American Political Institutions
Exam Materials
Course Introduction
This course offers a comprehensive examination of the foundational structures and functions of American political institutions, including the presidency, Congress, the judiciary, and the federal bureaucracy. Students will explore the development and evolution of these institutions within the context of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the ways in which they interact to shape public policy and governance. Emphasis is placed on understanding the checks and balances inherent in the system, the role of federalism, and the impact of political parties and interest groups on decision-making processes. Through the analysis of historical and contemporary case studies, students will critically assess the effectiveness and challenges of American political institutions in responding to societal needs and maintaining democratic accountability.
Recommended Textbook
American Government 14th Edition by Stephen Ansolabehere
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17 Chapters
2281 Verified Questions
2281 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Five Principles of Politics
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128 Verified Questions
128 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Governments differ in terms of who rules and what limits exist on governmental power.Describe the main types of ruling structures and of constraints on government.
Answer: Ruling
1) Autocracy: one person
2) Oligarchy: a small group of leaders (wealthy, landowners, military)
3) Democracy: broad popular participation in governing and the selection of leaders Constraints
1) None: totalitarianism.2) Informal: authoritarian.3) Formal: constitutional.Constitutions may contain both substantive limits (identifying some topics as out of bounds) and procedural limits (specifying how power can be wielded).
Q2) A negotiation session over wages and working conditions between labor and management at the local manufacturing plant is likely to be based on informal bargaining.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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3
Chapter 2: Constructing a Government: the Founding and the Constitution
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145 Verified Questions
145 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A legislative assembly such as the Congress that is divided into two chambers (or houses) is best described as
A)bipolar.
B)dual-bodied.
C)bipartisan.
D)bicameral.
E)bilateral.
Answer: D
Q2) The issue of counting slaves for purposes of representation was settled by the A)Great Compromise.
B)Virginia Plan.
C)Three-Fifths Compromise.
D)Seventh Amendment.
E)Franklin Proviso.
Answer: C
Q3) There were no checks and balances in the Constitution until passage of the Bill of Rights.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Page 4
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Chapter 3: Federalism and the Separation of Powers
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134 Verified Questions
134 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The commerce clause of the Constitution gives the federal government power to A)regulate commerce within and among states but not trade with foreign nations.
B)sell surplus commodities to the states.
C)regulate international commerce only.
D)regulate interstate commerce and trade with foreign nations.
E)nationalize profitable corporations to augment federal revenues.
Answer: D
Q2) In the United States, each of the three branches of government exercises power over the other two.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (UMRA) combined the various unfunded mandates Congress has imposed over the years into three block grant programs.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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122 Verified Questions
122 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the difference between libel and slander?
A)Libel is spoken, and slander is written.
B)Libel is written, and slander is spoken.
C)Libel is illegal; slander is not.
D)Slander is illegal; libel is not.
E)There is no difference between libel and slander.
Q2) Which of the following standards is NOT part of the Lemon test?
A)The action must have a secular purpose.
B)The action's primary effect is not to advance religion.
C)The action's effect is not to inhibit religion.
D)The action does not entangle government and religious institutions in one another's affairs.
E)The action does not involve invoking the name of deity.
Q3) List and discuss the rights of the criminally accused.Identify which of these rights are most important for the protection of society and explain why.
Q4) The Supreme Court decided in the Barron v.Baltimore case that states are prohibited from treating people as property.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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107 Verified Questions
107 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Are courts political institutions? Explain why or why not in relation to the advancement of civil rights in the United States.
Q2) Which concept best explains why the Supreme Court was able to rule in Dred Scott v.Sandford (1857) that a former slave was not a citizen under Missouri law?
A)state's rights
B)dual citizenship
C)selective incorporation
D)equal protection
E)naturalized citizenship
Q3) The case ruling that cities were only required to desegregate their schools if they were found guilty of deliberate and de jure segregation was
A)Swann v.Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.
B)Brown v.Board of Education.
C)Milliken v.Bradley.
D)Plessy v.Ferguson.
