Political Science 101
Final Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Political Science 101 offers an introduction to the fundamental concepts, theories, and debates within the field of political science. The course explores the foundations of government, political institutions, and political behavior, examining key topics such as democracy, authoritarianism, power, civil rights, public policy, and international relations. Students will analyze political systems, review the roles of citizens and political actors, and gain an understanding of how decisions are made at the local, national, and global levels. By engaging with current events and core readings, students will develop critical thinking skills and a deeper awareness of modern political issues and processes.
Recommended Textbook
Understanding American Government 14th Edition by Susan Welch
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Chapter 1: The American People
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Q1) The Statue of Liberty represents __________.
A) the Industrial Revolution
B) the American Revolution
C) the Reconstruction Period
D) the age of Enlightenment
Answer: D
Q2) The Declaration of Independence denied political rights to __________.
A) white men
B) Protestants
C) property owners
D) white women
Answer: D
Q3) Thomas Jefferson felt that government __________.
A) is controlled by the people
B) would corrupt the masses
C) was evil
D) could not tolerate good and bad
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Q1) The delegates of the Constitutional Convention met at Independence Hall in __________.
A) Boston, Massachusetts
B) New Haven, Connecticut
C) Providence, Rhode Island
D) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Answer: D
Q2) In his Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln focused on the idea that
A) the Constitution creates equality among men
B) the Union should relinquish the Confederacy
C) we are "a new nation", not a collection of states
D) all states should honor the Emancipation Proclamation
Answer: C
Q3) One of the major ideas dealt with in the Bill of Rights involves __________.
A) expression
B) women's suffrage
C) election of Senators
D) term limits
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) Shortly after entering office, President Lyndon Johnson declared __________.
A) war on Korea
B) immediate state sovereignty
C) a war on poverty
D) severe tax cuts
Answer: C
Q2) Presidents ___________ endorse(d) the states-as-laboratories form of policy experimentation.
A) Johnson and Nixon
B) Reagan and Bush (senior)
C) Clinton and Obama
D) Nixon and Ford
Answer: C
Q3) How many states challenged the 2010 health insurance reform law?
A) 1
B) 9
C) 23
D) 37
Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Public Opinion
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Q1) What are some stereotypical differences between red states and blue states? What are some politically significant differences between red and blue states?
Q2) What are two examples of presidents using public opinion?
Q3) Should pollsters be worried about the population of "nonrespondents"?
A) yes, because nonrespondents are less educated than respondants
B) yes, because including nonrespondents will create sample bias
C) no, because nonrespondents are only a small percentage of the populace
D) not yet because "nonrespondants" differ little from those who engage in polls
Q4) One of the main reasons polls are used frequently by the media is __________.
A) their inherent complexity
B) that they are quickly acquired
C) that there is no sample bias
D) that Americans understand them
Q5) Describe the difference in strategy in the use of polling by President Clinton and President George W. Bush.
Q6) Discuss two advantages and disadvantages of straw and scientific polls
Q7) Describe how the family impacts political socialization.
Q8) Describe how and why the Literary Digest failed in their predictions in the 1936 presidential election.
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Chapter 5: News Media
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Q1) Which horse-racing term is not commonly used by the media in reporting a candidate's position in a run for office?
A) "money rider"
B) "front-runner"
C) "dark horse"
D) "also-ran"
Q2) The bias of the mass media in presidential elections can be described as _________.
A) conservative
B) extreme
C) fairly neutral
D) liberal
Q3) One outcome resulting from the concentrated control of information and entertainment in the hands of fewer and fewer media companies is __________.
A) less profitable media organizations
B) wider ranges of reported viewpoints
C) fewer sources of news
D) greater access to local news coverage
Q4) How do conglomerates affect the news media?
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Chapter 6: Interest Groups
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Q1) Describe (with examples) three methods that interest groups utilize to lobby the government.
Q2) Some evangelicals have edged to the left ideologically on some issues and, therefore, are more prone to support __________.
A) the Republican Party's politcal agenda
B) environmental protections
C) prohibitions against same-sex marriage
D) higher taxes on the poor
Q3) Despite their liberal reputations, entertainment industry moguls are known to donate to conservative Republicans when their __________ guide them to do so.
A) loyalty to Republicans
B) business interests
C) ideological views
D) dislike of Democrats
Q4) Political efficacy gives people the sense that __________.
