Foundations of American Democracy Exam Review
Course Introduction
Foundations of American Democracy explores the historical, philosophical, and structural underpinnings of the U.S. political system. The course examines key documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers, alongside influential ideas from Enlightenment thinkers. Students analyze the evolution of American political institutions, the separation of powers, federalism, and the protection of civil liberties, with an emphasis on how these elements have shaped and continue to influence the functioning of democracy in the United States.
Recommended Textbook
We The People An Introduction to American Government 10th Edition by Thomas Patterson
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17 Chapters
963 Verified Questions
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Political Thinking and Political Culture: Becoming a Responsible Citizen
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45 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) French philosopher Michel Foucault referred to politics as "________."
A) like making sausage
B) the burden of citizens
C) a means to an end
D) war by other means
E) a necessary evil
Answer: D
Q2) Sociologist C.Wright Mills was a proponent of the theory of A) pluralism.
B) elitism.
C) majoritarianism.
D) bureaucratic rule.
E) None of these answers is correct.
Answer: B
Q3) Define politics,power,and authority.
Answer: Politics is the means by which society settles its conflicts and allocates the resulting benefits and costs.Those factions or people who prevail in getting their values accepted are said to have power.When power is exercised through the laws and institutions of government,authority is involved.Authority is defined as the recognized right of an official or institution to exercise power.
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Constitutional Democracy: Promoting Liberty and Self-Government
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Q1) Which of the following nations is often noted as an example of a government that has a system of checks and balances but is often plagued by political extremes?
A) France
B) Japan
C) Mexico
D) Great Britain
E) Canada
Answer: C
Q2) Explain how provisions for majority rule have changed throughout U.S.history.Include examples from the Jacksonian era and the Progressive movement.
Answer: The Constitution made only a small provision for majority rule; the House of Representatives was the only popularly elected institution.During the Jacksonian era,the power of the majority increased,partly through the linking of a state's electoral votes to its popular votes.The Progressives furthered this development through,for example,direct election of U.S.senators,the introduction of the primary election,and the referendum and the initiative.
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4
Chapter 3: Federalism: Forging a Nation
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Q1) What was the impact of the Industrial Revolution upon the concept of dual federalism?
A) It brought about the immediate end of the concept.
B) It created dominant business interests that raised questions about the suitability of dual federalism as a governing concept.
C) It had no impact at all upon the concept.
D) It led to passage of the Tenth Amendment.
E) It made the doctrine of nullification a political reality.
Answer: B
Q2) In key decisions early in the New Deal era,the Supreme Court
A) invalidated key pieces of FDR's New Deal legislation.
B) upheld FDR's "court-packing" proposal.
C) ruled that segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment.
D) ruled that public accommodations were part of interstate commerce.
E) invalidated the commerce clause.
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties: Protecting Individual Rights
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Q1) "You have the right to remain silent....Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law....You have the right to an attorney." This is called the
A) preferred position doctrine.
B) clear and present danger test.
C) Miranda warning.
D) fairness doctrine.
E) None of these answers is correct.
Q2) Which of the following amendments contains a due process clause?
A) First
B) Tenth
C) Third
D) Fourteenth
E) Twenty-first
Q3) The freedoms of speech,press,assembly,and petition are found in
A) the First Amendment.
B) the Fourth Amendment.
C) the Sixth Amendment.
D) the Tenth Amendment.
E) the Fourteenth Amendment.
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness
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Q1) Of the following states,which tends to have larger numbers of Caribbean Hispanics?
A) California
B) Texas
C) New Jersey
D) New Mexico
E) Arizona
Q2) All of the following statements about Latino Americans are true EXCEPT that
A) they are the fastest-growing minority in the United States.
B) they have made major political gains in terms of electing local officials, particularly in the southwestern states.
C) Hispanics are healthier and have a longer life expectancy than would be expected from their education and income levels.
D) their average annual income is relatively close to the national average.
E) they are one of the nation's oldest ethnic groups.
Q3) What is affirmative action? What is the Supreme Court's general position on affirmative action?
Q4) Describe the provisions and impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion and Political Socialization:
Shaping the
Peoples Voice
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Q1) Scholars have done the LEAST study into the political influence of ________ on American citizens.
A) religion
B) families
C) schools
D) media
E) peers
Q2) Which of the following groups in the U.S.shows a higher level of support for collective bargaining?
A) workers in the service sector
B) factory workers
C) small farmers
D) white-collar workers
E) workers in the skilled crafts
Q3) How informed is American public opinion? Explain.
Q4) Discuss the general relationship between public opinion and the policy actions of government.
