Contemporary American Democracy
Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
Contemporary American Democracy explores the institutions, processes, and challenges that define the United States' political system today. This course examines the roles of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as the influence of political parties, interest groups, and the media. Students will analyze current issues such as voting rights, campaign finance, polarization, and the impact of technology on democratic participation. By investigating case studies and recent political events, the course encourages critical thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of American democracy in the 21st century.
Recommended Textbook
The Struggle for Democracy 9th Edition by Edward
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Page 2
S. Greenberg
Chapter 1: Democracy and American Politics
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Sample Questions
Q1) In part due to the constant shifting by issue of the composition of the majority and minority,
A) direct democracy prevails.
B) majority rule is preeminent.
C) majority tyranny is prevented.
D) political equality is guaranteed.
E) political liberty is ignored.
Answer: C
Q2) Representative democracy is also known as
A) direct democracy.
B) indirect democracy.
C) political equality.
D) popular equality.
E) popular sovereignty.
Answer: B
Q3) The American government is best described as a system of direct democracy.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Q1) Which of these is NOT one of the rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence?
A) Public policies are not made by the people, but by the people's elected representatives acting in their stead.
B) Human beings possess rights that cannot be legitimately given to or taken away from them.
C) If government fails to protect the people's rights, people can withdraw their consent from that government.
D) People create government to protect their rights.
E) People can void the existing social contract and agree to create a new one if the government has not lived up to its responsibilities.
Answer: A
Q2) Freedom of assembly is guaranteed in the ________ Amendment.
Answer: First
Q3) The ________ Plan proposed the creation of a strong central government controlled, in the main, by the wealthiest and most populous states.
Answer: Virginia
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Chapter 3: Federalism States and Nations
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Q1) Why do state governments have more weight and permanence than county, city, or town governments?
A) because they are detailed in the Constitution
B) because they are larger
C) because they are the oldest form of government in the United States
D) because they are more stable
E) All of the above are correct.
Answer: A
Q2) The authors of your text conclude that arguments against federalism include which of the following?
A) diversity of needs
B) closeness to the people
C) popular control
D) innovation
E) experimentation
Answer: C
Q3) Congress regulated new "unfunded mandates" during the ________.
Answer: 1990s
Q4) Revenue sharing was ended in the late ________.
Answer: 1980s
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Chapter 4: Structural Foundations of the American Government
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Q1) According to Struggle for Democracy, during the 1970s the United States lost its position as the world's preeminent and unchallenged economic power.
A)True
B)False
Q2) According to your text, one of the things that has always struck foreign observers of America is the broad consensus surrounding
A) American's core beliefs.
B) the extent to which the constitution follows the Declaration of Independence.
C) American's distrust of government.
D) American's lack of political participation.
E) the dominance of social norms.
Q3) The distribution of poverty is random.
A)True
B)False
Q4) America's economy is predominately capitalist.
A)True
B)False
Q5) ________ reactions were nineteenth-century, anti-immigration movements.
Q6) How has the American economy changed since the 1930s?
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion
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Q1) The use of a party label
A) helps individuals organize their thinking about politics.
B) has no real value.
C) is the same thing as political efficacy.
D) is an absolute predictor of the way a person will vote.
E) has similar effects as civic duty.
Q2) What is the fastest-growing and largest political group among Americans today?
A) independents
B) young Republicans
C) Green Party members
D) southern Democrats
E) evangelical Republicans
Q3) ___________ concerns an individual's views about public policies, political parties, candidates, government institutions, and public officials.
A) Political socialization
B) Political attitudes
C) Party identification
D) Political efficacy
E) Political stability
Q4) ________ represent the fastest-growing ethnic group in America.
Page 7
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Chapter 6: News Media
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Q1) The Framers of the US Constitution gave explicit protection to the press in the first amendment. Given what you have learned about these protections, modern news media, and American government, what is your assessment of how well the press accepts responsibilities for its freedom and in what ways does it fail to do so?
Q2) The "watchdog" role of the media is one in which the press should
A) uncover as much information as possible about the private lives of candidates for public office.
B) take sides on controversial issues.
C) help the president achieve his policy agenda.
D) dig up facts and warn the public when officials are doing something wrong.
E) report who's winning or losing an election as based on public opinion polls.
Q3) What news story recently attracted sustained attention by the mainstream media?
A) Revelations about intelligence and the war in Iraq.
B) The so-called Downing Street memo.
C) Informational committee hearings on the war in Iraq.
D) Vice President Dick Cheney shooting a long-time friend while hunting
E) none of the above
Q4) The two Washington Post reporters who broke and developed the Watergate story were Bob Woodward and ________.
