question

How many civil rights acts were passed during the first decade after the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education?

answer

3

question

______ was one of the founders of the NAACP.

answer

W. E. B. Du Bois

question

Which of the following was not used as a way to limit the electoral influence of African Americans?

answer

restrictive covenants

question

In ______, the Supreme Court permitted busing children as a way of bringing about desegregation of schools.

answer

1971

question

The Supreme Court's decisions on school desegregation policies since 1991 generally suggest that

answer

the Court will be willing to end desegregation plans even when predominantly minority schools continue to lag significantly behind white suburban schools.

question

The constitutional authority of Congress to forbid discrimination in employment is based on the

answer

power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

question

Before the 1920s, what was the political status of Native Americans?

answer

They were considered to be foreigners because their tribes were regarded as separate nations.

question

The right to vote was strengthened in 1975 when Congress

answer

made literacy tests illegal and mandated bilingual ballots or other assistance for non-English-speaking Americans.

question

Affirmative action programs were first established in the 1960s.

answer

true

question

The American experience with civil rights suggests which of the following things about political change in the United States?

answer

Legislatures need constitutional authority to act from the courts, and the courts need legislative assistance to implement court orders and focus political support.

question

Which of the following cases helped lead to the Civil War by deciding that slaves had no due process rights even in free states and territories?

answer

Dred Scott v. Sandford

question

Which of the following statements best describes the impact of the Voting Rights Act on voter registration in southern states?

answer

The gap between the percentage of whites registering to vote and the percentage of blacks registering to vote declined significantly after passage of the Voting Rights Act.

question

Which statement best describes the path to women's suffrage in the United States?

answer

Some states granted women the right to vote first, and then a constitutional amendment gave all women the right to vote.

question

In their response to Brown v. Board of Education, southern states did all of the following except

answer

quickly desegregate their schools.

question

Why did President Dwight Eisenhower deploy federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957?

answer

The governor of Arkansas mobilized the Arkansas National Guard to block the enforcement of a federal court order to integrate Little Rock Central High School.

question

Which of the following statements about the abolitionist movement is false?

answer

The movement focused most of its energies on eliminating slavery in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

question

Which of the following best summarizes the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education?

answer

Racially segregated schools can never be equal.

question

Which area was not covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

answer

military service

question

The 1947 federal court case Mendez v. Westminster was significant because

answer

its decision to overturn school segregation of Mexican American students in California served as a precursor to Brown v. Board of Education.

question

Each of the following is a liberal organization except

answer

the Chamber of Commerce.

question

The increased importance that politicians have placed on public opinion polls over the last 50 years is due partly to

answer

The fact that it has become very difficult for political leaders to experience public opinion directly.

question

A liberal would most likely support

answer

an expansion in governmental social services.

question

Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support

answer

school prayer.

question

In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of ______ when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records.

answer

selection bias

question

Which of the following statements about the marketplace of ideas is true?

answer

Private groups and the news media play important roles in shaping opinions in the marketplace of ideas.

question

A political ideology is best defined as

answer

a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the government.

question

The median voter theorem states that

answer

the most reliable strategy for a politician to take in winning reelection is to adopt policies that are consistent with the preferences of centrist voters.

question

If I decide to support a candidate because I see that he or she is the front-runner in a poll, I become an example of

answer

the bandwagon effect.

question

A wealthy businessperson who is very liberal is an example of

answer

the fact that group memberships never fully explain all of an individual's political views.

question

Which of the following statements about the ideological preferences of Americans is false?

answer

Prior to 2000, there were almost no Americans who identified themselves as liberal.

question

The fact that Democratic Party leaders have become more liberal and Republican Party leaders more conservative is important because

answer

partisans in the public tend to rely on party leaders for cues on the appropriate positions to take on major political issues.

question

Which of the following statements about the political opinions of Democrats and Republicans in the public is most accurate?

answer

Differences between the political opinions of Democrats and Republicans on a wide variety of policy questions are greater today than during any other period in the last forty years.

question

The typical margin of error in a sample survey of 1,500 respondents is

answer

differences in political opinions between men and women.

