Contemporary American Government Exam Solutions
Course Introduction
Contemporary American Government explores the structures, functions, and dynamic processes of the United States government in the modern era. The course examines the Constitution, federalism, the roles of the three branches of government, and the impact of political parties, interest groups, and the media on American politics. Through analysis of current events and policy debates, students gain an understanding of civil rights, civil liberties, the electoral process, and the complex realities of governance in a diverse, technologically advanced society. The course emphasizes critical thinking and informed participation in civic life.
Recommended Textbook
MindTapR in Action American Government 1st Edition by Cengage
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15 Chapters
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Constitution
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Q1) Who wrote the Great Compromise?
A) William Paterson
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) Roger Sherman
D) William Randolph
Answer: C
Q2) Which early American leader championed Locke's philosophy?
A) Thomas Paine
B) George Washington
C) William Randolph
D) Thomas Jefferson
Answer: D
Q3) Which Supreme Court case established that Congress had powers implied through the necessary and proper clause?
A) Marbury v. Madison
B) McCullough v. Maryland
C) Brown v. Board of Education
D) Bowers v. Hardwick
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Federalism
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Q1) Reserved powers are powers
A) to be exercised by the states and not the federal government.
B) that are specifically listed in the Constitution as granted to the federal government.
C) that are rarely used and then only by congressional approval.
D) to be shared by the federal and state governments.
Answer: A
Q2) In the early 2000s, what act implemented national standards in the field of education?
A) The Elementary and Secondary Education Act
B) No Child Left Behind
C) The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
D) The National Education Act
Answer: B
Q3) Which of the following is an example of a reserved power?
A) The power to tax
B) The power to provide for national defense
C) The power to administer elections
D) The power to conduct foreign relations
Answer: C
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Civil Liberties
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Q1) In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court find that the government cannot prohibit the advocacy of violence unless it can prove that the speech has the intent of causing immediate lawless action?
A) Schenck v. United States
B) United States v. O'Brien
C) Brandenburg v. Ohio
D) Tinker v. Des Moines Community School District
Answer: C
Q2) The First Amendment does <b><u>not</b></u> protect speech that
A) contributes to a proactive exchange of ideas.
B) has legitimate potential to do harm to others without redeeming value.
C) does not promote the general welfare.
D) represents a protest.
Answer: B
Q3) What must a legitimate search include?
A) A suspicion of guilt by a law enforcement official
B) Probable cause
C) Advance warning that property will be searched
D) Permission of the person being searched
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Civil Rights
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Q1) Civil rights are
A) fundamental individual rights that the government is obligated to protect.
B) personal rights guaranteed to citizens and residents of the United States.
C) personal rights that the states can grant to their residents.
D) legal rights that protect citizens from improper governmental action.
Q2) After 41 years, the Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote was ratified in
A) 1917.
B) 1918.
C) 1919.
D) 1920.
Q3) What act reinstated prior law against pay discrimination?
A) The Equal Pay Act
B) The Fair Standards Act
C) The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act
D) The Employment Nondiscrimination Act
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Chapter 5: Congress
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Q1) The "home style" approach
A) focuses on the voting record of a congressional member.
B) paints a congressional member as someone who desires to spend more time in his or her district and less time in Washington, D.C.
C) focuses on the policy decisions of a congressional member.
D) describes a congressional member as someone who can deliver on the things that matter most to his or her constituents.
Q2) Unanimous consent allows the Senate to conduct business
A) only without the objection of majority members, rather than taking continuous votes.
B) only without the objection of any members, rather than taking continuous votes.
C) only with a quorum present.
D) without a quorum present but with the presence of all majority members.
Q3) Any bill may be proposed in either chamber of Congress <b><u>except</b></u>for
A) revenue bills.
B) transportation bills.
C) foreign relations bills.
D) immigration bills.
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Chapter 6: Presidency and Foreign Policy
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Q1) Which of the following is <b><u>not</u></b> a foreign policy role or one of the powers of the president as outlined in the Constitution?
A) Head of state
B) Commander in chief
C) Executive orders
D) Diplomacy
Q2) Which of the following is one task the press secretary does?
A) He or she is responsible for speechwriting.
B) He or she coordinates the president's message with policy information from executive agencies.
C) He or she manages the overall communications strategy and message.
D) He or she plays a role in the presidential communications strategy.
Q3) The Executive Office of the President is overseen by the
A) first lady.
B) vice president.
C) press secretary.
D) chief of staff.
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Chapter 7: Bureaucracy
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Q1) Which of the following was <b><u>not</u></b> a major policy objective of President Reagan's Program for Economic Recovery?
A) To reduce the growth of government spending
B) To reduce the marginal tax rates
C) To reduce transparency of governmental agencies
D) To reduce inflation by controlling the growth of the money supply
Q2) Which cabinet department was established most recently by Congress?
A) The Department of Veteran's Affairs
B) The Department of Homeland Security
C) The Department of Defense
D) The Department of Labor
Q3) What was the purpose of the Sunshine Act of 1977?
A) To assign expiration dates to legislation or policy
B) To simplify the language used in government policy
C) To provide greater public transparency to government proceedings
D) To allow Congress to review and change policy prior to its renewal
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Chapter 8: Judiciary
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Q1) What is a significant reason two Supreme Courts came to different conclusions in interpreting the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
A) There were new facts in the case.
