American Politics
Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
American Politics is an in-depth exploration of the principles, institutions, and processes that shape the political system of the United States. This course examines the Constitution, federalism, the role of political parties, elections, interest groups, and the media, as well as the functions of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Students will analyze key policy issues, the influence of public opinion, and the impact of social movements, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics that drive political decision-making and governance in America.
Recommended Textbook
American Government and Politics Today Essentials 2015 2016 Edition 18th Edition by Barbara
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Page 2
A.
Chapter 1: The Democratic Republic
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Sample Questions
Q1) Politics exists
A) only in government institutions.
B) in every community that makes decisions.
C) in schools, social groups, and organized groups of individuals.
D) only in formal settings.
E) Options B and C are true.
Answer: E
Q2) The total collapse of government
A) is a common event.
B) is a cyclical event.
C) is an uncommon event.
D) accompanies every revolution.
E) None of the above is true.
Answer: C
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Q1) The voting age of eighteen was set by
A) Congress.
B) the Twenty-Sixth Amendment.
C) the Nineteenth Amendment.
D) the Supreme Court.
E) the states.
Answer: B
Q2) Regarding the notion of the United States as a "Christian nation," the founders believed that
A) the official religion of the United States should be that of the majority of the people.
B) the United States serves a divine mission and biblical purpose.
C) all religion should be prohibited.
D) mixing religion and government is a recipe for disaster.
E) Both C and D.
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) The Supreme Court's recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act
A) overturned parts of the act, taking power away from the states.
B) overturned parts of the act, making for a major states' rights victory.
C) upheld the act, taking power away from the states.
D) upheld the act, making for a major states' rights victory.
E) opened the way for voting by non-citizens.
Answer: B
Q2) An agreement between two or more states is
A) shared governance.
B) an interstate compact.
C) an intrastate treaty.
D) a cooperative agreement.
E) unconstitutional.
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) New York Times v. United States
A) affirmed the no-prior-restraint doctrine in the Pentagon Papers case.
B) upheld the government's right to let the public have information about Vietnam.
C) punished the New York Times for publishing secret documents.
D) affirmed the free speech of students in public schools.
E) Options A and C are true.
Q2) All of the following are true about religious displays on public property <B>except</B>
A) court cases over these issues have been ruled upon under the establishment clause.
B) religious displays have been allowed in certain situations.
C) displays of a crèche at Christmastime may be allowed if non-secular displays are also being shown.
D) nativity scenes have been allowed to be displayed by themselves.
E) displays such as lights, Santa Claus, and reindeer have been allowed.
Q3) Discuss the death penalty, the problems it has faced, and the conditions under which it may or may not be unconstitutional.
Q4) What are the Miranda rights? What exceptions have been allowed to these rights?
Q5) Explain the positions of those for and those against the Patriot Act.
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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Q1) The use of __________ was instrumental in bringing about the integration of lunch counters, buses, and trains.
A) sit-ins
B) roadblocks at night in rural areas
C) court injunctions that prohibited interstate travel in areas threatened by violence
D) the threat of armed force
E) public demonstrations featuring violence against whites
Q2) In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court considered two different admissions policies adopted at the University of Michigan Law School and
A) for the first time, ruled that an affirmative action was unconstitutional.
B) ruled that "diversity" could not be a compelling government interest.
C) approved affirmative action plans that took race into consideration as part of a complete examination of the applicant's background.
D) approved a plan that automatically awarded points toward admission to minority applicants.
E) ruled that the time had come for all affirmative action programs to end, since government could do nothing more to alleviate the effects of past discrimination.
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion and Political Socialization
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Q1) Public opinion affects the political process
A) because it is a source of power for elected officials who take positions supported by the people.
B) despite the fact that most candidates dismiss public opinion as an effective means of identifying issues of concern.
C) because it allows the media to control the government.
D) because it is more important than elections in bringing about change in the government.
E) despite the fact that public opinion polls hardly ever reflect public opinion accurately.
Q2) One of the problems with polls is
A) they may fail to measure the impact of undecided voters.
B) because they are a snapshot in time, polls may fail to detect last-minute shifts in the electorate.
C) they are based on a random sample.
D) the results are affected by the news media.
E) Options A and B are true.