question

In recent years, partisan realignment in the South and congressional redistricting have

answer

reduced the number of conservative Democrats and all but eliminated liberal Republicans from the Congress.

question

Most Americans are unified in their belief in the principles of liberty, equality, and democracy.

answer

true

question

Research in political science has shown that even small shifts in public opinion are always translated into changes in government policy.

answer

ideology

question

Political scientists increasingly use experiments within surveys in order to understand how subtle changes in the structure of political information can result in the expression of different political opinions.

answer

true

question

"Retail politics" refers to

answer

campaigns where candidates meet citizens face-to-face to discuss politics.

question

The famous Lincoln-Douglas debates took place

answer

outside, in the cornfields and town squares of Illinois.

question

A socialist is someone who believes that

answer

government should be very active in many spheres in order to reduce economic and social inequality.

question

The difference between a political value and a political attitude is that

answer

values are basic principles while attitudes are specific preferences.

question

Which of the following statements about leaks is false?

answer

Leaks never occurred before the George W. Bush administration.

question

When the media focus on a candidate's relative standing in the polls instead of substantive issues, they are demonstrating ______ coverage.

answer

horse race

question

Which of the following is generally regarded as a conservative news broadcasting service?

answer

fox news

question

Most local newspapers get their national news from

answer

wire services.

question

The development of media giants with access to a variety of media holdings raises the question of whether

answer

there is enough competition among the media to produce a diverse set of views and opinions.

question

The United States has approximately ______ television stations and ______ daily newspapers.

answer

2,000; 1,400

question

The Federal Communications Commission no longer requires broadcasters who air controversial issues to provide time for opposing views.

answer

true

question

Approximately what percentage of daily newspapers is owned by large media conglomerates?

answer

75%

question

The______ regulates broadcast media.

answer

Federal Communications Commission

question

The following are all concerns raised by the growing popularity of online news except

answer

a reduction in the diversity of perspectives that can potentially be heard.

question

Niche journalism refers to

answer

news reporting targeted for a demographic of readers based on content or ideological presentation.

question

The Valerie Plame affair is important because it illustrates

answer

how prominent political figures can manipulate news coverage and secure the publication of stories that serve their purposes through leaking information to journalists.

question

Television reaches more Americans than any other single source of news.

answer

true

question

Google News and Real Clear Politics are good examples of

answer

news aggregators.

question

During the nineteenth century, newspapers were controlled by

answer

political parties.

question

The Vietnam War initiated the growth of ______ journalism.

answer

adversarial

question

What has helped accelerate the trend toward less variety in national news in the past decade?

answer

the corporate consolidation of news media into a small number of conglomerates

question

The Communications Decency Act was struck down by the Supreme Court because it violated the

answer

First Amendment's right to freedom of speech.

question

Most journalists describe themselves as conservative

answer

false

question

Cheap, tabloid-style papers produced in the nineteenth century were collectively referred to as

answer

the penny press.

question

Which of the following is not a reason that Americans prefer online news?

answer

the accuracy and objectivity of the information found online

question

Which of the following is regulated by the federal government?

answer

tv

question

Some framers of the Constitution believed that adding a bill of rights would be dangerous.

answer

true

question

In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the Supreme Court ruled that

answer

laws criminalizing gay sexual behavior are a violation of the right to privacy.

question

The first and most famous test for determining when the government could intervene to suppress political speech was called the

answer

clear and present danger test.

question

The Bill of Rights

answer

is the first ten amendments to the Constitution.

question

When New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed in 2005, it illustrated that

answer

the press has no constitutional right to withhold information in court.

question

Which provision of the Bill of Rights has not been nationalized?

answer

the right to a grand jury

question

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment protects private militias.

answer

false

question

The famous Miranda rule was recently overturned by the Supreme Court.

answer

false

question

Why did the Supreme Court rule that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was unconstitutional?

answer

The Court argued that Congress had violated the separation of powers principle.

question

The Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in McDonald v. Chicago was significant because

answer

it applied the Second Amendment to state governments for the first time.

question

The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth amendments are largely about

answer

protections for those accused of committing a crime.