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Chapter 7: Interest Groups and Business Corporations
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Q1) ________ consist of interest groups, bureaucratic agencies, and Congressional committees.
Q2) Interest groups that play the inside game tend to be groups without ready access to government officials.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Traditionally, most interest groups form based on
A) social movements.
B) the public interest.
C) citizen groups.
D) environmental interests.
E) economic interests
Q4) Educating the public on issues that are important to interest groups is a feature of what kind of lobbying
A) Amicus curiae lobbying
B) new-style lobbying
C) traditional lobbying
D) counteractive lobbying
E) direct lobbying
Q5) In the context of interest groups, "PAC" is an acronym for ________.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Social Movements
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Q1) Which of these group's movements was suppressed with a mobilization of 10,000 militiamen, the arrest of 16 leaders, and the indictment of 27 other leaders for treason?
A) labor
B) the women's movement
C) Christian conservatives
D) the civil rights movement
E) None of the above suffered such repression.
Q2) The most effective tool of the Civil Rights movement was
A) nonviolent civil disobedience.
B) international pressure.
C) television documentaries.
D) violent demonstrations.
E) voter registration drives.
Q3) What impact have social movements had on American politics?
Q4) Social movements committed to a radical change in the society or the economy often face repression of one kind or another.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What role did Rosa Parks play in the Civil Rights movement?
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Q1) Most Americans see the
A) Democrats as the more conservative party, in the sense of opposing government activism.
B) Democrats as the more liberal party, in the sense of favoring an active federal government.
C) Republicans as the more liberal party, in the sense of opposing government activism.
D) Republicans as the more conservative party, in the sense of favoring an active federal government.
E) none of the above
Q2) Even under divided government during the sixth party era, bipartisanship was possible because
A) President Reagan was a persuasive communicator.
B) Republican presidents can speak to Congress quite well.
C) each party contained a wing that was open to cooperation with the other party.
D) Congress can only function with bipartisan action.
E) none of the above
Q3) What does the term "realignment" mean?
Q4) Describe the extent to which American political parties are organizations.
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11
Chapter 10: Participation Voting, and Elections
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Q1) In all but two states, the electoral vote is based on a "winner-take-all" system.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The first barriers to suffrage to fall were those concerning gender.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The highest voter turnout rate in American history was achieved in 1960.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following groups won the constitutionally protected right to vote first?
A) women
B) black males
C) felons
D) 18- to 20-year-olds
E) Native Americans
Q5) Despite the low voter turnout levels in the United States, Americans are actually more likely than people in other countries to participate actively in ________.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Congress
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Q1) If Congress does not reflect the demographic diversity of the citizenry, can it claim to represent the public?
Q2) Black representation in Congress
A) is well above the proportion of blacks in the general population.
B) was highest right before the Civil War.
C) is well below the proportion of blacks in the general population.
D) was highest in the 1920s.
E) is now at its lowest point in American history.
Q3) 1n the Great Compromise, the framers decided to apportion the House of Representatives on the basis of population and the Senate on the basis of equal representation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The largest portion of money spent on congressional campaigns is spent by challengers.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Rewriting bills is more commonly called "hearings."
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: The President
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Q1) Write an essay in which you outline the evolving relationship between the president and the people. Pay specific attention to instances in which presidents attempt to lead public opinion and when they are responsive to it.
Q2) President Theodore Roosevelt is remembered for
A) legislation designed to end the Great Depression.
B) deploying troops to protect American economic and political interests.
C) "New Freedom" program to break up industrial combinations.
D) his "Great Society" program to solve social and economic problems.
E) supporting the great trusts of the American economy.
Q3) The most important organization in the Executive Office of the President is A) the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
B) the Internal Revenue Service.
C) the Office of Management and Budget.
D) NASA.
E) FCC.
Q4) Presidential responsibilities, burdens, power, and impact have changed very little over the last 200 years.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: The Executive Branch
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Q1) Which of the following presidents, out of frustration, thought of the federal bureaucracy as an "alien institution"?
A) George W. Bush
B) Carter
C) Clinton
D) Nixon
E) Reagan
Q2) The Constitution neither specifies the number and kinds of departments to be established nor describes other bureaucratic agencies.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of these is a way that presidents can exercise their authority over the bureaucracy?
A) The existence of a crisis or widely shared national commitment.
B) A popular president may be influential.
C) The president can use his power of appointment.
D) The president can use his power as chief budget officer of the federal government.
