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House of Representatives
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The Amendment combined the vote for president and vice president into one ballet, with the person running for each office named
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Twelfth
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Depending on patterns of population growth or decline, states win or lose congressional seats with each new census. State legislatures are responsible for drawing the district lines, in a process known as
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resdistricting
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Article 1, section 4 of the Constitution state, "The Time, Places, and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed . "
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in each State by the Legislature thereof
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The staggering of senatorial elections helps to insulate senators from shifts in
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public sentiment
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When political parties redraw district lines in order to benefit one political party over another, it is called
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gerrymandering
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At the party convention, the is formally adopted, laying out the plan for government .
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party platform
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Since the Courts ruling in McCutchein v. FEC, individuals have no limit on the they can contribute.
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number of campaigns to which
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almost always win congressional elections.
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Incumbents
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The model of participation sees risks in greater participation and, thus, favors a larger role in elites.
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Hamiltonian
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The model holds that more participation yields a more involved and engaged public and that, in turn, produces better outcomes.
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Jeffersonian
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Which amendment to the constitution granted women the right to vote?
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Nineteenth
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While recent voter registration laws have intended to reduce voter fraud, they have has the consequences of .
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decreasing voter turnout
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The tendency for women to support Democrats over Republicans is referred to as the
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gender gap
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One of the strongest predictors of whether or not a person will vote is his/her .
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level of education
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A congressional district that is deemed to be noncompetitive is said to be a(n) seat.
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safe
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