Government and Public Policy Practice Exam
Course Introduction
Government and Public Policy explores the structures, functions, and processes of government, as well as the formulation, implementation, and impact of public policies. The course examines how political institutions, actors, and societal forces shape policy decisions at local, national, and international levels. Students analyze case studies and real-world issues to understand the relationship between government actions and public outcomes, considering factors such as political ideology, interest groups, and administrative challenges. Emphasis is placed on policy analysis, evaluation methods, and the ethical considerations involved in public decision-making, preparing students to critically assess and contribute to the policy process.
Recommended Textbook
Understanding American Government 14th Edition by Susan Welch
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Chapter 1: The American People
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Q1) The concepts of majority rule and __________ conflict with each other, and democratic government must strike a delicate balance.
A) political demonstrations
B) votes
C) identity politics
D) minority rights
Answer: D
Q2) A direct democracy __________.
A) is an ideal type but impractical for a large country
B) allows policymakers to vote by proxy
C) functions best with a large citizenry
D) is the best way to protect minorities
Answer: A
Q3) Your desire to drive a car drunk is trumped by the interests of public safety. What is this an example of?
A) majority rule trumping individual rights
B) liberty trumping sovereignty
C) individual rights trumping majority rule
D) sovereignty trumping equality
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Q1) A parliamentary system is different from the U.S. congressional system mainly due to
A) commonwealths and the monarchy sharing a federal relationship
B) parliamentary government requiring monthly elections
C) parliamentary systems requiring a king
D) executive and judicial officials being responsible to the legislature in parliament
Answer: D
Q2) Shays's Rebellion __________.
A) underscored weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation
B) resulted in a new constitution for the state of Massachusetts
C) caused the Massachusetts legislature to pass laws that made military service compulsory
D) demonstrated the need for a Bill of Rights
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) Those defending __________ federalism won the American Civil War.
A) state-centered
B) nation-centered
C) dual
D) judicial-centered
Answer: B
Q2) In ___________, all levels of government collaborate and sometimes compete.
A) nationalism
B) local supremacy
C) cooperative federalism
D) dual federalism
Answer: C
Q3) Shortly after entering office, President Lyndon Johnson declared __________.
A) war on Korea
B) immediate state sovereignty
C) a war on poverty
D) severe tax cuts
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Public Opinion
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Q1) A(n) __________ is made up of opinions that are consistent with each other and reflect a broader framework or worldview.
A) ideology
B) philosophy
C) point of view
D) globalist
Q2) Political learning __________.
A) primarily happens in late adolescence
B) is mostly a formal process
C) ends with adulthood
D) is a lifelong process beginning in childhood
Q3) Which of the following issues would most likely be supported by people in the red states?
A) increasing cigarette taxes
B) death penalty
C) abortion
D) the environment
Q4) What are some stereotypical differences between red states and blue states? What are some politically significant differences between red and blue states?
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Chapter 5: News Media
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Q1) How can one determine the direction of political bias?
Q2) Which horse-racing term is not commonly used by the media in reporting a candidate's position in a run for office?
A) "money rider"
B) "front-runner"
C) "dark horse"
D) "also-ran"
Q3) Despite the widespread adoption of the practice of objectivity, the public still thinks that the press is biased against __________.
A) all Republicans
B) labor unions
C) business executives
D) the groups that they themselves identify with
Q4) Pressure to make a profit and the need to attract an audience can lead to _________ in the media.
A) ideological bias
B) racial bias
C) traditional institutional bias
D) commercial bias
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Chapter 6: Interest Groups
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Q1) The __________ was formed to block ranchers from grazing cattle in Yosemite National Park.
A) Fish and Wildlife Service
B) Sierra Club
C) Park Rangers Club
D) Yosemite National Park Club
Q2) __________ are more likely to join interest groups.
A) Those with more education
B) Those with less education
C) Those with less income
D) Women
Q3) Political efficacy gives people the sense that __________.
A) they are insignificant
B) they can make a difference
C) they lack political power
D) they are entitled to government benefits
Q4) What is a grassroots movement? How is it mobilized? What are some of the factors that have changed the rules of the game?
Q5) What was the impact of civil disobedience in twentieth-century America?
