Foundations of American Democracy Test Bank
Course Introduction
This course explores the philosophical, historical, and political foundations of American democracy. Students will examine the key ideas and debates that shaped the creation of the United States, focusing on the Constitution, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist papers, and the interplay of liberty, equality, and justice. Through analysis of primary sources and landmark Supreme Court decisions, the course investigates the evolving nature of American government institutions, civil rights, and democratic participation. Emphasis is placed on understanding how foundational principles continue to influence contemporary political and social issues.
Recommended Textbook
We the People 10th Edition by Benjamin Ginsberg
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18 Chapters
1574 Verified Questions
1574 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: American Political Culture
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95 Verified Questions
95 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A government that is NOT constrained by legal limits and also seeks to eliminate those organized social groups that might challenge or limit its authority is known as a(n) ________ government.
A) oligarchic
B) authoritarian
C) totalitarian
D) democratic
E) republican
Answer: C
Q2) Affirmative action is controversial because
A) Americans argue about whether it promotes or restrains equality.
B) the unemployment rate for Caucasian males has tripled since the 1970s.
C) some argue that it limits political equality in order to promote cost effectiveness.
D) it is a legacy of the Jim Crow era.
E) some argue that it undermines popular sovereignty.
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: The Founding and the Constitution
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97 Verified Questions
97 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The 1787 convention to draft a new constitution was held in ________.
A) Boston
B) New York City
C) Philadelphia
D) Washington, DC
E) Richmond, VA
Answer: C
Q2) The electoral college is
A) an expression of direct democracy.
B) designed to select the U.S. president.
C) established in the Bill of Rights.
D) the institution that originally selected U.S. senators.
E) the federal organization that oversees the operation of all elections held in the United States.
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following has NOT been an important contractual topic between states?
A) the distribution of river water
B) state passport requirements
C) interstate transportation
D) environmental regulations
E) border disputes
Answer: B
Q2) Many Americans blamed ________ for their plight during the Great Depression.
A) Woodrow Wilson
B) Warren Harding
C) Calvin Coolidge
D) Herbert Hoover
E) Harry Truman
Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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90 Verified Questions
90 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Roe v. Wade (1973) have been extremely important in the development of
A) a constitutional right to privacy.
B) American due process.
C) New Federalism.
D) a test that can be used to determine what is protected speech.
E) the rights of individuals accused of crimes.
Q2) The rights to assembly and petition are guaranteed by the same amendment that guarantees ________.
A) free speech
B) due process
C) privacy
D) the right to bear arms
E) equal protection of the laws
Q3) The right to remain silent is guaranteed by the ________ Amendment.
A) First
B) Second
C) Fifth
D) Sixth
E) Ninth
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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Sample Questions
Q1) When did civil rights become part of the U.S. Constitution?
A) Civil rights have always been part of the Constitution.
B) Civil rights were included in the Bill of Rights.
C) Civil rights were incorporated with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment.
D) Civil rights were incorporated immediately following World War II.
E) Civil rights were incorporated when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Q2) United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) is an important case because the justices declared that
A) the Exclusion Act was unconstitutional.
B) anyone born in the United States was entitled to be a citizen.
C) Asian American children could not go to school with white students.
D) English was not the official language of the United States.
E) the 1965 Immigration Act was unconstitutional.
Q3) Many advances in civil rights have been accomplished through federal legislation.
Describe the different parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What has it accomplished, and what kind of enforcement mechanisms have been established? What civil rights legislation has been passed since 1964?
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Public Opinion
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78 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) "Retail politics" refers to
A) the fact that voters always vote for candidates who best represent their own self-interest.
B) attempts made by political machines in the nineteenth century to buy votes from citizens through cash payments.
C) debates about how extensively government should regulate the manufacture and sale of consumer goods.
D) campaigns where candidates meet citizens face-to-face to discuss politics.
E) government-run auctions to sell public property.
Q2) The transition many white southerners made from the Democratic to the Republican Party is a good example of
A) the changes in political conditions and circumstances in the South, rather than in opinions or values.
B) the growing conservative ideology in the South.
C) the growing liberal ideology in the South.
D) the rise of labor unions and other associations in the South.
E) the growth in patriotism in the South.
