Introduction to American Government Final
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Course Introduction
Introduction to American Government provides students with a foundational understanding of the structures, functions, and processes of the United States government. The course explores the Constitution, federalism, the roles of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and the ways in which political parties, interest groups, and public opinion influence policy-making. Students will also examine the evolution of civil liberties and civil rights, as well as contemporary issues facing American democracy, fostering critical thinking about the role of citizens in the political system.
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The Challenge of Democracy American Government in Global Politics 13th Edition by Kenneth Janda
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Freedom, Order, or Equality
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Q1) Using a two-dimensional model of political ideology,conservatives are more likely to support
A)freedom over order and equality over freedom.
B)order over freedom and equality over freedom.
C)equality over order and equality over freedom.
D)order over equality and equality over freedom.
E)order over freedom and freedom over equality.
Answer: E
Q2) According to the text,only libertarians and ____________ are consistent in their attitude toward the scope of government activity.
A)conservatives
B)communists
C)liberals
D)communitarians
E)socialists
Answer: D
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3
Chapter 2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy
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Q1) According to the text,does the United States better fit the pluralist model or the majoritarian model,and why?
Answer: According to the text, the United States better fits the pluralist model. This is because the pluralist model emphasizes the presence of multiple groups with competing interests and the ability for these groups to influence the political process. In the United States, there are numerous interest groups representing a wide range of issues and constituencies, and these groups play a significant role in shaping public policy and influencing government decisions. Additionally, the United States has a system of checks and balances, which allows for the representation of diverse interests and prevents any single group from dominating the political process. Overall, the presence of multiple competing groups and the ability for these groups to influence the political process aligns with the characteristics of the pluralist model.
Q2) Discuss why democratization can be difficult to achieve in different parts of the world,and why there is a strong relationship between economic prosperity and democracy.
Answer: Answers will vary.
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4
Chapter 3: The Constitution
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Questions
Q1) The original procedure for selecting the vice president,under the electoral college,was
A)the vice president would be selected by the Senate.
B)the vice president would be selected by the House.
C)the candidate with the next-greatest number of votes would become vice president.
D)the president would select a vice president after being elected.
E)None of the above is true.
Answer: C
Q2) Federalist No.10 and Federalist No.51 each argue,from different angles,that the constitution combats
A)excessive power in the executive.
B)tyranny.
C)weakness of the states.
D)attacks from foreign nations.
E)the problem of an uninvolved population.
Answer: B
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5
Chapter 4: Federalism
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Q1) Preclearance is the process of
A)obtaining the approval of Congress before passing state laws.
B)seeking advance rulings on constitutionality of legislation from the supreme court.
C)asking the governor to sign off on a proposed law before introducing it.
D)submitting redistricting plans to the Justice Department for approval.
E)providing citizens with advance notice of the effect of newly-passed laws.
Q2) Discuss the special challenges faced by state and local governments as a result of the economic downturn in 2008,and ways governments can and did respond to these challenges.
Q3) Discuss three Supreme Court decisions that reflect the Court's changing conception of the limits of federal power.
Q4) By 2013,__________ grants consumed more than 50 percent of national government grants to the states.
A)Homeland Security
B)education
C)environmental
D)transportation
E)health
Q5) Compare the attitudes of conservatives and liberals to states' rights.
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion and Political Socialization
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Q1) Lack of political knowledge among individual Americans makes the ___________ model more difficult to sustain.
A)communitarian
B)pluralist
C)majoritarian
D)substantive
E)procedural
Q2) A symmetrical,bell-shaped distribution around a single mode is called a
A)stable distribution.
B)normal distribution.
C)skewed distribution.
D)bimodal distribution.
E)modality.
Q3) Describe two of the earliest sources of political socialization and another source that grows in importance as Americans reach adulthood.
Q4) Explain what skewed,bimodal,and normal distributions are.
Q5) Identify and discuss the factors that can cause polls results to be wrong.
Q6) How is gender related to political beliefs and opinion?
Q7) Discuss issue framing and how it can be used by politicians and others.
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Chapter 6: The Media
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Q1) The first newspapers in the United States were
A)farmers' almanacs.
B)literary gazettes.
C)financed by political parties that advocated party causes.
D)official government publications.
E)published by British tabloids.
Q2) After the 2012 election,which of the following received the lowest rating from Americans?
A)Candidates
B)the Media
C)Campaign consultants
D)Political parties
E)Pollsters
Q3) How are political blogs influencing news reporting and politics?
Q4) In what way are some of our modern media outlets a return to the earliest forms of news media in America?
Q5) Explain what is meant by the media playing the role of gatekeeper.
