Federal Government
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth analysis of the structure, functions, and processes of the federal government of the United States. Students will explore the Constitution, the roles of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and the system of checks and balances that underpins American democracy. The course examines the policymaking process, federalism, civil liberties, civil rights, and the impact of political parties, interest groups, and the media on governance. Through discussion of historical developments and current events, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the federal governments influence on society and the responsibilities of citizenship.
Recommended Textbook
American Government Institutions and Policies 16th Edition by James Q. Wilson
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Chapter 1: The Study of American Government the Study of
American Government
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Q1) Today,a primary source of legitimate political authority in the United States is the
A) Bill of Rights.
B) will of the people.
C) U.S. Constitution.
D) concept of civil liberty.
E) notion of civil rights.
Answer: C
Q2) In 1787,as the Constitution was being debated,__________ worried that the new government he helped create might be too democratic,while __________ who refused to sign the Constitution,worried that it was not democratic enough.
A) John Adams; James Madison
B) George Washington; George Mason
C) Alexander Hamilton; George Mason
D) Thomas Jefferson; Alexander Hamilton
E) Patrick Henry; Samuel Adams
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: The Constitution the Constitution
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Q1) The "state of nature" refers to
A) society without government.
B) government without society.
C) formation of government along the lines of natural law.
D) the clash between government and society.
E) the very highest form of government.
Answer: A
Q2) The colonists saw "higher law" as something that was discoverable in nature.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) One of the basic liberties sought by the colonists through independence from Great Britain was
A) freedom from taxation without representation.
B) the right to bear arms and to defend life and property.
C) freedom to assemble in public and to engage in public debate.
D) the right to own and trade slaves.
E) the right to travel.
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Federalism Federalism
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Q1) Which statement BEST summarizes Madison's view of federalism?
A) He was a consistent supporter of the notion of a supreme national government.
B) He was a consistent supporter of the notion of the supremacy of state governments.
C) He was first an ardent supporter of national supremacy, then of states' rights.
D) He was first an ardent supporter of states' rights, then of national supremacy.
E) He assumed the national government would be supreme except in times of war.
Answer: C
Q2) Many of the powers of the federal government are exercised through the states.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The writings of Jefferson and Madison influenced John C.Calhoun's arguments for nullification of a federal tariff.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: American Political Culture American Political Culture
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Q1) The notion that individuals should work hard,save their money,and avoid dependence on the state is sometimes referred to as the
A) Protestant (work) ethic.
B) blue-collar ethic.
C) doctrine of social Darwinism.
D) evolutionary principle.
E) labor theory of value.
Q2) Putnam worried that Americans might be losing social capital because
A) they are increasingly likely to complain about government.
B) they are less likely to participate in major elections.
C) they have high levels of external political efficacy.
D) they are less and less likely to join voluntary associations.
E) they are a nation of "joiners."
Q3) Most Americans believe that public officials are
A) primarily interested in winning elections.
B) generally honest but incompetent.
C) generally competent but dishonest.
D) primarily interested in advancing the common good.
E) None of these are correct.
Q4) Discuss the four sources of American political culture mentioned in the text.
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Chapter 5: Civil Liberties Civil Liberties
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Q1) Discuss how the Supreme Court has ruled on the issue of obscenity.
Q2) In the __________ case,the Supreme Court ruled that the part of the McCain-Feingold law that denied corporations and labor unions the right to run ads violated their rights to free speech under the Constitution.
A) McConnell v. Federal Election Commission
B) Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
C) New York Times v. Sullivan
D) Miller v. California
E) Reno v. ACLU
Q3) The __________ clause has generally been interpreted by the Supreme Court as implying a "wall of separation" between church and state.
A) establishment
B) free-exercise
C) necessary and proper
D) elasticity
E) emoluments
Q4) Summarize the facts of the case and the Supreme Court's ruling in Miranda v.Arizona.
Q5) Discuss five key provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
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Chapter 6: Civil Rights Civil Rights
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Q1) The Supreme Court's ruling in Bowers v.Hardwick suggested that the right to privacy does not protect
A) issues related to the family.
B) marriage.
C) procreation.
D) homosexual relations.
E) None of these are correct.
Q2) In 1989,the Webster case upheld some state restrictions on abortion.
A)True
B)False
Q3) As its rationale for the decision in Brown,the Supreme Court relied primarily on
A) the intent of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment.
B) the intent of Congress in the Fourteenth Amendment.
C) social science evidence.
D) a narrow interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.
E) the redress of grievances clause in the First Amendment.
Q4) Indicate the factors that are considered in gender discrimination cases specifically,as a result of a 1971 case regarding the administration of estates.
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Chapter 7: Public Opinion Public Opinion
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Q1) Partisan elected officials tend to have ideologies that
A) are more consistent than those of other Americans.
B) are less consistent than those of other Americans.
C) show the same variation as those of other Americans.
