Introduction to American Government Test Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to American Government provides students with a comprehensive overview of the foundational structures, principles, and processes of the United States government. The course examines the Constitution, federalism, the branches of government, civil rights and liberties, political participation, the electoral process, and the role of media and political parties. Through analysis of key documents, landmark Supreme Court cases, and contemporary issues, students gain a deeper understanding of how American democracy functions and the challenges it faces in a changing society.
Recommended Textbook
We The People An Introduction to American Government 10th Edition by Thomas Patterson
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
17 Chapters
963 Verified Questions
963 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/1719
Page 2
Chapter 1: Political Thinking and Political Culture: Becoming a Responsible Citizen
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34184
Sample Questions
Q1) The Bill of Rights
A) reduced the restrictiveness of constitutionalism.
B) enhanced the powers of the executive.
C) further checked the power of the majority.
D) enhanced the majoritarian nature of government.
E) restricted the power of corporate influence in the government.
Answer: C
Q2) Define politics,power,and authority.
Answer: Politics is the means by which society settles its conflicts and allocates the resulting benefits and costs.Those factions or people who prevail in getting their values accepted are said to have power.When power is exercised through the laws and institutions of government,authority is involved.Authority is defined as the recognized right of an official or institution to exercise power.
Q3) Europeans have a greater acceptance than Americans of
A) tax and social policies that redistribute wealth.
B) the strength of the executive branch of government.
C) the majoritarian system of government.
D) the influence of corporate special interests in the legislative process.
E) the influence of corporate money in the election process.
Answer: A
Page 3
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 2: Constitutional Democracy: Promoting Liberty and Self-Government
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
62 Verified Questions
62 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34185
Sample Questions
Q1) How did Congress retaliate to the Supreme Court's reprimand,in Marbury v.Madison,that it had passed legislation that exceeded its constitutional authority?
A) It passed legislation to reduce the power of judicial review.
B) It forced the Court to accept the power to issue writs of mandamus.
C) Congress had no way to retaliate.
D) It voted to impeach the Chief Justice.
E) It completely disregarded the Court's ruling.
Answer: C
Q2) Progressive reforms included
A) primary elections.
B) direct election of U.S. senators.
C) the initiative and referendum.
D) recall elections.
E) All these answers are correct.
Answer: E
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 4
Chapter 3: Federalism: Forging a Nation
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
60 Verified Questions
60 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34186
Sample Questions
Q1) ________ advocated a "new federalism."
A) President Richard Nixon
B) President George W. Bush
C) President John Kennedy
D) President Lyndon Johnson
E) President Jimmy Carter
Answer: A
Q2) The Constitution allows states to
A) raise an army in peacetime.
B) print money.
C) make commercial agreements with other states without the consent of Congress.
D) govern intrastate commerce.
E) govern interstate commerce.
Answer: D
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 5
Chapter 4: Civil Liberties: Protecting Individual Rights
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
61 Verified Questions
61 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34187
Sample Questions
Q1) The Supreme Court upheld the use of tax-supported vouchers to attend private or parochial school in
A) Engel v. Vitale.
B) Griswold v. Connecticut.
C) Zelman v. Simmons-Harris.
D) Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition.
E) Miller v. California.
Q2) The Supreme Court's position on prior restraint of the press is that A) national security needs are of highest priority.
B) only classified government documents are subject to prior restraint.
C) prior restraint can never be exercised by government.
D) prior restraint should apply only in rare circumstances, and it is better to hold the press responsible for what it has printed than to restrict what it may print.
E) prior restraint should be used fairly frequently in a democracy.
Q3) Discuss the differences between the First Amendment's establishment and free exercise clauses.
Q4) Explain the concept of prior restraint of the press.Include one example of how the Supreme Court has ruled on this issue.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 6
Chapter 5: Equal Rights: Struggling Toward Fairness
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
62 Verified Questions
62 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34188
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true of discrimination against the disabled in the United States?
A) The Americans with Disabilities Act grants protections to the disabled only in the employment sphere.
B) Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1975.
C) Before 1975, four million children with disabilities were getting either no education or an inappropriate one.
D) Through the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, Congress required that schools receiving federal funding provide all children, however severe their disability, with a free and appropriate education.
E) Discrimination against the disabled is among the forms of discrimination prohibited by the Constitution, but has also been strengthened through statutes.
Q2) Women in America obtained the right to vote in national elections in ________.
A) 1790
B) 1865
C) 1890
D) 1920
E) 1974
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 7
Chapter 6: Public Opinion and Political Socialization:
Shaping the Peoples
Voice
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
55 Verified Questions
55 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34189
Sample Questions
Q1) A properly drawn sample of one thousand individuals has a sampling error of roughly plus or minus ________ percent.