Q3) Describe the significance and possible origins of the gender gap.
Q4) Explain how demographic influences shape voting behavior.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Interest Groups
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Q1) Evaluate the roles of size, leadership, and cohesiveness in interest group power and argue which of these you believe to be the most important and why.
Q2) Republicans tend to get support from interest groups like _________, while ___________ tend(s) to support Democrats.
A) the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Americans for Tax Reform
B) environmental groups; Americans for Tax Reform
C) Americans for Tax Reform; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
D) labor unions; environmental groups
E) the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; labor unions
Q3) The primary purpose of 1946 legislation that targeted lobbying was to
A) prohibit all lobbying activities.
B) restrict lobbying to the legislative branch.
C) heavily regulate lobbying.
D) improve public disclosure of lobbying.
E) create an agency that would oversee lobbying.
Q4) What are the differences between a social movement and an interest group? How are they related?
Q5) Explain the direct techniques used by interest groups.
Q6) Describe legislative efforts to regulate the activities of lobbyists.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Political Parties
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Q1) All of the following are true <B>except</B>
A) the Republican Party was founded by uniting northern Whigs, anti-slavery Democrats, and members of the Free Soil Party.
B) southerners resented Republicans' role in defeating the South in the Civil War.
C) the Republicans after the Civil War supported business interests and evangelical Protestant cultural values.
D) the Republicans turned to supporting states' rights after the Civil War.
E) the Republicans opposed the prohibition of alcoholic beverages after the Civil War.
Q2) Progressivism was
A) a response to the growing power of corporations.
B) embraced by Teddy Roosevelt.
C) a belief that honest, impartial government could regulate the economy.
D) Options A and B are true.
E) All of the above are true.
Q3) Explain the phenomenon of "wave elections" and provide examples.
Q4) Explore the role played by third parties in the United States.
Q5) Describe the different functions of political parties in our system.
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Campaigns and Elections
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Q1) Almost all of the support for creating voter ID laws has come from
A) Republicans.
B) Democrats.
C) libertarians.
D) socialists.
E) None of the above.
Q2) The widespread belief behind criticisms of money in the electoral system is that
A) large campaign contributions by special interests corrupt the political system.
B) when one party comes to power, it limits the flow of money to the other party.
C) the two parties restrict the flow of money to third parties.
D) it forces citizens to spend money to be actively engaged in politics.
E) None of the above.
Q3) The requirements to register to vote include all of the following <B>except</B>
A) choosing a political party.
B) being age eighteen or older.
C) being a citizen.
D) having residency where you register.
E) All of the above are true.
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Chapter 10: The Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) Newspapers online
A) sell enough advertising to cover their costs.
B) cover all of their costs by requiring all viewers to buy a subscription.
C) lose advertising revenue to services such as Google and Yahoo.
D) provide content for free to services such as Google and Yahoo.
E) All of the above are true.
Q2) News blogs
A) are a dangerous new invention.
B) are only produced by paid journalists.
C) can be produced inexpensively.
D) provide the same high-quality information as traditional newspapers.
E) are the main source of news to a majority of Americans.
Q3) Most news media in the United States are
A) private, for-profit corporations.
B) dependent on their newspaper sales to make a profit.
C) public and government subsidized.
D) small and independently owned.
E) None of the above.
Q4) Discuss the media's role in political socialization, with a focus on how and why different generations might have been socialized differently.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: The Congress
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Q1) The job of a conference committee is to
A) originate appropriations bills.
B) reconcile House and Senate versions of a bill.
C) set the rules of debate for a bill.
D) determine the committee path of a bill.
E) override a presidential veto.
Q2) The members of Congress are
A) representative of the voting public in terms of income.
B) representative of the voting population in terms of race.
C) not representative of the voting population in terms of gender.
D) not representative of the voting population in terms of political viewpoint.
E) All of the above are true.
Q3) In 2011, ________________ threatened to refuse to raise the debt ceiling in order to __________________.
A) Senate Republicans; win significant spending cuts
B) Senate Republicans; win the privatization of Social Security
C) House Republicans; increase the portion of the budget dedicated to military spending
D) House Republicans; win the privatization of Social Security
E) House Republicans; win significant spending cuts
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The President
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Q1) Presidents have frequently invoked _____________ to avoid disclosing to Congress about the activities of the executive branch.