Q6) What are the main ideas drawn out in Putnam's Bowling Alone?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Political Parties
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Q1) The characterization of the Tea Party is that its members are predominatly
A) white
B) moderate
C) female
D) lower class
Q2) What was the New Deal Coalition?
Q3) Political parties could no longer reward their supporters for their votes because of __________.
A) voter registration
B) primary elections
C) the secret ballot
D) the Electoral College
Q4) Why do minor parties tend to do well initially but inevitably fade away?
Q5) The Founders __________.
A) dreaded the prospect of political parties
B) limited the mischief of political parties through checks and balances
C) anticipated that political parties would come to dominate the Cabinet
D) prohibited government regulation of parties in the Fifth Amendment
Q6) What is responsible party government?
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Chapter 8: Elections
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Q1) Lobbying Congress for the vote, famous female suffragists included __________.
A) Mary Wollstonecraft
B) Jane Addams
C) Elizabeth Cady Stanton
D) Sojourner Truth
Q2) Explain the history of presidential nominations from party conventions to presidential primaries and caucuses.
Q3) An "understanding" or "good moral character" test was often used in the South to do what?
A) let whites avoid literacy tests
B) ensure that voting citizens were honest
C) ensure that candidates were not corrupt
D) determine who could serve as registrar of elections
Q4) Why do candidates focus few resources on "safe" states?
Q5) When property requirements were used to determine who could vote,
A) no women could vote because they could not own property
B) women property owners could vote in some places
C) only homeowners could vote in state or local elections
D) there appeared to be less fraud at the polls
Q6) Who could vote under the original draft of the U.S. Constitution?
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Chapter 9: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following presidents had the most vetoes overridden?
A) Ronald Reagan
B) George H. W. Bush
C) Bill Clinton
D) George W. Bush
Q2) What is a formal requirement for being a member of the House of Represenative?
A) Members must reside in the state of representation.
B) Members must be 35 years old.
C) Members must be born in the United States or its territories.
D) Members must be 30 years old.
Q3) A congressperson getting money added to the budget for highway construction in the his or her home district is practicing __________.
A) pork barrel funding
B) gerrymandering
C) franking
D) log rolling
Q4) What is the significance of task forces and ad hoc committees?
Q5) Explain how seats in the House of Representatives are reapportioned.
Q6) How do the constituencies of senators and representatives differ?
Q7) Give two examples of informal congressional norms.
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Chapter 10: The Presidency
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Q1) Although the president has the power to negotiate treaties, they must be approved by the __________.
A) Congress
B) Senate
C) people
D) military
Q2) The Succession Act and the Twenty-fifth Amendment deal with __________.
A) income taxes on presidents
B) seditious speech against presidents
C) presidential war powers
D) transition of power, if a president is unable to continue serving
Q3) The number of executive orders issued is not clearly known because their publication was not standardized until __________.
A) 1895
B) 1917
C) 1935
D) 1957
Q4) What are executive orders and upon what they are based?
Q5) Explain how the War Powers Resolution limits the president's authority as commander-in-chief.
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Chapter 11: The Bureaucracy
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Q1) __________ is the appointment of supporters to administrative jobs by elected officials in order to strengthen their political base.
A) Graft
B) Pork barrel
C) Constituent staffing
D) Patronage
Q2) The Civil Service Commission _____________.
A) was created by Andrew Jackson to help him fill government jobs with members of his party
B) implements the Ethics in Government Act
C) regulates and presides over the federal government's employment system
D) administers the federal government's merit system without giving anyone, except for the most skilled, an advantage
Q3) What are some advantages and disadvantages of privatizing federal jobs?
Q4) The goals of a public bureaucracy are __________.
A) to make a profit
B) complex, although profit is considered
C) defined by elected officials
D) agreed upon by most people
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Chapter 12: The Judiciary
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who was the first woman on the Supreme Court?
A) Ruth Bader Ginsburg
B) Sonia Sotomayor
C) Sandra Day O'Connor
D) Elena Kagan
Q2) Statutes are laws ____________.
A) passed by legislatures
B) outlined in the Constitution
C) written by judges
D) written by the president
Q3) ____________ is the authority to hear and decide cases.
A) Nullification
B) Jurisprudence
C) Jurisdiction
D) Litigation
Q4) How does one become a member of the federal courts?
Q5) Briefly describe the process of accessing the federal court system.
Q6) List and describe the three types of written court opinions.
