GOVT 2306 Final: Overview
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____ are formed by an organization, industry, or individual for the purpose of collecting money and contributing to selected political candidates or causes.
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Political action committees
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General elections in Texas are held on Tuesday after the first Monday in ____ in even-numbered years.
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November
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The ethics bill passed by the Texas legislature in 1991
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does not place any limits on campaign contributions for state elections.
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The ____ is the period of time before the voting day in which the candidates attempt to persuade potential voters to support them.
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campaign
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In Texas, primary elections are administered by officials of the
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political parties.
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Poll taxes and literacy tests were all designed to
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discourage voting by African Americans, Mexican Americans, and poor Whites.
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Voter turnout in Texas is
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below the national average.
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Why is the percentage of Texans who vote significantly smaller than the percentage of Americans in general who vote?
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Institutions of political socialization in Texas do not promote voting, Voting levels tend to be lower in states lacking competitive party systems, The poverty rate in Texas is high and the poor tend not to vote, and The state's African American and Mexican American citizens are less likely to vote than Whites. (All of the above are factors.)
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The principal election officer in Texas is the
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secretary of state.
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When minorities in Texas fail to vote, ____ candidates are hurt most.
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liberal Democratic
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The primary reason most people vote is that they
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have been taught to believe that voting is their duty.
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The primary purpose of the precinct convention in Texas is to
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select delegates to the county convention.
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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
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liberal.
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In 1961, ____ ended the Democrats' monopoly on offices at the state level by winning a special election for the U.S. Senate.
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John Tower
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Why are state conventions and platforms of little importance to what nominees say and do?
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Candidates for public office are nominated in primaries rather than in conventions, Candidates raise their own campaign funds independently of the party, Candidates need to gather support from the large number of voters, not the small number of party activists, and Party organizations in the United States are generally quite weak. (All of the above.)
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In Texas, which of the following types of voters would most likely support the Republican party?
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Anglo, upper class, professional, evangelical Protestant
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In economic policy, the basic principle underlying conservatism is
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laissez-faire.
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In the 2008 elections, which of the following occurred?
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The Republican party continued its dominance of Texas politics.
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A fervent belief that government should protect the little people of society from wealthy individuals and corporations has historically been known as
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populism.
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As a consequence of the one-party system that existed in Texas until the 1970s,
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voter turnout was very low, elections were decided in the Democratic primary, party labels told voters little about the ideology of candidates, and parties were unable to overcome the constitutional fragmentation of power. (all of the conditions above existed.)
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From the perspective of activists and candidates, the basic purpose of political parties is to
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win elections in order to gain control over public policy.
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The overall tax system in Texas
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falls disproportionately on poor and middle income earners.
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A ____ tax is a tax levied on the removal of natural resources (especially oil and gas) from the earth.
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severance
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The taxes Texas levies on tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, and gasoline are known as ____ taxes.
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excise or selective sales
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Which of the following accounts for 56 percent of state tax revenues?
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Sales tax
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Block grants
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are distributed to states for broad programs.
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Which of the following statements regarding the revenue structure of Texas is incorrect?
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Heavy reliance on sales taxes gives Texas a very elastic revenue structure.
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Which of the five major revenue funds in Texas supports the majority of state programs?
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General Revenue Fund
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Which of the following is exempt from the general sales tax in Texas?
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Food sold in grocery stores
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Since 1977, the percentage of money spent by the state on highway expenditures has
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declined dramatically, resulting in the state having many poorly maintained roads.
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The second-largest functional category of state spending in Texas is
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health and human services.
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No Child Left Behind, passed in 2001, did which of the following?
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Allowed students to transfer from unsuccessful schools to successful schools, and required annual testing of students in core subjects.
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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
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redistributive public policy.
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The number of Texans receiving benefits from TANF has ____________ and the number receiving benefits from food stamps has __________ since 2000.
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decreased; increased
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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.
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mandate
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Modern education reform in Texas began in the mid 1980s with passage of the act known as
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No Pass, No Play.
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Payments to unemployed workers is administered by the
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Texas Workforce Commission.
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All of the following factors make it likely that welfare will be a perennial issue in Texas politics except
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the economy has little impact on the poverty rate.
