Civic Engagement and Public Policy Exam Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
This course explores the dynamic relationship between civic engagement and the development, implementation, and evaluation of public policy. Students will examine how individuals and communities can influence government decisions, advocate for change, and participate effectively in the democratic process. The course covers theories of civic participation, tools for activism, strategies for building public consensus, and the roles of various stakeholders including non-profits, interest groups, and elected officials in shaping policy outcomes. Through case studies, discussions, and service-learning projects, students will develop practical skills to engage with public issues and foster positive community impact.
Recommended Textbook
The Struggle for Democracy 9th Edition by Edward S. Greenberg
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19 Chapters
4836 Verified Questions
4836 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Democracy and American Politics
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210 Verified Questions
210 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The "deliberative will" as a concept is synonymous with "political liberty."
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Which of the following is an example of a governmental actor or factor?
A) the Supreme Court
B) a political party
C) the position of the United States in world affairs
D) public opinion
E) political action committees
Answer: A
Q3) Oligarchy is rule by the many.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) Violations of freedom come only from majority tyranny.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: The Constitution
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269 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What was the principal philosophical text that influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence?
A) John Locke's The Second Treatise on Government
B) Thomas Paine's Common Sense
C) James Madison's Federalist Papers
D) Plato's Republic.
E) Montesquieu's Checks and Balances
Answer: A
Q2) Freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly are guaranteed by the ________ Amendment.
A) First
B) Second
C) Third
D) Fourth
E) Fifth
Answer: A
Q3) In terms of representation, the New Jersey Plan favored large states.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Federalism States and Nations
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the text, the federal system makes it more difficult for women and minorities to attain political office.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The case of Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
A) established the national government as supreme on the issue of slavery.
B) held that Congress lacked constitutional authority to ban slavery in the territories.
C) emphasized the importance of implied powers found in Article I of the Constitution.
D) helped forestall the coming of the Civil War.
E) ruled in favor of the national government.
Answer: B
Q3) Federalism permits diversity, innovation, and experimentation by the states, but it also entails substantial inequality and can interfere with democratic processes.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Structural Foundations of the American Government
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Sample Questions
Q1) In 2007, the United States was the largest population nation in the world.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Discuss the economic, and potential political effects of the newly dynamic American economy.
Q3) What impact did industrialization have on population shifts in American society?
Q4) America's rise to superpower status has enhanced the role of Congress in policymaking and has diminished that of the president.
A)True
B)False
Q5) New economic data suggest that poverty will be less of a concern in the United States over the next several years.
A)True
B)False
Q6) The United States is undergoing a relative ________ from its lofty position as the world's preeminent economic power.
Q7) Democracy has always been highly regarded in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion
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265 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A system of interlocking attitudes and beliefs is called an ________.
Q2) Most ordinary Americans do not know or care a lot about politics. A)True
B)False
Q3) Representativeness in public-opinion polling is achieved when the sample is chosen randomly, with each individual having an equal chance of being chosen.
A)True
B)False
Q4) On what issues do whites and blacks differ most in their political opinions?
Q5) Why are the labels liberal and conservative somewhat confusing in the United States?
Q6) How do most opinion polls get a representative sample?
Q7) According to the authors, a majority of federal government officials do not hold the abilities of the public in high regard.
A)True
B)False
Q8) Question wording is an important concern for how survey questions are answered. A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: News Media
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249 Verified Questions
249 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Investigative reporting of the sort that Bernstein and Woodward did on Watergate is A) common but not frequent.
B) rare.
C) no longer taught in journalism schools.
D) more prominent now given the internet.
E) what big-time journalism is all about.
Q2) University journalism schools teach
A) objective journalism.
B) slant journalism.
C) yellow journalism.
D) biased journalism.
E) presidential journalism.
Q3) Television and radio news have generally offered less comprehensive and less thorough coverage than major newspapers.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is known about the political biases of reporters and media owners?
Q5) How is the media organized regarding ownership?
Q6) Write an essay in which you discuss objectivity and the media.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Interest Groups and Business Corporations
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258 Verified Questions
258 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why might some interest groups play the inside game more than the outside game? Why might some play the outside game more?
Q2) Which of the following is NOT an example of a private interest group?
A) the American Red Cross
B) the Trial Lawyers Association
C) the National Federation of Independent Business
D) the American Farm Bureau Federation
E) the Service Employees International Union
Q3) Compared to labor unions around the world, American labor unions
A) are more political.
B) are more powerful.
C) are more concerned with bread-and-butter issues.
D) count a higher percentage of workers as members.
