Politics
and Society Test Preparation
Course Introduction
Politics and Society explores the complex relationship between political processes, institutions, and social structures. The course examines how power is distributed, exercised, and contested within societies, and analyzes the roles of government, civil society, and individuals in shaping policy and societal outcomes. Students will investigate key concepts such as democracy, justice, citizenship, and rights while considering the impact of social identity, class, and culture on political behavior and participation. Through comparative and historical perspectives, the course encourages a critical understanding of the interplay between political systems and societal change.
Recommended Textbook Struggle for Democracy 2012 Election Edition 11th Edition by Edward S. Greenberg
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18 Chapters
1872 Verified Questions
1872 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Democracy and American Politics
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47 Verified Questions
47 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most people around the world prefer to be governed by benevolent military regimes.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The most obvious sign of popular sovereignty is the existence of a close correspondence between what __________ does and what the people want it to do.
Answer: government
Q3) How does majority tyranny threaten political liberty? What is a recent example?
Answer: An ideal response will:
1. Discuss how the majority has the potential to tyrannize the rights of the minority. This was a concern of James Madison and other Founders.
2. Provide a recent example, such as Americans being hostile towards Muslims after 9/11or the disapproval of immigrants by Americans who believe these individuals are taking away jobs.
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3
Chapter 2: The Constitution
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The current historically low levels of taxation on the wealthy, and the advocacy of that tax policy by some in Congress, is reminiscent of __________.
A) state legislatures that forbade farm foreclosures as a punishment for indebtedness
B) the authors of the Constitution interested in tamping down anti-slavery sentiment
C) the drafters of the Constitution interested in protecting private property rights
D) the Framers' freedom of input from women, Native Americans, free blacks, and slaves
E) the writers of the Articles of Confederation interested in protecting state's rights
Answer: C
Q2) The New Jersey Plan proposed a one-house legislature with one vote for each state.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Federalism: States and Nation
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107 Verified Questions
107 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) __________ grants typically allocate federal dollars but clearly specify the category of activity for which the money has to be spent.
A) Block
B) Categorical
C) Commerce
D) Federal
E) Unified
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following is a power specifically denied the states by the Constitution?
A) conducting elections
B) establishing local governments
C) maintaining a militia
D) providing for public health, safety, and morals
E) regulating interstate commerce
Answer: E
Q3) Some of the elements of federalism go back in history at least as far as the Union of Utrecht in the __________ in 1579.
Answer: Netherlands
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Chapter 4: The Structural Foundations of American
Government and Politics
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106 Verified Questions
106 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The influx of immigrants to America's shores in the nineteenth century triggered negative reactions, sparking what has been termed __________ sentiment.
Q2) How have the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan affected America's power in the world?
A) They have depleted U.S. resources and left America economically weakened.
B) They have depleted U.S. resources, but increased the prestige of America in the world.
C) They have increased America's military power by demonstrating the willingness of the U.S. to preemptively fight perceived enemies to the American way of life.
D) They have made the U.S. stronger by reducing the threat of terrorism.
E) They have stimulated the American economy by creating a demand for goods necessary for the war effort.
Q3) Outsourcing __________.
A) is beneficial for American workers
B) is disliked by many Americans
C) is less likely in free-trade industries
D) is subcontracting jobs to American companies
E) was heavily used to design the Boeing 747
Q4) What are Americans' concerns about outsourcing? Are they justified?
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) One of your friends makes the following statement: Americans are "one united people-a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same beliefs, attached to the same principles of government, and very similar in manners and customs." What is this statement an expression of?
A) a public opinion
B) a political opinion
C) an ethical attitude
D) a policy statement
E) a public passion
Q2) Name two reasons why the political attitudes of some Hispanic Americans tend to be more conservative than the attitudes of the Hispanic population as a whole, which tends to identify much more with the Democrats than the Republicans.
Q3) The presidential job approval rating is taken as a crucial indicator of a president's popularity. What causes a president's job approval rating to fluctuate?
Q4) Why should anyone be concerned about a U.S. citizenry that is poorly informed and that has no real opinions about government and politics?
Q5) Why is it problematic to use the Internet to conduct public opinion polls?
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Page 7
Chapter 6: The News Media
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108 Verified Questions
108 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following news headlines is most likely to influence Americans to think that laziness causes poverty?
A) Layoffs Increasing Childhood Poverty Rate
B) Unemployment Surges: Welfare Programs Strained
C) Undereducated and Unemployed: One Woman's Plight
D) Recession Strains Family Savings, Government Programs
E) Economy Dips; Poverty Surges
Q2) What is framing?
A) deciding which stories are newsworthy
B) influencing people through news story interpretation
C) stripping a story of its context to avoid the appearance of bias
D) hiding a disreputable source in a credible news story
E) deviating from journalistic standards
Q3) According to the concluding discussion of the chapter, the news media have probably helped advance the cause of democracy in the United States and helped transform the American republic into the American democratic republic.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Founders fully subscribed to the idea that a free press was __________.
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Chapter 7: Interest Groups and Business Organizations
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109 Verified Questions
109 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Given their significant financial resources, __________ groups are widely presumed to have an advantage over other types of interest groups in their efforts to influence government.
Q2) An entity created by interest groups in order to collect money and make contributions to candidates in federal elections is called a(n) __________.
Q3) Organizing the district is one way that interest groups engage in __________ lobbying.
Q4) According to the text, which industry sector spent the most on federal lobbying in 2011?
A) agribusiness
B) energy and natural resources
C) finance, insurance, and real estate
D) health
E) transportation
Q5) An interest group seeking to influence the rule-making process would most likely lobby the __________ branch of the federal government.
