Introduction to American Government Practice Questions
Course Introduction
This course offers a comprehensive overview of the American political system, exploring its foundational principles, institutions, and processes. Students will examine the Constitution, federalism, the roles of Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court, as well as the impact of political parties, interest groups, and the media. Emphasis is placed on understanding how public policy is created and the ways in which citizens participate in and influence the government. Through critical analysis and discussion, students will develop a deeper appreciation for the complexities of governance in the United States and the ongoing evolution of its democratic institutions.
Recommended Textbook
American Government Power and Purpose 15th Edition by Stephen Ansolabehere
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2398 Verified Questions
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Five Principles of Politics
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Sample Questions
Q1) When France was ruled by King Louis XVI, Napoleon Bonaparte, and then Louis XVIII, it exemplified the governmental system known as
A)an autocracy.
B)an oligarchy.
C)totalitarianism.
D)a democracy.
Answer: A
Q2) When the Speaker of the House exercises his or her authority to keep a bill from even being discussed, it exemplifies the Speaker's ability to exert
A)veto power.
B)gatekeeping.
C)docket authority.
D)discharge action.
Answer: B
Q3) In the U.S. Senate, a simple majority can end debate and call for a vote.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Constructing a Government: The Founding and the Constitution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Under the Articles of Confederation, each state was represented in the Continental Congress in proportion to its population.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Prior to the Revolutionary War, British policies harmed the economic interests of which two large sectors of colonial society that previously supported British rule?
A)royalists and small farmers
B)southern planters and New England merchants
C)New England merchants and shopkeepers
D)southern planters and royalists
Answer: B
Q3) Under the American Constitution, the sole power to originate revenue bills is vested in the
A)Senate.
B)state legislatures.
C)House of Representatives.
D)Treasury Department.
Answer: C
Page 4
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Chapter 3: Federalism and the Separation of Powers
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Sample Questions
Q1) Federalism seeks to limit governmental tyranny by distributing power among which two sovereign entities?
A)president and Congress
B)national and state governments
C)government and the people
D)House of Representatives and the Senate
Answer: B
Q2) The U.S. Constitution recognizes local governments as a third level of federalism.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) The role of the judicial branch in the separation of powers has depended on
A)the power of the courts to exercise judicial review.
B)whether the Supreme Court justices can form six-vote majorities to override presidential vetoes.
C)presidents' noninterference with the appointment of U.S. attorneys.
D)the size of the Supreme Court relative to the U.S. Congress.
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the past, solid majorities of the American public and U.S. Congress have supported laws to punish anyone who burns an American flag, yet these laws have not been allowed. Which principle explains how preferences are constrained by institutions?
A)rationality principle
B)collective action principle
C)policy principle
D)history principle
Q2) The case of Miranda v. Arizona established the right of criminal suspects to A)counsel in a civil trial.
B)an unbiased judge.
C)privacy in their personal associations.
D)be informed of their constitutional rights.
Q3) The basis for the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade was the evolving right to A)privacy.
B)equal protection.
C)freedom of religion.
D)freedom of speech.
Q4) Explain due process and the constitutional rights protected under due process.
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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Sample Questions
Q1) In 1957, to which town did President Eisenhower deploy U.S. troops to impose martial law and enforce a federal court order to integrate Central High School?
A)Topeka, Kansas
B)Selma, Alabama
C)Little Rock, Arkansas
D)Charlotte, North Carolina
Q2) The 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges clearly decided that A)there is a due process and equal protection right to same-sex marriage. B)the onset of a disability is an impermissible basis for firing an employee.
C)statistical evidence may be used in court to demonstrate a pattern of gender discrimination.
D)universities can ensure diversity in their student body by admitting a fixed percentage of the top students from every high school in their state.
Q3) The equal protection clause is found in the Sixteenth Amendment.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Identify two modern-day controversies over civil rights. Why are these issues controversial? How has the Supreme Court or Congress responded to these issues?
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Congress: The First Branch
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Sample Questions
Q1) How long is the term of office for a U.S. senator?