D) are more consistent for Republicans than for Democrats.
E) are more consistent for Democrats than for Republicans.
Q2) Discuss the use of heuristics in making political decisions,their benefits,and their costs.
Q3) Women are more likely than men to support
A) universal health care.
B) environmental protection regulations.
C) activist government.
D) anti-poverty programs.
E) All of these are correct.
Q4) The difference between the results of two surveys or samples is called
A) flawed research.
B) sampling error.
C) type one error.
D) type two error.
E) confidence error.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Political Participation Political Participation
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Q1) Between 1915 and 1925,the size of the eligible voting population in the United States almost doubled.The main reason for this was that
A) the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
B) women were given the right to vote.
C) the grandfather clause, which denied voting to blacks, was ruled unconstitutional.
D) literacy tests for blacks were ruled unconstitutional.
E) voter-registration laws were abolished in seventeen states.
Q2) With respect to impact of motor voter laws,the evidence suggests
A) the number of registrants has not increased but voter turnout has increased slightly.
B) the number of registrants has increased somewhat but voter turnout has not increased significantly.
C) voter turnout and registration has increased significantly.
D) voter turnout and registration has not increased significantly.
E) None of these are correct.
Q3) In most European nations,voter registration is automatic.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Political Parties Political Parties
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Q1) Research on party identification has found that __________ self-identified Independents are truly independent.
A) nearly all
B) roughly three quarters of
C) roughly half of
D) less than half of
E) less than a quarter of
Q2) Explain how party performance and partisanship affect public views of policy in the United States.
Q3) The principal criterion by which voters choose among candidates is their party identification or label.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The spread of the direct primary has made it more difficult for parties to control who is nominated for elective office.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss the effect of the Civil War and sectionalism on the development of political parties in the United States.
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Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns Elections and Campaigns
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Q1) The agency responsible for monitoring federal elections and campaign finance is the
A) United States Congress
B) United States Department of State
C) United State Department of Justice
D) State Departments of State
E) Federal Election Commission
Q2) In the 1980 presidential election,many people voted for Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter as a vote against Carter's performance.This is an example of a(n)
A) spin vote.
B) retrospective vote.
C) prospective vote.
D) informed vote.
E) inclined vote.
Q3) The text suggests that elections are decided by __________ voters.
A) "clothespin"
B) ideological
C) prospective
D) retrospective
E) sociotropic
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Chapter 11: Interest Groups Interest Groups
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Q1) Every organization that benefits other people,even if they are not part of the organization,suffers the __________ problem.
A) public good
B) incentive
C) ideology
D) free rider
E) control
Q2) The reason Americans participate in civic associations more frequently than do citizens of other countries is
A) Americans' greater dissatisfaction with the government.
B) Americans' more intense attachment to parties.
C) Americans' European heritage.
D) the fact that Americans are less sensitive to the free-rider problem.
E) Americans' sense of political efficacy and civic duty.
Q3) Today,only about 11 percent of American workers are covered by unions.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What four factors account for the increase in interest groups in recent years?
Q5) What new regulations were applied to lobbyists as of March 2007?
Q6) Explain what earmarks are and how they are related to interest group politics.
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Chapter 12: The Media the Media
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Q1) According to the text,why is the public less trusting of the media today than in 1970?
A) The public thinks the press does not focus enough on campaigns.
B) The public worries about media consolidation.
C) The public finds the media too bland and neutral.
D) The public's distrust of politicians turns them against politicians' endorsement of the media.
E) None of these are correct.
Q2) Discuss the reasons for public distrust in the media.
Q3) Media coverage of politics that focuses on polling is __________ coverage or horse-race coverage.
A) gatekeeper
B) watchdog
C) scorekeeper
D) whistleblower
E) muckraker
Q4) Discuss some of the changes in society and technology that transformed the partisan press of the early 1800s.
Q5) What broke the partisan,and partly government supported,press in the United States?
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Chapter 13: Congress Congress
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Q1) Because they are usually the only ones that can report out bills,the most important committees are the __________ committees.
A) joint
B) conference
C) standing
D) select
E) rejoinder
Q2) Politically moderate Americans are
A) able to get more out of Congress than extreme partisans.
B) less active than ideological extremists, but not by much.
C) overwhelmingly politically inactive.
D) overwhelmingly politically inactive
E) None of these are correct.
Q3) The principal work of Congress is
A) deliberation and debate.
B) action and debate.
C) representation and debate.
D) deliberation and representation.
E) action and representation.
Q4) What is a filibuster? What are the rules regarding its use?
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Chapter 14: The Presidency the Presidency
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Q1) Andrew Jackson established the precedent that a president's veto can be used
A) only on constitutional grounds.
B) without first having a law declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
C) even when Congress is still in session.
D) on policy grounds even when a bill may appear to be constitutional.
E) without the advice and consent of the Senate.