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Chapter 7: The Media
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65 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Besides their ideological biases, journalists also exhibit selection biases in favor of news stories they view as
A) favorable to leaders and issues they support.
B) having a great deal of dramatic or entertainment value.
C) important for the purpose of public awareness.
D) sympathetic to the government as a whole.
E) critical of leaders and issues they oppose.
Q2) "Filter bubbles" appear when
A) news aggregation sites include content from a wide variety of sources and give no preference to American media organizations.
B) search engines automatically screen out information that might challenge or broaden our worldview.
C) journalists choose to cover only those stories that are acceptable to advertisers.
D) reporters intentionally ignore protest movements that challenge the capitalist economic system.
E) people intentionally expose themselves to perspectives that challenge what they already believe to be true about the political world.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Political Participation and Voting
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85 Verified Questions
85 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Social capital refers to
A) campaign contributions made by community organizations.
B) community networks that motivate political participation.
C) the fees associated with membership in a club or social group.
D) the fund that interest groups raise during election campaigns.
E) an individual's belief in his or her ability to competently engage in personal interactions with other people.
Q2) SOPA and PIPA were
A) interest groups who protested congressional attempts to outlaw online piracy.
B) bills considered by Congress in 2011 to eliminate all forms of censorship online.
C) bills considered by Congress in 1993 to allow people to register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles when they applied for a driver's license.
D) bills considered by Congress in 2012 to extend U.S. copyright laws beyond U.S. borders.
E) bills considered by Congress in 1996 to outlaw pornography online.
Q3) Why is turnout in the United States lower than in other Western democracies? What structural reforms might increase the level of turnout in the United States?
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT part of a country's party system?
A) the number of political parties in the country
B) the balance of power between and within party coalitions
C) the issues and policies around which party competition is organized
D) the laws that govern how much money parties can raise and spend in election campaigns
E) the parties' social and institutional bases within the country
Q2) In 2012, about ________ percent of Latino Americans voted for Barack Obama.
A) 20
B) 40
C) 52
D) 70
E) 96
Q3) ________ referred to himself as a "compassionate conservative" in 2000.
A) John McCain
B) Al Gore
C) George W. Bush
D) Bob Dole
E) Bill Clinton
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Campaigns and Elections
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90 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) A runoff election is likely to occur when
A) there are only two candidates running in the election.
B) there are more than two candidates running in the election.
C) there is only one candidate running in the election.
D) turnout in the election is very high.
E) turnout in the election is very low.
Q2) During midterm elections, voters are selecting ________.
A) federal judges
B) members of Congress
C) the president
D) the secretary of state
E) national-level referendums
Q3) When do incumbents have difficulty securing supporters and contributors?
A) some of the time
B) when they have experienced negative publicity
C) never
D) a majority of the time
E) none of the above
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12
Chapter 11: Groups and Interests
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88 Verified Questions
88 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Organized interest groups enhance American democracy by
A) fielding large numbers of electable candidates.
B) financing large numbers of election campaigns.
C) empowering less potent segments of society.
D) representing the interests of large numbers of people and encouraging political participation.
E) placing initiatives on the ballot.
Q2) An iron triangle is made up of an alliance between
A) a legislative committee, an executive agency, and the federal courts.
B) the federal courts, the state courts, and interest groups.
C) a legislative committee, an interest group, and an executive agency.
D) an interest group, an executive agency, and the media.
E) the media, a legislative committee, and the federal courts.
Q3) A ________ exists when paid staff conduct most of the daily business of a group.
A) staff organization
B) free-rider group
C) lobbyist firm
D) political action committee
E) 527 committee
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) Cloture is
A) the ability of a senator to speak for as long as he or she wishes to prevent action from being taken on legislation that he or she opposes.
B) the process by which three-fifths of the Senate can end a filibuster.
C) the rule that allows one house of Congress to circumvent the other during the legislative process.
D) the process by which the president can end a filibuster.
E) a lawsuit filed by a member of the Senate against a member of the House or vice versa.
Q2) Following the 2012 elections, there were ________ women serving in the U.S. Senate.
A) 2
B) 10
C) 20
D) 33
E) 45
Q3) Describe the process by which a bill becomes a law. What are the major steps in the process? What are the main differences in the legislative process between the two houses of Congress?
