Civic Engagement and Participation
Question Bank
Course Introduction
Civic Engagement and Participation explores the theories, roles, and practices that empower individuals and groups to participate actively in public life and democratic processes. This course examines the importance of civic responsibility, community involvement, and informed decision-making, highlighting diverse forms of engagement such as voting, advocacy, volunteering, and public deliberation. Through case studies, discussions, and experiential activities, students will develop a nuanced understanding of the barriers and facilitators to participation, the impact of civic actions on societal change, and the significance of fostering inclusive, resilient, and informed communities.
Recommended Textbook Struggle for Democracy 2012 Election Edition 11th Edition by Edward S. Greenberg
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1872 Verified Questions
1872 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Democracy and American Politics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Freedom of speech, religion, association, and the press are examples of which of the following?
A) civil rights
B) state mandates
C) nonexclusionary rights
D) political liberties
E) absolute equalities
Answer: D
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
Q3) A monarchy includes rule by the one.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Taken together, political equality and equal treatment are sometimes called __________.
Answer: civil rights
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Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Sample Questions
Q1) In order for a democracy to work, elections must be which of the following?
A) fair
B) inexpensive
C) hotly contested
D) frequent
E) high-profile
Answer: A
Q2) The Articles of Confederation required __________ consent from the states for ratification.
A) majority
B) three-fifths
C) three-fourths
D) two-thirds
E) unanimous
Answer: E
Q3) __________ is a political doctrine advocating limited government based on popular consent.
Answer: Republicanism
Q4) The Constitution has been amended __________ times.
Answer: twenty-seven
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Chapter 3: Federalism: States and Nation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which part of the Constitution contains limitations on state powers?
A) Article I, Section 2
B) Article I, Section 10
C) Article IV, Section 1
D) Article IV, Section 3
E) Article VI
Answer: B
Q2) All of the powers of the federal government are expressly enumerated in the Constitution.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Which of the following is an example of fiscal federalism?
A) a blue ribbon task force on education
B) gas mileage requirements
C) grants-in-aid
D) minimum wage legislation
E) No Child Left Behind Act
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: The Structural Foundations of American
Government and Politics
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106 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Political power has shifted in the United States, as Americans flowed from rural to metropolitan areas, then to suburbia, and most recently to __________.
Q2) 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
Q3) The American economic system is best characterized as __________.
A) capitalist
B) collectivist
C) isolationist
D) mercantilist
E) socialist
Q4) Nativists are primarily concerned with ensuring that Native American Indians have equal rights.
A)True
B)False
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Q5) Can the United States still be considered the only superpower? Why or why not?
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Name two reasons why the political attitudes of some Hispanic Americans tend to be more conservative than the attitudes of the Hispanic population as a whole, which tends to identify much more with the Democrats than the Republicans.
Q2) One of your friends makes the following statement: Americans are "one united people-a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same beliefs, attached to the same principles of government, and very similar in manners and customs." What is this statement an expression of?
A) a public opinion
B) a political opinion
C) an ethical attitude
D) a policy statement
E) a public passion
Q3) "Open-ended" or "forced-choice" questions are essentially the same thing.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Why is it problematic to use the Internet to conduct public opinion polls?
Q5) The best estimates suggest that about __________ percent of people in the United States are Muslim.
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Chapter 6: The News Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain the concept of "agenda setting," and illustrate how the reality of agenda setting can be proven. How else do the media affect public opinion and policymaking? .
Q2) If President Obama excluded critics from his next press conference, in order to give favorable coverage to the Affordable Health Care Act, he would be engaging in __________.
A) bias
B) social distortion
C) political distortion
D) news management
E) spin management
Q3) Choose the statement that best relates to objective journalism.
A) Because political news does not make much sense without an interpretation of what it means, journalists are relied upon to provide this interpretation.
B) If a reporter knows that an official is lying, she has to say so directly.
C) Reporters have to identify an event like a "town meeting" as a staged event when reporting about it.
D) Explicit interpretations by journalists are avoided.
E) Journalists must be completely objective when writing editorials.
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Chapter 7: Interest Groups and Business Organizations
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is an amicus curiae brief?
