Course Introduction
American Politics
Test Preparation
American Politics explores the structure, processes, and dynamics of the United States government and political system. The course examines the Constitution, federalism, the roles and functions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, as well as the significance of political parties, elections, and interest groups. Students analyze key themes such as civil rights, public opinion, policymaking, and the influence of media. Through critical review of historical and contemporary events, the course fosters a nuanced understanding of how American democracy operates and the challenges it faces.
Recommended Textbook
Struggle for Democracy 11th Edition by Benjamin I. Page
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18 Chapters
1865 Verified Questions
1865 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Democracy and American Politics
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46 Verified Questions
46 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the central idea of democracy. What elements account for this idea's widespread popularity around the world?
Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Identify the central idea of democracy as that people want and are capable of ruling themselves.
2. Discuss how democracy's widespread popularity can be explained by its protection of human rights and recognition of intrinsic worth of human beings and equality. Democracy is also most likely to produce rational policies because of the pooled knowledge of society. Others note that democracies are more stable than other forms of government, that democracies are more likely to promote economic growth, and that democracies best allow free people to develop their natural talents.
Q2) Some political commentators argue that the participatory aspects of direct democracy are not worth preserving as an ideal.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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3
Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Sample Questions
Q1) In what year was the U.S. Constitution ratified?
A) 1776
B) 1777
C) 1788
D) 1791
E) 1797
Answer: C
Q2) Explain the process for amending the Constitution.
Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Identify the two processes for proposing an amendment-two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress or national constitutional convention called by Congress at the request of two-thirds of the states.
2. Identify the two processes for ratifying an amendment-by legislatures in three-fourths of the states or by ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states.
Q3) __________ Rebellion exposed weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. Answer: Shays's
Q4) At least __________ states had to ratify the Constitution for it to become law.
Answer: nine
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4
Chapter 3: Federalism: States and Nation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Lyndon Johnson's __________ program aimed to alleviate poverty and empower the poor and racial minorities.
Answer: Great Society
Q2) According to the text, which of the following is a confederation?
A) Arab League
B) China
C) Great Britain
D) United Nations
E) United States
Answer: D
Q3) Explain how nullification was used by the South during the Civil War.
Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Define nullification as the right of the states to declare a federal law void.
2. Explain the refusal of southern states to follow federal tariff and slavery laws in the years leading up to secession.
Q4) Federalism encourages the states to create local solutions to national problems.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: The Structural Foundations of American
Government and Politics
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Nativists are primarily concerned with ensuring that Native American Indians have equal rights.
A)True
B)False
Q2) See the "Using the Framework" box on poverty in your textbook. Explain why our elected officials do little to address persistent poverty in America.
Q3) Why does economic inequality threaten democracy?
A) Democracy is predicated on economic equality.
B) Economic inequality increases the incentives for political participation.
C) Economic inequality means that fewer citizens are affected by government decisions.
D) Those who are poor are less effective democratic citizens.
E) Those who are poor are more effective democratic citizens.
Q4) Which region of the United States has the fastest rate of population growth?
A) the Midwest
B) the Northeast
C) the South
D) the Sun Belt
E) the West
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) If you were making an argument for the use of public opinion polling to set public policy, which of the following statements would help you make your case?
A) Ordinary American citizens are poorly informed about politics.
B) Americans tend to support government policies that make their economic positions worse.
C) Most Americans do not know what goes on in the world.
D) In a democracy, the people must have their voice heard by those in government.
E) Repeated surveys of the same Americans have found that their responses to policy questions seem to change randomly.
Q2) __________ ensures that each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected.
Q3) Under what conditions is public opinion less likely to play a role in shaping government policy?
A) when an issue is highly visible
B) when an issue is buried in complexity and obscurity
C) when people have reliable and understandable information about an issue
D) when an issue affects the lives of people directly
E) when people sense they are being misled
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Chapter 6: The News Media
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108 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the concluding section, "Using the Democracy Standard," for the framers, the purpose of the news media-newspapers, in their day-was to serve as a mechanism allowing citizens to rebel against their government.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The media are instruments of democracy in that they __________.
A) provide accurate political information to citizens
B) oppose the policies advocated by the White House
C) make profits for media companies
D) provide information to reinforce the popularity of the incumbent president
E) allow the political process to take place out of public view
Q3) Based on what you know of media story preferences, which headline would be considered the least newsworthy?
