Political Ideas and Institutions
Exam Materials
Course Introduction
This course explores the fundamental political ideas and institutions that have shaped governance and political life throughout history and across different societies. Students will analyze concepts such as democracy, liberty, justice, authority, and power, while examining how these ideas are reflected in political institutions like legislatures, executives, judiciaries, and bureaucracies. Through comparative perspectives and critical discussions, the course aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the interplay between political thought, institutional design, and the practical challenges of governance in various cultural and historical contexts.
Recommended Textbook
The Challenge of Democracy American Government in Global Politics 13th Edition by Kenneth Janda
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18 Chapters
1303 Verified Questions
1303 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Freedom, Order, or Equality
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Sample Questions
Q1) An example of a government policy that promotes social equality without redistributing income is
A)Vermont's civil unions.
B)raising the minimum wage.
C)redefining the welfare eligibility cut-off income.
D)defense spending.
E)financial aid determination.
Answer: A
Q2) According to the text,politicians openly call for more order ____________.
A)during election campaigns
B)generally whenever they make speeches
C)during times of social strife
D)during times of peace and tranquility
E)in private conferences with their colleagues
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to procedural theory,the government should do
A)whatever the most insistent interest group wants.
B)whatever the majority wants.
C)whatever they judge to be right.
D)whatever the most influential elites want.
E)whatever they think the framers of the constitution would have done.
Answer: B
Q2) Democratization is the
A)process of moving from procedural to substantive democracy.
B)process of institutionalizing the rules of procedural democracy and establishing substantive democratic policies.
C)act of electing leaders in a way that conforms to the criteria of substantive democracy.
D)process of moving from a demand to a market economy.
E)requirement that freedoms and rights be protected by written covenant.
Answer: B
Q3) 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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Chapter 3: The Constitution
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Sample Questions
Q1) A constitutional clause that allows for a broad interpretation of implied powers is known as a(n)__________ clause.
A)earmark
B)reciprocal
C)rudimentary
D)elastic
E)ornate
Answer: D
Q2) The Bill of Rights consists of the first __________ amendments to the Constitution.
A)five
B)ten
C)fifteen
D)twenty
E)twenty-two
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Federalism
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ___________ gives Congress the power to regulate commerce among the states.
A)bill of rights
B)commerce clause
C)McCulloch v. Maryland decision
D)president
E)supreme court
Q2) A government unit created to perform particular functions,such as fire protection and water purification and distribution is known as a(n)
A)municipal government.
B)state's taxing authority.
C)county government.
D)special district.
E)intergovernmental agency.
Q3) Explain the concept of dual federalism and its essential premises.
Q4) Federal government decision-making tends to be dominated by
A)theoretical debates about federalism.
B)political and policy goals.
C)concern for priorities of interest groups.
D)ideological commitments with respect to federalism.
E)academic conceptions of "ideal" federalism.
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion and Political Socialization
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Sample Questions
Q1) Since surveying the American public about ideology began,the ideological distribution of the public has become
A)somewhat more moderate.
B)skewed toward liberalism.
C)skewed toward conservatism.
D)more bimodal.
E)more normal.
Q2) The fact that ideological conservatives believed even more strongly that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 war after they were informed that subsequent investigations concluded that this was not true is an example of the A)backfire effect.
B)fog of war.
C)misinformation effect.
D)crowd delusion syndrome.
E)willfulness effect.
Q3) Explain what skewed,bimodal,and normal distributions are.
Q4) How are race and ethnicity related to political beliefs and opinion?
Q5) Explain how the self-interest principle and sociotropic responses impact Americans' political attitudes.
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Chapter 6: The Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) Despite new technological options,and despite criticism that in its current form it polarizes politics in an unhealthy way,_____ of Americans listen to traditional AM/FM radio weekly.
A)15%
B)35%
C)50%
D)75%
E)90%
Q2) Which president first provided space in the White House for reporters?
A)Abraham Lincoln
B)John F. Kennedy
C)John Quincy Adams
D)Theodore Roosevelt
E)Ronald Reagan
Q3) Describe the government's history of regulation of media content,including rules historically used to regulate content and how different media outlets are treated.
Q4) Describe how Washington correspondents rely on the president's staff and on Congress.