A)two years
B)four years
C)six years
D)life
Q2) When a network of small businesses across the country cooperated to oppose President Bill Clinton's health-care plan in 1993-94, it illustrated the power of which type of organization to influence congressional decision making?
A)the constituency
B)interest groups
C)military leaders
D)political party leaders
Q3) Article I of the Constitution specifies that the House of Representatives must originate all legislation on which topic?
A)taxes and spending
B)national defense
C)immigration
D)elections
Q4) Explain how bicameralism influences the policy-making process.
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Chapter 7: The Presidency As an Institution
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Sample Questions
Q1) In general, presidents have used the veto to equalize or perhaps upset the balance of power with Congress.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is a reason the presidency was relatively weak during the legislative epoch (1800-1933)?
A)Presidents were usually dominated by leading newspaper editors.
B)There were few important national, political, or social forces to which presidents could have linked themselves.
C)The national government had very expansive powers.
D)Presidents were so busy managing the federal bureaucracy that they had no time to invest in legislative policy making or party politics.
Q3) What 1830s innovation strengthened the presidency?
A)the introduction of the line-item veto power
B)the introduction of the kitchen cabinet system
C)the introduction of the caucus system
D)the introduction of the national convention system for nominating presidential candidates
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9
Chapter 8: The Executive Branch: Bureaucracy in a Democracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Congress often deliberately delegates the responsibility of lawmaking to an administrative agency.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Governmental agencies set up by Congress outside the departmental structure, like the Environmental Protection Agency, are known as
A)cabinet departments.
B)rogue agencies
C)independent regulatory commissions.
D)independent agencies.
Q3) "Bureaucrats are charged with implementing statutes and policies produced by their 'masters,' the elected politicians in the White House and on Capitol Hill. But the relative permanence enjoyed by the bureaucracy is a form of insulation-servants have discretion and masters are limited in their ability to control them." This statement reflects which of the following concepts?
A)agency loss
B)coalitional drift
C)agency representation
D)collective action problem
Page 10
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Chapter 9: The Federal Courts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Judges are sometimes described as "legislators in robes." Is this an accurate statement? Why or why not?
Q2) The Supreme Court is a policy-making body.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In February 2016, Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia died. President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace him on March 16, 2016. If Garland replaced Scalia, the previous 5 to 4 conservative majority would be a 5 to 4 liberal majority. The Republican majority in the Senate refused to act on the nomination before the November 2016 election, reasoning that the cost to their reputation was outweighed by the possibility that the next president would be a Republican who could nominate a conservative to replace Scalia. The Republicans' decision-making illustrates which of the five principles of politics?
A)rationality
B)institution
C)policy
D)history
Q4) Describe the processes and politics surrounding the appointment of federal judges.
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Chapter 10: Public Opinion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Public opinion is the aggregation of many citizens' views and interests.
A)True
B)False
Q2) An individual's view about President Donald Trump's handling of the economy is an example of a political A)belief.
B)dogma.
C)ideology.
D)doctrine.
Q3) The contemporary political ideology that is generally supportive of political and social reform, extensive governmental intervention in the economy, expansion of federal social services on behalf of the poor and the disadvantaged, and greater protection for consumers and the environment is known as A)liberal.
B)socialist.
C)conservative.
D)libertarian.
Q4) Describe the major methods for measuring public opinion. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method?
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Chapter 11: Elections
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Sample Questions
Q1) In recent years, voter turnout in the United States has been high relative to that in other Western democracies.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Before the introduction of the Australian ballot to the American system, each ballot was
A)secret.
B)identical.
C)administered by the states.
D)exclusive to one party.
Q3) Duverger's Law assumes that rational politicians will not do this which of the following?
A)Take the same issue positions as competing candidates.
B)Use their own money to run for office.
C)Alter electoral rules that help them win
D)Split the votes of like-minded voters among two similar candidates or parties.
Q4) Explain how the rules governing the electoral process help determine outcomes.
Q5) Why do people vote? Explain whether it is rational for an individual citizen to vote.