A) Dog Calls 9-1-1
B) Fire Fighter Rescues Child from Car Wreck
C) George Clooney Arrested with Father
D) Pro-Union Rally Turns Violent
E) Unemployment Rates Remain Steady
Q4) Explain what makes a story "newsworthy."
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Chapter 7: Interest Groups and Business Organizations
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In Federalist No. 10, James Madison described how a government could be designed to control the effects of __________.
A) monarchies
B) factions
C) representative government
D) political parties
E) trade associations
Q2) What is the main objective of most labor unions?
A) to protect consumers from unsafe products
B) to protect the interests of businesses within an industry
C) to protect jobs and secure favorable wages and benefits for their members
D) to ensure equality of all people under the law
E) to support free trade policies
Q3) The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the largest and most influential interest groups in the United States, and it is a staunch foe of the minimum wage.
A)True
B)False
Q4) One way that interest groups can influence court cases they are interested in is by filing a(n) __________.
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Chapter 8: Social Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) Political leaders joined the civil rights movement because they hoped to maintain support in the international community in the U.S. struggle against the Soviet Union.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In light of recent events, which level of government has been the most effective in promoting gay rights?
A) the Supreme Court
B) the Congress
C) the bureaucracy
D) local government
E) the president
Q3) Black registration and voting turnout increased dramatically in the South during the late 1960s and 1970s after the passage of the __________.
Q4) Brown v. Board of Education (1954) is a specific example of a decision aimed toward the __________ of public transportation.
Q5) Elizabeth Cady Stanton's statement that "all men and women are created equal, endowed with the same inalienable rights" is modeled after a similar statement found in the __________.
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the role of the national party committee, differentiating it from the other main political party organizations. Who comprises it? Where does its main power reside?
Q2) The __________ is the site for the writing of the party platform every four years.
Q3) Why were Republicans able to pass so many laws after they came to power in 2001 in spite of their small majorities in Congress?
A) The Republicans were disciplined and acted out of party unity, so they were able to control the legislative agenda.
B) The Democrats were distracted by 9/11 and focused on terrorism, so they did not pay much attention to what the Republicans were doing.
C) The president was Republican, so the legislators had his full support for their programs, especially after 9/11.
D) The president was Democrat, but the Republicans were extremely focused, disciplined, and displayed remarkable party unity.
E) The Democrats had no party unity and tended to be undisciplined, so the Republicans could control the agenda.
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11
Chapter 10: Voting, Campaigns, and Elections
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108 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are the potential problems associated with the retrospective voting model?
Q2) Contributions to and spending by candidate and party committees that fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Election Commission are known as __________.
A) soft money
B) hard money
C) discretionary funds
D) matching funds
E) public funds
Q3) Which of the following is often advanced as a reason to keep the Electoral College system in place?
A) The Constitution prevents states from determining the distribution of their Electoral College votes.
B) It would be impossible to determine a winner if no candidate received a majority of the popular vote.
C) Small states have more influence than they would in a direct popular election.
D) Americans would not like it if a candidate won on the basis of the popular vote alone.
E) It would be more difficult to determine who had won a plurality of votes.
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Chapter 11: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) Members of Congress vote in a manner that is consistent with public opinion in their districts and states about __________ of the time.
A) one-half
B) one-quarter
C) one-third
D) three-quarters
E) two-thirds
Q2) __________ is a good example of Congressional casework.
A) Analysis of an incumbent's policy positions prior to a debate
B) Analysis of police force effectiveness
C) Analysis of water quality within a district
D) Assistance to a constituent in obtaining a Social Security check
E) Assistance to a federal agency operating within a member's district
Q3) A __________ is one tactic to signal the leadership that a Senate member may have objections to a bill.
A) cloture
B) hold
C) markup
D) pocket veto
E) referral
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Chapter 12: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the role of the president as commander in chief. Include what limitations the president has in this role.
Q2) Describe the importance of individual presidents. How are they both products of and creators of their times? Provide two examples from history. What factors determine which presidents transform the office of the president? Do you think President Obama will be one of the transformers?
Q3) Why is there the potential for conflict over virtually all aspects of government?
A) National legislatures choose the chief executives, so the unified parties need to be in control.
B) All constitutional powers are shared.
C) There is always a divided government.
D) Parties have been ideologically incohesive since the mid-1990s.
E) There are no checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches of government.