E)Missouri v.Jenkins.
Q4) Distinguish between civil liberties and civil rights.Why are both necessary to curb the powers of government?
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Congress: the First Branch
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154 Verified Questions
154 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Part of the reason incumbents are so successful at reelection is that they scare off potential challengers.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In the American political system, the power to approve the appointment of ambassadors lies with the
A)Senate.
B)president.
C)Supreme Court.
D)House of Representatives.
E)Office of Management and Budget.
Q3) In the U.S.Congress, no floor action on any bill can take place until the committee with jurisdiction over it has taken all the time it needs to deliberate.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Legislators may trade votes to have more influence on issues in which they have intense interests.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: The Presidency As an Institution
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160 Verified Questions
160 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is one of the president's expressed powers?
A)suspend writ of free press
B)select candidates for Congress in his or her political party
C)nominate federal judges
D)declare war
E)raise taxes
Q2) What is the primary difference between White House staff and other advisers from cabinet departments or the Executive Office of the President?
A)They tend to be much older.
B)They are composed of elected officials from local, state, and federal offices.
C)They must be approved by the Senate.
D)They are often citizens of other countries.
E)They are much more focused on the president's electoral and partisan interests.
Q3) Explain the role of the vice president.How are vice presidents selected? Discuss the relationships that specific vice presidents have had with their presidents.
Q4) What conditions would make a president more likely to prioritize a legislative strategy over an administrative strategy for making policy change?
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Chapter 8: The Executive Branch: Bureaucracy in a Democracy
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139 Verified Questions
139 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What does the suggestion that clientele agencies provide functional representation mean?
A)Clients hold clientele agencies accountable if the agencies fail to represent them properly.
B)Clientele agencies learn the interests and needs of their clients and then advocate for them in Washington.
C)Clientele agencies are composed of individuals who match the characteristics of their clients.
D)Clientele agencies serve as trustees and do what they think is right for their clients, regardless of the agency's expressed interests.
E)Clients vote for members of the clientele agency to ensure they adequately represent the clients' interests.
Q2) Career civil servants and high-level political appointees are politicians.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Should bureaucracy be reduced? If so, how?
Q4) How can an unelected bureaucracy remain accountable to the citizenry it is supposed to serve?
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Chapter 9: The Federal Courts
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150 Verified Questions
150 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Procedural requirements in state courts tend to be stricter than federal procedural requirements.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The U.S.Supreme Court operates primarily as a trial court.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Under which condition would a criminal case enter the realm of public law?
A)if the plaintiff appeals to a higher court
B)if the plaintiff waives the right to a jury trial
C)if the defendant is found not to have standing
D)if the defendant claims that constitutional rights were violated
E)if the losing party in federal court appeals to a state court
Q4) Activism and restraint by the court are the same as liberalism and conservatism.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In the United States, the courts resolve both civil and criminal disputes.
A)True
B)False
Q6) How do the jurisdictions of federal and state courts differ?
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Public Opinion
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126 Verified Questions
126 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Preferences are based on what people want.
A)True
B)False
Q2) During the nineteenth century, a liberal was an individual who favored
A)freedom from state control.
B)expansion of federal social services.
C)extensive government intervention in the economy.
D)greater concern for consumers and the environment.
E)increased spending for social welfare programs.
Q3) A polling error where the sample is not representative of the population is called measurement bias.
A)True
B)False
Q4) On most matters that come before the government, the public
A)holds a single view and has great expertise.
B)does not hold a single view and has great expertise.
C)holds a single view and does not generally have great expertise.
D)does not hold a single view and does not generally have great expertise.
E)holds a single view and has zero expertise.
Q5) What factors account for differences in public opinion?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Elections
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147 Verified Questions
147 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The presidential candidate who wins a plurality of the popular vote in the country wins the presidency.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is the best term for party identification that is based on a preferred party's typical policy positions?
A)lockstep partisanship
B)psychological attachment
C)stare decisis
D)ideological affinity
E)Duverger's Law
Q3) Which of the following is an example of someone who is eligible to vote in the United States?
