Political Parties and Elections in the U.S.
Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth examination of political parties and electoral processes in the United States. Students will explore the historical development, organization, and functions of American political parties, with a focus on their roles in shaping voter behavior, campaign strategies, and public policy. The course analyzes the evolution of the party system, the impact of third parties, and the influence of demographic, social, and economic factors on elections. Key topics include primary elections, campaign finance, electoral institutions, and the effects of party polarization. Through case studies and contemporary examples, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic relationship between political parties, candidates, and the American electorate.
Recommended Textbook
American Government 2014 Election 12th Edition by Karen OConnor
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Page 2
Chapter 1: American Government: Roots, context, and Culture
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Q1) Which function of government stated in the Preamble is consistent with the notion of having government-provided police protection?
A) establishing justice
B) securing the blessings of liberty
C) promoting the general welfare
D) ensuring domestic tranquility
Answer: D
Q2) What was the most common initial reason for settlement in North America by the first colonists?
A) family reunification
B) religious freedom
C) flight from diseases rampaging through Europe
D) commerce
Answer: D
Q3) Approximately what percentage of children live in a household with both parents?
A) 40 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 60 percent
D) 70 percent
Answer: D
Page 3
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Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Q1) A constitution is a written document establishing the structure,functions,and limitations of a government.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The body whose delegates signed the Declaration of Independence was the __________.
Answer: Second Continental Congress
Q3) Which constitutional amendment allowed voting for citizens who were eighteen or older?
A) Nineteenth
B) Twentieth
C) Twenty-Sixth
D) Twenty-Seventh
Answer: C
Q4) The Constitution was ratified in 1776.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: The Federal System
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Sample Questions
Q1) The __________ Amendment says that those powers not given to the federal government and not prohibited to the states by the Constitution are reserved for the states and the people.
A) Eighth
B) Tenth
C) Eleventh
D) Fourteenth
Answer: B
Q2) Explain how the federal government uses federal funding to indirectly impose its will upon the states.
Answer: An ideal response will:
1.Describe how the Sixteenth Amendment gives the federal government access to funds that it can use to coerce the states.
2.Define types of federal funding to the states and the ways in which the type of funding influences the amount of control the federal government has over the actions of states receiving the money.
3.Provide a conclusion.
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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Q1) The Supreme Court has interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment as ensuring that many of the protections in the Bill of Rights apply to the states.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The Military Commission Act of 2006 was ruled unconstitutional because it violated detainees' rights to __________.
A) an appeal
B) habeas corpus
C) bills of attainder
D) motions for summary judgment
Q3) Why did the Supreme Court briefly end capital punishment in 1972?
Q4) Why is freedom of the press essential to democracy?
Q5) What is the right to privacy? Explain the Supreme Court's decision that the Constitution protects the right to privacy.
Q6) How did Miranda v.Arizona change the way law enforcement treated criminal defendants? How has the Supreme Court tinkered with these rights over time?
Q7) One part of the __________ test asks whether the law has a legitimate secular purpose.
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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Q1) The passage of the Equal Rights Amendment has helped ensure women's equality in the workplace.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What was the Supreme Court's justification for overturning the separate-but-equal doctrine?
A) The Supreme Court did not have all of the facts when it adopted the separate-but-equal doctrine.
B) The separate-but-equal doctrine was never intended to apply to people.
C) The quality of life for African Americans in the South had deteriorated considerably since the adoption of the separate-but-equal doctrine.
D) Segregated schools stigmatize minority children.
Q3) Which of the following arguments would most likely be made by an opponent of affirmative action policies?
A) Unaddressed past discrimination causes perpetual inequality.
B) Discrimination is a natural part of the human experience.
C) Affirmative action discriminates on the basis of race.
D) Diversity helps Americans better understand each other.
Q4) Describe the proposed Equal Rights Amendment.Why was it not enacted?
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Chapter 6: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) The necessary and proper clause allows Congress to increase the scope of its authority.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Explain the purpose,process,and potential problems associated with redistricting.How have the courts addressed redistricting issues?
Q3) During an election,an incumbent representative might point to local allocations of a federal highway bill as a reason to be reelected.This is an example of __________.
A) credit claiming
B) gerrymandering
C) franking
D) casework
Q4) Describe Congress's oversight mechanisms.
