Political Science Exam Preparation
Guide
Course Introduction
Political Science is the systematic study of government, political processes, institutions, and behavior. This course explores the foundational theories of politics, the structure and functions of various political systems, and the role of policy-making at local, national, and international levels. Students will analyze concepts such as power, authority, democracy, justice, and political participation, gaining insights into how political actors and institutions shape societies. Through critical examination of historical and contemporary issues, the course encourages the development of analytical, research, and communication skills essential for understanding and engaging with the political world.
Recommended Textbook
American Government Institutions and Policies 14th Edition by James Q. Wilson
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20 Chapters
1795 Verified Questions
1795 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: The Study of American Government
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Sample Questions
Q1) The author cites the early presidential administrations, the Civil War, and the New Deal as examples of struggles over
A) what constitutes legitimate authority.
B) who shall govern.
C) who gets what, when, and how.
D) when progress is possible.
E) how power is accumulated.
Answer: A
Q2) Politics produces both cost and benefits. Your text discusses four types of politics based on how cost and benefits are distributed. Explain the four types of politics covered in the text.
Answer: -Majoritarian politics: A policy in which almost everybody benefits and almost everybody pays.
-Interest group politics: A policy in which one small group benefits and another small group pays.
-Client politics. A policy in which one small group benefits and almost everybody pays.
-Entrepreneurial politics: A policy in which almost everybody benefits and a small group pays the cost.
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3
Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Sample Questions
Q1) This delegate to the Constitutional Convention presented the Virginia Plan but refused to sign the final document approved on September 17, 1787.
A) James Madison
B) Alexander Hamilton
C) Roger Sherman
D) Edmund Randolph
E) William Patterson
Answer: D
Q2) The principal goal of the American Revolution was
A) equality.
B) financial betterment.
C) political efficacy.
D) fraternity.
E) liberty.
Answer: E
Q3) The Virginia Plan called for a strong national government.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Federalism
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Sample Questions
Q1) During the battle over slavery, the case for nullification was forcefully presented by
A) William Jennings Randolph.
B) Robert E. Lee.
C) William Graham Sumner.
D) John C. Calhoun.
E) JEB Stuart.
Answer: D
Q2) In this 1999 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that state employees could not sue to force state compliance with federal fair-labor laws.
A) McCulloch v. Maryland
B) Printz v. United States
C) Alden v. Maine
D) United States v. Lopez
E) United States v. Morrison
Answer: C
Q3) A categorical grant is one made for a specific purpose defined by federal law.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: American Political Culture
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88 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Americans are more willing to tolerate __________ than __________.
A) economic inequality; political inequality
B) freedom of speech; freedom of religion
C) economic liberty; political liberty
D) social inequality; economic inequality
E) civil liberties; civil rights
Q2) During the 1730s and 1740s, the political life of the American colonies were transformed by
A) an economic depression.
B) war with France.
C) a religious revivalist movement, called the First Great Awakening.
D) a fight over trade between the north and south.
E) a call for political independence.
Q3) The citizens of ________ do not agree that success in life is determined by forces outside an individual's control.
A) the United States
B) Canada
C) Britain
D) France
E) Germany
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Chapter 5: Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Usually, the Supreme Court has reacted to wartime curtailments of civil liberties by A) upholding them.
B) rejecting them.
C) upholding them at first, limiting them later.
D) rejecting them at first, reinstating them later.
E) avoiding rulings on constitutionality and consigning such issues to the lower federal courts.
Q2) Obscenity is protected by the First Amendment.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the Brandenburg case, the Supreme Court ruled that any speech that does not "incite an immediate lawless action" is protected.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The right to be indicted by a grand jury for serious crimes has been incorporated to the states.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Civil Rights
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Sample Questions
Q1) In Reed v. Reed, the Supreme Court ruled that
A) gender discrimination violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
B) general discrimination can be justified only if it serves "important governmental objectives" and is "substantially related to those objectives."
C) Congress can draft men without drafting women.
D) states may not finance an all-male military school.
E) gender discrimination is permissible in the private sector.
Q2) Supporters of equality of opportunity tend to
A) hold views that favor affirmative action policies.
B) vote independent in elections.
C) live in the New England states.
D) have orthodox beliefs on many issues.
E) have progressive beliefs on many issues.
Q3) In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed political equality but not social equality.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Public Opinion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe how polls are conducted.
Q2) An individual's choice of political philosophy today is most likely to be based on his or her
A) position on social issues such as abortion or environmentalism.
B) geographic region and socioeconomic class.
C) position on economic issues such as taxation or minimum wage.
