question

Block grants

answer

are distributed to states for broad programs.

question

The organization with the mission to \"protect our state's human and natural resources\" consistent with sustainable economic development is called

answer

the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

question

An \"acre foot\" is

answer

the amount of water necessary to cover an acre of land a foot deep.

question

Of renewable energy sources, which is the most realistic short-term alternative to nonrenewables?

answer

Wind

question

Payments to unemployed workers is administered by the

answer

Texas Workforce Commission.

question

Pumping water, sand and chemicals into the ground to recover more oil or natural gas from the ground is a technology called

answer

fracking.

question

All of the following factors make it likely that welfare will be a perennial issue in Texas politics except

answer

the economy has little impact on the poverty rate.

question

Texas ranked ____ among the fifty states in per capita expenditures for welfare services.

answer

forty-eighth

question

Modern education reform in Texas began in the mid 1980s with passage of the act known as

answer

No Pass, No Play.

question

Which of the following officials serves as the state's tax collector?

answer

Comptroller

question

According to your text, what percentage of Texas children fall below the poverty line?

answer

24 percent

question

Which of the following are major problems associated with nuclear power?

answer

There is a potential that a \"meltdown\" would release radioactivity into the air, and disposing of the radioactive waste byproducts is difficult politically.

question

The largest single functional category of state spending in Texas is

answer

education.

question

Whenever the government attempts to improve the quality of life for the poor by taking wealth from those who have the most and redirecting it to those who have the least, it is making

answer

redistributive public policy.

question

The peak of Texas oil production

answer

came in the decade of the 1970s.

question

Which of the following is the primary program to provide health care to needy families?

answer

Medicaid

question

The number of Texans receiving benefits from TANF has ____________ and the number receiving benefits from food stamps has __________ since 2000.

answer

decreased; increased

question

A(n) ____ is a policy decision through which one level or branch of government requires another level or branch of government to act in a certain way.

answer

mandate

question

Which of the following is an example of a progressive tax?

answer

Federal income tax

question

Which of the following is exempt from the general sales tax in Texas?

answer

Food sold in grocery stores

question

The second-largest functional category of state spending in Texas is

answer

health and human services.

question

Which of the following types of tax does Texas not have?

answer

Personal income tax

question

The concept that groundwater is more or less completely controlled by the person who owns the land above the water is called

answer

the rule of capture.

question

Which of the following types of federal grants could be used only for programs specified in the grant?

answer

Categorical grants-in-aid

question

Since 1977, the percentage of money spent by the state on highway expenditures has

answer

declined dramatically, resulting in the state having many poorly maintained roads.

question

The taxes Texas levies on tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, and gasoline are known as ____ taxes.

answer

excise or selective sales

question

Because the framers of the state constitution believed in \"pay-as-you-go\" government, emergency borrowing by the state must be approved by

answer

a four-fifths majority vote of the legislature.

question

The best example of Texas's reliance on regressive taxes is

answer

the general retail sales tax.

question

A ____ tax is a tax levied on the removal of natural resources (especially oil and gas) from the earth.

answer

severance

question

In Texas, programs to help needy citizens are funded

answer

primarily with federal dollars supplemented by state funds.

question

The three largest welfare programs administered by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission are

answer

TANF, food stamps, and Medicaid.

question

The two nuclear energy plants in Texas, Comanche Peak and South Texas Nuclear Project, produce what percentage of Texas electricity?

answer

10%

question

Social Services are likely to remain a perennial issue in Texas politics because

answer

All of the above are true.

question

About ____ percent of the $40 billion state budget for health and human services is funded by the national government.

answer

60

question

Which of the following accounts for 56 percent of state tax revenues?

answer

Sales tax

question

Of the 25 poorest counties in the United States, how many are in Texas?

answer

9

question

Which of the five major revenue funds in Texas supports the majority of state programs?

answer

General Revenue Fund

question

The average per capita income in Texas is

answer

below the national average.

question

The line, extending roughly between the eastern edge of the Panhandle down to the Rio Grande northwest of Laredo and marking the area where agriculture is not possible without irrigation, is the

answer

100th meridian.

question

The poverty threshold for a family of three in the United States for fiscal year 2011 is approximately

answer

$18,500.

question

The overall tax system in Texas

answer

falls disproportionately on poor and middle income earners.

question

Benefits to workers who are injured, become ill, or are killed on the job are known as

answer

workers' compensation.

question

No Child Left Behind, passed in 2001, did which of the following?

answer

Allowed students to transfer from unsuccessful schools to successful schools, and required annual testing of students in core subjects.

question

Which of the following statements regarding the revenue structure of Texas is incorrect?

answer

Heavy reliance on sales taxes gives Texas a very elastic revenue structure.

question

Passed in 1996, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

answer

All of the above are true.

question

In 1961, ____ ended the Democrats' monopoly on offices at the state level by winning a special election for the U.S. Senate.

answer

John Tower

question

The first Republican governor of Texas in the twentieth century was

answer

Bill Clements.

question

Since 1994, the Texas Republican Party state conventions have been dominated by

answer

the Christian Right.

question

The 2003 Ethics Bill was an improvement over the 1991 bill because it

answer

All of the above provisions are improvements over the 1991.

question

The two dominant ideologies in Texas today are usually referred to as

answer

liberalism and conservatism.

question

Which of the following is not correct about interest groups?