Q5) Congress may override a presidential __________ with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
Q6) Describe the timeline for the congressional budgeting process.What happens if Congress is not able to pass a budget by the start of the fiscal year?
Q7) The most powerful person in Congress is the __________.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Framers included a two-term limit to the presidency in the Constitution.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What position did John Adams describe as being "the most insignificant office that was the invention of man or his imagination conceived"?
A) president
B) vice president
C) secretary of state
D) Speaker of the House
Q3) A president can influence policy by issuing a signing statement in which he or she claims that part of the just-signed law is unconstitutional and will not be implemented as Congress intends.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The president may grant pardons to anyone convicted of a federal crime for any reason (except in cases of impeachment,which cannot be pardoned).
A)True
B)False
Q5) What precedents did George Washington set for future presidents?
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Chapter 8: The Executive Branch and the Federal
Bureaucracy
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Q1) The president and Congress share oversight of the federal bureaucracy.
A)True
B)False
Q2) According to the __________ Act,federal agencies must solicit public comments before issuing new rules and regulations.
Q3) How are interagency councils similar to policy coordinating committees?
A) Both coordinate the activities of multiple agencies.
B) Both help coordinate the activities of the federal and state governments.
C) Both are housed within the legislative branch.
D) Both have the authority to override the decisions of agency heads.
Q4) Discuss the limitations on presidential control of the federal bureaucracy.
Q5) How has the structure of the presidential Cabinet changed since its origin?
Q6) In 1789,three executive departments existed under the Articles of Confederation: Foreign Affairs,War,and __________.
Q7) If a Cabinet department is not implementing a policy supported by the president,what tools can the president use to influence the department?
Page 10
Q8) What is administrative discretion? What are the two main processes through which agencies exercise administrative discretion?
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Chapter 9: The Judiciary
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Sample Questions
Q1) Courts established by Congress for specialized purposes are known as __________ courts.
A) appellate
B) constitutional
C) legislative
D) public
Q2) The Supreme Court's annual term begins on the first Thursday in April.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which Article of the Constitution creates the federal judiciary?
A) Article I
B) Article II
C) Article III
D) Article IV
Q4) When the U.S.Supreme Court agrees to hear a case appealed to it from a circuit court,it is exercising its __________ jurisdiction.
A) original
B) legislative
C) mandatory
D) appellate
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Chapter 10: Public Opinion and Political Socialization
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Sample Questions
Q1) What do Americans often have difficulty forming opinions about?
A) policies that involve issues of morality
B) policies that do not affect them personally
C) policies related to their occupation
D) policies related to their property taxes
Q2) How a question is worded on a public opinion poll can intentionally or unintentionally skew results.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What kind of demographic voting blocs would you expect to emerge in elections about delayed eligibility for Social Security retirement benefits and in elections to increase taxes to fund cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients? Why?
Q4) Of the following,which is a demographic characteristic that often affects a citizen's political opinions?
A) employability
B) gender
C) candidates' policy positions
D) partisanship
Q5) The unintended influence of the questioner or pollster may lead to __________.
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Chapter 11: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following voter profiles most strongly suggests that an individual will identify with the Republican Party?
A) Hispanic, female, Catholic
B) Protestant, male, annual income over $75,000
C) senior citizen, Jewish, from the Midwest
D) white, Catholic, from the Northeast
Q2) In what way do minor parties make a significant contribution to the political system?
A) They frequently win elections in crucial swing states.
B) They simplify citizens' choices on Election Day.
C) They draft most legislation that is eventually enacted by one of the major parties.
D) They reveal political divides and bring to light new ideas.
Q3) Since 1993,the Republican Party's fund-raising has consistently dwarfed that of their Democratic counterparts.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A __________ is a dramatic shift in partisan preferences that drastically alters the political landscape.
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13
Chapter 12: Elections and Voting
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Sample Questions
Q1) The winners of elections often believe that they have a(n)__________,which is a command,indicated by an electorate's votes,for the newly elected officials to carry out a party platform or policy agenda.
A) dictate
B) consensus
C) initiative
D) mandate
Q2) Making campaign contributions is a form of __________.
A) conventional participation
B) demonstrative participation
C) retrospective participation
D) unconventional participation
Q3) Which of the following contributes to the incumbency advantage?
A) term limits
B) scandals
C) greater visibility
D) presidential coattails
Q4) Women gained the right to vote with the passage of the __________ Amendment in 1920.