Q5) Describe the history and current influence of radio on American politics.
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Chapter 7: Participation and Voting
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which country was the first to provide for the general election of representatives through mass suffrage?
A)France
B)Australia
C)Canada
D)Great Britain
E)United States
Q2) 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
Q3) Which of the following was the first known act of unconventional participation in America?
A)The Revolutionary War
B)The Declaration of Independence
C)The civil rights marches of the 1960s
D)Shays's Rebellion
E)The Boston Tea Party
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Chapter 8: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) __________,candidate for president in 1992,ran as an independent and won 19 percent of the popular vote.
A)Ron Paul
B)Ralph Nader
C)Frank Baum
D)Ross Perot
E)John Edwards
Q2) According to a 2012 survey in your text,which of the following individuals is most likely to identify as a Republican?
A)Earning under $30,000, no high school degree, female, and Hispanic
B)Living in the South, age between 18-29, Catholic, and an advanced degree
C)Earning between $75,000 to $99,999, college degree, male, age between 42-53
D)Earning over $100,000, advanced degree, black, unaffiliated with any religion
E)High school degree only, Protestant, female, living in the Northeast
Q3) Who was the leader of the Federalists?
A)Aaron Burr
B)George Washington
C)James Madison
D)Thomas Jefferson
E)Alexander Hamilton
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Chapter 9: Nominations, Elections, and Campaigns
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Sample Questions
Q1) If no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes,the election is decided by
A)the president.
B)the House of Representatives.
C)the Senate.
D)votes in the fifty state legislatures.
E)the U.S. Supreme Court.
Q2) 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
Q3) Explain the difference between a party-centered campaign and a candidate-centered campaign,and why the United States has moved from the former to the latter.
Q4) Explain what Super PACs are and how recent Supreme Court decisions legalized their formation.
Q5) Summarize the story of the Florida recount in the 2000 election.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Interest Groups
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe lobbyists,their activities,and what they contribute to our political system.
Q2) Formation of Super PACs was facilitated by the Supreme Court decision in A)Chavez v. Nizon.
B)Citizens United v. FEC.
C)Garcia v. Clinton.
D)Brown v. Bd. of Education.
E)Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
Q3) The free-rider problem increases the difficulty of attracting ___________.
A)young people
B)paying members
C)media attention
D)votes in Congress
E)cooperation from other interest groups
Q4) Interest groups that lobby for poor people often gain key financial support from A)philanthropic foundations.
B)government grants.
C)corporations.
D)wealthy individuals.
E)All of these choices are true.
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Chapter 11: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the text,one suggested response to the charge of being the "least productive Congress ever" is to
A)increase the influence of parties in the legislative process.
B)eliminate the House Rules Committee.
C)end the ban on earmarks.
D)adopt a parliamentary system of government.
E)end the practice of legislators inserting special financial benefits for their own districts.
Q2) A congressional representative is following the delegate philosophy when he or she A)takes instructions from party leaders on how to vote.
B)votes in accordance with the perceived wishes of the citizens back home.
C)votes according to his or her conscience, even if doing so means going against the wishes of the majority back home.
D)consults the president before an important vote.
E)relies primarily on personal experience, philosophy, and ideology in deciding how to vote.
Q3) Identify and describe the differences between the various types of congressional committees.
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Chapter 12: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) The White House is willing to work with interest groups because they are
A)able to mobilize their constituents to contact members of Congress.
B)a resource Congress tends to ignore.
C)able to access financial resources that could be helpful to the president.
D)numerous.
E)too powerful to be ignored.
Q2) Powers inferred from statements written in the Constitution are called __________ powers.
A)inherent
B)enumerated
C)implicit
D)delegated
E)assumed
Q3) Explain some of the reasons why presidential speeches often fail to influence public opinion.
Q4) List and discuss the various executive branch resources available to the president in carrying out his official duties.
Q5) How do political polarization in CongressĀ and divided government affect the success with which the president pursues his agenda?
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Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Among the important reasons government programs are not implemented successfully is that
A)bureaucrats are only looking out for themselves and don't work to successfully implement programs.
B)laws are usually written with the needs of political contributors, rather than the public, in mind.
C)so many people don't pay their taxes that the government doesn't have adequate funding for public programs.