Q4) What is an executive order and what is a reason that a president would use it?
Q5) What makes a great/successful president?
Q6) Describe the informal powers of the president.
Q7) What is a veto? Can a veto be overridden?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: The Executive Branch
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Sample Questions
Q1) What role is the Environmental Protection Agency taking when it sets limits on air pollution from power plants?
A) regulation
B) adjudication
C) intervention
D) oversight
E) deliberation
Q2) The civil service system was introduced following passage of what law?
A) the Hatch Act
B) the Pendleton Act
C) the Administrative Procedures Act
D) the Freedom of Information Act
E) the Ethics in Government Act
Q3) The Department of Homeland Security was formed in 2002 as a result of the housing market collapse in 2001.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The __________ led to the creation of a bipartisan commission to oversee appointments to the federal bureaucracy.
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Chapter 14: The Courts
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Sample Questions
Q1) What do presidents look for in selecting a Supreme Court justice?
Q2) Why are the judicial philosophies and general ideological outlooks of the people who will become Supreme Court and appeals court judges so important today?
Q3) A conservative retrenchment of the Court in the early 1990s began to reconsider federalism in favor of __________ rights.
Q4) Describe the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
Q5) When the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a case appealed to it from a circuit court, it is exercising its __________ jurisdiction.
A) original
B) constitutional
C) mandatory
D) appellate
E) legislative
Q6) Article III specifies the powers of the Supreme Court.
A)True
B)False
Q7) __________ juries decide whether there is sufficient evidence to bring an indictment against accused persons.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Civil Liberties: the Struggle for Freedom
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain how the Supreme Court used the due process clause to protect businesses from regulation by the federal and state governments.
Q2) Which Supreme Court case developed the exclusionary rule?
A) Parker v. Gideon
B) New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
C) Mapp v. Ohio
D) Wolf v. Colorado
E) Gideon v. Wainwright
Q3) 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?
A) Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey
B) Lawrence v. Texas
C) Miranda v. Arizona
D) New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
E) Roe v. Wade
Q4) The constitutional convention was convened, in part, because citizens were concerned about threats to their property rights.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Civil Rights: the Struggle for Political Equality
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Supreme Court has prohibited school districts from using race when determining which students will attend which schools.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What tactics of the civil rights movement have been adopted by the gay rights movement? Give some examples. How successful have gay rights activists been with these techniques, and what kinds of reactions against gay rights have occurred? Provide examples of gains made in the private sector and in public opinion, and describe the movement's mixed results in the political sector. Evaluate the greatest opposition to the attempts to legalize same-sex marriage and the chances of success in the near future.
Q3) Who benefited the most from grandfather clauses?
A) Northerners
B) Southern Democrats
C) former slaves
D) educated whites
E) illiterate whites
Q4) __________ upheld the right of private individuals-but not government-to discriminate in the provision of public accommodations.
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18
Chapter 17: Domestic Policies
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Sample Questions
Q1) What do economists use gross domestic product to measure?
A) the rate of government spending in the economy
B) the rate of tariffs applied to goods imported into the United States
C) the total impact of import revenues on the domestic economy
D) the total value added by government expenditures in the economy
E) the total value of goods and services produced in the economy
Q2) Which of the following is a means-tested program?
A) Social Security
B) No Child Left Behind
C) Medicare
D) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
E) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Q3) Governments in all rich countries play a substantial role in managing economic affairs.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Imagine the economy is slipping into a recession. What would a Keynesian advocate and why? Compare this approach to using interest rates to affect the money supply.
Q5) Why do adjustments to interest rates by the Federal Reserve Board matter?
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Chapter 18: Foreign Policy and National Defense
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Sample Questions
Q1) The war and occupation in Iraq and the continuing struggle in Afghanistan dampened much of the initial enthusiasm for the unilateral position advocated by George W. Bush for most of his presidency.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The belief that free trade is especially important in a global economy was the impetus for the __________ among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Q3) Compare and contrast the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. How successful was the United States in these conflicts?
Q4) In the debate about whether rich countries should help poor countries develop, what reasons are given for helping poor countries? What can governments of rich countries do that will either help or hinder poor countries? How can foreign aid contribute to global stability and security?
Q5) Terrorism is a technique used to effect political change by instilling __________ among the general public.
Q6) Use the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to illustrate how free trade can both help and hurt a nation's economy.
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Page 20