question

Civil liberties are __________ that the government cannot take away.

answer

Protections

question

The Bill of Rights is made up of the first __________ amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

answer

Ten

question

Which clause prevents the national government from sanctioning an official religion?

answer

Establishment

question

Which rule bars the use of illegally seized evidence at trial?

answer

Exclusionary

question

Which U.S. Supreme Court case found that a woman's right to have an abortion is protected by the implied constitutional right to privacy?

answer

Roe v. Wade

question

Which of the following could pass muster and not be considered obscenity under the Roth test?

answer

Film

question

Prohibiting a newspaper from publishing a story critical of the government is example of what kind of law?

answer

Prior restraint

question

During World War I, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Charles T. Schenck, ruling that government can limit speech that __________.

answer

Creates a clear and present danger

question

The Military Commission Act of 2006 allowed the government to jail detainees without an opportunity to file which of the following?

answer

A write of habeas corpus

question

In Engel v. Vitale, the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional to require school children to do which of the following?

answer

Pray

question

The Thirteenth Amendment bans slavery. When was it passed?

answer

Immediately after the Civil War

question

The Fourteenth Amendment attempted to guarantee which of the following to former slaves?

answer

Citizenship rights

question

The provision of the Fourteenth Amendment that prohibits any state from denying any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of the laws" is known as the __________ clause.

answer

Equal Protection

question

The Fifteenth Amendment guarantees citizens the right to vote regardless of __________.

answer

Race

question

What was the objective of the women's suffrage movement?

answer

Broad gender equality

question

In the standards of review used to determine whether a policy is an unconstitutional violation of the equal protection clause, how do the "inherently suspect" and "reasonableness" standards differ?

answer

Under the inherently suspect standard, courts presume the policy is invalid and the burden is on the rule maker to prove the policy serves a compelling public interest, while under the reasonableness standard, courts defer to the rule maker unless the person challenging the policy can prove it is arbitrary rather than reasonable.

question

What was the Supreme Court's justification for overturning the separate-but-equal doctrine?

answer

Segregated schools stigmatize minority children and are inherently unequal.

question

Which of the following arguments would most likely be made by an opponent of affirmative action policies?

answer

Unaddressed past discrimination causes perpetual inequality.

question

What rationale did the Supreme Court rely on in deciding that Jim Crow laws were not unconstitutional?

answer

Segregation in public facilities was not unconstitutional as long as the separate facilities were substantially equal.

question

Why was bussing necessary for integrating some public schools?

answer

Some whites refuse to attend schools with African Americans.

question

What is demography?

answer

The science of human populations

question

According to Figure 6.1, which group makes up the smallest percentage of the minority population in the United States?

answer

Native American

question

The textbook discusses three important agents that can socialize Americans to participate in the political process. What are they?

answer

The media, the schools, and the family

question

How do Internet pollsters, such as Knowledge Networks, ensure participation in Web-based surveys?

answer

People are paid a small sum every time they participate.

question

To what do political scientists attribute the relatively restrained scope of government activities in the United States compared to most European nations?

answer

The predominance of conservative thinking in America

question

Politicians who believe that America's competitiveness in the globalized economy would be better served allocating a substantial percentage of immigrant visas to people with special talents would be more likely than other politicians to repeal which piece of immigration legislation?

answer

Hart-Celler Immigration and Nationality Act

question

Many of the commercials that air during the nightly news broadcasts of ABC, CBS, and NBC seem to be for various prescription drugs. What is the most plausible explanation for this fact?

answer

The median age of viewers of nightly news broadcasts is 62

question

Which sector of the economy do conservatives generally favor as the source of solutions to solve America's policy concerns?

answer

The private sector

question

In comparison with citizens of most other established democracies around the world, how are Americans different?

answer

Americans are less likely than citizens of other democracies to report that they have participated in protests.

question

When do blacks participate more in politics than whites?