A)an immigrant who is applying for citizenship
B)a 16-year-old high school student
C)a prison inmate in Massachusetts
D)an 18-year-old high school student
E)a French exchange student on a six-month visa
Q4) Explain how the rules governing the electoral process help determine outcomes.
Q5) Discuss the politics surrounding congressional redistricting.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Political Parties
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138 Verified Questions
138 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The organizational genius behind the Jacksonian movement who established a party central committee, state party organizations, and party newspapers was Jackson's vice president and eventual successor,
A)John Tyler.
B)James Polk.
C)John C.Calhoun.
D)William Henry Harrison.
E)Martin Van Buren.
Q2) Legislative parties face a collective choice problem in trying to set policy.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Today parties serve no meaningful roles for candidates.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Blacks overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How do political parties help to shape and organize policy making at the national level?
Q6) What specific functions do political parties perform?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Groups and Interests
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127 Verified Questions
127 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In 1990, Congress encouraged administrative agencies to engage in direct and open discussion with affected stakeholders when developing new regulations through the __________ Act.
A)Public Interest
B)Negotiated Rulemaking
C)Regulatory Participation
D)Interest Group Pluralism
E)Public Affairs
Q2) Special goods, services, or money provided to members of groups to entice others to join are examples of __________ benefits.
A)solidary
B)material
C)purposive
D)informational
E)substantive
Q3) Membership in interest groups is randomly distributed in the population.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Why has the number of interest groups expanded over the last 50 years?
Q5) What strategies are available for interest groups to influence public policy?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: The Media
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129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why do reporters write stories from press releases even though they know that press releases are biased?
A)The reporters select the stories that conform to their biases.
B)The reporters select stories that conform to the biases of their editors and publishers.
C)Press releases allow a newspaper to present more stories with fewer employees.
D)Press releases often come with monetary incentives for their publication.
E)Press agents are typically better writers than news reporters.
Q2) Since the 1960s, the notable bias in newspaper endorsements has been
A)pro-Democratic.
B)pro-Republican.
C)pro-Eastern establishment.
D)anti-incumbent.
E)balanced out between Democratic and Republican.
Q3) Most of the programs on talk radio are liberal in opinion.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The newspaper industry today is in serious economic trouble.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Economic Policy
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133 Verified Questions
133 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Before the 1930s, neither the federal nor state governments sought to promote full employment.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The federal government has the power to break up a monopoly.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Changing the interest rate at which banks lend to each other is a process called
A)open-market operations.
B)federal loan management.
C)acquisition and divestiture functionality.
D)adjustment of the federal funds rate.
E)quantitative easing.
Q4) Which of the following policies is NOT a fiscal policy?
A)cutting the income tax
B)raising a tariff
C)eliminating the capital gains tax
D)borrowing money for federal spending
E)changing the federal funds rate
Q5) Describe the government's role in creating the foundation for a market economy.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Social Policy
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118 Verified Questions
118 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evaluate the welfare state.What are the best arguments against it, and what are the most effective arguments for it?
Q2) The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act restricts individual entitlement to assistance to a lifetime limit of __________ years.
A)two B)five
C)seven D)twelve E)fifteen
Q3) The Social Security payroll tax is best classified as a(n) __________ tax.
A)flat
B)regressive
C)progressive D)incremental
E)sales
Q4) What goals should social policies promote and why?
Q5) Unlike Social Security, Medicare is a means-tested program. A)True B)False
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Chapter 17: Foreign Policy
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124 Verified Questions
124 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is a new type of security challenge to America's information infrastructure?
A)ample food supplies
B)adequate transportation infrastructure
C)ample energy sources
D)assassination
E)cyber warfare
Q2) Which of the following is an example of a non-state actor?
A)France
B)Russia
C)China
D)Amnesty International
E)North Korea
Q3) To counter new security threats posed by non-state actors, the United States has shifted from a policy of deterrence to a policy of appeasement.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explain the role of Congress in modern American foreign policy.
Q5) Is there a substitute for war?
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