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Which of the following is the primary program to provide health care to needy families?
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Medicaid
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The average per capita income in Texas is
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below the national average.
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The three largest welfare programs administered by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission are
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TANF, food stamps, and Medicaid.
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The peak of Texas oil production
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came in the decade of the 1970s.
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The concept that groundwater is more or less completely controlled by the person who owns the land above the water is called
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the rule of capture.
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The two nuclear energy plants in Texas, Comanche Peak and South Texas Nuclear Project, produce what percentage of Texas electricity?
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10%
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The organization with the mission to \"protect our state's human and natural resources\" consistent with sustainable economic development is called
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the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
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Pumping water, sand and chemicals into the ground to recover more oil or natural gas from the ground is a technology called
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fracking.
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The best example of Texas's reliance on regressive taxes is
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the general retail sales tax.
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About ____ percent of the $40 billion state budget for health and human services is funded by the national government.
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60
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Passed in 1996, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
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put an end to automatic entitlement to welfare support, established a limit of five years for a person to receive welfare, provided that an individual must be working within two years of receiving support, and emphasized getting people off welfare and onto payrolls. (All of the above are true.)
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Of renewable energy sources, which is the most realistic short-term alternative to nonrenewables?
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Wind
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An \"acre foot\" is
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the amount of water necessary to cover an acre of land a foot deep.
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Of the 25 poorest counties in the United States, how many are in Texas?
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9
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In Texas, programs to help needy citizens are funded
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primarily with federal dollars supplemented by state funds.
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Which of the following types of tax does Texas not have?
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Personal income tax
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Which of the following types of federal grants could be used only for programs specified in the grant?
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Categorical grants-in-aid
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The poverty threshold for a family of three in the United States for fiscal year 2011 is approximately
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$18,500.
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Texas ranked ____ among the fifty states in per capita expenditures for welfare services.
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forty-eighth
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Which of the following officials serves as the state's tax collector?
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Comptroller
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Benefits to workers who are injured, become ill, or are killed on the job are known as
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workers' compensation.
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Which energy resource is predicted to be the least costly per kilowatt hour in 2016?
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Natural gas
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Social Services are likely to remain a perennial issue in Texas politics because
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the economy swings from boom to bust, and in low times the number of people requiring services increases while government revenue decreases, the states immigration rate is high, and many immigrants, especially those who are illegal, lack essential job skills, disparities between rich and poor are growing, and conservatism in Texas dominates politics in the early 2000s. (All of the above are true.)
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Not until Congress passed the ____ in 1965 did the federal government begin to enforce the right of African Americans to vote.
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Voting Rights Act
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On the issue of private gun ownership, conservatives generally want ____ regulation and liberals want ____.
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less; more
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Interest groups and political parties are similar in that they both
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are concerned with public policy.
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The first Republican governor of Texas in the twentieth century was
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Bill Clements.
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Which of the following is not correct about interest groups?
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Interest groups engage in the electoral process by nominating their members for public office.
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A political interest group is
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an organization that tries to influence politicians to make public policy in line with their preferences.
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A political party that has centralized control over nominations and can impose the party platform on its nominees is known as a(n)
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responsible party.
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Texas citizens may vote absentee
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without restriction in any election.
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The 2003 Ethics Bill was an improvement over the 1991 bill because it
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ensures that more information will be available to the public, requires candidates to disclose cash balances in their campaign accounts, forbids legislators who are attorneys to represent a paying client before a state agency, and requires candidate to file campaign finance reports via the Internet, with a few exceptions. (All of the above provisions are improvements over the 1991.)
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Since 1994, the Texas Republican Party state conventions have been dominated by
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the Christian Right.
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Lobbying is an activity that refers to
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efforts to influence policymakers face-to-face.
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The 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution outlawed
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the poll tax.
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The resources all political candidates must have regardless of their strategies are
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people and money.
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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.
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Texas Medical Association
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Which of the following statements about the present system of voter registration in Texas is not correct?
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The voter must register in person unless ill or disabled.
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During the last two decades of the twentieth century, Texas went through a political
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realignment.
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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.
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Buckley v. Valeo
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