E) have become more important over time.
Q4) The Nature Conservancy is an example of a(n) ________ interest group.
Q5) In the context of interest groups, "PAC" is an acronym for ________.
Q6) Which Act of Congress banned soft money contributions in federal elections.
Q7) ________ interest groups are organized around some cause or idea, rather than an economic or occupational interest.
Page 9
Q8) Why might interest groups lobby the executive branch?
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Chapter 8: Social Movements
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237 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Rosa Parks
A) started the NAACP and became its visible leader.
B) refused to go to the back of the bus and thus sparked the Montgomery bus boycott.
C) was the central figure in the Brown decision in 1954.
D) started the sit-in movement at lunch counters.
E) was instrumental in the women's suffrage movement.
Q2) There were virtually no black organizations in place before the civil rights movement appeared as a mass phenomena.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Even though the ERA did not pass, which of these goals became part of the concerns of everyday life?
A) pay equity for women
B) family leave legislation
C) sexual harassment legislation
D) attention to women's health problems
E) All of the above are correct.
Q4) Identify and discuss social movements that had little impact on American politics.
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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270 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the data presented in Table 9.2 most delegates to the Democratic National Convention believe that
A) government should do less to solve national problems.
B) the United Nations is not relevant to international affairs.
C) abortion should be generally accessible.
D) gay couples should be allowed to marry.
E) all of the above
Q2) The chairperson of an American political party national committee usually has more control over the party
A) when his or her party controls the presidency.
B) than a president from his or her party.
C) when his or her party does not control the presidency.
D) than his or her European counterparts.
E) when his party controls Congress.
Q3) Define realignment. Based on this definition and this definition alone, how would you counter or support the textbook authors' claim that the United States has entered a Seventh Party Era?
Q4) What was the party system that formed in 1896?
Q5) What is party identification and why is it important in American politics?
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Chapter 10: Participation Voting, and Elections
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278 Verified Questions
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Sample
Questions
Q1) Discuss money and elections. Does money play too large of a role in electoral politics? How might the role of money in elections be reduced?
Q2) Blacks are at least equally likely to vote as whites of similar class and background.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The first barriers to fall in the process of expanding the right to vote were those concerning
A) gender.
B) race.
C) property and religion.
D) age and literacy.
E) national origin.
Q4) One of the most important developments in the political history of the United States has been the expansion of the right to vote.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What are some reasons for low voter turnout in the United States?
Q6) Where does the money come from to finance presidential elections?
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Chapter 11: Congress
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280 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Compare the trustee form of representation with the delegate form of representation.
Q2) The Constitution gives primary authority to the Senate for which of the following powers?
A) primary authority over foreign policy
B) primary authority to originate revenue bills
C) the power to approve executive agreements
D) the power to impeach the president
E) the power to declare war
Q3) The lawmaker who introduces a bill (or resolution) is its ________.
Q4) Who is largely responsible for redrawing congressional district lines?
A) state legislatures
B) Congress
C) the Supreme Court
D) state governors
E) the president
Q5) The Founders wanted Congress to be the center of policymaking for the national government.
A)True
B)False
Page 13
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Chapter 12: The President
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Sample Questions
Q1) What powers gave the president the main responsibility for fashioning American foreign policy?
A) the power to receive and appoint ambassadors and to make treaties
B) the power to declare war
C) the power to sign treaties and executive agreements
D) the power to receive and appoint ambassadors and declare war
E) the power to initiate and sign treaties
Q2) First identify and then discuss the roles performed by the president's staff.
Q3) The vague language present in Article II of the Constitution
A)has severely limited the expansion of presidential power over time.
B) was intended by the framer's to strengthen president's hand vis-à-vis Congress.
C) has proven flexible enough to encompass the great expansion of the presidency.
D) has made it easy for presidents to influence legislation before Congress.
E) makes it difficult for presidents to justify acting unilaterally, such as issuing executive orders.
Q4) Presidents are typically successful ?? leading public opinion.
A)True
B)False
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Page 14
Chapter 13: The Executive Branch
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the authors of Struggle for Democracy, many people believe that the bureaucracy is a dangerous threat to individual liberty.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is legislative oversight?
Q3) Most Americans pay little attention to bureaucratic agencies as such.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Bureaucratic agencies are heavily insulated against presidential efforts to control them because
A) of agency alliances with powerful interest groups.
B) of the control the executive branch holds over them.
C) Congress tends to write specific and rigid legislation that leaves little room for administrative discretion.
D) they usually represent the political party opposing the president.
E) None of the above is correct.