D) gender.
E) religious beliefs.
Q3) The proportion of citizens who claim to be independents has declined in recent years.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The difference between the results of two surveys or samples is called A) research flaws.
B) sampling error.
C) type one error.
D) type two error.
E) confidence error.
Q5) Explain why the use of self-identification in surveys on political ideology is somewhat questionable.
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Chapter 8: Political Participation
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Sample Questions
Q1) The willingness to engage in partisan competition separates which two of the participation groups described by Verba and Nie?
A) Campaigners from complete activists
B) Inactives from campaigners
C) Parochial participants from communalists
D) Inactives from parochial participants
E) Communalists from campaigners
Q2) In the late 1800s, voter turnout in a typical presidential election has been estimated to be
A) 55 percent.
B) 60 percent.
C) 65 percent.
D) 70 percent.
E) 90 percent.
Q3) Voter turnout rates in America today are
A) higher than they were for previous generations.
B) lower than they were for previous generations.
C) higher than most European democracies.
D) about the same as previous generations.
E) not recorded by scholars.
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Clear realignments, like the one that occurred in 1932, may not occur again because
A) voter turnout has consistently decreased over the last forty years.
B) presidential candidates are rarely as popular with the voters as they used to be.
C) the electoral college is malapportioned.
D) voters are less attached to party labels today than in the past.
E) economic issues rarely dominate presidential campaigns.
Q2) The first organized political party in American history was
A) made up of the followers of Jefferson.
B) organized by Alexander Hamilton.
C) organized by the Federalists.
D) ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
E) formed under the Articles of Confederation.
Q3) In most states, candidates for office are chosen by
A) the people.
B) party leaders.
C) primary elections.
D) conventions.
E) delegations.
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11
Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns
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Sample Questions
Q1) The apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives is detailed in
A) Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
B) Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
C) Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
D) Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution.
E) Article III, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution.
Q2) Nearly everyone is in agreement over a __________ issue, and the candidate fully supports the public's view.
A) valence
B) primary
C) secondary
D) position
E) residual
Q3) Summarize the qualifications for members of the House and Senate.
Q4) Compare and contrast presidential and congressional campaigns.
Q5) Since 1860, many of the great party realignments have been based on differing position issues.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Define gerrymandering and malapportionment in Congressional districts.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Interest Groups
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Sample Questions
Q1) The number of interest groups has grown rapidly since the 1960s.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What four factors account for the increase in interest groups in recent years?
Q3) The peak of the labor union movement in the United States occurred in the year
A) 1923.
B) 1932.
C) 1945.
D) 1956.
E) 1978.
Q4) A social movement need not have liberal goals.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Which Think Tank is associated with liberal causes?
A) Cato Institute
B) Heritage Foundation
C) Hudson Institute
D) Center for American Progress
E) American Enterprise Institute
Q6) Discuss interest groups in America, Great Britain, and Germany.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: The Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Federal Communication Commission could use its powers of renewal to influence what stations put on the air by
A) inducing stations to reduce the amount of violence shown.
B) increasing the proportion of "public service" programs on the air.
C) altering the way it portrays various ethnic groups.
D) Options A, B, C, and Dare True.
E) None of the above is True.
Q2) What explanations does William G. Mayer provide for why conservative radio talk shows are so common?
Q3) The liberal Daily Kos and the conservative Power Line are examples of A) blogs.
B) newspapers.
C) magazines.
D) cable news stations.
E) old media.
Q4) Discuss some of the changes in society and technology that transformed the partisan press of the early 1800s.
Q5) Discuss how the degree of competition in the media has changed.
Q6) Explain why some newspapers are said to have "national influence."
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) Congress was designed by the Founders in ways that almost inevitably make it __________.
A) efficient
B) popular
C) unpopular
D) proactive
E) respected
Q2) Rule 22 was adopted by the Senate to provide a method to cut off debate during a filibuster because senators were
A) trying to protect the power of individual senators.
B) fearful of tying a president's hands during a wartime crisis.
C) trying to protect their state interest.
D) trying to strengthen the power of the courts.
E) None of the above is True.
Q3) Identify three major staff agencies in Congress. Explain their work.
Q4) Describe the various ways that members of Congress cast their votes.
Q5) The right to filibuster is governed by Senate Rule 22.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Identify the six distinct stages in the history of the House of Representatives.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) In this method of White House staff organization, used by Carter, cabinet secretaries and assistants reported directly to the president.