A) they are insignificant
B) they can make a difference
C) they lack political power
D) they are entitled to government benefits
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Chapter 7: Political Parties
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Q1) When candidates and officeholders make decisions based on their party affiliation rather than on the country's needs, they are referred to as __________.
A) conservative
B) partisan
C) liberal
D) third party members
Q2) Discuss the factors that led to the fall of political machines in the United States.
Q3) The Progressive Movement __________.
A) included middle-class Americans concerned with corruption
B) preferred state-appointed Senators
C) placed Tea Party members into Congress
D) was endorsed by George Washington Plunkitt
Q4) When party leaders award supporters government jobs and other benefits, it is called __________.
A) civil service.
B) the welfare function of political parties
C) patronage
D) vote buying
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Elections
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Q1) "Stacking" tries to diminish black voting strength by __________.
A) dividing areas that are heavily populated by blacks into multiple districts
B) diverting ballot boxes to distant rural polling places
C) pairing one black voter with one white voter
D) diluting a population of black voter with whites
Q2) How does the Electoral College help smaller states?
Q3) The Electoral College __________.
A) is an example of direct democracy
B) means that the U.S. directly elects its president
C) gives small states more influence in electing the president
D) gives large states with great populations little power to elect the president
Q4) In 2004 and 2008, voter turnout in presidential elections was around __________.
A) 90 percent
B) 75 percent
C) 60 percent
D) 30 percent
Q5) Define suffrage.
Q6) Explain some theories as to why voting turnout is low in the United States.
Q7) What factors does a presidential candidate consider when choosing his/her vice presidential running mate?
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Chapter 9: Congress
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Q1) Earmarks are __________.
A) a series of cloture votes
B) actions within joint committees
C) money set aside in the budget at the request of a member
D) agency financing authorization
Q2) The Founders intended Congress to be __________.
A) run according to informal norms
B) the dominant branch of government
C) chosen by public-spirited state legislators
D) run by powerful, experienced senior members
Q3) Why has the public supported Congress less than the other two branches?
Q4) 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
Q5) Two nearly identical bills-both with bipartisan support-are introduced in the House and the Senate. Describe their paths to becoming laws.
Q6) Explain how seats in the House of Representatives are reapportioned.
Q7) What does Congress do? Describe three main functions.
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Chapter 10: The Presidency
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Q1) Congress passed the Succession Act __________.
A) after General Haig demanded it
B) after Lincoln's assassination
C) after the death of Franklin Roosevelt
D) at the Constitutional Convention
Q2) Congress has __________ used its removal powers against presidents.
A) often
B) occasionally
C) rarely
D) never
Q3) Presidents may "exercise leniency toward persons who have committed federal crimes" through their __________.
A) diplomatic power
B) pardon power
C) power of attorney
D) executive power
Q4) How is the pocket veto different from the regular presidential veto?
Q5) What is the rationale for executive orders?
Q6) Briefly describe the impeachment process.
Q7) How have presidential powers increased relative to congressional powers?
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Chapter 11: The Bureaucracy
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Q1) How do the goals of private and public bureaucracies differ?
Q2) Public agencies are supposed to __________.
A) operate inefficiently
B) work on behalf of Congress
C) make a profit
D) serve the public interest
Q3) ____________ involves producing rules, standards, or guidelines that confer benefits and impose restrictions on business conduct and economic activity.
A) Regulation
B) Authorization
C) Appropriation
D) Legislative autonomy
Q4) Which of the following eliminated the patronage system in the federal bureaucracy?
A) the Homeland Security Department
B) the Bureau of the Budget
C) the Office of Management and Budget
D) the Pendleton Act
Q5) What are whistleblowers?
Q6) List and describe some tasks of the federal bureaucracy.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: The Judiciary
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Q1) How are judges, especially Supreme Court justices, selected? How political is the process? What can be done, if anything, to fix the process?
Q2) In which year did Congress establish the lower courts?
A) 1789
B) 1793
C) 1800
D) 1860
Q3) Once appointed, judges serve ____________.
A) nonrenewable terms of ten years
B) renewable terms of six years
C) for life, unless they commit "high crimes and misdemeanors"
D) renewable terms of four years
Q4) Describe why judicial review is important for strengthening the power of the judiciary.
Q5) When the courts decided to hear Marbury v. Madison, ____________ became furious.
A) the Federalists
B) John Jay
C) the Jeffersonians
D) George Washington
Q6) What is the difference between civil cases and criminal cases?