D)very few people really want to be helped by the government; they'd rather just work out their problems on their own.
E)the government sometimes attempts to implement programs that are not well-suited to bureaucracies.
Q2) Despite the fact that Americans want smaller government,why is it politically risky to reduce the number of bureaucrats?
Q3) Explain why Congress is often vague about its intent when setting up a new agency or program.
Q4) Explain why presidents find the bureaucracy is not always as responsive as they might like.
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Chapter 14: The Courts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Within eight months of the _________ Supreme Court decision,more than two dozen constitutional amendments had been introduced in Congress,although none passed.
A)Roe v. Wade
B)Brown v. Board of Education
C)Marbury v. Madison
D)Bush v. Gore
E)None of these choices is true.
Q2) Summarize the Supreme Court's ruling in the case Marbury v.Madison.
Q3) Federal appellate courts review and can overturn
A)precedents set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
B)only federal criminal cases.
C)rulings made and procedures followed by the lower federal courts and administrative agencies.
D)guilt or innocence of defendants.
E)All of these choices are true.
Q4) Explain the difference between a civil and a criminal case.
Q5) How may state courts write opinions in a way that can impact the likelihood of federal court review?
Q6) What is the principle of stare decisis?
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Order and Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Powers and privileges guaranteed to the individual and protected against arbitrary removal at the hands of the government or other individuals are best defined as
A)civil rights.
B)human rights.
C)civil liberties.
D)negative liberties.
E)inalienable rights.
Q2) The Supreme Court case Lawrence and Garner v.Texas overturned the previous decision of
A)Roe v. Wade.
B)Griswold v. Connecticut.
C)Mapp v. Ohio.
D)Bowers v. Hardwick.
E)Palko v. Connecticut.
Q3) Explain how the Supreme Court interpreted the Ninth Amendment to decide the Griswold v.Connecticut case.
Q4) How has the court treated display of religious artifacts or messages on public property compared to in public schools?
Q5) Summarize the difference between civil liberties and civil rights.
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Chapter 16: Equality and Civil Rights
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Sample Questions
Q1) The central crucible of the black civil rights movement were black A)churches.
B)public school teachers.
C)small business owners.
D)activists who bused in from the North and West.
E)college students.
Q2) A purchasing or contracting provision that reserves a certain percentage of funds for minority-owned contractors is best defined as A)a set-aside.
B)a racial allocation.
C)de facto segregation.
D)racial gerrymandering.
E)an opt-out.
Q3) Demands for women's rights were born in large part from A)the abolitionist movement.
B)debates held during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
C)the aftermath of the Civil War and the growth of freedom that ensued.
D)the largely African-American-inspired Civil Rights movement.
E)anger over defeat of the Suffragist Movement.
Q4) What were the major provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Economic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) President __________ embraced supply-side economics.
A)Clinton
B)Carter
C)Roosevelt
D)Reagan
E)None of these choices is true.
Q2) Describe President George W.Bush's election tax pledges,and what happened to budget deficits during Bush's presidency.
Q3) The role of appropriations committees is to
A)monitor overall spending.
B)oversee implementation of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.
C)authorize spending in particular legislative areas.
D)offer a comprehensive budget review process.
E)decide which programs will be funded.
Q4) Describe the process through which the U.S.budget is developed and passed.
Q5) Describe the difference between budget authority and budget outlays,and give an example of a federal budget outlay.
Q6) Discuss some of the reasons that America's system of taxation does not do more to promote economic equality.
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Policymaking and Domestic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) A government-backed guarantee against loss by individuals without regard to need is a(n)________________ program.
A)social welfare
B)entitlement
C)redistributional
D)public assistance
E)social insurance
Q2) Describe the impact of the welfare reform bill of 1996 on the states.How has it been accepted by state leaders? How has it been implemented? What impact has there been on recipients?
Q3) How is the poverty level measured,and why has criticism developed concerning the current formula?
Q4) Which of the following comprise the largest portion of the impoverished?
A)The elderly
B)Recent retirees
C)Caucasians without high school diplomas
D)Farmers
E)Persons under eighteen years old
Q5) Describe what the New Deal was,and how it was brought about by the Great Depression.
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