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Page 14
Chapter 13: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which executive agency has the least discretion, as a result of very detailed congressional legislation?
A) the Consumer Product Safety Commission
B) the Environmental Protection Agency
C) the Internal Revenue Service
D) the Department of Homeland Security
E) the White House staff
Q2) When members of Congress delegate power to the executive branch, it
A) substantially reduces the power of the federal government compared to state governments.
B) has no impact on the importance of the presidency at all.
C) violates the Constitution by violating the separation of powers.
D) substantially reduces the importance of the presidency.
E) substantially enhances the importance of the presidency.
Q3) Describe some of the different individuals and institutions that advise the president. What is the role of the Cabinet? What is the job of the Executive Office of the President? What more informal networks do presidents maintain? Explain.
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15
Chapter 14: Bureaucracy in a Democracy
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89 Verified Questions
89 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In order to change the level of national economic activity and defend the value of the dollar in international trade, the federal government
A) frequently requests voluntary contributions to the Treasury Department from businesses and private individuals.
B) imposes tariffs on all goods imported to the United States.
C) enforces spending cuts on state government agencies.
D) manipulates interest rates.
E) lowers the amount of money that states can legally collect from sales and income taxes.
Q2) The National Park Service is ________.
A) part of the Department of the Interior
B) part of the Department of Agriculture
C) part of the Department of Energy
D) an independent agency
E) a government corporation
Q3) Bureaucracies have often been criticized for being inefficient. What are some of the management techniques that have been used to make bureaucracies more efficient and responsive to needs? Why have many of these reforms had limited success?
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Chapter 15: The Federal Courts
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Sample Questions
Q1) The requirement of standing means that parties in a case must
A) be alive.
B) have a concrete injury or interest at stake.
C) be present in court during the trial.
D) know the law they are using to defend themselves.
E) have an attorney present with them in court.
Q2) Prior cases whose principles are used by judges to decide current cases are called ________.
A) public law
B) en blanc decisions
C) precedents
D) common law
E) ex post facto cases
Q3) The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court has
A) increased dramatically since 1940.
B) decreased dramatically since 1940.
C) remained the same since 1940.
D) increased between 1940 and 1965 but decreased since 1965.
E) decreased between 1940 and 1965 but increased since 1965.
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Page 17
Chapter 16: Government and the Economy
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92 Verified Questions
92 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Adam Smith's theory of ________ maintains that many individual economic transactions come together to create a greater good for all.
A) rational expectations
B) the prisoner's dilemma
C) the invisible hand
D) trickle-down economics
E) collective action
Q2) ________ are government grants of cash or other valuable commodities, such as land, that are used to promote activities desired by government leaders.
A) Contracts
B) Tax credits
C) Business development funds
D) Categorical grants
E) Subsidies
Q3) Explain the different goals of economic policy. How have some of these goals changed over the course of American history? Why do economic policy goals often conflict with each other? Provide an illustration.
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Chapter 17: Social Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The idea of ________ was at the heart of George W. Bush's 2005 plan for Social Security reform.
A) termination
B) private accounts
C) universal access
D) benefit reduction
E) benefit increase
Q2) Since the welfare reforms of 1996, what is the primary reason for receiving federal cash assistance if one is nonworking and able-bodied?
A) The recipient is caring for children.
B) The recipient is going to school or in a job-training program.
C) The recipient has been means tested.
D) The recipient has been considered deserving.
E) The recipient is actively looking for a job.
Q3) AARP has a membership of approximately ________ members.
A) 10,000
B) 750,000
C) 1 million
D) 9 million
E) 40 million
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Chapter 18: Foreign Policy and Democracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The first efforts by the United States to create a professional Foreign Service staff started ________.
A) during the Spanish-American War
B) after World War I
C) during the Korean War
D) in 1972, along with opening relations with China
E) after World War II
Q2) The nineteenth-century policy of ________ was based on the geographic distance of the United States from other countries.
A) idealism
B) isolationism
C) internationalism
D) sovereign dominance
E) deterrence
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a component of American foreign policy?
A) diplomacy
B) security policy
C) trade policy
D) military policy
E) Social Security
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