Law and Society
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Law and Society explores the dynamic relationship between legal systems and the broader social contexts in which they operate. This course examines how laws are created, interpreted, and enforced, and analyzes the ways in which legal institutions both reflect and shape social values, norms, and power structures. Students will engage with interdisciplinary perspectives from sociology, anthropology, political science, and history to understand the impact of law on issues such as equality, justice, social change, and individual rights. Through case studies and critical discussions, the course encourages students to consider the role of law in addressing social problems and transforming societies.
Recommended Textbook
American Government Institutions and Policies 16th Edition by James Q. Wilson
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Chapter 1: The Study of American Government the Study of
American Government
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Q1) Regarding the role of self-interest in the positions that people take on important issues,it is safest to say that
A) the self-interest of individuals is usually a complete guide to their actions.
B) economic self-interest may be important but is usually not the only guide to people's actions.
C) organizational self-interest rather than economic self-interest is usually the best guide to people's actions.
D) political preferences can be predicted invariably by knowing an individual's economic or organizational position.
E) self-interest is rarely an important factor in understanding political attitudes and behavior.
Answer: B
Q2) At one time,it was unconstitutional for the federal government to levy income tax.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 2: The Constitution the Constitution
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Q1) During the ratification debate,the supporters of the U.S.Constitution called themselves Federalists.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The Great Compromise refers to the
A) adoption of the Virginia Plan
B) adoption of the New Jersey Plan
C) decision to count each slave as sixty percent of a person
D) creation of the Senate and House of Representatives
E) None of these are correct.
Answer: D
Q3) Which of the following statements about the Declaration of Independence is CORRECT?
A) It was written primarily by George Washington and James Madison.
B) It primarily focused on concerns over economic inequality.
C) It was a rejection of the philosophy of John Locke.
D) It drew on the works of Thomas Hobbes.
E) It was essentially a lawyer's brief justifying a revolution.
Answer: E
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Chapter 3: Federalism Federalism
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Q1) The text says,"Devolution did not become a revolution." Explain.
Answer: Large federal-state programs were not turned into block grant programs.Spending on most federal and state programs increased.Public support was never very strong.Devolution seems to have resulted in more,not fewer,governmental rules and regulations.
Q2) In McCulloch v.Maryland,the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Maryland could not tax a bank chartered by the national government.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) According to Table 3.2 in the textbook,this program represented the largest federal grant to state and local governments for fiscal year 2015.
A) Medicaid
B) Income security
C) Education and training
D) Transportation
E) Community development
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: American Political Culture American Political Culture
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Q1) Compare and contrast political culture in America and in Japan.
Q2) de Tocqueville argued that American democracy endured as the byproduct of
A) geography.
B) laws.
C) customs.
D) manners.
E) All of these are correct.
Q3) The percentage of Americans who say that they have a lot of confidence in Congress is typically
A) quite large.
B) around sixty-five.
C) around fifty.
D) almost forty.
E) fairly low.
Q4) When the South seceded from the Union,its new government
A) was radically different from the Constitution.
B) was closely modeled after the Constitution.
C) was not a democracy.
D) replaced republicanism with slavery.
E) could not have survived peacetime.
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Chapter 5: Civil Liberties Civil Liberties
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Q1) Summarize the facts of the case and the Supreme Court's ruling in Miranda v.Arizona.
Q2) The right to be indicted by a grand jury for serious crimes has been incorporated to the states.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Supreme Court has ruled that high school students have the same rights as adults in expressing their beliefs.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Federal courts have ruled that Indian tribes using the drug peyote in religious ceremonies are exempt from state laws that ban such use.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In Citizens United v.F.C.C.,the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and labor unions cannot be stopped from running ads in conjunction with a political party and/or a candidate's campaign.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Civil Rights Civil Rights
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Q1) One factor helping to break the deadlock that developed in the civil rights movement during the early 1960s was the
A) Democratic landslide of 1964.
B) Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.
C) centralization of power in the House and Senate.
D) civil unrest that shook several northern cities.
E) election of Republican presidents.
Q2) In the Slaughter-House Cases (1873),the Supreme Court ruled that
A) the "privileges and immunities" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not protect citizens from discriminatory actions by state governments.
B) separate facilities were acceptable as long as they were equal.
C) segregation was unconstitutional.
D) literacy tests were acceptable.
E) juries could be all of one race.
Q3) It is illegal for an employee to experience a work environment that has been made hostile or intimidating by a steady pattern of offensive sexual teasing,jokes,or obscenity.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Public Opinion Public Opinion
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Q1) Policy tends to follow the minority view
A) when the minority is right.
B) when the minority is well organized and politically engaged.
C) when the minority is poorly organized.
D) never.
E) always.
Q2) Partisan elected officials tend to have ideologies that
A) are more consistent than those of other Americans.
