Introduction to Political Science Test Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to Political Science offers students a foundational understanding of the key concepts, theories, and institutions that shape political life both locally and globally. The course explores the nature and scope of politics, examining topics such as government structures, political ideologies, policy-making processes, and the roles of citizens and political actors. Through the analysis of various political systems and contemporary issues, students gain insight into the ways power and resources are distributed and exercised while developing critical thinking skills necessary for engaged and informed citizenship.
Recommended Textbook
Understanding American Government 14th Edition by Susan Welch
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The American People
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a republic, among the obligations of citizens is the requirement that
A) citizens vote directly for the laws
B) citizens contribute to political campaigns
C) citizens vote for representatives to make laws for them
D) all citizens would defend the country
Answer: C
Q2) Moralistic, traditional, and individualistic political subcultures are mainly based on __________ differences.
A) biological
B) regional
C) ethnic
D) religious
Answer: B
Q3) What author described America as "a teeming Nation of nations?"
A) James Fenimore Cooper
B) Sam F.B. Morse
C) Emma Lazarus
D) Walt Whitman
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Sample Questions
Q1) During the Revolutionary War, the American colonists adopted the Declaration of Independence in __________.
A) 1774
B) 1787
C) 1791
D) 1776
Answer: D
Q2) The contract with which the Pilgrims formed their civil government is called the
A) Mayflower Compact
B) Mayflower Covenant
C) Jamestown Compact
D) Plymouth Covenant
Answer: A
Q3) Women gained the vote in the __________ Amendment.
A) Eighteenth
B) Nineteenth
C) Twentieth
D) Twenty-First
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) According to contemporary scholars, the greatest commentary on politics written in America is found in __________.
A) Webster's dictionary
B) the Federalist Papers
C) the Mayflower Compact
D) the Magna Carta
Answer: B
Q2) The first American government under the Articles of Confederation was a _____________.
A) monarchy
B) federal system
C) confederal system
D) unitary system
Answer: C
Q3) What is a block grant?
A) a grant-in-aid to fund the hiring of public safety officers
B) a grant-in-aid to fund congressional redistricting mandates
C) a grant-in-aid to fund a specific program
D) a grant-in-aid to fund a general initiative
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Public Opinion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe how polls measure public opinion.
Q2) Religious differences among red and blue states has been found to be politically
A) conservative
B) significant
C) liberal
D) miniscule
Q3) The strength of public opinion is refelcted by what?
A) ideology
B) feelings
C) the minority of citizens
D) intensity
Q4) 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
Q5) Describe how the family impacts political socialization.
Q6) How do the schools influence socialization?
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Chapter 5: News Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) A "media event" staged for television to depict an official's position on a particular issue demonstrates the __________ relationship between politicians and reporters.
A) symbiotic
B) pro bono
C) adversarial
D) ethical
Q2) The careful staging of Ronald Reagan's visit to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea so that viewers would have a clear view of an American president demonstrating "American strength and resolve" on the front line against communism is an example of a(n) __________.
A) photo op
B) sound bite
C) interview
D) press conference
Q3) Only six companies own about __________ of the cable television market.
A) 20 percent
B) 35 percent
C) 65 percent
D) 80 percent
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Interest Groups
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Q1) The thesis behind Bowling Alone suggests that interest group membership has __________.
A) increased because of technology
B) decreased because of public policy
C) increased because of public policy
D) decreased because of technology
Q2) The revolving door tradition in Washington can lead to __________.
A) lax regulations
B) lower taxes
C) unitary government
D) powerless presidents
Q3) Which interest group lobbies against gun control?
A) NRA
B) NBA
C) AARP
D) NOW
Q4) Why has the labor movement declined in influence in the United States? Is the decline in the strength of the labor movement related to the strength of business interests in the United States?
Q5) How can an interest group lobby the federal courts?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which presidential candidate utilized a "southern strategy" to lure southern whites during his campaign?
A) John F. Kennedy
B) Richard Nixon
C) Ronald Reagan
D) Jimmy Carter
Q2) Explain why political parties are considered "big tents."
Q3) Discuss the factors that led to the fall of political machines in the United States.
Q4) What was the New Deal Coalition?
Q5) In contrast to Europeans, Americans more value __________ rather than hold communitarian values.
A) conservative
B) opportunistic
C) totalitarian
D) individualism
Q6) What brought on the party realignment of southern whites during the 1900s?
Q7) Why do minor parties tend to do well initially but inevitably fade away?
Q8) What are the causes and consequences of southern realignment?
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Q9) What are the three components that make up the membership of a political party?
Chapter 8: Elections
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Q1) The right to vote is termed __________.
A) suffrage
B) freedom
C) civil rights
D) natural rights
Q2) The Voting Rights Act has had the effect of __________.
A) showing how limited the government's ability is to change things
B) succeeding to such a degree that a few southern states now have black governors
C) significantly increasing the number of minority elected officials
D) changing the nature of political competition in major northern cities
Q3) In the eyes of the Progressive reformers, the lower class __________.
A) should be assisted by private charity not government
B) were seen as the cause of corruption in politics
C) were those most likely to support political reforms
D) were irrelevant to the reform movement because they probably would not vote anyway
Q4) How do third (or minor) parties affect elections in a two-party system?
Q5) Define suffrage.
Q6) What was the significance of the Voting Rights Act?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) Factors that prevent congressional action and lead to public dissatisfaction include __________.
A) low partisanship
B) weak lobby groups
C) resurgences of congressional norms
D) anti-majoritarian rules
Q2) Committees dealing with appropriations, taxes, and finance are sometimes called __________.
A) conference committees
B) juice committees
C) task forces
D) joint committees
Q3) What is the significance of task forces and ad hoc committees?
