Contemporary Issues in American Government Exam Bank
Course Introduction
This course examines pressing contemporary issues faced by American government and society, exploring the political, social, and economic challenges that shape current policy debates. Students will analyze topics such as polarization, voting rights, immigration, the role of the media, climate policy, and civil rights through case studies, scholarly research, and current events. Emphasis is placed on understanding the historical context, institutional frameworks, and the interplay of various interest groups, with the goal of fostering informed and critical perspectives on the evolving American political landscape.
Recommended Textbook
Government By the People 2014 Elections and Updates Edition 25th Edition by David
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Page 2
B. Magleby
Chapter 1: Constitutional Democracy
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Q1) The U.S.government's commitment to public education through Head Start,a program for disadvantaged preschool children,reflects Americans' belief in
A)balanced government
B)political equality
C)individualism
D)equal opportunity
Answer: D
Q2) What is a favorable condition for democracy?
A)a prosperous upper class
B)ideological separation of groups in society
C)instability in society
D)an educated citizenry
Answer: D
Q3) Which of the following is true in a balanced government?
A)No single interest dominates.
B)The president and Congress have no shared powers.
C)State governments can veto laws of the national government.
D)The people must approve constitutional amendments by popular vote.
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: Constitutional Foundations
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Q1) Describe the Equal Rights Amendment.
Answer: An ideal response will:
1.Discuss the content of the proposed amendment-that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied on the basis of sex.
2.Explain that the amendment was approved overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress in 1972.
3.Note that the amendment failed to gain approval in three-quarters of the state legislatures.
Q2) When the Democratic and Republican parties become splintered,the influence of which of the following can be increased?
A)the Supreme Court
B)the president
C)third-party candidates
D)special-interest groups
Answer: D
Q3) The president has no formal authority over constitutional amendments.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 4
Chapter 3: American Federalism
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Q1) Before interstate compacts can take effect,__________ must approve them.
Answer: Congress
Q2) The power to create post offices is reserved for the __________.
Answer: national government
Q3) An advantage of federalism is that it checks the growth of which of the following?
A)violence
B)inequality
C)wealth
D)tyranny
Answer: D
Q4) Based on Supreme Court rulings in 1990 and 1997,the responsibility to pass laws either allowing or prohibiting doctor aid in ending life resides with __________.
A)the national government
B)states
C)local governments
D)the people
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: The American Political Landscape
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Q1) The demographic change that has increased the proportion of the population over the age of 65 is known as __________.
Q2) Fundamentalist Christians are an important force for which American political party?
A)Democrats
B)Independents
C)Libertarians
D)Republicans
Q3) Which state is part of the Bible Belt?
A)Ohio
B)Indiana
C)Kentucky
D)Nevada
Q4) The Framers of the Constitution did not endorse a national church because
A)they believed that religious liberty flourishes when there is no official faith
B)they were Deists
C)they were not people of faith themselves
D)they wished for the people to be allowed to vote for a national church
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Chapter 5: Interest Groups
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Q1) You are the leader of a consumer rights group that has been unable to get a meeting with its elected representative in Congress.How could you get the attention of your legislator on the issues your group cares about?
A)Organize a demonstration in the representative's district and invite the media.
B)File an amicus curiae brief.
C)Draft a bill and introduce it in Congress.
D)Contact the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
Q2) Interest groups are important subjects of study in American politics because __________.
A)they are always successful in getting their demands met by government
B)they provide a venue for citizens to participate in government
C)they determine what issues get covered in the media
D)they determine who runs for elected office
Q3) Membership in labor unions has increased over the last several decades.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Many lobbyists participate in __________ with other groups,committees,and agencies that share a common policy concern.
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Political Parties
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Q1) The top official of each major party is the __________.
Q2) Explain the significance of critical elections to realignments.
Q3) Briefly discuss specific Democratic and Republican Party reforms and assess long-term prospects for the two-party system in the United States.
Q4) Which of the following was a Progressive Era reform?
A)direct election of senators
B)party conventions
C)establishment of patronage
D)establishment of single-member districts
Q5) When did party conventions come into existence?
A)in 1791,after ratification of the Constitution
B)in the 1830s and 1840s
C)in the early twentieth century,during the Progressive Era
D)during the New Deal of the 1930s
Q6) What did the Democratic Party in the electorate look like in 2008,demographically?
Q7) The __________ system suggests that when politicians break away from the party platform,such as when Republican president George H.W.Bush raised taxes,they should be held directly accountable for such transgressions by the electorate.
