Contemporary American Politics
Chapter Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course explores the major themes, institutions, and debates shaping contemporary American politics. Students will examine the structures of federal, state, and local government, the role of political parties and interest groups, the influence of the media, and the functioning of the electoral system. The course analyzes key policy issues, the impact of social movements, and recent trends in political polarization. Through case studies and current events, students develop a critical understanding of how power and policy operate in the United States today.
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AM GOV 2015 2016 4th Edition by Joseph Losco
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Citizenship in Our Changing Democracy
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Q1) An instance in which one segment of society manages to push through a law in one legislative session, only to have another segment build enough support to overthrow the law in the next session, would best be defined as an example of
A)direct democracy.
B)pluralism.
C)a ruling elite.
D)aristocracy.
E)minority rights.
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following measures would probably be LEAST conducive to increased political participation?
A)allowing citizens to vote by mail
B)allowing citizens to vote online
C)requiring all voters to present a photo ID
D)making Election Day a federal holiday
E)having citizens invited by members of their communities to vote
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: The Constitution: the Foundation of Citizens Rights
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Q1) Which clause of the Constitution affirms that the federal government, in exercising any of the powers enumerated in the Constitution, must prevail over any conflicting or inconsistent state exercise of power?
A)full faith and credit clause
B)implied powers clause
C)necessary and proper clause
D)supremacy clause
E)None of these answers is correct.
Answer: D
Q2) The 1787 constitutional convention in Philadelphia was originally convened for the express purpose of
A)revising the Articles of Confederation.
B)writing a new constitution.
C)preventing insurrections such as Shays' Rebellion.
D)negotiating comprehensive treaties with Native Americans.
E)creating a lasting peace settlement with Britain.
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Federalism: Citizenship and the Dispersal of Power
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Q1) How did Franklin Roosevelt respond to Supreme Court challenges to his New Deal programs?
A)He abandoned his economic interventionism and restored a purely free-market economy.
B)He threatened to pack the Court with new appointees who would vote in favor of his policies.
C)He temporarily suspended the Court's power of judicial review, restoring it only after World War II had lifted the U.S.out of the Great Depression.
D)He convinced Congress to allow him to replace the existing justices with appointees who were more sympathetic to his political goals.
E)He worked closely with the justices in order to develop more moderate programs, on which both he and they could agree.
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties: Citizens Rights Versus Security
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Q1) Why can the government regulate broadcast television more than most other media?
A)because television stations have open access to all citizens, regardless of age
B)because a scarcity of bandwidth led the government to license stations
C)because television stations have a broad audience
D)because the government owns all broadcast media outlets
E)because television broadcasters have failed to challenge government controls
Q2) Most of the founders of the American republic probably had accommodationist views regarding the relationship between church and state, meaning that they believed that
A)a strict wall of separation must be maintained between the two institutions.
B)a single national religion should be established.
C)Christianity and the Christian Bible should serve as the basis for American laws.
D)the government should be permitted to support religion generally but not a particular religion specifically.
E)while private citizens could worship or not worship as they chose, federal officials should be required to swear oaths of religious affirmation before taking office.
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights: Toward a More Equal Citizenry
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Q1) In the case of Korematsu v.United States, the Supreme Court decided that A)because the internment of Japanese Americans was based solely on race, it was unconstitutional.
B)while the government had the right to send Japanese immigrants to internment camps, their native-born children, as American citizens, must be freed.
C)although Congress might have had the power to order the internment of Japanese Americans, the president could not constitutionally do so by executive order.
D)in times of war, American citizens have no civil rights the government is obligated to respect.
E)the internment of Japanese Americans was a constitutional measure.
Q2) Who was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives?
A)Nancy Pelosi
B)Sarah Palin
C)Hillary Clinton
D)Anita Hill
E)Jeannette Rankin
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion
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Q1) Generally speaking, female citizens
A)have, since they were first guaranteed suffrage, shown markedly different voting patterns from their male counterparts.
B)participate more actively in political causes than men do.
