Government in America
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
This course explores the foundations, structures, and functions of government in the United States, examining the development of American political institutions and the principles of democracy. Students will analyze the roles of the Constitution, federalism, Congress, the presidency, and the judiciary in shaping policy and governance. Key topics include civil rights and liberties, political parties, interest groups, and the influence of the media on public opinion and policy-making. By exploring contemporary issues and historical events, students gain a comprehensive understanding of how government operates at the federal, state, and local levels, and the impact of American government on society.
Recommended Textbook
American Government Stories of a Nation 1st Edition Scott F. Abernathy
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18 Chapters
2010 Verified Questions
2010 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: American Political Stories
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129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Perhaps the largest factor leading to the decline in Native American populations was
A)technology.
B)agriculture.
C)education.
D)disease.
Answer: D
Q2) List and describe the forms of equality discussed in your text.Provide examples of how these forms of equality relate to the American system of government.
Answer: Social equality - no individuals have higher social status. American system of government focuses more on equality of social opportunity. Political equality - members of society possess same rights under laws of the nation. Rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution as well as through federal and state laws. Economic equality - situation in which wealth is evenly distributed across society. In U.S. , the focus is on equal opportunity rather than equal outcome, and we treasure the ability to differentiate ourselves economically through hard work, education, and risk-taking behavior.
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3
Chapter 2: The Constitution of the United States
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Sample Questions
Q1) In order to get around its lack of money and its inability to borrow from foreign nations, Congress
A)taxed individual citizens.
B)forcibly collected from the states.
C)made its own money.
D)imposed import and export taxes.
Answer: C
Q2) The power of judicial review was explicitly granted to the judicial branch in the Constitution.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) According to the original wording of the Constitution, slavery was
A)restricted and regulated.
B)unrestricted until at least 1808.
C)considered a basic property right.
D)not directly addressed.
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Sample Questions
Q1) Reserved powers are found in what part of the Constitution?
A)Article I
B)Article II
C)Article III
D)the Bill of Rights
Answer: D
Q2) Which of the following are states prohibited from doing?
A)regulating commerce within the state and between its citizens
B)making laws that are binding the state and its citizens
C)establishing courts at the state, county, or local level
D)entering into treaties with foreign governments
Answer: D
Q3) In setting out the "codes of fair competition," Chief Justice Hughes would write in his Schechter opinion that "assertions of extra constitutional authority" were appropriate in an environment of national economic emergency and consistent with the boundaries of the 10th Amendment.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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Sample
Questions
Q1) Edward Snowden has been called "The most wanted man in the world" because he accused of releasing secret information stored by the NSA.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The most important way the Fifth Amendment provides protections for those accused of crimes is by
A)assuring a speedy trial by a jury of their peers.
B)guaranteeing processes and procedures for their defense.
C)ensuring fair and reasonable search and seizure of evidence.
D)prohibiting excessive bail and cruel/unusual punishment.
Q3) Which of the following groups was most concerned with the lack of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution?
A)Federalists
B)Antifederalists
C)socialists
D)communists
Q4) Discuss the cases that led to the incorporation of the Second Amendment to the states.Given our ongoing history of gun violence, what is your opinion of these decisions and their implication on today's society?
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Chapter 5: Securing Civil Rights
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following best describes the outcome of the Seneca Falls Convention?
A)recognition of women's rights
B)granting of female enfranchisement
C)correction of gender-based discrimination
D)a "cascade" of women's rights conventions
Q2) According to data presented in the textbook, more than 50% of public schools in the South were desegregated within a year of the Brown v.Board decision.
A)True
B)False
Q3) For the purposes of the courts, women
A)did not exist.
B)were a protected class.
C)were subject to legal segregation.
D)had all equal rights of citizenship.
Q4) Unlike civil liberties, civil rights require
A)positive action.
B)negative action.
C)positive accountability.
D)negative accountability.
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Chapter 6: Political Participation
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Sample Questions
Q1) On what basis did Anthony Downs consider the decision not to vote a "rational one"?
A)financial cost and physical effort
B)time commitment and intellectual effort
C)intellectual effort and financial cost
D)physical effort and time commitment
Q2) According to data presented in your textbook, voter turnout is likely to be highest for
A)congressional elections.
B)mayoral elections.
C)statewide elections.
D)presidential elections.