B) The two courts were of different generations and had different perspectives on race relations.
C) They were two completely different cases.
D) The two courts were trying to please different presidents.
Q2) How long is the term of a Supreme Court judge?
A) Two years
B) Four years
C) Six years
D) Life
Q3) Which of the following statements is <b><u>true</u> </b>about capital punishment?
A) It exists in all states.
B) It is not legal in any state.
C) It can only be decided by federal courts.
D) It exists in some states.
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Chapter 9: Public Opinion
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Q1) Weighting is statistical adjustments
A) that are not acceptable to improve the survey results.
B) made to survey data to accommodate those who did not understand the survey.
C) made to survey data after collection to improve the accuracy of survey estimates.
D) that reflect the margin of error related to the sample size.
Q2) An individual who possesses a liberal ideology is most likely to support
A) preserving traditional social values.
B) more government intervention in the economy.
C) eliminating traditional social values.
D) little government intervention in the economy.
Q3) Visual displays of survey data are useful because they more effectively
A) engage the reader.
B) illustrate the margin of error.
C) illustrate differences or changes over time than tables and numbers.
D) cover negative opinion data.
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11
Chapter 10: Interest Groups
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Q1) Groups, such as the National Rifle Association, that tend to focus on one particular substantive area are referred to as
A) partisan groups.
B) ideological groups.
C) issue groups.
D) corporate action committees.
Q2) Which amendment allows for the formation of interest groups?
A) The Fourth Amendment
B) The Third Amendment
C) The Second Amendment
D) The First Amendment
Q3) Interest groups are protected by the First Amendment, but are
A) not held to any special regulations or rules.
B) subject to liability rules for individual members.
C) subject to rules for lobbyists, tax regulations, and limits to campaign financing.
D) afforded unlimited access for partisan activities.
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Chapter 11: Media
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Q1) What criticism, along with the advent of cable, caused the FCC to repeal the Fairness Doctrine?
A) In a multi-view world, it was no longer needed.
B) It impinged upon broadcasters' First Amendment rights.
C) It ultimately lessened the diversity of viewpoints.
D) It violated broadcasters' Second Amendment rights.
Q2) What has been the effect of the Internet on twenty-first century newspapers?
A) Traditional print newspapers have disappeared.
B) All media are now owned by multinational conglomerates.
C) Some newspapers have moved to an all-digital format.
D) Traditional newspapers are forced to focus strictly on national and international news.
Q3) Which amendment protects the freedom of the press?
A) The First Amendment
B) The Second Amendment
C) The Third Amendment
D) The Fourth Amendment
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Chapter 12: Political Parties
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Q1) Why was instant runoff voting (IRV) developed?
A) To provide fairness in local elections, such as those for school boards and city councils
B) To ensure that the winning candidate has the support of the majority of the voters in the district
C) To offer representation for single-issue preferences, as they relate to stringent ideological views
D) To distribute multiple seats fairly in a district to correspond to the proportion of the total votes cast
Q2) When is the national executive body of a political party generally the most visible?
A) During mayoral elections
B) Prior to school board elections
C) During presidential elections
D) Prior to gubernatorial elections
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Chapter 13: Participation
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Questions
Q1) Calculations based on the voting-age population usually rely on census data because census data is
A) an accurate estimate of the number of people in a population.
B) a reliable measure of the population ineligible to vote.
C) a clear computation of the number who have voted in the past.
D) a solid gauge of the portion of the population born in this country.
Q2) Which of the following is<b><u> not</b></u> included as a primary predictor of political participation in the socioeconomic status (SES) model?
A) Age
B) Income
C) Education
D) Employment
Q3) What change was made to state constitutions regarding voting rights in the United States just after the War of 1812?
A) The requirement of being male was eliminated.
B) The requirement of owning property was eliminated.
C) The requirement of being white was eliminated.
D) The requirement of registering to vote was eliminated.
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15
Chapter 14: Campaigns and Elections
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Q1) What famous misstep did Congressman Anthony Weiner make on Twitter?
A) He tweeted inappropriate photos of himself.
B) He live tweeted a secret trip to Afghanistan.
C) He tweeted campaign finance information.
D) He live tweeted details about an upcoming vote.
Q2) Which of these states contains more than one House district?
A) Alaska
B) Delaware
C) Georgia
D) Montana
Q3) How often are congressional districts redrawn to reflect population changes?
A) Every two years
B) Every five years
C) Every eight years
D) Every ten years
Q4) Super PACs are primarily associated with
A) local coalitions.
B) volunteer organizations.
C) financial support.
D) congressional committees.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Domestic Policy
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Q1) The policymaking process is often subject to challenges, particularly during the A) identification and formulation phases.
B) evaluation and implementation phases.
C) identification and evaluation phases.
D) formulation and implementation phases.
Q2) The presence of a budget surplus or deficit reflects any difference between what a government
A) brings in through bond sales and what it spends.
B) spends for defense and brings in through goods and services.
C) brings in through taxes and what it spends.
D) spends for social services and brings in through government bonds.
Q3) In 1996, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program was replaced by the Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) program, which shifted much of the responsibility for program administration to the A) federal government.
B) courts.
C) former employers.
D) states.
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