Q5) Most Americans pay little attention to bureaucratic agencies as such.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: The Courts
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280 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe three major periods in Supreme Court history, and cite the legal questions that dominated each period.
Q2) Which of the following would NOT likely be a topic in a criminal case?
A) Violations of federal criminal laws
B) Bank robbery
C) Interstate drug trafficking
D) Kidnapping
E) Property boundary disputes
Q3) What judicial powers does the Constitution provide the federal courts?
Q4) Which of these is NOT one of the periods in the history of Constitutional interpretation by the Supreme Court?
A) revolution and separation from England
B) national power and property rights
C) government and the economy
D) individual rights and liberties
E) They are all periods of Constitutional interpretation by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Q5) The Supreme Court decides just under 500 cases a year.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Freedom: the Struggle for Civil Liberties
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278 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Limitations on libel were established in which Supreme Court case
A) New York Times v. United States
B) New York Times v. Sullivan
C) Gitlow v. New York
D) Near v. Minnesota
E) None of the above
Q2) Which of the following is permitted by the U.S. Constitution?
A) Congress may enact ex post facto law only when expressly authorized by an executive order.
B) Congress may pass bills of attainder only during periods of emergency such as wartime.
C) Congress may suspend the writ of habeas corpus only when public safety demands it in times of rebellion or invasion.
D) Congress may limit the president's commander-in-chief powers only when it appears that excessive force will be used.
E) Congress may limit freedom of religion during wartime.
Q3) The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
A)True
B)False
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Page 17
Chapter 16: Civil Rights: the Struggle for Political Equality
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Sample Questions
Q1) Concern about civil rights protections for women and racial minorities
A) was a comparatively late development in the United States, and most major advances were not evident until well into the twentieth century.
B) dominated much of the debate at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
C) was addressed in the Bill of Rights.
D) was largely accomplished right after the Civil War.
E) was a comparatively late advancement, and most real gains did not come until the late nineteenth century once the Civil War amendments took effect.
Q2) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 provides disabled Americans with all of the following EXCEPT
A) protection against employment discrimination.
B) handicapped entrances to public buildings.
C) accessible facilities.
D) equal access to employment opportunities.
E) wheelchair ramps to concert halls.
Q3) Based on the case study entitled "The Return of Segregated Schools," discuss the current status of civil rights policies in the United States.
Q4) The test used for sex discrimination is ________ scrutiny.
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Page 18
Chapter 17: The Budget and Economic Policies
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Sample Questions
Q1) Effectiveness is
A) an assessment of how well resources are used to meet program objectives.
B) an assessment of whether objectives have been met.
C) an evaluation of the nuts and bolts of public policy.
D) the decisions policymakers make about policy.
E) putting a law into effect.
Q2) The states get most of their income from personal income taxes.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the tax burden in the United States as compared to other industrial democracies?
Q4) Fiscal policy is that which affects the performance of the economy as a whole. A)True B)False
Q5) What is the Federal Reserve Board?
Q6) What are the major sources of revenue for each level of government?
Q7) What is the likely future of regulation in the United States, according to the authors of your textbook? Do you agree or disagree with their assessment?
Q8) What is the main goal of macroeconomic policy?
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Chapter 18: Social Safety Nets
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Sample Questions
Q1) The American welfare state developed later than those in other countries and covers ________ people.
Q2) Figure 18.3 shows that
A) the percentage of those who think their health care system should be rebuilt increases as spending on health care decreases.
B) the percentage of those who think their health care system should be rebuilt increases as spending on health care increases.
C) Germany spends the most on health care.
D) the United States spends the least on health care.
E) None of the above
Q3) Which of the following is important to determine the size and cost of government programs?
A) The number of people living in poverty.
B) The number of people paying general revenue taxes.
C) The number of people receiving unemployment compensation.
D) The number of people paying into the social security taxes.
E) The percentage of those over 60 who receive social security checks.
Q4) How is the American welfare state different from those found in other Western democratic nations?
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Chapter 19: Foreign Policy and National Defense
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Sample Questions
Q1) President George W. Bush coined what phrase in his State of the Union address on January 29, 2002, when describing states like Iraq, Iran, and North Korea?
A) An axis of evil
B) A Cold War
C) A war against terrorism
D) A new kind of terrorism
E) An instrument of death
Q2) The United States is the only nation strong enough militarily and economically to project its power into any area of the globe.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following groups has criticized U.S.-based corporations operating abroad?
A) Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
B) Journalists
C) Members of Congress
D) Labor unions
E) All of the above
Q4) What is unilateralism?
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