E) all of the above
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Chapter 14: The Courts
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Q1) As it has become more important recently, what is the most important method used to tell what the judicial philosophy of a Supreme Court nominee is?
A) by examining the rulings and written opinions of the nominee
B) by understanding the philosophy of the president who nominated the candidate
C) by understanding the nominee's background
D) by the nominee's race and religion
E) by the senator's opinions coming from the judiciary committee that approved the nominee
Q2) Write an essay in which you outline the organization of the federal judiciary, including a discussion of types of courts and their jurisdictions.
Q3) Many political scientists believe that the problem of democratic accountability of a non-elected judiciary less dire than it seems because the Supreme Court and other federal courts are influenced directly and indirectly by elected officials, public opinion, and other important actors in American society.
A)True
B)False
Q4) How does the Supreme Court limit the number of cases it hears?
Q5) Some people argue the Supreme Court should not make law. Does it make law now?
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Chapter 15: Freedom: the Struggle for Civil Liberties
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Q1) Schenck v. United States (1919) established the doctrine of
A) strict scrutiny.
B) inevitable discovery.
C) clear and present danger.
D) retroactive probable cause.
E) selective incorporation.
Q2) Which of the following is NOT assured in the Fifth Amendment?
A) Citizens are protected against double jeopardy and self-incrimination.
B) Citizens are guaranteed against deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.
C) Congress may not suspend a writ of habeas corpus.
D) Citizens are guaranteed just compensation for public use of private property.
E) Citizens are protected against self-incrimination.
Q3) This decision by the Supreme Court established a three-part test for obscenity.
A) Plessy v. Ferguson
B) Miller v. California
C) England v. Owens
D) New York Times v. Sullivan
E) Mapp v. Ohio
Q4) The first incorporation of the Bill of Rights concerned freedom of ________.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Civil Rights: the Struggle for Political Equality
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Q1) Which act was used to prohibit employment discrimination against the disabled and required that reasonable efforts be made to make places of employment and public facilities accessible to them?
A) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
B) The Civil Rights Act of 1991
C) The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1994
D) The Civil Rights Act of 1964
E) The Civil War amendments
Q2) The popular term for the system of legal racial segregation that existed in the American South until the middle of the twentieth century is
A) Jim Crow segregation.
B) de facto segregation.
C) de jure segregation.
D) second generation discrimination.
E) ex post facto segregation.
Q3) What is meant by the concept "strict scrutiny"?
Q4) The Supreme Court recently upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Act.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: The Budget and Economic Policies
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Q1) Discuss the tools of fiscal and monetary policy and how they are used to help government reach its economic goals.
Q2) Negative externalities are the typical by-product of government regulation.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is the primary objective of macroeconomic policy?
A) Steady economic growth.
B) A reduced deficit.
C) Increased spending.
D) Increased foreign trade.
E) A larger bureaucracy.
Q4) Public goods are those that are targeted at a group that add to their cost of operations.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Think about a federal spending program. Next, trace it, hypothetically of course, through the several stages of the policy process. Which stage do you think is most important to a policy's ultimate success? Why do you think so?
Q6) The national government depends primarily on ________ taxes and payroll taxes.
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Chapter 18: Social Safety Nets
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Q1) What is one of the main reasons why social welfare programs were introduced in the United States so late, as compared to other rich democracies?
A) Federalism.
B) Democracy.
C) The Supreme Court approved it, but the presidents wouldn't accept it as part of their budgets.
D) Our homogenous culture.
E) The small size of our country before the twentieth century.
Q2) Almost without exception, the business community in America has ________ the creation of a welfare state along European lines.
A) supported
B) opposed C) created
D) advocated E) ignored
Q3) The American welfare state does not include universal health care coverage. A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the battle between various groups over Social Security in early 2005
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Chapter 19: Foreign Policy and National Defense
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Q1) Which agency was created in 1947 to coordinate all U.S. intelligence agencies?
A) The Central Intelligence Agency
B) The National Security Agency
C) The Homeland Security Department
D) The National Reconnaissance Office
E) The Joint Chiefs of Staff
Q2) A dramatically different form of aid in which across-the-board payments to countries have been replaced by a system in which money to poor countries is tied to a range of performance indicators is called
A) a congressional resolution.
B) a Millennium Challenge Account.
C) an interest-free loan.
D) a hegemon.
E) None of the above
Q3) Figure 19.2 illustrates that
A) the divide between military expenditures has narrowed in recent years.
B) the United States has reduced its military expenditures in recent years.
C) the United States has increased its military expenditures in recent years.
D) the United States clearly spends more on defense than any other nation.
E) None of the above
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