American Politics
Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
American Politics is an introductory course that examines the foundational structures, processes, and key actors of the United States government. The class explores the Constitution, federalism, civil rights and liberties, political institutions such as Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court, as well as the role of political parties, interest groups, public opinion, and the electoral system. Through a combination of theoretical perspectives and contemporary case studies, students gain a nuanced understanding of how American political systems function, how policies are made, and how citizens participate in the political process.
Recommended Textbook
The Challenge of Democracy American Government in Global Politics 13th Edition by Kenneth Janda
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Freedom, Order, or Equality
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Thomas Hobbes,author of Leviathan,the proper objective of government is to ensure A)freedom.
B)order.
C)a functioning economy.
D)public goods.
E)free and fair elections.
Answer: B
Q2) In general,libertarianism
A)opposes all government action except that which protects life and property.
B)supports government action to protect public morals.
C)supports a strong government role in the economy.
D)encourages government-initiated programs to help the needy.
E)seeks to destroy inequities in government programs.
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) An election on a public policy issue is called a(n)
A)initiative.
B)referendum.
C)primary.
D)recall.
E)procedure.
Answer: B
Q2) According to the ____________ view of democracy,anti-gay marriage laws are democratic.
A)substantive
B)authoritarian
C)oligarchic
D)Greek
E)procedural
Answer: E
Q3) Discuss why democratization can be difficult to achieve in different parts of the world,and why there is a strong relationship between economic prosperity and democracy.
Answer: Answers will vary.
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Page 4
Chapter 3: The Constitution
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Q1) Including the Bill of Rights,__________ amendments have been added to the Constitution.
A)ten
B)nineteen
C)seventeen
D)fifty-four
E)twenty-seven
Answer: E
Q2) The chief objective of the First Continental Congress was to
A)establish trade relations with foreign powers like France and Germany.
B)select a commander for the Continental Army.
C)draft the U.S. Constitution.
D)restore peaceful relations between the colonies and Great Britain.
E)decide how to deal with the issue of slavery.
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Federalism
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Sample Questions
Q1) Preclearance is the process of
A)obtaining the approval of Congress before passing state laws.
B)seeking advance rulings on constitutionality of legislation from the supreme court.
C)asking the governor to sign off on a proposed law before introducing it.
D)submitting redistricting plans to the Justice Department for approval.
E)providing citizens with advance notice of the effect of newly-passed laws.
Q2) Federal government support for the Common Core was
A)the chief reason the standards were written.
B)required by federal legislation.
C)a problem because it created an appearance that the standards threatened state authority.
D)irrelevant to the drafting and adoption of the standards.
E)not a reason for drafting standards, but was the primary influence on their final form.
Q3) Compare the attitudes of conservatives and liberals to states' rights.
Q4) Discuss the special challenges faced by state and local governments as a result of the economic downturn in 2008,and ways governments can and did respond to these challenges.
Q5) Identify the key elements of cooperative federalism.
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion and Political Socialization
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Q1) Lack of political knowledge among individual Americans makes the ___________ model more difficult to sustain.
A)communitarian
B)pluralist
C)majoritarian
D)substantive
E)procedural
Q2) Based on the ideological typology described in the text,explain how liberals and conservatives differ in America.
Q3) Young Americans are more reliably socialized into their parents' religions when
A)both parents follow the same religion.
B)religious issues track social issues.
C)religious institutions focus heavily on socialization.
D)parents follow different religions.
E)they believe they are being rebellious among their peers by adopting their parents' religion.
Q4) How is gender related to political beliefs and opinion?
Q5) Identify and discuss the factors that can cause polls results to be wrong.
Q6) How is education related to attitudes toward social order and economic freedom?
Q7) How are race and ethnicity related to political beliefs and opinion?
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Chapter 6: The Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) A country where the government heavily censors Internet news and search engines is
A)Germany.
B)China.
C)South Africa.
D)Argentina.
E)Italy.
Q2) The Internet was started
A)in 1989, by Bill Gates for Microsoft's Windows products.
B)in 1972, by a group of thirty-seven universities.
C)in 1983, by IBM for use on its mainframes.
D)in 1920, after the Great Depression.
E)in 1969, with support from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Q3) To stay in business in the digital age,many newspapers have __________ their online content,with varying degrees of success.
A)strictly limited
B)become more objective and even-handed in C)relinquished control of D)begun including only local interest content in E)instituted paywalls for
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Chapter 7: Participation and Voting
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following was the first known act of unconventional participation in America?
A)The Revolutionary War
B)The Declaration of Independence
C)The civil rights marches of the 1960s
D)Shays's Rebellion
E)The Boston Tea Party
Q2) Psychological explanations of turnout suggest that voting will rise if
A)more Americans believe that government is responsive.