Q6) How does government regulate the electoral process?
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Chapter 12: Political Parties
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Sample
Questions
Q1) From the collapse of the Federalists until the 1830s, a period called the Era of Good Feeling, America had only one political party known as the A)Whigs.
B)Populists.
C)Democratic-Republicans.
D)Anti-Masons.
Q2) Since the 1960s, most of the South has shifted from the Democratic to the Republican camp.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Compare and contrast the organization of the two major political parties in the United States.
Q4) Individuals who do not identify with a major party derive no information from party labels.
A)True B)False
Q5) Political parties are responsible for overseeing committee appointments. A)True B)False
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Chapter 13: Groups and Interests
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Sample Questions
Q1) Many Washington lobbyists double as fundraisers for political campaigns.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When the Sierra Club initiated a public media campaign to encourage citizens across the country to support its environmental initiatives, it used the strategy known as A)going public.
B)network advocacy.
C)direct group representation.
D)lobbying.
Q3) According to Mancur Olson's perspective, collective action is most likely to be successful among which one of the following groups in the United States?
A)workers
B)wealthy business owners
C)registered Democrats and Republicans
D)the elderly
Q4) What do you think the framers of the American Constitution would say about interest group involvement in contemporary politics? Would they be pleased or disappointed with the evolution of their political design?
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Page 15
Chapter 14: The Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a democracy, to whom are the media accountable for the use of their formidable power?
Q2) What was the main effect that the 2001 court case A&M Records v. Napster had on the news media?
A)It was legal for newspapers to provide musical accompaniment for their stories without paying royalties.
B)The Supreme Court affirmed a First Amendment right for college students to trade video and audio clips of their favorite news broadcasts.
C)The profitability of news corporations was severely reduced.
D)Internet distribution of copyrighted material became legally similar to other forms of distribution.
Q3) A press release in video format, designed to save TV broadcast outlets the costs of production, is called a
A)video news release.
B)video report.
C)taped report.
D)video leak.
Q4) Has the United States become the prisoner of media monopolies?
Q5) What do you see as the future impact of the Internet on the political process?
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Chapter 15: Economic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Protecting the environment generally promotes the economic goals of policy makers.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The costs of driving a gas-guzzling car also include the widely distributed impact of smog and the effects of carbon monoxide emissions, which economists refer to as negative
A)dispersions.
B)dissipations.
C)externalities.
D)market standards.
Q3) How did the Great Depression change how the national government attempts to manage the American economy?
Q4) The amount of liquid assets and ready cash that banks are required to hold to meet depositors' demands for their money is called the A)depositors' allowance.
B)withdrawal protection account.
C)reserve requirement.
D)residual resource fund.
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Chapter 16: Social Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Federal support for public education did not begin until the twentieth century.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A social welfare program that is only available to people who are below a specific level of income and savings is said to be subject to
A)gap analysis.
B)means testing.
C)dependency ratio.
D)vulnerability formula.
Q3) A tiny increase in Social Security benefits for those with the lowest incomes can result in a quite significant transfer of income from the upper-income brackets to the lower.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What major increase in welfare benefits did President Clinton achieve?
A)the increase of the earned income tax credit
B)the increase of the Supplemental Security Interest Rate
C)the increase of the number of individuals covered under AFDC
D)the increase of the number of single mothers receiving welfare assistance
Q5) What are the foundations of the social welfare system?
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Chapter 17: Foreign Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain the role of Congress in modern American foreign policy.
Q2) Which of the following is an example of an international humanitarian policy?
A)protective tariffs
B)security assistance
C)petroleum agreements
D)disaster relief
Q3) The representation of a government to other foreign governments is called A)diplomacy.
B)cloaking.
C)international imaging.
D)foreign visioning.
Q4) How does the United States use various international organizations to achieve its foreign policy goals?
Q5) One example of an organization forged by a collective security treaty is A)OPEC.
B)GATT.
C)WTO.
D)NATO.
Q6) As a general rule, should the United States act unilaterally or multilaterally in its foreign policy, and why?
Page 19
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