A) 5
B) 3
C) 2
D) 8
E) 10
Q2) Women are less likely than men to favor
A) affirmative action.
B) abortion rights.
C) higher levels of education spending.
D) the use of force to settle international disputes.
E) All these answers are correct.
Q3) ________ once said that he spent nearly all his adult life in government and yet had never seen a government.
A) Theodore Roosevelt
B) Woodrow Wilson
C) Abraham Lincoln
D) George W. Bush
E) Harry Truman
Page 8
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 7: Political Participation: Activating the Popular Will
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34190
Sample Questions
Q1) Citizens in which of the following countries are most likely to volunteer time and money to promote community causes?
A) Germany
B) France
C) Great Britain
D) the United States
E) There is no difference among the four nations.
Q2) When democratic governments came into existence,tax and food riots and other forms of protest greatly diminished.Why?
A) Citizens had less-disruptive ways to express themselves.
B) A government safety net ensured basic needs were met.
C) Social scientists have been studying this phenomenon but do not have a conclusive answer.
D) The wealth of citizens increased dramatically with democratic freedoms and liberty. E) None of these answers is correct.
Q3) Give three reasons why some Americans vote regularly while others do not.
Q4) Should elections be held on weekends or perhaps as national holidays? Why or why not?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
9
Chapter 8: Political Parties, candidates, and Campaigns:
Defining the Voters Choice
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
64 Verified Questions
64 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34191
Sample Questions
Q1) What are primary elections and what impact have they had on party organizations?
Q2) Regarding state party organizations,the day-to-day operation is usually the responsibility of the
A) central committee.
B) state chairperson.
C) national chairperson who oversees all state party organizations.
D) state governor or top leaders in the legislative branch.
E) None of these answers is correct.
Q3) ________ does not have a competitive multiparty system.
A) Germany
B) Italy
C) The Netherlands
D) The United States
E) Sweden
Q4) ________ was the only Republican elected president from 1932 to 1964.
A) Richard Nixon
B) Barry Goldwater
C) Dwight Eisenhower
D) Herbert Hoover
E) Calvin Coolidge
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 10
Chapter 9: Interest Groups: Organizing for Influence
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
65 Verified Questions
65 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34192
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true of employment in lobbying firms by members of Congress?
A) It is very rare for a member of Congress to become a lobbyist because of the negative stigma involved.
B) Most members of Congress join lobbying firms immediately after leaving Congress.
C) They are prohibited by law from lobbying Congress for a set period of time after leaving office.
D) Members of Congress are prohibited by law from joining the lobbying profession.
E) Many members of Congress were lobbyists prior to becoming elected representatives.
Q2) The largest number of PACs are those associated with
A) single-issue groups, such as environmental groups and right-to-life groups.
B) labor.
C) business.
D) agriculture.
E) education.
Q3) Compare outside lobbying and inside lobbying.
Q4) Compare iron triangles and issue networks.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
11
Chapter 10: The News Media: Communicating Political Images
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
50 Verified Questions
50 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34193
Sample Questions
Q1) The "long tail" is a phenomenon related to the A) partisan flavor of talk shows.
B) degree of editorializing by broadcast news.
C) rate of Internet news readership.
D) increase in the age gap of news readership
E) partisan nature of Internet news.
Q2) One of the reasons the reporting of national news is relatively uniform among news sources is that
A) the government dictates much of what is reported.
B) there are only a few important events each day that merit news coverage.
C) the network newscasts are brief and the day's top stories tend to dominate.
D) reporters are not given much freedom by their editors.
E) modern journalists have become fairly lazy and use mostly wire reports to create news copy for the network newscasts.
Q3) Which institution receives the most news coverage from the national press?
A) the presidency
B) U.S. House of Representatives
C) U.S. Senate
D) U.S. Supreme Court
E) the federal bureaucracy
Page 12
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 11: Congress: Balancing National Goals and Local
Interests
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
55 Verified Questions
55 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34194
Sample Questions
Q1) Bills are formally introduced in Congress by
A) members of Congress only.
B) executive agencies.
C) interest groups.
D) the Supreme Court.
E) All these answers are correct.
Q2) A standing committee in the House or Senate
A) is a permanent committee.
B) has jurisdiction over a particular policy area.
C) has authority to draft, amend, and recommend legislation.
D) is usually organized according to the seniority principle.
E) All these answers are correct.
Q3) There are currently ________ voting members of the U.S.House of Representatives and ________ voting members of the U.S.Senate.
A) 535; 100
B) 435; 100
C) 150; 31
D) 300; 100
E) 600; 300
Q4) Why do congressional incumbents have such a high rate of reelection?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 13
Chapter 12: The Presidency: Leading the Nation
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
55 Verified Questions
55 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34195
Sample Questions
Q1) The U.S.House of Representatives last decided the outcome of a presidential election in ________.