Q2) American presidents are less likely to be outsiders to national politics than are the chief executives of other democracies.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Customarily,the members of the president's cabinet are
A) close friends.
B) campaign aides.
C) representatives of important constituencies.
D) experts on various policy issues.
E) All of these are correct.
Q4) The text asks: "Does gridlock matter?" Summarize the discussion on this topic.
Q5) Discuss the opinions of James Wilson,Roger Sherman,and Alexander Hamilton about how the president should be selected.
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Chapter 15: The Bureaucracy the Bureaucracy
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Q1) A laissez-faire economy
A) is restrictive but fair.
B) is supported by the general public.
C) is freely competitive.
D) is based on rapid industrialization.
E) mixes industry and agriculture.
Q2) The ability of a congressional committee to review and approve certain agency decisions in advance and without passing a law is known as
A) issue networking.
B) authorization legislation.
C) appropriation.
D) legislative veto.
E) committee clearance.
Q3) Unlike the excepted service,the competitive service is administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explain how the differences between American and British bureaucracies may cause American bureaucrats to behave differently.
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Chapter 16: The Judiciary the Judiciary
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Q1) There are thirteen __________ in the federal judiciary.
A) constitutional courts
B) district courts
C) courts of appeal
D) legislative courts
E) supreme courts
Q2) The Supreme Court reached its highest point of activism during the tenure of Chief Justice Earl Warren.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In __________,the Supreme Court,in a decision authored by Chief Justice John Marshall,held that the Court could declare an act of Congress unconstitutional.
A) Marbury v. Madison
B) Gibbons v. Ogden
C) Georgia v. U.S.
D) Dred Scott
E) None of these choices is true.
Q4) Define judicial review and note how many federal laws have been declared unconstitutional.
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Chapter 17: Domestic Policy Domestic Policy
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Q1) Alexander Hamilton argued for a broad interpretation of the phrase "general welfare."
A)True
B)False
Q2) What are four important factors to consider when thinking about the social welfare policy in the United States?
Q3) Environmental issues are receiving less support today than in the past.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explain how the environmental movement was created by entrepreneurial politics.
Q5) The type of politics best illustrated by the acid rain controversy is
A) entrepreneurial politics.
B) majoritarian politics.
C) interest-group politics.
D) client politics.
E) reciprocal politics.
Q6) Identify the three largest social welfare programs as a percentage of the federal budget.
Q7) Discuss the unique features of U.S.environmental politics and how these features shape environmental policy.
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Chapter 18: Economic Policy Economic Policy
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Q1) Tax loopholes are a quintessential example of __________ politics.
A) client
B) entrepreneurial
C) interest-group
D) majoritarian
E) sociotropic
Q2) The average citizen paid very little in income taxes until
A) the Great Depression.
B) the New Deal.
C) the election of Herbert Hoover.
D) the Korean War.
E) World War II.
Q3) This federal organization is primarily responsible for monetary policy.
A) Council of Economic Advisers.
B) Treasury Department.
C) Office of Management and Budget.
D) Federal Reserve Board (Fed).
E) National Security Agency.
Q4) Discuss how economics affects the way people vote and how this affects elected officials.
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Chapter 19: Foreign and Military Policy Foreign and Military Policy
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Q1) In 1986,presidential aides sought to trade arms for U.S.hostages in Iran and then use some profits from the arms sales to support the anti-Marxist contras fighting in Nicaragua.Congress's investigation into the scandal reflected __________ politics.
A) majoritarian
B) interest-group
C) entrepreneurial
D) client
E) neo-institutional
Q2) When it comes to international diplomacy and the use of troops,the American president is
A) strong if Democrats control Congress and weak otherwise.
B) strong if Republicans control Congress and weak otherwise.
C) weak.
D) strong.
E) strong if his or her party controls Congress and weak otherwise.
Q3) Explain the dominance of the president or Congress in foreign policy depending upon what type of politics is involved.
Q4) Identify and discuss the four worldviews discussed in thisChapter.
Q5) What are some examples of the majoritarian component of foreign policy?
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Chapter 20: American Democracy, Then and Now
American Democracy, Then and Now
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Q1) The Supreme Court virtually ceased opposing any economic legislation during the 1930s.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The ultimate cause of red tape,bureaucratic stalemates,and confusion might be the fact that
A) public officials are self-interested.
B) bureaucrats are incompetent.
C) there is too much separation of powers.
D) citizens want different and often conflicting things.
E) federalism simply does not work.
Q3) Lyndon Johnson was able to get his Great Society programs through Congress because
A) most of the public favored the programs.
B) Democrats controlled both houses of Congress by large margins.
C) most Republicans worked with him on these issues.
D) he broke up the conservative coalition by convincing Southern Democrats to defect.
E) the federal government had surplus funds to be spent.
Q4) Compare the presidency in the New System with that of the Old System.
Page 22
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