Q5) Identify and discuss the frames of reference that Americans rely upon when forming their political opinions.
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Chapter 7: Political Participation: Activating the Popular Will
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Q1) Voter registration in the United States
A) was introduced as a means of keeping white males without property from voting.
B) began as a way of preventing voters from casting more than one ballot on election day.
C) is the responsibility of the government, which adds legally qualified individuals automatically to the registration rolls.
D) applies to voting in general elections but not in primary elections.
E) has vastly increased voter turnout.
Q2) If Americans vote less than Europeans,why are they more likely to work in a political campaign than are citizens in Europe?
A) America's federal structure provides more campaign opportunities.
B) European candidates seldom need campaign workers.
C) Americans have more leisure time than Europeans.
D) U.S. candidates pay campaign workers, whereas European candidates do not.
E) Laws in some U.S. communities require citizens to participate in campaigns.
Q3) Should elections be held on weekends or perhaps as national holidays? Why or why not?
Q4) Give three reasons why some Americans vote regularly while others do not.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Political Parties, candidates, and Campaigns:
Defining the Voters Choice
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Q1) Populist ________ won electoral votes in six states in the presidential election of 1892.
A) William Jennings Bryan
B) Theodore Roosevelt
C) Chester Arthur
D) James B. Weaver
E) Benjamin Harrison
Q2) ________ representation systems are those in which seats in the legislature are allocated according to each political party's share of the popular vote.
A) Plurality
B) Populist
C) Minority
D) Democratic
E) Proportional
Q3) Explain how party coalitions in the U.S.reflect the nature of party competition.Does coalition formation tend to moderate or radicalize parties? Explain.
Q4) What is meant by a party realignment?
Q5) How do European parties differ from American parties?
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Q6) What are primary elections and what impact have they had on party organizations?
Chapter 9: Interest Groups: Organizing for Influence
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Q1) According to the Center for Responsive Politics,what was roughly the amount spent on lobbying in the United States in 2009?
A) $250 billion
B) $10 billion
C) $350 million
D) $35 billion
E) $3.5 billion
Q2) Political scientist Theodore Lowi has questioned pluralist theory by suggesting that A) special interests should never receive benefits from government.
B) there is no concept of the public interest in a system that gives special interests the ability to determine the policies affecting them.
C) policies that favor a series of minorities are inherently fairer than policies that ignore small groups in favor of a majority.
D) the sum of people's special interests is a rough approximation of society's collective interest.
E) Madisonian theory has created a perfect balance of special interest and common good.
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Chapter 10: The News Media: Communicating Political Images
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Q1) The media perform the signaling role by
A) informing the public of breaking events and new developments.
B) serving as an open channel for leaders to express their opinions.
C) exposing officials who violate accepted performance and moral standards.
D) acting as the public's representative.
E) All these answers are correct.
Q2) Which of the following broadcast news sources has seen its audience grow?
A) ABC
B) CBS
C) NBC
D) NPR
E) None of these answers is correct.
Q3) How do the motivations of the press differ and often lead to a greater coverage of crime stories than the political process or world events?
Q4) Among the following,the news media are usually guided by events that
A) are timely.
B) affect small numbers of people.
C) occur in other countries.
D) happen to ordinary citizens.
E) are complicated to report.
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Chapter 11: Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local
Interests
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Q1) Which nation does NOT have a one-house dominant legislature?
A) Canada
B) Germany
C) the United States
D) Great Britain
E) None of these answers is correct, as all these nations have one-house dominant legislatures.
Q2) Bills are formally introduced in Congress by
A) members of Congress only.
B) executive agencies.
C) interest groups.
D) the Supreme Court.
E) All these answers are correct.
Q3) For a bill to pass in either chamber of Congress,it must
A) receive the support of a third of its members.
B) receive the support of a simple majority of its members.
C) receive the support of two-thirds of its members.
D) be passed within two weeks of its passage by the other chamber.
E) be passed within a month of its passage by the other chamber.
Q4) Why is redistricting a problem for U.S.House members? Explain.
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Chapter 12: The Presidency: Leading the Nation
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Q1) Which one of the following did NOT serve as a state governor prior to being president?
A) Ronald Reagan
B) Bill Clinton
C) John Kennedy
D) George W. Bush
E) Jimmy Carter
Q2) The president's role in foreign policy increased largely because
A) Congress proved so inept in foreign affairs that the American people demanded a change.
B) America became more of a world power.
C) of the need to coordinate national economic policy and foreign policy, a task to which the presidency was well suited.
D) of the desire of U.S. business to expand into Latin America and Asia, which required executive action at the highest level.