Q3) Which of the following best describes the primary cause of ballot roll-off?
A)incomplete knowledge of candidates
B)overwhelming partisan voter cues
C)failure to meet voter registration requirements
D)lack of partisan affiliation
Q4) Discuss factors and barriers the impact American voting behavior and their effect on voter turnout rates in the United States.
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Chapter 7: Public Opinion
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Sample Questions
Q1) The small number of Americans who have well-informed and well-reasoned opinions is known as
A)elites.
B)masses.
C)politicos.
D)partisans.
Q2) Many observers could interpret the events of Ferguson, along with the August 5 shooting of John Crawford and the death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, as evidence of
A)escalating black-on-black violence.
B)renewed white-on-black hatred
C)systemic police mistreatment of blacks.
D)continuous black-on-white crimes.
Q3) The Pew Survey that followed the Michael Brown incident demonstrated that Americans were ______ about whether Mr.Brown's death reflected important issues about the state of race in America.
A)deeply divided
B)indifferent
C)highly unified
D)moderately concerned
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Chapter 8: The Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, daily and weekly newspapers reached a relatively large portion of the population.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The current view of most scholars of media and American politics lies
A)more toward the limited effects model.
B)more toward the direct effects model.
C)somewhere in between the direct and limited effects models.
D)in an institutional effects model.
Q3) Through its ability to select which stories are covered, the media may exert an ______ role by highlighting which issues are worthy of coverage and, as a consequence, worthy of the public's attention.
Q4) The use of yellow journalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries resulted in a decrease in newspaper and magazine sales.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Stories that focus on celebrities, personalities, and entertaining events rather than events of political or economic importance would be classified as ______ stories.
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) The final phase of the nomination process takes place at the ______ convention.
A)precinct
B)county
C)state
D)national
Q2) Because of their complexity, caucuses tend to draw
A)national attention.
B)fewer participants.
C)more participants.
D)party leaders.
Q3) Which two candidates found themselves unexpectedly winning primaries as political outsiders during the 2016 campaign season?
A)Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump
B)Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders
C)Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz
D)Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush
Q4) In many states, voters are not required to predeclare their party affiliation and may select which primary they want to participate in on the day of the primary election.This is an example of a(n)______.
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Chapter 10: Campaigns and Elections Multiple Choice
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Sample Questions
Q1) Because California's 24th District will have no incumbent running for office, it is described as a(n)
A)open-seat election.
B)direct election.
C)faithless election.
D)groundless election.
Q2) In a parliamentary, system, the ______ has the choice of when to "call" an election.
A)chief executive
B)national legislature
C)judiciary
D)state legislature
Q3) What impact does money have on today's national election process?
Q4) Groups of at least 50 individuals who contribute higher dollar amounts than individuals within federal limits are known as
A)political action committees.
B)superPACs.
C)finance committees.
D)campaign committees.
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Chapter 11: Interest Groups and Social Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) Members of interest groups and social movements often resort to ______ to achieve their goals.
A)membership dues
B)recruitment efforts
C)GOTV activities
D)different tactics
Q2) The proposal to allow underwater homeowners to refinance their distressed mortgages with government guarantees was called the A)"HARP" plan.
B)"Citigroup" Plan.
C)"Credit Suisse" Plan.
D)"Paulsen" Plan.
Q3) James Madison realized that to eliminate factions, a republic must also
A)highly restrict the liberties of its citizens.
B)encourage citizens to exercise their civil rights.
C)discourage citizens from participating in elections.
D)encourage civic duty and responsibility.
Q4) The power elite is limited to the top-ranking elected officials in government.
A)True
B)False
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the stages of passing legislation in Congress.How does the flow of legislation through Congress differ from the "textbook" descriptions of the process?
Q2) While women represent more than half of the population, in 1992, only ______ women had been elected to full terms in the Senate.
A)3
B)6
C)12
D)21
Q3) When a bill comes to the floor of the House or Senate for a "yea," "nay," or "present" indication by members of Congress in order to be recorded, the process is called a(n)
A)public forum.
B)roll-call vote.
C)congressional caucus.
D)open debate.
Q4) How does the structure of Congress demonstrate the intended differences that the framers devised in separating between the House and the Senate?
Q5) A written law established by a legislative body is defined as a ______.