Q4) How is the work of Congress done in committees?
Q5) Senators must __________.
A) be 35 years old
B) live in the states they represent
C) have been a citizen for seven years
D) be a member of a state bar association
Q6) Give two examples of informal congressional norms.
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Chapter 10: The Presidency
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Q1) __________ was responsible for reorganizing the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, signaling the higher priority his administration intended to place on domestic social programs.
A) George W. Bush
B) Jimmy Carter
C) Ronald Reagan
D) Bill Clinton
Q2) How have presidential powers increased relative to congressional powers?
Q3) The Founders feared that presidents would become autocrats without __________ of judicial appointments.
A) House approval
B) Senate confirmation
C) vice-presidential approval
D) federal court confirmation
Q4) The most well-known Supreme Court ruling on executive privilege is found in __________.
A) U.S. v. Nixon
B) Marbury v. Madison
C) Brown v. Board of Education
D) Lawrence v. Texas
Page 12
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Chapter 11: The Bureaucracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which type of agency is the largest bureaucracy in the executive branch?
A) departments
B) government corporations
C) regulatory boards
D) independent agencies
Q2) The Administrative Procedure Act is a form of governmental ____________.
A) oversight
B) research
C) secrecy
D) classification
Q3) __________ 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
Q4) Americans want their bureaucrats to be both competent and responsive. To what degree are these goals compatible?
Q5) How do the goals of private and public bureaucracies differ?
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Chapter 12: The Judiciary
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Sample Questions
Q1) During the Kennedy administration, in deference to southern senators, Kennedy appointed judges who supported __________.
A) segregation
B) space policy
C) healthcare
D) civil rights
Q2) Discuss the problems inherent in interpreting statutes and the Constitution. How do the courts try to resolve these problems?
Q3) ____________ is the authority to hear and decide cases.
A) Nullification
B) Jurisprudence
C) Jurisdiction
D) Litigation
Q4) When judges interpret the Constitution, they may ____________.
A) follow presidential wishes
B) disregard discretion
C) make law
D) forget their political preferences
Q5) Briefly describe the process of accessing the federal court system.
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Chapter 13: Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) With the protection of offensive speech, the First Amendment guards both rational and ____________ speech.
A) accidental
B) critical
C) vulgar
D) emotional
Q2) In 1969, the Supreme Court distinguished between ____________ in protecting seditious speech.
A) advocacy and incitement
B) encouragement and action
C) intent and action
D) advocacy and intent
Q3) Freedom of association __________.
A) is mentioned in the First Amendment
B) requires groups to accept all individuals as members
C) states that individuals must be part of an association to petition the government for a redress of grievances
D) has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to encompass several First Amendment rights
Q4) Explain the concept of "natural rights."
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Chapter 14: Civil Rights
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is racial profiling? Does its effectiveness as a law enforcement tool mitigate its effects on civil rights?
Q2) The Education Amendments of 1972, also known as Title IX, are administered by the __________.
A) state governors
B) Department of Education
C) states
D) federal courts
Q3) In the absence of a draft, the most significant discrimination against men is __________.
A) in marriage law
B) in divorce custody cases
C) employment in certain female-dominated occupations
D) travel restrictions
Q4) Child custody cases and the problems associated with them have been ignored by the __________.
A) president
B) courts
C) Congress
D) states
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Extension 1: Focus On: Economic Policy
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Sample Questions
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) What is the "misery index"?
Q3) How was the U.S. economy and the federal government budget used as an issue in the 2012 presidential election?
Q4) What is the key difference between a progressive tax and a regressive tax?
A) income levels
B) level of education
C) occupation
D) the president's party
Q5) The only way Congress can affect mandatory spending is __________.
A) through oversight
B) with bureaucratic instruction
C) by amending the laws
D) through presidential order
Q6) What is the difference between discretionary and mandatory spending?
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Chapter 16: Extension 2: Focus on: Environmental Policy
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Q1) How have environmental justice issues impacted society?
Q2) What is one of the major greenhouse gases the global community is trying to reduce?
A) helium
B) oxygen
C) argon
D) carbon dioxide
Q3) The major cause of global warming is the release of __________ into the atmosphere.
A) warm air
B) greenhouse gases
C) oxygen
D) cold air
Q4) The cap-and-trade policy ___________.
A) allows industries to pollute without sanctions
B) allows industries to pollute, but they must pay in advance
C) allows industries to pollute, but they must pay after they pollute
D) does not allow industries to pollute
Q5) What is the green economy?
Q6) What does the EPA do?
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Chapter 17: Extension 3: Focus On: Foreign Policy
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Q1) President Johnson asked Congress to justify intervention in Vietnam with __________.
A) a declaration of war
B) the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
C) the War Powers Act
D) the Vietnam Liberation Act
Q2) In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev, the new general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, called for __________.
A) détente
B) a new thinking
C) Glasnost
D) a new world order
Q3) The U.S. isolationist ideal lapsed briefly at the beginning of the twentieth century with our involvement in which war?
A) the Spanish-American War
B) the Russo-Japanese War
C) World War I
D) the American Civil War
Q4) 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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Sample Questions
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) What is the major role of the PHS?
Q3) What would be an example of government health protecting the physical security of the nation?
A) veterans' hospitals
B) government paying for coverage
C) viewing health care as a right
D) employer-based insurance
Q4) Describe how the Supreme Court answered the legal questions concerning the Affordable Care Act in 2012.
Q5) How has Massachusetts attempted to cope with health care reform?
Q6) Explain some advantages and disadvantages of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Q7) List and describe some current government health care programs.
Q8) What is the single-payer system?
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