A) a written argument submitted to a court in support of one side of a case
B) a petition to remove a judge from a court case
C) a petition submitted to Congress in support of or opposition to a judicial nominee
D) a petition submitted to an executive branch agency, requesting a review of the agency's decision
E) an internal memo circulated among interest group leaders, briefing them on the details of a court case
Q2) How does access inequality undermine the workings of the interest group system in America?
Q3) Which of the following is an example of a private interest group?
A) the AFL-CIO
B) Americans for Tax Reform
C) the American Red Cross
D) Environmental Defense
E) the National Organization for Women
Q4) Organizing the district is one way that interest groups engage in __________ lobbying.
Q5) Why is the outside strategy of "organizing the district" particularly effective?
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Chapter 8: Social Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Great Depression ultimately led to the creation of new majorities, in the form of labor unions.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which movement best represents a large scope of conflict?
A) women's rights movement
B) civil rights movement
C) undocumented immigrants movement
D) Christian conservative movement
E) gay and lesbian movement
Q3) What is the first factor that must occur for a social movement to develop?
A) Resources become available for mobilization.
B) A supportive environment develops among the public and societal leaders.
C) Real or perceived distress occurs.
D) A catalyzing event occurs to set the movement in motion.
E) A sense of efficacy develops among participants.
Q4) What are the four ways social movements can make U.S. politics more democratic? Explain them and use an example for each.
Q5) How people engage in politics-and how often-is in part a function of __________.
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Q6) Define political efficacy and explain why it is important to social movements.
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following best describes why the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed during Hurricane Katrina?
A) The agency was headed by a political contributor of George Bush, not an emergency relief specialist, so the leader was unprepared.
B) The agency had been merged into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, so it was unclear who was in charge.
C) The agency surprised everyone by its poor response, since it had successfully handled previous disasters in California and Florida.
D) The head of the agency had been appointed by Bill Clinton because he was one of Clinton's supporters, and he had no experience with disaster relief.
E) The agency had been merged into the Commerce Department, and its funds had been depleted by that department, leaving it without resources.
Q2) Though controversy remains over whether party __________ occurs every thirty to forty years, there are identifiable party eras over the course of American history.
Q3) Why have minor parties been so unsuccessful in U.S. politics?
Q4) The __________ coalition began to slowly disintegrate in the 1968 election.
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Chapter 10: Voting, Campaigns, and Elections
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108 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is one of the most important variables explaining why some people vote and others do not?
A) age
B) gender
C) race or ethnicity
D) religion
E) sexual orientation
Q2) Which of these groups was the last to receive the right to vote?
A) women
B) African-Americans
C) immigrants
D) eighteen-year-olds
E) Native Americans
Q3) Based on the cartograms in the Mapping American Politics feature, and assuming that the states remain in the same categories of "safety" for each party, explain how you as a campaign manager would allocate advertising money in the states of Ohio, New York, and Texas for a future presidential election. How would you schedule campaign visits to these states?
Q4) Formal education makes a person __________ likely to vote.
Q5) Should voting be mandatory? Why or why not?
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Chapter 11: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) What best explains the overwhelming advantage incumbents possess in seeking reelection over opposition candidates?
A) additional financial support from constituent taxes
B) additional financial support from the federal government campaign fund
C) demonstrated ability to lead and public record of votes
D) name recognition, access to media, and franking privilege
E) name recognition and access to district taxes
Q2) In the House, before major bills are scheduled for floor debate, they must first go to the __________, which decides where bills will appear on the legislative calendar and the terms under which bills will be debated by the House.
A) Conference Committee
B) Markup Committee
C) Political Action Committee
D) Rules Committee
E) Ways and Means Committee
Q3) Explain the position of the Senate majority leader. What kinds of power or influence does he or she hold? How does his or her power or influence compare to that of the Speaker of the House?
Q4) Describe majority-minority districts and explain their purpose(s).
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Chapter 12: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) In which way do modern presidents differ from the original intentions of the Framers of the Constitution?
A) Modern presidents are considerably less democratic than the Framers originally intended.
B) Modern presidents have greater power as leaders of their political parties than the Framers originally intended.
C) Modern presidents are much more influential in the legislative process than the Framers originally intended.
D) Modern presidents are much less partisan than the Framers originally intended.
E) Modern presidents are more subservient to the will of Congress than the Framers originally intended.
Q2) Presidents do not rely on their Cabinet as a decision-making body.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is an executive order and what is a reason that a president would use it?