Q6) Explain how the media,in setting the agenda,play contradictory roles in the process of political socialization.
Q7) Describe the history and current influence of radio on American politics.
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Chapter 7: Participation and Voting
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Q1) In Smith v.Allwright,the Supreme Court found _________ is(are)unconstitutional.
A)preventing blacks from voting in primary elections
B)state poll taxes
C)literacy tests
D)property requirements for voting
E)Jim Crow laws
Q2) Citizen mobilization to stop construction of a nuclear waste facility near their homes would be an example of the _________ phenomenon.
A)contacting
B)NIMBY
C)supportive
D)class action
E)unconventional political participation
Q3) Define political participation and describe and give examples of the elements that comprise it.
Q4) Discuss initiative and referendum,including how they are related and giving examples of each.
Q5) In addition to their being vehicles that implement democracy,describe the other important purposes of elections.
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Chapter 8: Political Parties
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Q1) In the 2000 election,the candidacy of Ralph Nader
A)had no significant impact.
B)resulted in a loss of support for the Democratic candidate, Al Gore.
C)resulted in a loss of support for the Republican candidate, George W. Bush.
D)resulted in an equal loss of support for Gore and Bush.
E)has not been determined in its impact.
Q2) According to the __________,political parties are essential in making government responsive to public opinion.
A)procedural model of democracy
B)substantive model of democracy
C)majoritarian model of democracy
D)pluralist model of democracy
E)responsible model of democracy
Q3) One of the most convincing explanations for the persistence of the two-party system in the United States lies in its use of
A)single winners chosen by an absolute majority of votes.
B)multiple winners chosen by a proportional representation of votes.
C)multiple winners chosen by a simple plurality of votes.
D)single winners chosen by a proportional representation of votes.
E)single winners chosen by a simple plurality of votes.
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Chapter 9: Nominations, Elections, and Campaigns
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Q1) Which of the following is not included in the responsibilities of the Federal Election Commission (FEC)?
A)Guaranteeing rough equality in fundraising between Republicans and Democrats.
B)Administering public financing of presidential campaigns.
C)Requiring full disclosure of campaign spending.
D)Enforcing limits on contributions to federal campaigns.
E)All of these choices are part of the FECs responsibilities.
Q2) Summarize the story of the Florida recount in the 2000 election.
Q3) An ad that criticizes an opponent and advocates policies of the sponsoring candidate is an example of a(n)__________ ad.
A)negative
B)dilatory
C)flip-flop
D)contrast
E)attack
Q4) Discuss the importance of Iowa and New Hampshire to the presidential nominating process.
Q5) Is the way parties operate more representative of the majoritarian or the pluralist model of democracy? Why?
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Chapter 10: Interest Groups
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Q1) The main drawback of protest activity as a tool in influencing the policymaking process is that
A)it is basically a short-term tool, whereas policymaking is a long-term process.
B)it almost always generates more opposition than support.
C)no one pays attention to protest.
D)it is illegal.
E)it often results in the arrest of interest group members.
Q2) Groups that rely on ideological appeals for new members have a special problem because
A)most people do not want to join ideological groups.
B)they have to meet special stricter government guidelines.
C)ideological groups do not qualify for tax exemptions.
D)competition in policy areas of these groups is intense.
E)they have to convince their "purist" members to do the mundane work of recruitment.
Q3) Identify and discuss the variables that contribute to ability of interest groups to successfully organize.
Q4) What do political scientists know about the relationship between PAC money and votes in Congress?
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Congress
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Q1) In 2011 congressional parties formally banned _________,which are pork-barrel projects that benefit specific districts or states.
A)categorical funds
B)bylines
C)redactions
D)delineations
E)earmarks
Q2) An incumbent advantage that permits members of Congress to keep in touch with constituents by sending mailings at the taxpayer's expense is known as
A)casework.
B)reciprocity.
C)postal privilege.
D)communication allowance.
E)the franking privilege.
Q3) Explain the Senate procedures known as the filibuster and cloture,and why the mere threat of a filibuster is extremely common and often criticized.
Q4) Discuss how their four major influences affect Congressional decision-making.
Q5) Discuss the president's veto power over legislation passed by Congress.
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Chapter 12: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) Recent scholarly research demonstrates that energetic and well-planned efforts by presidents to influence public opinion
A)can move public responses to opinion polls by about ten percentage points.
B)are likely to have little effect.
C)are far more effective when they concern foreign policy than domestic policy.
D)are far more effective when they concern domestic policy than foreign policy.
E)only occurs during a president's first year in office.
Q2) In both a recent Gallup survey of the American public,and in a recent C-SPAN survey of fifty-eight professional observers of the presidency,President _________ was ranked as the greatest.