Page 8
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Chapter
7:
Public Opinion, ideology, participation, and Voting
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Q1) Which state was the first to grant women's suffrage?
A)Pennsylvania
B)Wyoming
C)Texas
D)Rhode Island
Q2) An individual's propensity to perceive,interpret,or act toward a particular object in a particular way is a(n)___________.
A)ideology
B)belief
C)value
D)attitude
Q3) __________ believe that people are the architects of their own success or failure.
Q4) An election in which voters determine party nominees is which type of election?
A)general
B) caucus
C)primary
D)midterm
Q5) As a group,African Americans vote ___________ than Caucasians,although this is beginning to change.
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Chapter 8: Campaigns and Elections
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Q1) In the __________ system of allocating delegates,the candidate with the most votes gets all of the state's delegates.
Q2) In which of the following situations would an election MOST likely be decided by the House of Representatives?
A)during a time of war
B)when there are three or more strong candidates running C)when Democrats control the House but Republicans control the Senate D)when the same party controls both Congress and the White House
Q3) Candidates generally formally announce their plans to run for the presidency in March or April of the election year.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following is a requirement for third-party candidates to participate in presidential debates?
A)They must officially register as presidential candidates with the Commission on Presidential Debates.
B)They must meet a minimum fund-raising threshold.
C)They must be on the ballot in enough states to be able to win the election.
D)They must have an average of 5 percent or higher in five major election polls.
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Chapter 9: The Media and Uspolitics
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Q1) Small groups of people who are asked questions about candidates and issues in a discussion setting are known as __________.
A)task-oriented groups
B)buzz groups
C)issue groups
D)focus groups
Q2) __________ of types of media used in campaigns lessens the ability of any one medium to influence election outcomes.
Q3) When politicians try to influence the "spin" the media give to their actions or issues,they engage in which of these?
A)issue control
B)issue framing
C)media control
D)issue politicizing
Q4) In which type of election is news coverage likely to be most influential?
A)a city council election
B)a House race
C)a Senate race
D)a presidential election
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Chapter 10: Congress
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Q1) The only way to stop a Senate filibuster is with __________.
A)a cloture vote
B)a party caucus
C)a pocket veto
D)the closed rule
Q2) Moderate and conservative Democrats formed the Blue Dog Coalition in Congress in the 1990s to __________.
A)"choke blue" the liberal faction of their own party
B)demonstrate the power of the junior members of Congress
C)push for budget cuts and a cap on defense spending
D)push for budget cuts and an increase in defense spending
Q3) What can be inferred from a district in which one party has a clear majority of voters?
A)An open seat is likely.
B)A safe seat is likely.
C)Reapportionment is likely.
D)Strong challengers are likely.
Q4) A(n)__________ in the House permits debate within the overall time allotted to the bill.
Q5) Cloture is the only way to end a(n)__________.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: The Presidency
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Q1) A(n)__________ is a formal directive issued by the president that is just as strong as law and can be challenged in court.
Q2) Presidents often use the __________ clause to argue that they control everything that happens in the executive branch after a bill becomes law.
A)commerce
B)vesting
C)necessary and proper
D)due process
Q3) According to the Constitution,how is the president elected?
A)appointment through Congress
B)appointment through state legislatures
C)direct election by popular vote
D)election through the Electoral College
Q4) In which institutional resource are leaders both appointed by the president and approved by the Senate?
A)Executive Office of the President
B)White House staff
C)Supreme Court
D)Council of Economic Advisors
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Chapter 12: The Federal Bureaucracy and the Public Policy Process
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Q1) How does the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)influence rule-making by departments and agencies? When was the act passed?
Q2) How is police patrol oversight different from fire alarm oversight?
A)Police patrol oversight is conducted by Congress,whereas fire alarm oversight is conducted by the president.
B)Police patrol oversight involves oversight by the judicial branch,whereas fire alarm oversight does not.
C)Police patrol oversight involves more frequent monitoring than fire alarm oversight.
D)Police patrol oversight allows for greater administrative discretion than fire alarm oversight.
Q3) The __________ is the list of issues that the federal government pays attention to.
A)policy agenda
B)Federal Register
C)legislative calendar
D)administrative calendar
Q4) The purpose of the __________ was to prohibit federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities.
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Chapter 13: The Judiciary: the Balancing Branch
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Q1) The list of potential cases that reach the Supreme Court is called the __________.
Q2) Which of the following was an important precedent set by George Washington in his judicial appointments?