C)are more likely to support the death penalty and other potential deterrents of crime.
D)back government-based social welfare programs more strongly than male citizens do.
E)tend to be most active in politics in states where there are few women in high government offices to protect their interests.
Q2) Ideologically, a person who stresses economic liberty and progressive social views is considered to be a
A)liberal.
B)conservative.
C)libertarian.
D)progressive.
E)populist.
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Chapter 7: Political Participation: Equal Opportunities and Unequal Voices
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Q1) The vastly higher voting rates for citizens of Australia, Belgium, and Greece versus the United States can be attributed in large part to what factor?
A)better education
B)long traditions of democratic governance
C)compulsory voting laws
D)an older and thus more duty-bound citizenship
E)the lack of voter registration requirements
Q2) What are the various factors that influence how a voter will vote?
Q3) What are the three conditions necessary for political participation?
A)resources to participate, interest in the political process, and membership in a party
B)interest in the political process, having been asked to participate, and membership in a party
C)membership in a party, resources to participate, and having been asked to participate
D)resources to participate, interest in the political process, and having been asked to participate
E)None of these answers is correct.
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Chapter 8: Interest Groups in America
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Q1) Generally speaking, small interest groups have what kind of advantage over larger ones?
A)intensity and cohesiveness
B)prestige
C)political clout
D)geographical distribution
E)financial resources
Q2) Which of the following statements about interest groups is LEAST accurate?
A)While many interest groups pursue economic gains, a large number pursue more ideological ends.
B)Some interest groups represent organizations rather than individual citizens.
C)Interest groups have declined in size and influence in conjunction with the general decline in political participation.
D)The well-to-do and well-educated are better represented in interest groups than are the poor and needy.
E)Membership in interest groups tends to compound the political power of already influential groups rather than to give voice to the disenfranchised.
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Chapter 9: Parties and Political Campaigns
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Q1) Which of the following statements about the run-up to the second party era is LEAST accurate?
A)The era witnessed a significant decline in voter turnout.
B)The era witnessed the appearance of the first mass political parties in U.S.history.
C)The era witnessed structural changes such as the popular election of presidential electors.
D)The era witnessed the use of rallies, bonfires, and parades to mobilize popular support.
E)The era was brought to an end largely by the failure to contain the slavery question.
Q2) "________" is characterized by a control of the White House by one party while the opposition party controls one or both houses of Congress.
A)Divided government
B)Split government
C)Minority government
D)Parliamentary government
E)Grand coalition government
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Chapter 10: Media: Tuning in or Tuning Out
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Q1) Which of the following statements about how political candidates exploit the media is LEAST accurate?
A)Whereas prominent candidates once appeared on entertainment programs and other alternative media where they could expect more favorable treatment, this practice has waned since the early 1990s.
B)Candidates will often appear at rallies where the crowds have been prescreened to include only supporters.
C)Candidates often try to do something that is newsworthy in itself, in order to get earned media.
D)Candidates rely on spin doctors, who interpret recent events in a manner flattering to the candidate, and try to make that interpretation widely accepted.
E)Candidates must phrase their ideas clearly and succinctly because much of the media will present them only in the form of sound bites.
Q2) Discuss the rise of political blogs.What impact do they have on political discourse? In what ways are they similar to and different from traditional media outlets?
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Chapter 11: Congress: Doing the Peoples Business
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Q1) Which of the following statements about Congress is LEAST accurate?
A)Congress is a bicameral institution.
B)The Senate was initially seen as the protector of minority rights against majoritarian tyranny.
C)The House was initially seen as the chief governmental representative of the majority of the people.
D)Senators' terms of office are three times longer than those of representatives.
E)When the Constitution was first put into effect, it made senator and representative the only two federal offices that would be elected directly by the people.
Q2) Discuss the role committees play in Congress.What are the various types of committees? How are committee seats awarded? What powers do committees possess? Is the committee system a positive good or a necessary evil?
Q3) Why is the Speaker of the House such a powerful person? What powers does the Speaker have? Why is there no analogous position in the Senate?