Q5) The __________ is the difference in voting choices between men and women.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: The Campaign Process
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the difference between a communications director and a press secretary?
Q2) What is Lyndon Johnson's "Peace Little Girl" campaign ad? Why is it significant?
Q3) Which of the following is a strategy that campaigns frequently use when attempting to control media coverage?
A) giving the media unlimited and unfettered access to candidates
B) staging media events
C) refusing to talk to the press
D) telephone canvassing
Q4) If your campaign has very limited funding,which of the following strategies for reaching voters is likely to be most attractive to you?
A) a professionally produced positive ad
B) a series of campaign stops throughout a state
C) hiring consultants to create and maintain an Internet site
D) robo-calls
Q5) What is the role of volunteers in a political campaign?
Q6) What activities do candidates concentrate on during the nomination campaign?
Q7) The first negative campaigning at the presidential level was in 1980.
A)True
B)False
Page 15
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Chapter 14: The News Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) In 2012,90 percent of the media was controlled by six companies.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A main difference between a press briefing and press conference is the level of what?
A) intelligence
B) attendance
C) restriction
D) bias
Q3) The media are also known as the __________.
A) fourth estate
B) paper empire
C) third party
D) civil engineer
Q4) The president addresses the nation directly during a __________.
A) press release
B) press background
C) press briefing
D) press conference
Q5) The __________ had its roots in the ARPANET project.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Interest Groups
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Sample Questions
Q1) How does lobbying Congress differ from lobbying the judicial branch?
A) Lobbyists often meet personally with members of Congress but not with judges.
B) Lobbying the courts requires a law degree, whereas lobbying Congress does not.
C) Lobbying the courts is illegal; lobbying Congress is legal as long as it does not take place when Congress is in session.
D) Lobbying the judicial branch is more time-consuming than lobbying Congress.
Q2) How do interest groups seek to influence the executive branch?
Q3) According to the theory of pluralism,what role do interest groups play in shaping government policy? Does the theory assume that one set of interests dominates over others in this process?
Q4) Which of the following is a likely result of the free rider problem?
A) an elected official accepting bribes from an interest group
B) a candidate announcing an endorsement from an interest group
C) an environmental group struggling to raise funds for a "clean air" campaign
D) a public university giving football tickets to lawmakers
Q5) Describe the different types of interest groups and how they have grown.How does the influence of interest groups differ according to the type of group? Discuss the role that interest groups play in elections.
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Chapter 16: Domestic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is partially funded by an increase in Medicare taxes on those with high incomes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A crisis can catapult an issue onto the governmental agenda.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring focused the nation's attention on which of the following?
A) noise pollution from airports near populated areas
B) environmental damage from toxic and hazardous wastes
C) water shortages
D) sinkholes
Q4) Which of the following pieces of legislation is designed to ensure that most people have health insurance?
A) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
B) the Social Security Act
C) the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act
D) the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
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Chapter 17: Economic Policy
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Q1) The two primary tools of monetary policy are regulating the nation's supply of money and setting the __________.
Q2) If the Federal Reserve Board needed to curb inflation,it would most likely __________.
A) raise taxes
B) lower taxes
C) increase government spending
D) raise the discount rate
Q3) What is deregulation in the American political economy?
A) an increase in the barriers to economic productivity
B) the elimination of business and environmental regulations
C) the removal of barriers to productivity and growth
D) the removal of barriers to the collection of taxes
Q4) The total market value of all goods and services produced in an area during a year is termed which of the following?
A) national income quotient
B) gross domestic product
C) maximum national product
D) minimum domestic product
Q5) What is fiscal policy?
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Chapter 18: Foreign and Defense Policy
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Q1) Who serves on the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
A) the Cabinet secretaries
B) the Army chief of staff, the Air Force chief of staff, the chief of naval operations, and the Marine commandant
C) the White House military intelligence corps
D) the secretary of defense, the secretary of homeland security, and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency
Q2) Which of the following is composed of a broad array of the president's foreign policy advisers and is housed within the White House?
A) the Department of State
B) the Department of Homeland Security
C) the Central Intelligence Agency
D) the National Security Council
Q3) Who is the largest trading partner with the United States?
A) China
B) Canada
C) Germany
D) Japan
Q4) How is terrorism fundamentally different from traditional military action?
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