Q4) Describe the concept of the unitary executive. Discuss whether or not this concept is practical.
Q5) What is the role of executive agreements in foreign policy? When are they used?
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Chapter 13: The Executive Branch
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Department of Homeland Security was formed in 2002 as a result of the housing market collapse in 2001.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What are independent regulatory commissions, and why are they removed from presidential and congressional control?
Q3) Should federal bureaucrats be granted discretion in the implementation of public policies?
Q4) Which president is known for reviving the constitutional doctrine known as the unitary executive?
A) President Nixon
B) President Reagan
C) President George W. Bush
D) President Clinton
E) President Obama
Q5) The president and Congress share oversight of the federal bureaucracy.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What factors might contribute to inefficiencies within the federal bureaucracy?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: The Courts
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Sample Questions
Q1) A __________ jury is called to determine guilt or innocence.
Q2) In which court do cases generally begin?
A) trial
B) appellate
C) original
D) constitutional
E) state
Q3) When a case is granted review in an appellate court, the parties submit written __________ presenting their arguments.
A) ledgers
B) motions
C) briefs
D) opinions
E) plans
Q4) Marbury v. Madison significantly expanded the power of the federal judiciary.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How are nominees to the federal district courts selected?
Q6) As political linkage factors, how do people in interest groups and social movements directly influence the Court?
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Chapter 15: Civil Liberties: the Struggle for Freedom
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Sample Questions
Q1) How has the war on terror restricted civil liberties in the United States?
Q2) What level of scrutiny is applied to official actions that are presumed to be constitutional?
A) procedural
B) intermediate C) ordinary
D) strict
E) prospective
Q3) In recent years, the Supreme Court has __________ constraints on aid to parochial schools and voucher programs.
Q4) Explain how the Supreme Court used the due process clause to protect businesses from regulation by the federal and state governments.
Q5) Under Roe v. Wade, a woman could legally seek an abortion freely during her __________ trimester.
Q6) The Burger Court vehemently enforced the rights identified in Miranda v. Arizona. A)True
B)False
Q7) How does the clear and present danger test operate?
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Chapter 16: Civil Rights: the Struggle for Political Equality
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Sample Questions
Q1) In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court determined that __________ were unconstitutional.
A) poll taxes
B) grandfather clauses
C) all forms of affirmative action
D) Jim Crow laws
E) racial quotas
Q2) Which of the following affirmative action programs would be a clear violation of the Supreme Court's decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)?
A) considering race as a factor in university admissions decisions
B) considering how an applicant would contribute to the diversity of the university
C) considering applicants' academic and extracurricular achievements
D) admitting some minority applicants with lower academic achievement than some rejected white applicants
E) setting aside a certain percentage of admissions slots for African American students
Q3) Brown v. Board of Education overturned the __________ doctrine.
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18
Chapter 17: Domestic Policies
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why is Medicaid such a complicated program?
A) because it is a federal program, and all federal programs are complicated
B) because it is administered by cities, which have very large bureaucracies
C) because it relies on monies from the Social Security Trust Fund
D) because it varies a great deal by state
E) because it was designed by bureaucrats
Q2) Why might some businesses lobby for increased regulation by the federal government?
A) because they do not know that regulations always hurt them
B) to gain access to federal bureaucrats who will act in their interests
C) to lower their overall tax rate
D) to increase their profit margins to better serve the public good E) to protect themselves from domestic and foreign competitors
Q3) One reason for the increase in health care costs is the aging population in America.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A majority of nursing home residents receive assistance from the __________ program to help cover the cost of their care.
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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Q1) Why did the United States agree to replace the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade with the World Trade Organization?
A) to increase the number of markets readily available for American products and services and to halt piracy of patented and copyrighted goods
B) to prevent the salaries of American workers from increasing faster than inflation
C) to relocate manufacturing jobs to other countries in order to take advantage of cheaper labor
D) to slow down the pace of globalization
E) to make it harder for goods manufactured in Canada and Mexico using cheap labor to enter the United States tariff-free
Q2) Foreign and national security policy making has traditionally been less democratic than domestic policy making. Why do the president and the executive branch have more power in foreign policy than in domestic policy? Why is the public less involved in foreign policy making?
Q3) What roles do the Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff play in advising the president on military policy? Describe how these advisors provide the president with different perspectives.
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