question

Conflicts over whether public schools should be allowed to assign reading from the Bible and lead nondenominational prayers are examples of

answer

disagreements about the meaning of the establishment clause

question

The Constitution protects all political speech that is not an incitement to imminent lawless violence.

answer

true

question

The Supreme Court formally articulated the right to privacy in a case involving

answer

access to birth control

question

Why did the Supreme Court rule the Communications Decency Act unconstitutional?

answer

Because it attempted to protect children by suppressing speech that adults have a constitutional right to receive.

question

What were the Alien and Sedition Acts?

answer

laws passed in the 1790s that made it a crime to say or publish anything that would defame the government of the United States

question

The process by which the Supreme Court has expanded specific parts of the Bill of Rights to protect citizens against state and federal actions is called

answer

selective incorporation.

question

Which of the following statements best summarizes the Supreme Court's decisions regarding the establishment clause?

answer

The Court has been strict in striking down school prayer but permissive in allowing the public display of religious symbols.

question

The procedural restraints found in the Bill of Rights

answer

define how the government is supposed to act.

question

It is unconstitutional to burn the American flag.

answer

false

question

The due process clause of the Fifth Amendment is best described as

answer

a procedural civil liberty.

question

A federal block grant gives states no discretion on how to spend the money.

answer

false

question

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) was important because

answer

it established the supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce.

question

A ______ grant requires state and local governments to submit proposals to the federal government and compete for funding.

answer

project

question

Which statement best describes American federalism since the 1930s?

answer

Although the federal government has grown significantly more powerful since the 1930s, the basic framework of American federalism has not been altered and state governments remain important.

question

The Constitution says which of the following things about relationships between states?

answer

No state shall enter into a contract or agreement with another state without the approval of Congress.

question

According to the text, when was the era of dual federalism?

answer

from the ratification of the Constitution until the New Deal

question

In the 1990s, welfare policy was centralized by the national government.

answer

false

question

When the federal government sets environmental standards that every state must follow, it is an example of

answer

regulated federalism

question

Which of the following was not a function of government most commonly performed by state governments during the era of dual federalism?

answer

patents and copyrights

question

The Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution addresses

answer

reserved powers

question

Since the New Deal, the Supreme Court has never restricted Congress's power under the commerce clause.

answer

false

question

During the era of dual federalism, what was the primary goal of the federal government's domestic policies?

answer

to assist the development of commercial activity within and between the states

question

Federal systems are most commonly found in countries that have a highly homogeneous population.

answer

false

question

Which level of government writes the majority of criminal laws?

answer

the state governments

question

______ describes the strategy of delegating a policy program to a lower level of government.

answer

Devolution

question

In the 1990s, the Supreme Court's "federalism revolution" was

answer

designed to return more power to the states.

question

When the national government appropriates money to the states but simultaneously demands the authority to dictate its distribution, this money is identified as

answer

a grant-in-aid

question

When both state and national governments possess a certain level of authority, it is called a(n)

answer

concurrent power

question

How has the full faith and credit clause been applied in cases of gay adoption?

answer

The courts have ruled that the full faith and credit clause requires states to accept adoption decisions by other states.

question

Unfunded mandate refers to the national government imposing regulatory costs on the states without reimbursement.

answer

true

question

Which statement best describes the Supreme Court's trend in interpreting federalism since the mid-1990s?

answer

The Court has limited the power of the national government over the state governments.

question

Which president was the first to promote New Federalism?

answer

NIXON

question

Under the Articles of Confederation, it was left to the ______ to execute the laws passed by Congress.

answer

states

question

The framers of the Constitution attempted to create a government that could do all of the following except

answer

lead to the eventual inclusion of nonwhites in political life.

question

The Great Compromise led to the

answer

creation of a bicameral Congress.

question

What was the most common form of taxation during the colonial era?

answer

taxes on commercial products and activities

question

The first written constitution for the United States was called

answer

the Articles of Confederation.

question

Which constitutional principle of the United States has been most frequently imitated by other nations?

answer

written constitutions

question

The Federalists believed that the threat of tyranny was most likely to be found in the popular majorities than in a handful of aristocratic persons.

