Contemporary American Politics Practice Exam
Course Introduction
This course offers a comprehensive analysis of the major trends, institutions, and issues shaping American politics today. Students will examine the evolution of the political system, the roles of key actors such as the presidency, Congress, the courts, and the media, and the impact of political parties, interest groups, and public opinion. Special emphasis is given to current policy debates, electoral dynamics, polarization, and the influence of social movements. By exploring contemporary challenges and transformations, students will gain critical insight into the functioning and future of democracy in the United States.
Recommended Textbook
Politics in America 2014 Elections and Updates Edition 10th Edition by Thomas R. Dye
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Politics: Who Gets What,When and How 1
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Q1) An economic system in which prices are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses is a(n)__________.
A)externality
B)socialist government
C)free market
D)closed system
Answer: C
Q2) Political scientists are generally concerned with all of the following questions EXCEPT
A)Who governs?
B)Where do people govern?
C)For what ends do people govern?
D)By what means do people govern?
Answer: B
Q3) Ultimately,what protects liberty,property,and conscience in a society?
A)laws
B)social order
C)government
D)the fear of punishment
Answer: B
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Chapter 2: Political Culture: Ideas in Conflict
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Q1) What is meant when amnesty is granted?
A)Citizenship is granted.
B)A crime is forgiven.
C)Immigration status is changed.
D)Legal protections are revoked.
Answer: B
Q2) The term political culture primarily refers to __________.
A)commonly practiced norms of behavior
B)general values and beliefs regarding the political system
C)public opinion
D)unifying symbols and traditions
Answer: B
Q3) How does the text define ideology?
A)a consistent and integrated set of political values and beliefs
B)a consistent and integrated system of ideas,values,and beliefs
C)the political culture that is characteristic of a given society
D)a set of beliefs based on religious affiliation
Answer: B
Q4) Secular politics would not allow __________ in public life.
Answer: religion
Page 4
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Chapter 3: The Constitution: Limiting Governmental Power
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Q1) Powers specifically mentioned in the Constitution as belonging to the national government are called __________ powers.
A)constitutional
B)supremacy
C)federal
D)enumerated
Answer: D
Q2) Merchants disliked the Articles of Confederation because of what they considered overregulation and interference in interstate commerce.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) In which state was Anti-Federalist sentiment especially strong?
A)Massachusetts
B)Delaware
C)New Jersey
D)Virginia
Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Federalism: Dividing Governmental Power
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Q1) Under __________,decisions are made directly by the people.
A)representative democracy
B)federalism
C)direct democracy
D)republicanism
Q2) In the 1980s and 1990s,the Republican Party led calls for __________,which demanded that the national government return administrative authority to state governments.
A)nullification
B)devolution
C)interposition
D)secession
Q3) What are the two types of powers given to the national government under the United States Constitution?
A)delegated; suggested
B)implied; explicit
C)delegated; implied
D)suggested; explicit
Q4) Discuss how the devolution revolution impacted social service policy and legislation in the 1990s.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Opinion and Participation: Thinking and Acting in Politics
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Q1) Civil __________ is a form of protest that involves breaking what are perceived as "unjust" laws.
Q2) Because Jeremiah favors minimal voter registration requirements,he is more likely than other members of the county's election board,who all have concerns about voter fraud,to oppose registration by mail.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Women are more likely than men to identify themselves as members of which political party?
A)Democratic Party
B)Republican Party
C)Libertarian Party
D)Reform Party
Q4) Political __________ appears to be the essential link between opinion and policy.
Q5) __________ is the legal right to vote.
Q6) Trace the expansion of the right to vote.
Q7) How informed is public opinion?
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Q8) Discuss the ways in which diffuse support for the American political system is built.
Chapter 6: Mass Media: Setting the Political Agenda
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Q1) How many minutes of news and entertainment do Americans get for one minute of commercials during prime time?
A)one
B)three
C)ten
D)twenty
Q2) Edmund Burke called the free news press and the people and institutions of the free press the "__________ estate" of the realm.
Q3) Laws against libel and slander are aimed at preventing __________.
A)intentional damage
B)freedom of the press
C)journalistic freedom
D)freedom of speech
Q4) What is the source of the concept of no prior restraint?
A)the First Amendment
B)the Second Amendment
C)the Supreme Court
D)newspaper readers
Q5) Public awareness of a candidate is often referred to as __________ recognition.
Page 8
Q6) How does political polarization of the media impact our political system?