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Chapter 13: Civil Liberties
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Q1) During the Cold War, the Supreme Court upheld the sentences of people charged with making seditious speeches by saying that such speeches __________.
A) violated people's right to privacy
B) were not protected by the establishment clause
C) were equivalent to bills of attainder
D) were a clear and present danger
Q2) Which of the following is a limit on demonstrations?
A) Demonstrations cannot be held in public.
B) Demonstrations that offend people are illegal.
C) Demonstrations cannot take place on private property without the owner's permission.
D) Demonstrations by groups of people larger than 100 are prohibited.
Q3) The law passed by Congress that allows states to disregard same-sex marriages performed in other states is the __________ Act.
A) Defense of Gay Marriage
B) Defense of Marriage
C) Marriage
D) Same-Sex Marriage
Q4) Who is Joseph McCarthy?
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Chapter 14: Civil Rights
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Q1) How does affirmative action affect college admissions? Have recent Supreme Court decisions helped or hurt the status of minorities in educational institutions?
Q2) What method was primarily used by civil rights groups to address de facto segregation?
A) lynching
B) calling for federal troops
C) busing
D) amending the Constitution
Q3) For its first two decades, the NAACP was led by sociologist ____________.
A) W. E. B. Du Bois
B) Thurgood Marshall
C) Homer Plessy
D) Frederick Douglass
Q4) What did the Fourteenth Amendment achieve?
A) granted citizenship to blacks.
B) offered due process of law to whites only.
C) established the separate but equal doctrine.
D) declared segregation unconstitutional
Q5) How did states limit black citizens and their right to vote?
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Chapter 15: Extension 1: Focus On: Economic Policy
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Q1) In the 1920s, Germany issued a new currency because the trillions of old German marks it had printed became worthless due to __________.
A) a recession
B) hyperinflation
C) a depression
D) Nazism
Q2) What kind of economy has individuals and corporations own its capital or productive capacity, businesses, factories, and farms?
A) socialist
B) capitalist
C) Communist
D) mixed
Q3) What is inflation?
A) prices for goods rise
B) purchasing power rises
C) the Federal Reserve raises interest rates
D) when the Euro interacts with the U.S. dollar
Q4) Explain why changing the tax code is so difficult.
Q5) What are the differences between a budget deficit and a debt?
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Chapter 16: Extension 2: Focus on: Environmental Policy
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Q1) What is a negative externality?
Q2) How have environmental justice issues impacted society?
Q3) To save federal funds, President Bush transferred environmental regulation from the federal government to __________.
A) private companies
B) nonprofit organizations
C) international government organizations
D) the states
Q4) President Reagan's desire to limit government regulation led to the __________.
A) appointments of officials ideologically opposed to the Carter administration policies
B) appointments of officials ideologically supportive of the Carter administration policies
C) firings of officials from the Roosevelt administration
D) firings of officials from the Nixon administration
Q5) Regulation opponents are more concerned about protecting __________.
A) private property rights
B) mineral resources
C) waterways
D) parklands
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Page 18
Chapter 17: Extension 3: Focus On: Foreign Policy
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Q1) The deep hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union during the twentieth century was called _________.
A) détente
B) the Cold War
C) the Iron Curtain
D) containment
Q2) How has globalization changed U.S. foreign policy? What challenges might be in the future?
Q3) Briefly compare Nixon's and Clinton's views on foreign policy.
Q4) How can Congress check the authority of the president's foreign policy ventures, especially in regard to making war?
Q5) 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
Q6) How does Congress impact foreign policy?
Q7) How did the international system change after the fall of the Soviet Union?
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Chapter 18: Extension 4: Focus On: Health Policy
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Q1) What is a major reform found in the Affordable Care Act of 2010?
A) doctors will not be able to see as many patients as they want.
B) insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to patients with preexisting conditions.
C) insurance will be able to pick and choose their customers.
D) insurance companies will be encouraged to outsource jobs to India.
Q2) The Affordable Care Act __________.
A) features an individual mandate
B) features "Medicare for all"
C) was offered to Congress by the president
D) supports and funds a public option
Q3) Describe the Republican and Democratic ideas about the appropriate role of government in health care.
Q4) In June 2012, what part of the Affordable Care Act was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court?
A) the individual mandate
B) the Medicaid part
C) the preexisting condition coverage
D) the single-payer system
Q5) Explain some advantages and disadvantages of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
Page 20
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