answer

Interest groups engage in the electoral process by nominating their members for public office.

question

The ____ is the period of time before the voting day in which the candidates attempt to persuade potential voters to support them.

answer

campaign

question

The state party conventions select all of the following except

answer

the party nominees for the general election in November.

question

A political party that has centralized control over nominations and can impose the party platform on its nominees is known as a(n)

answer

responsible party.

question

Which of the following is not one of the categories used by the authors of the text to classify interest groups?

answer

Political groups

question

In Texas, party membership is determined by

answer

the act of voting in a primary election.

question

The ethics bill passed by the Texas legislature in 1991

answer

does not place any limits on campaign contributions for state elections.

question

This group's success in passing 90 percent of the legislative agenda it has sponsored and winning 86 percent of its cases before the Texas Supreme Court indicates it is now arguably the most effective interest group in Texas.

answer

Texas Medical Association

question

The 1991 \"Ethics Bill\" provided for all but which one of the following?

answer

Bans the use of campaign contributions for living expenses

question

Which of the following statements about the present system of voter registration in Texas is not correct?

answer

The voter must register in person unless ill or disabled.

question

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the 1976 case of ____ paved the way for Clayton Williams and Tony Sanchez to spend millions of dollars of their own money to finance their own campaigns for Texas governor.

answer

Buckley v. Valeo

question

A political interest group is

answer

an organization that tries to influence politicians to make public policy in line with their preferences.

question

In economic policy, the basic principle underlying conservatism is

answer

laissez-faire.

question

Primary elections in Texas are

answer

technically closed but open in practice.

question

In the 2008 elections, which of the following occurred?

answer

The Republican party continued its dominance of Texas politics.

question

Campaign contributions that go to political parties for party building activities are called

answer

soft money.

question

Why are state conventions and platforms of little importance to what nominees say and do?

answer

All of the above.

question

A fervent belief that government should protect the little people of society from wealthy individuals and corporations has historically been known as

answer

populism.

question

Interest groups and political parties are similar in that they both

answer

are concerned with public policy.

question

Lobbying is an activity that refers to

answer

efforts to influence policymakers face-to-face.

question

During the last two decades of the twentieth century, Texas went through a political

answer

realignment.

question

The primary reason most people vote is that they

answer

have been taught to believe that voting is their duty.

question

On the issue of private gun ownership, conservatives generally want ____ regulation and liberals want ____.

answer

less; more

question

Poll taxes and literacy tests were all designed to

answer

discourage voting by African Americans, Mexican Americans, and poor Whites.

question

Texas citizens may vote absentee

answer

without restriction in any election.

question

As a consequence of the one-party system that existed in Texas until the 1970s,

answer

all of the conditions above existed.

question

Which of the following statements about political parties in Texas traditionally has been correct?

answer

Political parties are especially weak organizationally.

question

Why is the percentage of Texans who vote significantly smaller than the percentage of Americans in general who vote?

answer

All of the above are factors.

question

The Texas Campaign Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1973 requires that every candidate for political office appoint a(n) ____ before accepting contributions or making expenditures.

answer

campaign treasurer

question

The primary purpose of the precinct convention in Texas is to

answer

select delegates to the county convention.

question

In which of the following arenas do interest groups attempt to affect public policy?

answer

All of the above

question

Types of economic interest groups include all except which one of the following?

answer

Environmental protection groups

question

The transition of an agency from guarding the public interest to defending the private interest is called

answer

co-optation.

question

When minorities in Texas fail to vote, ____ candidates are hurt most.

answer

liberal Democratic

question

Voter turnout in Texas is

answer

below the national average.

question

When people from an industry go to work for the agency regulating that industry, this movement is called

answer

a revolving door.

question

The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlawed

answer

the poll tax.

question

In Texas, which of the following types of voters would most likely support the Republican party?

answer

Anglo, upper class, professional, evangelical Protestant

question

A person who is suspicious of unregulated markets, places more faith in the ability of the government to direct economic activity, and favors less government regulation in issues of personal belief and behavior would probably be categorized as

answer

liberal.

question

In Texas, primary elections are administered by officials of the

answer

political parties.

question

Those legislative attempts to regulate lobbying prior to the enactment of the 1991 \"Ethics Bill\" were particularly weak because

answer

there was no agency charged with enforcing them.

question

The principal election officer in Texas is the

answer

secretary of state.

question

____ are formed by an organization, industry, or individual for the purpose of collecting money and contributing to selected political candidates or causes.

answer

Political action committees

question

Interest groups representing ____ have had little influence on public policy in Texas.

answer

organized labor

question

The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1972 limited contributions by individuals to no more than ____ in each primary or general election campaign for federal office, though since that time, dollar amounts have been adjusted upwards for inflation.

answer

$1,000

question

From the perspective of activists and candidates, the basic purpose of political parties is to

answer

win elections in order to gain control over public policy.

question

Not until Congress passed the ____ in 1965 did the federal government begin to enforce the right of African Americans to vote.

answer

Voting Rights Act

question

Virtually all elected Republicans in Texas are ____ first; a few are also ____.

answer

economic conservatives; social conservatives

question

After Reconstruction ended, most Texans came to identify with the ____ party.

answer

Democratic

question

General elections in Texas are held on Tuesday after the first Monday in ____ in even-numbered years.

answer

November

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