Q7) Identify the major checks on judicial power. Are they effective or ineffective in limiting judicial action?
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Chapter 13: Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is seditious speech?
Q2) A primary example of the application of the prior restraint doctrine occurred in connection with __________.
A) White House protocols
B) the Pentagon Papers
C) World War II
D) "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS"
Q3) The Supreme Court has been reluctant to provide religious practice exceptions with respect to __________.
A) paying taxes
B) participating in Social Security
C) abstaining from war
D) work scheduling
Q4) Consider your First Amendment freedoms. What important restrictions limit where, when, and how we may speak?
Q5) Why are expressive and intimate associations permitted to exclude others?
Q6) How do the exclusionary rule and Miranda warnings affect police work?
Q7) What actions have federal, state, and local governments taken to address the right to privacy? Have they allowed or limited this right?
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Chapter 14: Civil Rights
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Q1) While President Eisenhower was not pleased with the Brown decision, he sent federal troops to enforce it in which state?
A) Mississippi
B) Baltimore
C) Arkansas
D) Alabama
Q2) A vexing question raised about affirmative action is whether __________.
A) racial minorities know how to benefit from legal rights
B) policy should compensate some for past discrimination
C) the Fourteenth Amendment applies to civil rights laws now
D) economic issues should be kept apart from energy issues
Q3) The first Africans came to America as __________.
A) slaves
B) indentured servants
C) free men and women
D) illegal immigrants
Q4) What is the Dred Scott case?
Q5) What was the impact of the Equal Pay Act?
Q6) What is racial profiling? Does its effectiveness as a law enforcement tool mitigate its effects on civil rights?
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Extension 1: Focus On: Economic Policy
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Q1) During the nineteenth century, the U.S. government focused on encouraging economic expansion and development by __________.
A) creating the Tennessee Valley Association
B) supporting canal and later railroad construction
C) instituting the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
D) the annexation of Texas under President Zachary Taylor
Q2) Some Americans favor a tax code that does not favor one kind of economic activity over another. What kind of taxation policy would they support?
A) a regressive tax
B) a progressive tax
C) tax neutrality
D) tax exemption
Q3) Taxes in the United States claim just over 30 percent of the GDP. Most western industrialized nations have tax revenues that are a(n) __________ share of GDP.
A) higher
B) smaller
C) even
D) great deal lower
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Chapter 16: Extension 2: Focus on: Environmental Policy
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Q1) The heavy consumption of energy by U.S. citizens is due to __________.
A) economic recession
B) economic development
C) national hubris
D) consumer confidence
Q2) The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion resulted in the public __________.
A) feeling indifferent
B) accepting global warming
C) dissenting against offshore drilling
D) wanting improved safety and protection standards
Q3) World Environment Day is celebrated on what date?
A) April 12
B) November 2
C) June 5
D) September 9
Q4) What is a negative externality?
Q5) What was the Bush administration's attitude towards global warming?
Q6) Explain the differences between the bubble concept and cap-and-trade. What is an advantage and a disadvantage of each to industry?
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Extension 3: Focus On: Foreign Policy
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Q1) Who is in control of the nation's diplomatic and military establishments?
A) the Speaker of the House
B) the President of the Senate
C) the President of the United States
D) the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Q2) Trade with the rest of the world accounts for about __________ percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
A) 10
B) 15
C) 25
D) 30
Q3) Which governmental entity has the constitutional ability to declare and fund war?
A) the president
B) Congress
C) the State Department
D) the Defense Department
Q4) Given the course of twentieth-century U.S. foreign policy, is the United States more isolationist or internationalist?
Q5) Compare and contrast the foreign policy of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
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Chapter 18: Extension 4: Focus On: Health Policy
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Q1) Before the 2010 health care law, people who could afford health care coverage were denied benefits usually because of __________.
A) inadequate income
B) their current employers
C) preexisting conditions
D) they are already on Medicare or Medicaid
Q2) Hospitals spend about __________ percent of their budgets on billing and administration.
A) 15
B) 25
C) 35
D) 45
Q3) What are the costs and benefits of Medicare and Medicaid?
Q4) Name two reasons health care costs are so expensive in the United States.
Q5) The federal government has been providing Americans personal health care since __________.
A) 1798
B) 1860
C) 1933
D) 2012
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