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Chapter 7: Political Parties: Organizing Politics
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Q1) Progressive movement reforms gave voters the power to choose a party's nominees directly.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In the winner-takes-all electoral system,there is strong incentive for a party to form to represent the views of 5 or 10 percent of the electorate.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to the responsible party model,voters should be able to hold politicians accountable for adherence to party platforms.
A)True
B)False
Q4) When did the last political realignment occur,according to most political commentators?
A)1860
B)1894
C)1968
D)1980
Q5) Assess whether dealignment in the American party system has actually occurred.
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Chapter 8: Campaigns and Elections: Deciding Who
Governs
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Sample Questions
Q1) The need for free airtime is especially great for __________ candidates.
A)careerist
B)professional
C)incumbent
D)underfunded
Q2) What kinds of campaign finance receive little or no scrutiny?
Q3) In politics,getting voters and supporters to work for candidates and turn out on Election Day is called __________.
A)mobilization
B)convincing
C)emblazoning
D)coordinating
Q4) Incumbents begin a campaign with greater ___________ than their challengers.
A)voter turnout
B)voter support
C)name recognition
D)mobilization
Q5) In politics,__________ refers to the increasing number of officeholders for whom politics is a full-time occupation.
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Chapter 9: Interest Groups: Getting Their Share and More
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Q1) This libertarian think tank advocates policies based on market principles and limited government.
A)the Center for American Progress
B)the Cato Institute
C)the Brookings Institution
D)the Council on Foreign Relations
Q2) Research has shown that business/economic interest groups outnumber all other types of organizations in terms of their lobbying presence in Washington,D.C.Why do some scholars view this as problematic for the functioning of our political system? Could it be argued that this is not a problem at all?
Q3) How does lobbying the executive branch differ from lobbying Congress?
A)Fewer interest groups lobby Congress than lobby the executive branch.
B)Fewer interest groups lobby the executive branch than lobby Congress.
C)Lobbying the executive branch has less impact on government than lobbying Congress.
D)Lobbying the executive branch focuses more on rulemaking,whereas lobbying Congress focuses more on pending legislation.
Q4) __________ groups are organizations that seek to influence public policy.
Q5) Are interest groups beneficial or harmful to the functioning of democracy?
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Chapter 10: Congress: Politics on Capitol Hill
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Q1) Each state has __________ senators elected every __________ years.
A)two; two
B)two; four
C)two; six
D)four; two
Q2) Evaluate the successes and failures of the two parties in Congress.
Q3) Consider the article "Compared to What? The Parliamentary System" to compare and contrast the U.S.system with the parliamentary system.Given that the majority of democracies in the world are parliamentary ones,do you believe the U.S.government would function better with unified legislative and executive branches? Why or why not? Consider legislative gridlock in your answer.
Q4) The activities that members of Congress undertake while they are in Washington; these activities might include committee and subcommittee meetings,time on the floor of the chamber,meeting with constituents,interest groups,other members,and staff,and attending conferences,events,and meetings in Washington.
A)hill style
B)trustee representation
C)home style
D)delegate representation
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Chapter 11: The President: White House Politics
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Q1) The ability to persuade has always been central to a successful president.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A(n)__________ is an executive grant releasing the individual from punishment or legal consequences of a crime before or after conviction,and restores all rights and privileges of citizenship.
A)pardon
B)override
C)rescission
D)executive order
Q3) The chief of staff,national security adviser,and press secretary are all members of the __________.
A)Executive Office of the President
B)White House staff
C)the Cabinet
D)Joint Chiefs of Staff
Q4) If the president takes no action to veto a bill passed by Congress for __________ days,the bill will become law without the president's signature.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Bureaucracy: Bureaucratic Politics
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Q1) How do government corporations differ from private companies?
A)Government corporations perform activities that private companies cannot.
B)Government corporations cannot borrow money,whereas private companies can.
C)Government corporations cannot sell stock,whereas private companies can.
D)Government corporations can borrow money,whereas private companies cannot.
Q2) What role is the National Labor Relations Board taking when it settles a dispute between labor and management on federal labor laws?
A)regulation
B)oversight
C)rule-making
D)adjudication
Q3) Refer to Table 12.1.The most recently-created Cabinet department is the __________.
A)Department of Veterans Affairs
B)Department of Homeland Security
C)Department of Education
D)Department of Energy
Q4) One consequence of ambiguity in the laws passed by Congress is that government agencies exercise __________ in the implementation of those laws.