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14
Chapter 13: The American Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) The part of the Obama administration's decision to target Anwar al-Awlaki that made many political experts uncomfortable was its A)level of violence.
B)degree of autonomy.
C)constitutionality.
D)degree of secrecy.
Q2) The heavy briefcase whose contents are classified but have traditionally included strategic plans and codes for a variety of nuclear combat scenarios, along with communications equipment, is nicknamed the A)hotline.
B)football.
C)gadget.
D)widget.
Q3) Since the power to declare war is found in Article I Section 8, it is inherently believed to belong only to A)Congress.
B)the president.
C)the military leadership.
D)the State Department.
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Page 15
Chapter 14: The Federal Bureaucracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The single authority most in charge of controlling the federal bureaucracy is the
A)White House Chief of Staff.
B)General Service Administration.
C)president of the United States.
D)Speaker of the House.
Q2) An organization designed to carry out specific tasks according to a prescribed set of rules and procedures is referred to as a(n)______.
A)democracy
B)anarchy
C)bureaucracy
D)hierarchy
Q3) In the early years of its history, the American bureaucracy was ______ in comparison to what it turned into.
A)tiny
B)large
C)immeasurable
D)never considered
Q4) Define bureaucracy and describe its defining characteristics.
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Page 16
Chapter 15: The Federal Judiciary
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Sample Questions
Q1) When the plaintiffs and defendants in a case appear before the Supreme Court, they must present
A)direct testimony.
B)oral arguments.
C)official witnesses.
D)important evidence.
Q2) Federal judges serve for ______, assuming good behavior.
A)four years
B)six years
C)eight years
D)life
Q3) The problem of countermajoritarianism occurs when
A)the Supreme Court exercises judicial control against the prevailing majority.
B)Congress passes a law that is then upheld by the Supreme Court.
C)the president is unable to get his/her nominee through the Senate confirmation process.
D)the people appeal to the courts through briefs and arguments but are not given standing.
Q4) What does the Constitution say about the structure and the power of the federal judiciary? What does it leave out?
Page 17
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Chapter 16: The Politics of Promoting the General Welfare
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Sample Questions
Q1) Voucher programs were proposed to parents and guardians in order to allow them to
A)improve financial resources for public schools.
B)contribute to faith-based schools of their choice.
C)send their students to private and alternative schools.
D)change to other public schools of their choice.
Q2) By 2015 and 2016, many insurers on the Obamacare exchange program were
A)reducing premiums and increasing participation.
B)raising premiums and withdrawing from participation.
C)attempting to maintain premium levels by adding new clients.
D)calling for the total shutdown of the exchange system.
Q3) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of privatization using the voucher system of Cleveland and other methods of school choice as an example.
Q4) ______ reforms allow parents and guardians more control over their students' schools and enable school officials to chart their educational courses.
A)Policy implementation
B)Institutional accountability
C)Structural design
D)School choice
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Chapter 17: Economic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a speech in November 2002, former chair of the Federal Reserve Board Ben Bernanke suggested the possibility that, in an extreme economic crisis, the Federal Reserve (working in coordination with the U.S.government), could A)print and loan enough money to finance a massive tax cut and economic stimulus.
B)force businesses to increase spending in order to jump-start the economy.
C)lower the unemployment rate through offering federal projects and job programs.
D)lower the rate of inflation by selling stocks and bonds on the open market.
Q2) In response to a president's budget proposals, Congress is expected to produce a(n) A)budgetary schedule.
B)omnibus bill.
C)counterproposal.
D)budget resolution.
Q3) How do entitlement programs pose a threat to the ability of the federal government to use fiscal policy to strengthen the national economy?
Q4) By the end of 2015, the ______ continued to grow to nearly $19 trillion.
Q5) If the federal government takes in more money than it spends, it runs a ______.
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Page 19
Chapter 18: Foreign Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The use of violence as a means to achieve political ends is defined as
A)mayhem.
B)domestic violence.
C)international violence.
D)terrorism.
Q2) The power of Congress to influence foreign policy through setting the national budget and appropriating funds for various executive-branch departments, agencies, and bureaus is best described as
A)legislative authority.
B)the power to declare war.
C)the power of the purse.
D)oversight authority.
Q3) The Monroe Doctrine asserted American interests in and primacy over actions around the globe.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Marshall Plan was a key tool in America's containment strategy during the Cold War.
A)True
B)False
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