A)He sought the advice of senators in appointing justices.
B)He appointed individuals with no affiliation with a political party.
C)He appointed individuals with prior experience as attorneys.
D)He appointed political and ideological allies to the federal courts.
Q3) Only the Supreme Court can review the decisions of state courts.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Constitution gives __________ the power to create lower federal courts.
A)Congress
B)the president
C)the Supreme Court
D)states
Q5) Compare the roles of prosecutor and public defender as distinct players in the criminal justice system.
Q6) Describe the role of senatorial courtesy in presidential judicial appointments.
Q7) The circuit courts hear appeals from the __________ courts.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Civil Liberties
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Q1) What has been the role of habeas corpus in American civil liberties?
Q2) How has the Supreme Court applied the exclusionary rule?
Q3) Though the Supreme Court has resisted striking down the __________,critics wonder why alleged criminals should be freed simply due to police misconduct or error.
Q4) The Supreme Court has held that any restrictions on access to abortion are unconstitutional.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Why does the plight of the Guantanamo detainees raise concerns about civil liberties?
Q6) What was the Supreme Court's main purpose in adopting the exclusionary rule?
A)to allow for regulation of content on the Internet
B)to allow journalists to withhold information from grand juries
C)to protect individuals against self-incrimination
D)to remove any incentive for police misconduct
Q7) The Fourteenth Amendment suggests that the protections in the Bill of Rights could be interpreted as applying to the states.
A)True
B)False
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Civil Rights
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Q1) Brown v.Board of Education overturned the __________ doctrine.
Q2) In 1964,Congress passed the __________ to help keep the promise of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Q3) Jim Crow laws required __________ of African Americans and whites.
Q4) Tests given to African Americans with questions that are far more difficult than those asked on comparable tests given to whites have been used to discriminate against African Americans in what area?
A)employment
B)serving on juries
C)admission to college
D)voting
Q5) When a law is subject to the __________ test,the burden of proof is on government to justify the classification based on a "compelling government interest."
A)heightened scrutiny
B)strict scrutiny
C)rational basis
D)suspect classification
Q6) __________ rights are defined as those that are explicitly or implicitly guaranteed by the Constitution.
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Chapter 16: Making Economic Policy
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Q1) Keynesians in Congress would support increasing ___________ as a means to address high levels of unemployment.
Q2) If the Federal Reserve wanted to slow the rate of economic growth,it would most likely __________.
A)encourage the president to lower taxes
B)increase interest rates
C)increase the money supply
D)lower interest rates
Q3) Supporters of progressive taxation argue that __________.
A)it reduces compliance costs for businesses
B)it reduces government involvement in the economy
C)it has minimal impact on those with low income
D)it has minimal impact on the wealthy
Q4) What is the main purpose of monetary policy?
A)to affect how much money is circulating through the economy
B)to control the amount of public debt sold to foreign states
C)to equalize income disparity among citizens of the United States
D)to expand the government's revenue base so as to reduce the deficit
Q5) What portion of the federal government is responsible for monetary policy,and how does it affect the economy?
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Making Social Policy
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Q1) Which of the following best explains the federal government's motivation for being involved in education policy in the 1950s?
A)The federal government believed that education is an important part of defense.
B)The federal government was concerned with the effects of income inequality on the education system.
C)The federal government believed that states had largely failed to provide an adequate education system.
D)The federal government believed that education is important for a strong economy.
Q2) What is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)? How does it work? Has it been an effective social policy?
Q3) Created in 1935,__________ put 8.5 million Americans to work building roads,public buildings,parks,and airports.
A)the Head Start program
B)the Works Progress Administration
C)the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
D)the Veterans' Assistance program
Q4) Medicare is designed to help the __________ population.
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Chapter 18: Making Foreign and Defense Policy
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Q1) What is the most serious common threat posed to the United States by both Iran and North Korea?
A)terrorism
B)trade wars
C)nuclear ambitions
D)communism
Q2) What are the president's foreign policy powers? Who is the president's principal foreign policy adviser and why? What are Congress's foreign policy powers? Is the existing balance of power between Congress and the president along with his advisers appropriate,or would the United States be better off if one branch's powers were to increase and the other branch's powers decrease? Provide a justification for your answer.
Q3) Prior to World War I,many Americans believed in a(n)__________ approach to foreign policy.
A)realist
B)diplomatic
C)idealist
D)isolationist
Q4) How have changes to the world economy affected the United States' approach to foreign policy with China?
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