B) are less consistent than those of other Americans.
C) show the same variation as those of other Americans.
D) are more consistent for Republicans than for Democrats.
E) are more consistent for Democrats than for Republicans.
Q3) Although early studies of American public opinion and voting found low information levels,they also found that Americans were pretty good at
A) working the system to get the policies that they desired.
B) contacting candidates on a regular basis.
C) basically nothing.
D) figuring out which policies and candidates most nearly reflected their values and interests.
E) explaining the workings of government and major currents in law.
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Chapter 8: Political Participation Political Participation
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Q1) In most European countries,voter registration is
A) complex.
B) costly.
C) automatic.
D) as difficult as in the United States.
E) not effective.
Q2) Identify and describe the six different classifications of U.S.voters.
Q3) The text suggests there has been little decrease,and some increase,in the percentage of Americans who
A) campaign.
B) contact government officials.
C) volunteer.
D) work on community issues.
E) All of these are correct.
Q4) Strict voter registration requirements reduce fraud but also reduce voter turnout.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Compare the voting registration procedures of the United States with the procedures in other democracies.
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Chapter 9: Political Parties Political Parties
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Q1) Which statement is incorrect?
A) Typically, a majority of Democrats vote for the Democratic candidate.
B) Typically, a majority of Republicans vote for the Republican candidate.
C) Typically, a majority of independents vote for the independent candidate.
D) Typically, a plurality of independents vote for either the Democratic or Republican candidate.
E) Typically, most independents vote for the two major parties.
Q2) Discuss the effect of the Civil War and sectionalism on the development of political parties in the United States.
Q3) This Founding Father stated that,"We are all Republicans,we are all Federalists."
A) Washington
B) Adams
C) Jefferson
D) Madison
E) Hamilton
Q4) Identify the three arenas in which political parties can be found.
Q5) The 1860 split over slavery represents a clear example of realignment.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns Elections and Campaigns
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Q1) When a voter votes for the candidate whom he or she considers more likely to do a better job in office,that voting is referred to as
A) "clothespin" voting.
B) ideological voting.
C) prospective voting.
D) retrospective voting.
E) sociotropic voting.
Q2) Since the mid-1960s,the incumbent reelection rate has never dropped below __________ percent in the Senate.
A) 60
B) 65
C) 75
D) 80
E) 90
Q3) Presidential campaigning has changed drastically,and fundraising has lost its importance.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Discuss the benefits of incumbency for Congressional elections.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Interest Groups Interest Groups
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Q1) What four factors account for the increase in interest groups in recent years?
Q2) Members of a farm bureau are most likely to have joined as a result of _________ incentives.
A) solidary
B) concurrent
C) purposive
D) party
E) material
Q3) The single most important activity of interest groups,in the eyes of many lobbyists and academic students of lobbying,is
A) delivering large numbers of protestors.
B) supplying credible information.
C) providing financial resources.
D) interacting with the media.
E) providing public relations.
Q4) Explain what earmarks are and how they are related to interest group politics.
Q5) What new regulations were applied to lobbyists as of March 2007?
Q6) The number of interest groups has grown rapidly since the 1960s.
A)True
B)False
Page 13
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Chapter 12: The Media the Media
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Q1) In New York Times v.Sullivan,the Supreme Court ruled that public officials may not win a libel suit unless they can prove not only that the statement was false,but also that
A) it was false to a ludicrous degree.
B) the writer knew it was false or had a reckless disregard for the truth.
C) no reasonable person would have been able to discern its falseness without significant effort.
D) any reasonable person would have been able to discern its falseness without significant effort.
E) the writer honestly believed it to be true.
Q2) The effect of the appearance of the Associated Press in 1848 was to further increase the partisan and biased nature of reporting.
A)True
B)False
Q3) More people read blogs than essays in magazines.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Discuss the cases of Myron Farber and Judith Miller to illustrate how the courts have ruled on confidentiality of sources.
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Chapter 13: Congress Congress
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Q1) Article I,Section 8 of the U.S.Constitution confers on Congress all of the following powers EXCEPT
A) the power to veto bills.
B) the power to collect taxes.
C) the power to declare war.
D) the power to establish courts.
E) the power to regulate commerce.
Q2) A member of the Senate has just been elected to a position that requires him to keep the majority leader informed about the opinions of other party members.He has just been elected
A) majority party whip.
B) president pro tempore.
C) chairman of the Steering Committee.
D) chairman of the Policy Committee.
E) chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Q3) Compare and contrast membership in Congress with membership in a parliament,like that of Great Britain.
Q4) What is a filibuster? What are the rules regarding its use?
Q5) Identify the six distinct stages in the history of the House of Representatives.
Page 15
Q6) Identify and explain the three theories of congressional voting.
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Chapter 14: The Presidency the Presidency
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Q1) In __________ instances,candidates have won the electoral vote without winning a majority of the popular vote.