answer

true

question

Which of the following statements best describes the motivations of the Founders in writing the Constitution?

answer

The Founders' primary goal was to devise a system consistent with the dominant philosophical and moral principles of the day while also promoting commerce and protecting private property from radical state legislatures.

question

Which was the only state not to send delegates to the Constitutional Convention?

answer

Rhode Island

question

The Constitution gives Congress the power to recognize other nations and to accept ambassadors from foreign countries.

answer

false

question

Shays's Rebellion was significant because it

answer

convinced many observers that the government of the Confederation had become dangerously inefficient and indecisive.

question

A conference held to analyze perceived flaws in the Articles of Confederation was called the

answer

Annapolis Convention.

question

Alexander Hamilton argued that the chief executive office should possess

answer

energy

question

Who was not appointed to help draft the Declaration of Independence?

answer

George Washington

question

The Declaration of Independence was the United States' first governing constitution.

answer

false

question

The three branches of government created by the Constitution are

answer

executive, legislative, and judicial.

question

Who orchestrated the Boston Tea Party?

answer

Samuel Adams

question

The Constitution expressly gave the Supreme Court the power of judicial review over Congress and the president.

answer

false

question

The doctrine of expressed powers means that Congress does not have any powers not listed in the Constitution.

answer

true

question

The Articles of Confederation created a weak central government and a loose alliance of nearly independent states.

answer

true

question

What led the British to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?

answer

the French and Indian Wars

question

If a person believes that the Constitution should not be amended by judges and that judges should adhere closely to the document's text when deciding cases, this person believes in

answer

"strict construction."

question

The ______ is the most important concept for the theory of pluralism.

answer

group

question

Which of the following statements best describes how Americans currently feel about laissez-faire capitalism?

answer

Americans strongly support capitalism and economic liberty but also endorse some restrictions on economic freedoms to protect the public.

question

According to the text, the United States did not become a fully democratic nation until

answer

the 1960s, when the right of African Americans to vote was enforced by federal laws. .

question

The term bourgeoisie is associated with a person from the lowest social classes.

answer

false

question

Political culture refers to the

answer

shared values, beliefs, and attitudes that serve to hold a nation and its people together.

question

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union are both examples of autocracies.

answer

false

question

The most important thing for a citizen to possess is political knowledge.

answer

true

question

Debates over the wisdom of President Bush's decision to monitor domestic phone traffic in search of communications among terrorist groups without a court warrant illustrate

answer

the difficulties in reconciling the ideal of liberty with the need for security.

question

When a single ruler controls all government power, it is called an oligarchy.

answer

false

question

Who described politics as "who gets what, when, and how"?

answer

Harold Lasswell

question

In order to be a good citizen, it is most critical to possess

answer

political knowledge.

question

Disputes over affirmative action demonstrate that

answer

Americans disagree over the public's legitimate role in ensuring the equality of opportunity.

question

According to the text, what were the essential documents of the American Founding?

answer

the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution

question

Over the past several decades, the public's belief that elected officials care what people like them think has declined.

answer

true

question

Many of the most critical dilemmas of American politics involve conflicts over the way commonly held values are put into practice.

answer

true

question

Throughout American history, the concept of liberty has been linked to the

answer

idea of limited government.

question

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President George W. Bush oversaw the creation of the Department of

answer

Homeland Security.

question

Which of the following is not an example of a totalitarian regime?

answer

the United Kingdom

question

Which of the following statements about the United States Census is most accurate?

answer

Who is counted by the census and how they are categorized by race and ethnicity have changed significantly throughout American history.

question

In ______, the ______ secured the right to vote for African Americans.

answer

1965, Voting Rights Act

question

Which of the following is a common explanation for why the United States should pursue a policy of democratization?

answer

Democratization leads to political stability.

question

The separate but equal doctrine was introduced in what Supreme Court case?

answer

Plessy v. Ferguson

question

To the Ancient Greeks, citizenship meant

answer

talking and debating about how to improve the welfare of the community.

question

The United States has never accepted the principle of popular sovereignty.

answer

false

question

The United States has never accepted the principle of popular sovereignty.

answer

false

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