B)party identification increases among the electorate.
C)educational levels rise.
D)a major war begins.
E)satisfaction with government policies declines.
Q3) ____________ championed the direct primary.
A)African Americans
B)Democrats
C)Southern voters
D)New voters under 21 years old
E)Progressives
Q4) How does political participation relate to freedom,equality,and order?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) The __________ was the first "third" party in American history to challenge the two major parties for the presidency and called the first national party convention.
A)the Free Soil Party
B)the Bull Moose Party
C)the Reform Party
D)the Anti-Masonic Party
E)the Whig Party
Q2) Which of the following statements best describes the attitude of the American people toward political parties?
A)Americans feel strong personal loyalties to their parties.
B)Americans see parties as inherently undemocratic.
C)Americans would like to see many more than two parties.
D)Americans recognize the value of parties but distrust the existing ones.
E)Americans are ideologically divided, as are parties.
Q3) Identify and describe the four different eras of political party dominance since the Civil War.
Q4) Explain how the party reforms of the Republicans and Democrats have differed since the 1970s.
Q5) Discuss the functions served by political parties in today's political system.
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Chapter 9: Nominations, Elections, and Campaigns
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Sample Questions
Q1) Congressional campaign finance laws regulating elections were significantly strengthened after
A)scandals involving labor union contributions in 1952.
B)the resignation of John F. Kennedy's vice president for accepting bribes.
C)financial misdeeds during Nixon's 1972 reelection campaign.
D)Jimmy Carter's Secretary of State was convicted for bribery.
E)Ronald Reagan heavily outspent Carter in the 1980 election.
Q2) Since 1952,Democrats have generally been a majority of the electorate,but Republicans have won more presidential elections,because according to the text,_____________.
A)polls estimating the Democrat voter population are faulty
B)Republican party identification has changed over the years
C)Democrats are more likely to "defect" on the basis of candidates' attributes and the issues
D)Democrats have failed to field candidates in some elections
E)voters are disenchanted with the Democrats' perennial fundraising advantage over Republicans
Q3) Explain how electoral votes are apportioned and which parts of the nation have seen their state's electoral votes either increase or decrease.
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Interest Groups
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Q1) Which of the following is not necessary for the pluralist model of interest groups to be fair?
A)All significant interests in the population should be represented by groups.
B)Government should listen to the views of all major interests.
C)Lawmakers should attempt to balance perfectly the views of all competing interests.
D)Lawmakers should pay attention to the concerns of lobbyists.
E)The majoritarian model's emphasis on competitive elections should be viewed as compatible with pluralism.
Q2) James Madison made all but which of the following arguments in his essay,Federalist No.10?
A)The development of differences between interest groups is inevitable.
B)The fundamental causes of faction are sown into man's nature.
C)In a democratic republic, government can mediate among opposing factions.
D)Factions can be eliminated without removing Americans' freedoms.
E)The size and diversity of the nation is an important factor restraining majority factions.
Q3) Discuss the tactics used by interest groups as part of information campaigns.
Q4) Identify five ways that interest groups benefit our political system.
Q5) Explain the difference between direct lobbying and grassroots lobbying.
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Chapter 11: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following powers is the exclusive power of the Senate?
A)To approve treaties
B)To impeach
C)To redistrict
D)To originate revenue bills
E)All of these choices are true.
Q2) A vote on a bill in the Senate results in a tie.What would likely be the official outcome of the vote on the bill?
A)The bill would be withdrawn and submitted at a later time, when one additional vote could be secured.
B)The bill would be killed.
C)The president's party would prevail.
D)The parties would reach a compromise in the conference committee.
E)The leadership would canvass members to change the one vote needed for passage.
Q3) Identify and describe the differences between the various types of congressional committees.
Q4) Discuss the president's veto power over legislation passed by Congress.
Q5) Discuss how their four major influences affect Congressional decision-making.
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Chapter 12: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) Provide four reasons why presidential cabinets are advisory bodies in theory,but not in reality.
Q2) In his effort to respond to the high incidence of sexual assault on college campuses,President Obama
A)relied on the "bully pulpit" to create public interest in the issue and pressure on campuses.
B)filed a lawsuit in a legal action attempting to force colleges to combat sexual assault.
C)created a plan to enforce civil rights law, under the theory that sexual assault is a civil rights issue.
D)initiated a program that then was not followed up effectively and ultimately accomplished nothing.
E)attempted to coax Congress into taking action through appropriate legislation.
Q3) A pact between the heads of two countries is a (an)
A)treaty.