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Chapter 13: Courts Judicial Politics
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Q1) __________ jurisdiction gives a court the power to review the decisions of lower courts.
A)Appellate
B)State
C)Original
D)Federal
Q2) The Supreme Court regularly exercises its original jurisdiction.
A)True
B)False
Q3) To "grant certiorari," the Supreme Court relies on its __________.
A)judicial implementation
B)rule of execution
C)amicus curiae
D)rule of four
Q4) A court that hears and weighs evidence in order to reach the first decision in a civil or criminal case is a court of __________ jurisdiction.
A)appellate
B)constitutional
C)trial
D)original
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Chapter 14: Politics and Personal Liberty
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Q1) The double jeopardy clause prevents an individual who is acquitted of a crime from which of the following?
A)media coverage
B)being tried again
C)going free
D)asserting innocence
Q2) The 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA)allows warrantless surveillance of which of the following?
A)international calls and e-mails
B)locations of automobiles
C)text messages on employer-paid devices
D)electronic communications within the United States
Q3) Why are the establishment and free exercise clauses necessary to maintain the separation of church and state?
Q4) In order for a public official to prove that a communication is libelous,they must prove that the statement(s)made about them were "made with actual malice" or with __________ of the truth.
Q5) Yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater is a classic example of speech that creates a(n)__________.
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Chapter 15: Politics and Civil Rights
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Q1) When did women win the guaranteed right to vote?
A)when the Constitution was adopted
B)during the Civil War
C)immediately after the Civil War
D)decades after black males won the right to vote
Q2) What is the status of affirmative action in college admissions after the most recent Supreme Court decisions?
A)Limited affirmative action programs are generally permissible,but they cannot make race the decisive factor for a minority applicant.
B)Affirmative action policies are assumed to be unconstitutional unless the university can demonstrate the need to promote racial tolerance on campus.
C)Limited affirmative action programs are assumed to be constitutional unless an applicant can demonstrate that race affected the admissions decision in any way.
D)Affirmative action policies must ensure that all racial and ethnic groups are represented in accordance with the population of the nation as a whole.
Q3) The focus of the __________ was to establish women's right to vote.
Q4) Brown v.Board of Education overturned the __________ doctrine.
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Chapter 16: Politics and the Economy
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Q1) Which of the following is a problem of growing concern with respect to the U.S.national debt?
A)that an increasing share of the debt is owed to foreign banks and governments
B)that there are too few people working to continue to fund the level of debt
C)that the U.S.Congress is now constitutionally forbidden from "floating" debt
D)that too much debt will cause the economy to overheat and increase unemployment levels
Q2) The most recent economic crisis was a depression.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the federal budget,national parks and federal prisons are examples of
A)deficit spending
B)discretionary spending
C)entitlement programs
D)mandatory spending
Q4) Monetary economic policy uses the money supply to affect growth in the U.S.economy.
A)True
B)False
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Politics and Social Welfare
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Q1) Which program/legislation is designed to ensure that the poor have access to health care?
A)Medicare
B)Affordable Care Act
C)Medicaid
D)TANF
Q2) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families replaced the federal program
Q3) Which of the following explains the welfare state in America?
A)The American political culture favors an extensive welfare state.
B)The American political culture opposes an extensive welfare state.
C)Few Americans are in poverty,so welfare would not benefit many people.
D)Most politicians favor welfare expansion,but their constituents do not.
Q4) If all citizens who are 65 years and older are eligible for Medicare,but only some citizens are eligible for Medicaid because they lack certain resources,which of the following is also true?
A)Both Medicare and Medicaid are principally retirement programs.
B)Both Medicare and Medicaid are means-tested programs.
C)Medicare is an entitlement program,but Medicaid is a means-tested program.
D)Medicare is a means-tested program,but Medicaid is an entitlement program.
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Q5) Social Security payments have ___________ since the program was created.
Chapter 18: Politics and National Security
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Q1) The United States engaged in which of the following military conflicts in order to prevent the spread of communism?
A)World War I
B)World War II
C)the Vietnam War
D)the Persian Gulf War
Q2) Which of the following was created primarily to promote regional security?
A)NAFTA
B)the United Nations
C)the League of Nations
D)the Warsaw Pact
Q3) Around the time of the 9/11 attacks,where was the principal base of support for al-Qaeda?
A)Afghanistan
B)Egypt
C)Iran
D)Lebanon
Q4) __________ has the constitutional power to declare war.
Q5) The __________ was the U.S.effort to help rebuild Western Europe after World War II.
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