A) executive secrecy
B) the Nixon rule
C) executive privilege
D) strict scrutiny
E) None of the above.
Q2) Presidential candidates have asked individuals to join the ticket as vice presidential candidates for all of the following reasons<B> except</B>
A) to balance the ticket by region or political philosophy.
B) to attract groups of voters or appease party factions.
C) to reinforce one of the presidential candidate's strong points.
D) to shore up the presidential candidate's perceived weaknesses.
E) to serve as a co-president.
Q3) Detail the reasons and ways in which a vice president may assume the presidency, without actually winning election to that office.
Q4) Compare the president's veto power to the pocket veto and line-item veto. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
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14
Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy
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Q1) The Social Security Administration, Small Business Administration, and the Smithsonian Institution are examples of
A) cabinet departments.
B) independent executive agencies.
C) independent regulatory agencies.
D) government corporations.
E) corporations subject to regulation.
Q2) All of the following are true of national ID cards <b>except</b>
A) the American public has never accepted the concept of a national ID card.
B) many other countries in the world require citizens to obtain a national ID card.
C) the lack of ID is a burden on the world's poorest people.
D) national ID cards are not privacy concerns because they cannot collect data.
E) a national ID card might be a convenient way to avoid having to carry different types of identification such as a driver's license and a Social Security card.
Q3) Discuss the ways in which the political participation and affiliation of federal employees has changed under the spoils system, the Hatch Act, and the 1993 Federal Employees Political Activities Act.
Q4) Describe the different models of bureaucracy.
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Page 15
Chapter 14: The Courts
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Q1) When William Rehnquist was appointed chief justice in 1986
A) Supreme Court decisions had always been in line with conservative ideology.
B) justices became even more fixed in their ideological orientations.
C) the commerce clause was struck down by liberal justices.
D) the Supreme Court began a shift toward greater conservatism.
E) the Supreme Court lost its swing votes.
Q2) The last step in the decision-making process of the Supreme Court is
A) announcing its decision to the public and the reasons for it.
B) assigning a justice to write an opinion.
C) deciding if the Court will hear the case.
D) hearing oral arguments in the case.
E) asking the lower court to send the records of the case for review.
Q3) With regard to constitutions
A) the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
B) state constitutions are supreme within state borders, unless they conflict with the U.S. Constitution.
C) the state constitution of one state may affect law in another state.
D) Both A and B.
E) Both A and C.
Q4) Explain the process by which the U.S. Supreme Court decides to hear cases.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Domestic and Economic Policy
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Q1) Which of the following is true?
A) A recession is defined as two or more successive quarters in which the economy shrinks instead of grows.
B) A recession is defined as two or more quarters in which unemployment rates are above 7 percent.
C) Unemployment is defined as the total number of workers who are not in the workforce in any given quarter.
D) Inflation is defined as a sudden rise in prices for hot commodities such as gasoline and electronics.
E) All of the above are true.
Q2) Explanations for the decline in crime rates since 1995 include all of the following <b>except</b>
A) a booming economy.
B) increased federal expenditures to combat crime.
C) an increase in the prison population.
D) the legalization of abortion.
E) a lack of concern about crime among American citizens.
Q3) Discuss the issue of incarceration rates in the United States and how they relate to the rates of crime in American society.
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Page 17
Chapter 16: Foreign Policy
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Q1) The government agencies that are involved in gathering information about the capabilities and intentions of foreign governments are collectively known as
A) the Washington community.
B) the armed services consortium.
C) the intelligence community.
D) the National Security Council.
E) regulatory agencies.
Q2) The State Department is
A) directly responsible to Congress.
B) not involved in short-term foreign policy.
C) the executive agency that is most directly concerned with foreign affairs.
D) responsible for making foreign policy, not the president.
E) one of the largest cabinet departments.
Q3) The U.S. war in _____________ was fought against _______________.
A) Afghanistan; al Qaeda and the Taliban regime
B) Iraq; al Qaeda and the Taliban regime
C) Syria; the Hussein regime
D) Iraq; the Assad regime
E) Afghanistan; the Hussein regime
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Page 18