B)legislative act.
C)executive agreement.
D)resolution.
E)None of these choices is a pact between the heads of two countries.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The central feature of the civil service system is
A)merit-based, nonpolitical employment and promotion.
B)the fitting of job openings to agencies' needs.
C)the development of elaborate job classifications.
D)the separation of political and nonpolitical positions.
E)a nonpunitive, competitive promotion system.
Q2) After an ExpressJet flight kept 47 passengers on board an aircraft overnight in Rochester,New York,the Department of Transportation announced a new set of rules limiting tarmac waits to
A)no more than seven hours.
B)one hour.
C)no more than three hours.
D)thirty minutes.
E)None of these choices is true.
Q3) The U.S.Postal Service and Amtrak are examples of A)off-line spending.
B)congressional intrusion into bureaucratic agencies.
C)consumer service departments.
D)government corporations.
E)independent agencies.
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Chapter 14: The Courts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Summarize the Supreme Court's ruling in the case Marbury v.Madison.
Q2) Within eight months of the _________ Supreme Court decision,more than two dozen constitutional amendments had been introduced in Congress,although none passed.
A)Roe v. Wade
B)Brown v. Board of Education
C)Marbury v. Madison
D)Bush v. Gore
E)None of these choices is true.
Q3) To determine how a statute should be applied,judges look for the legislature's intent,reading reports of committee hearings and debates,and this is known as A)judicial review.
B)statutory construction.
C)Roman legal tradition.
D)the rule of four.
E)parliamentary review.
Q4) How may state courts write opinions in a way that can impact the likelihood of federal court review?
Q5) Explain the difference between a civil and a criminal case.
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Chapter 15: Order and Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is correct?
A)Public schools must open their doors to after-school religious activities on the same basis as other after-school programs.
B)Prayers in public school assemblies that mention only "God" but no specific religion's deity can be upheld as constitutional.
C)Nonsectarian prayers at official public school graduations are permissible under the Constitution.
D)Prayers at public high school football games are permissible so long as the prayers are organized and led by students.
E)A prayer written on a public school auditorium wall, but not recited by students or faculty, is permitted under the First Amendment.
Q2) The Supreme Court declared prayer in public schools unconstitutional in
A)Minersville School District v. Gobitis.
B)West Virginia State Board v. Barnette.
C)Engel v. Vitale.
D)Epperson v. Arkansas.
E)Near v. Minnesota.
Q3) What are the Miranda warnings?
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17
Chapter 16: Equality and Civil Rights
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Q1) In an early NAACP challenge to segregation,Heman Sweatt sued the state of Texas after it
A)attempted to pay his tuition to another school outside of the state.
B)rented a few rooms in an office building and hired two black lawyers and called this its state law school for blacks.
C)required him to sit in the hallway and listen while white students attended lectures.
D)called out the Texas National Guard to forcibly evict him from its law school campus.
E)banned him from the University of Texas law school cafeteria and required him to use its library facilities only after hours.
Q2) The U.S.Supreme Court in 2003 considered policies _________ in Michigan that were based on racial preference.
A)at a law school and undergraduate school
B)at a medical school
C)of a professional football team
D)at a private high school
E)in hiring by the state legislature
Q3) What were the major provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
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Page 18
Chapter 17: Economic Policy
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Q1) International affairs,including "foreign aid" and the budget of the State Department and embassies and consulates in other countries,consume _________ percent of the FY 2015 budget.
A)under 1.5
B)about 4
C)just under 10
D)about 15
E)just over 20
Q2) Describe the process through which the U.S.budget is developed and passed.
Q3) The U.S.Fiscal Year 2015 budget submitted by President Obama reflected expended federal government spending of approximately _________ dollars.
A)998 billion
B)1,576 billion
C)3,901 billion
D)6,427 billion
E)1.2 trillion
Q4) Describe the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending,provide some examples of each,and explain how these categories of spending impact budgeting decisions made by Congress.
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Chapter 18: Policymaking and Domestic Policy
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Q1) The first example of social insurance in the United States was
A)Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
B)health care for the elderly.
C)health care for the poor.
D)workers' compensation.
E)disability benefits.
Q2) Social Security is referred to as a pay-as-you-go system,meaning that
A)the U.S. government borrows the proceeds to pay recipients.
B)the system must be reappropriated by Congress each year.
C)today's workers support today's program beneficiaries.
D)all workers in effect pay for their own retirement by a mandatory process of savings.
E)any surpluses from the Social Security system go back into the government's general revenue.
Q3) The central value underlying Lyndon Johnson's Great Society was A)freedom.
B)democracy.
C)order.
D)equality.
E)independence.
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