A) two
B) three
C) five
D) ten
E) twelve
Q2) Like most governors,the president has the line-item veto.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Polls are significant for their ability to not only pick a policy,but also
A) the policies to sacrifice to bring it about.
B) how quickly to bring it before Congress.
C) how much money to budget for it.
D) the agency that will carry it out.
E) the language used to explain it.
Q4) Americans say they don't like divided government.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the electoral college and explain what it does and how it does it.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: The Bureaucracy the Bureaucracy
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Q1) Unlike the excepted service,the competitive service is administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
A)True
B)False
Q2) Between 1816 and 1861,the number of federal employees increased eightfold,in large part because of
A) an increase in the need for government accountants.
B) an increase in the need for Secret Service agents.
C) dramatic increases in new government functions.
D) growth in the Post Office.
E) increases in military staff.
Q3) The Freedom of Information Act and the Administrative Procedure Act are examples of
A) constraints on bureaucracy.
B) early, unconstitutional attempts to restrain bureaucrats.
C) laws that apply only to Congress.
D) regulations that principally limit executive powers.
E) laws that apply only to congressional staff.
Q4) Define the five bureaucratic pathologies described in the text.
Q5) Define bureaucracy and give examples of types of bureaucracies.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: The Judiciary the Judiciary
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Q1) The activist approach to judicial review holds that justices should apply only those rules stated in or clearly implied by the language of the Constitution.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Identify the different types of opinions that Supreme Court justices write,and explain what each involves.
Q3) There are thirteen __________ in the federal judiciary.
A) constitutional courts
B) district courts
C) courts of appeal
D) legislative courts
E) supreme courts
Q4) Legal periodicals such as Princeton Law Review and Cambridge Law Review are frequently consulted during Supreme Court cases,and citations to them often appear in the Court's decision.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss two reasons why the principle of precedent is so important.
Q6) Carefully explain the background and the Court's ruling in Marbury v.Madison.
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Domestic Policy Domestic Policy
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Q1) Welfare policies in which nearly everyone benefits and nearly everyone pays are characterized by
A) neo-institutional politics.
B) minoritarian politics.
C) client politics.
D) concurrency politics.
E) majoritarian politics.
Q2) The Taft-Hartley Act
A) made illegal the union practice of a closed shop.
B) made illegal the union practice of a secondary boycott.
C) authorized the president to obtain a court order blocking for up to eighty days any strike that imperiled the "national health or safety."
D) favored management over labor.
E) All of these are correct.
Q3) Much of the antitrust legislation passed in this country has been the result of
A) majoritarian politics.
B) client politics.
C) interest-group politics.
D) entrepreneurial politics.
E) None of these are correct.
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Chapter 18: Economic Policy Economic Policy
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Q1) Identify the machinery of economic policymaking-sometimes called the "troika." Explain their roles.
Q2) An economist proposes that the government should spend more on public-works programs to help increase demand for goods and services in order to improve the overall economy.Which approach would fit best with this economic theory?
A) Keynesian economics
B) Monetarist economics
C) Economic planning
D) Supply-side economics
E) Credit-based economics
Q3) Public opinion strongly encourages American elected officials to
A) balance the budget.
B) deficit-spend.
C) reduce federal spending.
D) raise taxes.
E) None of these are correct.
Q4) What are the arguments in favor of and against globalization?
Q5) Identify and summarize the central tenants of the four main theories about how to improve the economy.
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Chapter 19: Foreign and Military Policy Foreign and Military Policy
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Q1) Al Qaeda means
A) "the fight."
B) "the base."
C) "the mission."
D) "the war."
E) "the martyr."
Q2) What are some examples of the interest-group and client politics in foreign policy?
Q3) When Bill Clinton came into office in 1992,his foreign policy advisers were drawn from the ranks of those who believed in
A) isolationism.
B) containment.
C) disengagement.
D) human rights.
E) imperialism.
Q4) The U.S.response to the placement of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba was an example of client politics.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What are some examples of the majoritarian component of foreign policy?
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Chapter 20: American Democracy, Then and Now
American Democracy, Then and Now
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Q1) Today,the government is held responsible for
A) crime.
B) the economy.
C) the environment.
D) civil rights.
E) All of these are correct.
Q2) The text suggests that the reason it is difficult to cut back on what the government does is that
A) cutting programs usually means cutting jobs
B) party politics make gridlock inevitable
C) the public wants what the government does
D) powerful interest groups use money to buy influence in Washington and overrule public opinion
E) None of these are correct.
Q3) The text argues that opinion surveys since the 1960s reflect the public's
A) loss of faith in the design of our government's institutions
B) loss of faith in our form of government
C) disappointment with our government's performance
D) increasing political apathy
E) All of these are correct.
Page 22
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