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Chapter 12: The Presidency: Power and Paradox
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Q1) The only two presidents ever to be impeached are Bill Clinton and A)James Madison.
B)James Buchanan.
C)Andrew Johnson.
D)Warren Harding.
E)Richard Nixon.
Q2) The president's ability to veto legislation is an example of
A)an express power.
B)a delegated power.
C)a discretionary power.
D)an emergency power.
E)an executive privilege.
Q3) Presidential doctrines formally outline the president's A)foreign policy goals.
B)ideological philosophy.
C)monetary policy.
D)plan for economic growth.
E)relationship with Congress and the American people.
Q4) Should the American people rally around a unitary executive or should they fear an imperial presidency? Support your position.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Bureaucracy: Citizens As Owners and Consumers
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Q1) Who was the FIRST president to appoint a woman to his cabinet?
A)Woodrow Wilson
B)Franklin Roosevelt
C)Lyndon Johnson
D)Ronald Reagan
E)Bill Clinton
Q2) Under the Student Loan Fairness Act of 2013,
A)interest rates on student loans would never rise above 4.0 percent.
B)undergraduates and graduate students would pay the same rates on student loans.
C)interest rates on student loans could easily climb over time.
D)students who complete their degrees will have all loan interest amounts waived.
E)FFEL loans were reinstated with the backing of the federal government.
Q3) The SEC, FCC, and EPA are all examples of
A)proxy administrations.
B)line organizations.
C)government corporations.
D)independent regulatory agencies.
E)government-sponsored enterprises.
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Chapter 14: The Courts: Judicial Power in a Democratic Setting
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Q1) To his chagrin, President Eisenhower discovered that Earl Warren, Eisenhower's nominee as chief justice, did not meet the
A)professional qualifications expected by the Senate.
B)representational qualifications demanded by the American people.
C)longevity he expected when he appointed him.
D)doctrinal qualifications expected by the president himself.
E)interpersonal qualifications needed to work with other members of the Court.
Q2) What factors affect a president's decision to nominate someone to the Supreme Court? Once the decision is made, what is the Senate's role and how does it fulfill it?
Q3) How many of the nine justices must vote to grant certiorari in order for a case to be heard by the Supreme Court?
A)one
B)four
C)five
D)six
E)nine
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Chapter 15: Public Policy: Responding to Citizens
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Q1) Which of the following statements about American budgetary deficits is MOST accurate?
A)Foreign investors are legally prohibited from purchasing U.S.securities.
B)Over the past thirty years, the deficit has risen sharply when Democrats controlled the White House and dropped precipitously when Republicans controlled it.
C)The government currently spends over half of its revenue paying interest on its debt.
D)The current deficit is substantially lower than it was in 2009.
E)Treasury bonds are increasingly difficult to sell, as they provide low returns, and the government has defaulted on them repeatedly in the past forty years.
Q2) Welfare payments to needy families exemplify public policies that
A)widely disperse both costs and benefits.
B)concentrate both costs and benefits.
C)concentrate benefits while widely dispersing costs.
D)concentrate costs while widely dispersing benefits.
E)achieve widely dispersed benefits without levying any substantial cost.
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Chapter 16: Foreign and Defense Policy: Protecting
American Interests in the World
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Q1) Alexis de Tocqueville, writing in the early nineteenth century about America, noted that America's prosperity rests on its
A)geographic isolation only.
B)defensible borders only.
C)absence of passion for war only.
D)geographic isolation, defensible borders, and absence of passion for war.
E)None of these answers is correct.
Q2) The Roosevelt Corollary was used to justify American intervention in A)China.
B)India.
C)Africa.
D)Cuba.
E)Japan.
Q3) The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists law
A)was passed by Congress during the Clinton administration.
B)was intended solely to deal with the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.
C)was repealed by Congress in 2008.
D)is still in force and has underpinned actions of the Obama administration.
E)requires Congressional authorization before any drone strike against a terrorist target.
Page 18
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