A) 1928
B) 1892
C) 1856
D) 1824
E) 1800
Q2) Which of the following is true of the vice presidency?
A) Presidents in the nineteenth century paid more attention to their vice presidents and granted them more authority.
B) The Constitution assigns no executive authority to the vice president.
C) Jimmy Carter reduced the power of the vice presidency by removing the vice president's office from the White House.
D) The constitutional powers of the vice presidency have been increased by Congress twice during U.S. history.
E) Daniel Webster and Henry Clay accepted nominations to the vice presidency as stepping stones to the presidency.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 14
Chapter 13: The Federal Bureaucracy: Administering the Government
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
58 Verified Questions
58 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34196
Sample Questions
Q1) In the late 1800s,rapid economic growth placed new demands on the federal government and led it to
A) create new federal departments built around economic interests.
B) establish the executive management system.
C) reorganize the cabinet in order to make it the center of economic policy making.
D) both create new federal departments built around economic interests, and establish the executive management system.
E) None of these answers is correct.
Q2) Amtrak is an example of a(n)
A) cabinet department.
B) government corporation.
C) independent agency.
D) regulatory agency.
E) presidential commission.
Q3) Identify four of the five major types of organizations within the federal bureaucracy,and give examples of each.
Q4) Identify the major ways that the bureaucracy is held accountable by Congress.
Q5) What is the federal bureaucracy's main function?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 15
Chapter 14: The Federal Judicial System: Applying the Law
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
59 Verified Questions
59 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34197
Sample Questions
Q1) Senatorial courtesy refers to the tradition whereby
A) nominees for federal judgeships are treated with respect during Senate confirmation hearings, even by senators who plan to vote against the nominee.
B) senators usually defer to the president's choice of Supreme Court nominees.
C) senators are consulted on the nomination of lower-court federal judgeships in their state.
D) nominations for the federal courts, once committee hearings are concluded, are scheduled for a vote ahead of other Senate business.
E) House members always defer to the Senate on matters dealing with the judiciary.
Q2) The Supreme Court decision in Marbury v.Madison is significant
A) as the first instance of the court ruling on a state matter.
B) as the first use of judicial activism.
C) for the establishment of judicial review.
D) as the first instance of the Court ruling on a disagreement between states.
E) as the Court's first non-majority opinion.
Q3) Distinguish between the facts of a case and the relevant laws of a case.Discuss the three main sources of laws.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 16
Chapter 15: Economic and Environmental Policy:
Contributing to Prosperity
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
54 Verified Questions
54 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34198
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following government agencies regulates business competition?
A) Federal Trade Commission
B) Interstate Commerce Commission
C) Antitrust Division of the Justice Department
D) all of these: the Federal Trade Commission; the Interstate Commerce Commission; and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department
E) None of these answers is correct.
Q2) The Federal Reserve plays a large part in establishing ________ policy.
A) monetary
B) military
C) fiscal
D) budgetary
E) security
Q3) Define the term monetary policy,and describe two ways the Fed implements monetary policy.
Q4) Describe Adam Smith's laissez-faire model of economics.
Q5) Define the term fiscal policy and explain how fiscal policy can be used in response to economic conditions.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 17
Chapter 16: Welfare and Education Policy: Providing for
Personal Security and Need
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
53 Verified Questions
53 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34199
Sample Questions
Q1) Poverty is a condition that today affects roughly one in ________ Americans.
A) two
B) three
C) eight
D) twenty
E) fifty
Q2) Discuss what is meant by a public assistance program,and provide examples.
Q3) ________ was called "the great leveler" when it began in the early nineteenth century.
A) Social welfare
B) Public education
C) The federal government
D) The Internal Revenue Service
E) Social security
Q4) ________ is an example of an in-kind benefit.
A) The Food Stamps program
B) Social security
C) Unemployment insurance
D) Supplemental Security Income
E) None of these answers is correct.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 18
Chapter 17: Foreign Policy: Protecting the American Way
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
55 Verified Questions
55 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/34200
Sample Questions
Q1) On what grounds did President Barack Obama place a 35 percent tariff on the import of Chinese tires in 2009?
A) The tariff was part of the stimulus package designed to save the American auto manufacturing industry.
B) U.S. tire-makers needed the protection because they were forced to buy their raw materials from Chinese exporters.
C) The tariff was in retaliation to Chinese military exercises in the Yellow Sea.
D) U.S. tire-makers were less efficient than Chinese companies and needed government assistance.
E) Chinese tires were being subsidized by the Chinese government.
Q2) The communists took over China in ________.
A) 1917
B) 1929
C) 1935
D) 1949
E) 1962
Q3) How does public opinion exhibit varying levels of importance in defense policy?
Q4) Define the term containment policy.What was the basis for this policy?
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 19