answer

When their levels of education are equal to those of whites

question

One of the various ways in which parties contribute to democratic governance is by __________.

answer

Nominating candidates

question

Which statement best describes the functioning of party machines in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

answer

Parties provided jobs to urban electorates in exchange for votes and kickbacks.

question

What best explains the demise of city patronage systems in the early twentieth century?

answer

Progressive reforms and ethnic integration

question

One of the consequences of two-party government is __________.

answer

The moderation of political conflict

question

How are third political parties usually significant?

answer

They bring new voters into the electorate.

question

Which demographic group currently most closely identifies with the Democratic Party?

answer

African Americans

question

One reason why political parties do not take stronger policy positions on issues and then enforce them is that __________.

answer

Parties have no way to bind elected officials to party platforms

question

In the parliamentary system of government common to European democracies discussed in the chapter's "America in Perspective" box, why are coalition governments so prevalent?

answer

Single parties do not always win a majority of parliamentary seats.

question

A __________ results after fissures develop in each party's coalition, which begins to fracture after new issues appear, dividing the electorate. Each party forms a new coalition—one that endures for years.

answer

Realigning or critical election

question

Which has partly filled in the void of the urban party machine?

answer

Affluent suburban county parties

question

James Madison described how a government could be designed to control the effects of __________.

answer

Factions

question

When a case that an interest group is interested in, but not actually sponsoring, comes before a court, the group can __________.

answer

File an amicus curiae brief to present the group's analysis of the case

question

In contrast to pluralists, elitists generally argue that

answer

The power of a few is fortified by an extensive system of interlocking directorates

question

Which of the following raise money from individuals and then distribute it in the form of contributions to political candidates?

answer

PACs

question

According to Madison, a(n) __________ is a group of individuals concerned more with their self-interest than with the rights of individuals outside the group or with the needs of society as a whole.

answer

Faction

question

Why is it significant that business/economic interest groups have more lobbyists in Washington, D.C., than other types of groups?

answer

Some people fear that government may disproportionately favor business interests in policy making.

question

Which of the following conditions would eliminate the free-rider problem?

answer

If participation in an interest group were mandatory

question

Which of the following statements confirms the theory of pluralism?

answer

Elected officials seek out the opinions of multiple interest groups when creating policy

question

Interest groups are important subjects of study in American politics because __________.

answer

They provide a venue for citizens to participate in government

question

Why is the correlation between a group's financial resources and its lobbying success so weak?

answer

Lobbying is a competitive enterprise, with big interests often facing off against one another.

question

Differences in press coverage between President Reagan and President Obama show __________.

answer

A diminishing audience for national news and presidential messages

question

Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other forms of communication are collectively referred to as the __________.

answer

Mass media

question

According to journalist Marc Hertsgaard, which of the following is one of the seven principles on which news management in the Reagan White House operated?

answer

Stay on the offensive.

question

In 1960, one newspaper was sold for every two adults, but by 2008, one paper was sold for every __________ adults.

answer

Five

question

In 1934, Congress created which body to regulate the use of the airwaves?

answer

Federal Communications Commission

question

The media's emphasis on the country's slow economic growth in 1992, rather than the good news of low inflation and interest rates, helped set the stage for Bill Clinton's win over the incumbent president, George H. W. Bush. This is an example of what?

answer

Agenda setting

question

Television has enabled voters to rely less on political parties and social groups to make their decisions about candidates and more on their own assessment. According to the text, this is because television allows __________.

answer

Candidates to be seen up close and personal

question

Which of the following reflects the argument that political scientist Patrick Sellers uses to dispute the view that media campaigns motivated by politics are self-serving public relations ploys?

answer

They generate public deliberation.

question

According to Ronald Berkman and Laura Kitch, what fuels democracy and is the greatest boon to democracy since the secret ballot?

answer

Information

question

According to many network executives, many in the American public are not well informed in this high-tech age because of __________.

answer

Influence of personal bias

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