A)George Washington
B)Abraham Lincoln
C)Theodore Roosevelt
D)Franklin D. Roosevelt
E)Ronald Reagan
Q3) List and discuss the various executive branch resources available to the president in carrying out his official duties.
Q4) Discuss the expansion of presidential power that took place during the Lincoln administration and the Civil War.
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Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy
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Q1) Despite the fact that Americans want smaller government,why is it politically risky to reduce the number of bureaucrats?
Q2) Discuss the impact of deregulation in the telephone and food and drug industries.
Q3) A large,complex organization in which employees have specific job responsibilities and work within a hierarchy of authority is a(n) A)office.
B)business.
C)government.
D)bureaucracy.
E)organization.
Q4) Rules that guide the operation of government programs are termed A)regulations. B)mandates C)ordinances.
D)advisories. E)dicta.
Q5) Explain why Congress is often vague about its intent when setting up a new agency or program.
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Chapter 14: The Courts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Appellate court proceedings may include
A)witnesses.
B)juries.
C)cross-examination.
D)presentation of new evidence.
E)oral argument.
Q2) Explain the relationship between public opinion and Supreme Court decisions.
Q3) To enter the federal court system,litigants in state cases must
A)first have had their case decided by the highest court in the state.
B)present a valid constitutional question to be decided by the justices.
C)simply pay the required fee and file appropriate paperwork.
D)have a case to which the federal government is a party.
E)argue before and be approved by a special master.
Q4) At stake in the Marbury v.Madison decision was whether William Marbury
A)was entitled to financial relief for damage to his reputation.
B)was eligible for election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
C)had been unjustly tried twice for the same offense.
D)had committed treason against the United States.
E)had a legal right to be hired as a justice of the peace in the District of Columbia.
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Chapter 15: Order and Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Constitution's _____________ clause prevents the government from interfering with religious practice.
A)establishment
B)essential freedoms
C)nondiscrimination
D)free exercise
E)religious freedom
Q2) In the New York Times v.Sullivan case,the Supreme Court declared that freedom of the press takes precedence when the defamed individual is
A)famous.
B)a religious figure.
C)a candidate for office.
D)a person who accidentally became famous.
E)a public official.
Q3) What are the Miranda warnings?
Q4) What did the Supreme Court decision District of Columbia v.Heller rule,what amendment to the Constitution did it interpret,and what was one of the questions it left unanswered?
Q5) Summarize the difference between civil liberties and civil rights.
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Chapter 16: Equality and Civil Rights
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Q1) A U.S.Supreme Court decision in 2007 made it more difficult to successfully sue over pay discrimination based on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act when they held
A)that plaintiffs must file a complaint within 180 days of pay setting.
B)that plaintiffs must file a complaint with the EEOC within a week.
C)that plaintiffs must pay all legal costs up front before filing a suit.
D)that employers cannot be held responsible for discrimination on the basis of sex, as opposed to racial or ethnic identity.
E)None of the above is true.
Q2) In Grove City College v.Bell,the Supreme Court
A)frustrated enforcement of civil right laws.
B)extended its interpretation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include gender.
C)extended its interpretation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include Hispanics.
D)reversed its earlier ruling in Sweatt v. Painter.
E)established its principle of diversity to justify affirmative action in college admissions.
Q3) What were the major provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
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Chapter 17: Economic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) At the time of Reagan's Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981,the top marginal rate for the highest income group of Americans was
A)15 percent.
B)28 percent.
C)39 percent.
D)70 percent.
E)91 percent.
Q2) Explain some of the ways America's tax policies have traditionally favored the wealthy.
Q3) By April 2014,the total national debt was about __________ trillion dollars.
A)1.1
B)4.9
C)12.3
D)17.5
E)22.4
Q4) Explain the difference between fiscal policy and monetary policy,and provide some examples of each.
Q5) Describe President George W.Bush's election tax pledges,and what happened to budget deficits during Bush's presidency.
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Chapter 18: Policymaking and Domestic Policy
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Q1) Generally,state leaders have __________ the reforms that came with TANF.
A)objected to and rarely complied with B)objected to and called for the repeal of C)been pleased with D)altered and erased E)failed to implement
Q2) A young family has income falling below the federal poverty line.This family is most likely eligible for A)the DREAM Act.
B)means-tested benefits.
C)Medicare
D)non-means-tested benefits.
E)DACA.
Q3) A government policy that discourages particular behavior,such as a tax on pollution,is also known as a(n)
A)incentive.
B)disincentive.
C)compromise.
D)regulation.
E)permissive.
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