E) of attitudes held by the American public.
Q3) Discuss the relationship of presidential power to public support for the president,and explain why this relationship is both an asset and a liability for the president.
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Chapter 13: The Federal Bureaucracy: Administering the Government
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Q1) What is the federal bureaucracy's main function?
Q2) Whenever Congress has a perceived need for ongoing control of an economic activity,it has tended to create a
A) regulatory agency.
B) cabinet department.
C) presidential commission.
D) government corporation.
E) blue ribbon panel.
Q3) Which of the following agencies or departments is likely to have strong allies from a group of particular states in Congress?
A) the Department of Defense
B) the Central Intelligence Agency
C) the Environmental Protection Agency
D) the Department of Agriculture
E) the Federal Trade Commission
Q4) Discuss three major sources of bureaucratic power.
Q5) Discuss the historical process by which the federal bureaucracy grew from its original size to its present size.
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Q6) Identify the major ways that the bureaucracy is held accountable by Congress.
Chapter 14: The Federal Judicial System: Applying the Law
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Q1) A writ of certiorari is
A) a request to a lower court to submit to the Supreme Court a record of the case it has been requested to hear.
B) the statement explaining the reasoning behind a Supreme Court decision.
C) the official transcript of Supreme Court proceedings.
D) a statement from a group not directly involved in a Supreme Court case, indicating the group's opinion on the legal issue at hand.
E) an application for a waiver of court fees due to indigence.
Q2) The power of the Supreme Court is most apparent in its ability to
A) issue advisory opinions when Congress is considering a new bill.
B) impeach federal judges who consistently ignore its rulings.
C) declare another institution's action to be unconstitutional.
D) override any decision of a state court.
E) issue advisory opinions to the president on a regular basis.
Q3) Distinguish between the facts of a case and the relevant laws of a case.Discuss the three main sources of laws.
Q4) Discuss the doctrines of judicial restraint and judicial activism.
Q5) Describe the relationship between the federal and the state court systems.
Q6) Describe the four types of U.S.Supreme Court opinions.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Economic and Environmental Policy:
Contributing to Prosperity
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Q1) A ruling by the Food and Drug Administration that a drug is dangerous to use and therefore cannot be marketed is an example of regulation for the purpose of
A) supply-side safety.
B) demand-side safety.
C) equity.
D) efficiency.
E) profit.
Q2) ________ wrote The Silent Spring in 1962.
A) Al Gore
B) George W. Bush
C) Greenpeace
D) Rachel Carson
E) The Sierra Club
Q3) Over the past forty years,the burden of federal taxation has
A) shifted from big business to small business.
B) shifted from individuals to corporations.
C) shifted from corporations to individuals.
D) evened out between individuals and corporations.
E) None of these answers is correct.
Q4) Describe Adam Smith's laissez-faire model of economics.
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Chapter 16: Welfare and Education Policy: Providing for
Personal Security and Need
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Q1) A recent poll determined that most Americans believe which of the following is the second costliest federal program?
A) education
B) public assistance programs
C) environmental protection
D) farm subsidies
E) social insurance programs
Q2) The Supreme Court has ruled that
A) the federal government must provide at least half the cost of educating each child through public education systems.
B) the federal government is responsible for ensuring that each state provides an adequate education for each child.
C) states have no official responsibilities in the field of education.
D) states are obliged to give all children an education that is "equal" across communities.
E) states are obliged to give all children an "adequate" education.
Q3) Discuss what is meant by a public assistance program,and provide examples.
Q4) Discuss what is meant by a social insurance program and provide examples.
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Foreign Policy: Protecting the American Way
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Q1) Since the cold war ended,U.S.policy makers' chief concern with nuclear weaponry has been
A) the possibility of a computer error in the U.S. or former Soviet weapons systems that could mistakenly launch a nuclear missile.
B) the spread of nuclear technology to rogue nations or terrorist groups.
C) the use of a tactical nuclear weapon in ethnic conflicts in Eastern Europe.
D) the possibility that, in the process of dismantling the U.S. and former Soviet arsenals, a nuclear warhead could be accidentally detonated.
E) the spread of nuclear technology to NATO forces.
Q2) The three major economic centers of the world are the
A) United States, Canada, and Mexico.
B) Pacific Rim, China, and the United States.
C) United States, the Pacific Rim, and the European Union.
D) United States, Russia, and Brazil.
E) None of these answers is correct.
Q3) Identify the three broad goals of the United States in the global economy.
Q4) Discuss the relative strengths and weaknesses of the U.S.economy relative to those of leading competitor nations.
Q5) How does public opinion exhibit varying levels of importance in defense policy?
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