A) Ad hoc structure
B) Pyramid structure
C) Circular structure
D) Tubular structure
E) Intuitive structure
Q2) The text cites the 1948 Marshall Plan and the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to illustrate that A) unified governments rarely accomplish anything of note.
B) a divided government never could have produced them.
C) both were produced by a unified government.
D) one was produced by a unified government, and one was produced by a divided government.
E) both were produced by divided governments.
Q3) Like most governors, the president has the line-item veto.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explain the constitutional roles of the vice president.
Q5) Identify the five principle agencies in the Executive Office.
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Chapter 15: The Bureaucracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The fact that agencies usually recruit their own staff, often on a name-request basis, should lead us to expect that these recruits will possess the
A) intelligence of a turnip.
B) legal viewpoints of relevant interest groups.
C) political will to initiate new struggles.
D) necessary expertise to advise political officials.
E) agency point of view.
Q2) The authors suggest that, ultimately, "red tape" comes from A) power hungry bureaucrats.
B) Congress.
C) the executive branch.
D) us, the people.
E) iron triangles.
Q3) The process of revising agency budget requests is commonly called __________.
A) gutting
B) reconciling
C) bait and switch
D) marking up
E) red-marking
Q4) Define bureaucracy and give examples of types of bureaucracies.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: The Judiciary
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Sample Questions
Q1) "Amicus curiae" is usually translated as
A) no probably jurisdiction.
B) amicable, but curious.
C) without cause.
D) friend of the court.
E) no substantial federal question.
Q2) Today, most cases make their way to the Supreme Court when at least four justices agree to hear a case, and a writ of certiorari is issued.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In Federalist paper No. 78, Hamilton described the Supreme Court as a branch of government that, if not checked my Congress, may be "dangerous."
A)True
B)False
Q4) Write an essay in which you discuss the ways that Congress can check the judiciary.
Q5) Discuss some recent rulings of the Supreme Court that suggest something like a revival of state sovereignty is taking place.
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Page 18
Chapter 17: Domestic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is primarily implemented by A) the Environmental Protection Agency and Fish and Wildlife Services.
B) the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
C) the Office of Endangered Animals and the Environmental Protection Agency.
D) the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency.
E) None of the above is True.
Q2) The device used in automobile engines to remove emission pollutants is the A) manifold scrubber.
B) transmission plate.
C) carburetor emission activator (CEA).
D) distributor cap.
E) catalytic converter.
Q3) The environmental movement was launched, in part, in reaction to A) the appearance of dead whales on the West Coast.
B) the overpopulation of deer in Oregon.
C) an outbreak of diseases among birds in the Northeast.
D) an oil spill on the beaches of Santa Barbara, California.
E) a natural-gas eruption in Destin, Florida.
Q4) Explain why agricultural pesticides are considered client politics.
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Economic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) From the inauguration of income tax up to the 1950s, tax rates tended to rise and fall with
A) the cycles of public opinion.
B) good and bad economic times.
C) war and peace.
D) Democratic and Republican administrations.
E) critical or realigning elections.
Q2) When the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) program began investing in __________, some Americans argued that there was potential wisdom in the planning approach.
A) the airline industry
B) banks
C) coal
D) steel
E) rubber
Q3) When a recession and an older population occur together, our national debt tends to increase significantly.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Discuss how economics affects the way people vote.
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Chapter 19: Foreign and Military Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a typical survey, who is more likely to support the use of military force?
A) Germans
B) the French
C) Russians
D) Italians
E) Americans
Q2) President __________ ordered the military to move Japanese Americans from their homes on the West Coast to "relocation centers."
A) Franklin Roosevelt
B) Harry Truman
C) Woodrow Wilson
D) Warren G. Harding
E) Abraham Lincoln
Q3) When Bill Clinton came into office in 1992, he brought
A) an apprehension for foreign policy.
B) a lack of appreciation for policy.
C) a disinterest in foreign policy.
D) a lack of understanding of foreign policy.
E) considerable foreign policymaking experience and interest.
Q4) What are some examples of the majoritarian component of foreign policy?
Page 21
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Chapter 20: American Democracy, Then and Now
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following would have probably been least affected by the choice of a parliamentary system by the Founders?
A) Centralization of authority
B) Foreign policy
C) Executive power
D) Taxation
E) Social welfare policies
Q2) As government gets bigger, its members must spend more time debating at length new ideas and less time managing the consequences.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Today, the federal government is still only involved in a few areas of public policy.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are the essential differences between the Old and New Systems of politics in the United States?
Q5) What are four consequences of the enlarged scope of governmental action?
Q6) Describe some of the primary features of the New System of American politics.
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