Q6) Discuss the role of interest groups in elections.
Q7) Why is the outside strategy of "organizing the district" particularly effective?
Q8) __________ are organizations that seek to influence public policy.
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Chapter 8: Social Movements
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The main objective of the contemporary religious conservative movement is which of the following?
A) to end the legal availability of abortion in the United States
B) to end prayer in schools
C) to end the pro-life movement
D) to promote same-sex marriage
E) to increase the legal availability of abortion in the United States
Q2) Abolitionists generally supported the Fugitive Slave Act.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Ronald Reagan's appointments were likely to garner support for him from proponents of which of the following?
A) Planned Parenthood
B) the National Right to Life Committee
C) equal rights legislation
D) same sex marriage legislation
E) women's rights legislation
Q4) Explain what the nonviolent civil rights movement was and give three reasons why it was ultimately successful.
Q5) How people engage in politics-and how often-is in part a function of __________.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Political Parties
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106 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the proportional representation system used in most other democratic nations and the single-district, winner-take-all system used in the United States. Why might the proportional representation system be more attractive from a voter's point of view?
Q2) Polls concerning party identification might lead a political scientist trying to understand voter behavior to believe that the increase in the percentage of people claiming to be independent is because of what?
A) the rise in the number of minor parties offering alternatives
B) the decline of the parties because they have become less well-organized
C) the decline in the economy, since people become less political during such times
D) the incivility and ineffectiveness in government because of intense partisanship
E) the ineffectiveness of the parties in campaigning because of lack of funds
Q3) In __________ political systems, coalition governments are common.
A) majoritarian
B) multiparty
C) unified
D) polarized
E) two-party
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Chapter 10: Voting, Campaigns, and Elections
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108 Verified Questions
108 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these groups was the last to receive the right to vote?
A) women
B) African-Americans
C) immigrants
D) eighteen-year-olds
E) Native Americans
Q2) The electoral competition model is based on the commonsense notion that elections should present a "real choice. "
A)True
B)False
Q3) The 1965 Voting Rights Act protected __________ right to vote.
A) women's
B) eighteen-year-olds'
C) African Americans'
D) military personnel's
E) seniors'
Q4) The United States has more elections than any other democracy.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What are the potential problems associated with the retrospective voting model?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Congress
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108 Verified Questions
108 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain how the concept of America being a melting pot conflicts with descriptive representation in Congress. How can the issue of descriptive representation adversely impact the interests of a particular group?
Q2) What is the function of the House Rules Committee? Why is it so important? Be sure to give examples of the rules the committee may use.
Q3) The role of House minority leader acts as the chief spokesperson for the opposition in negotiations with the majority leader. He or she also
A) seeks out members of the majority party who might be willing to vote against the House leadership on key issues
B) seeks out members of the minority party who might be willing to vote against the House leadership on key issues
C) serves as the chief assistant to the majority leader
D) serves as the national spokesperson for the House
E) works to reinforce divisions between members of the majority and minority parties
Q4) For most bills, hearings, negotiations, and markup take place in subcommittees. A)True B)False
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Chapter 12: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the president's power to convene Congress? Why would this be more significant in the early years of the presidency?
Q2) According to the Constitution, how is the president supposed to be elected?
A) appointment through Congress
B) appointment through state legislatures
C) direct election by popular vote
D) election through the Electoral College
E) party primaries followed by popular vote
Q3) Why was President Obama able to put together a substantial legislative record in his first two years?
A) Congress enacted the presidential ability to use a line-item veto.
B) Congress temporarily agreed to fewer programmatic requests.
C) He convinced moderate Republicans to support his agenda.
D) He had bigger and more cohesive party majorities in Congress.
E) He used his veto power more than any other president in his first term.
Q4) The president would seek the advice of the __________ regarding how much the administration should propose to spend for each government program.
Q5) What is an executive order and what is a reason that a president would use it?
Q6) Describe the informal powers of the president.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: The Executive Branch
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106 Verified Questions
106 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Under what circumstance are bureaucrats most likely to exercise discretion?
A) when an agency is creating environmental regulations
B) when an agency is under congressional investigation
C) when an agency is implementing a law that contains ambiguity
D) when an agency is elevated to the status of a Cabinet department
E) when an agency is proposing legislation
Q2) A civil service employee has a dispute with a coworker and wants to file a complaint. Which office will review the case?
A) the Office of Dispute Resolution
B) the Employee Assistance Program
C) the Merit Systems Protection Board
D) the Office of Personnel Management
E) the Civil Service Commission
Q3) The most recently-created Cabinet department is the __________.
Q4) Cabinet secretaries are appointed by __________ and confirmed by
A) the president; the Senate
B) the president; the House of Representatives
C) the president; the Supreme Court
D) the Senate; the president
E) the House of Representatives; the Supreme Court
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Chapter 14: The Courts
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107 Verified Questions
107 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In which court do cases generally begin?
A) trial
B) appellate
C) original
D) constitutional
E) state
Q2) Federal judges are appointed to __________ terms.
A) two-year
B) three-year
C) life
D) ten-year
E) twenty-year
Q3) The Supreme Court regularly exercises its original jurisdiction.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A lawyer's spoken presentation to the Supreme Court of the legal reasons that his or her client should win is called the __________.
Q5) Why are the judicial philosophies and general ideological outlooks of the people who will become Supreme Court and appeals court judges so important today?
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Chapter 15: Civil Liberties: the Struggle for Freedom
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108 Verified Questions
108 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) During the nineteenth century, the Bill of Rights did not apply to the states.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Under the Lemon test, the government must not foster _____________ between the state and religion.
Q3) In matters of religion, the free exercise clause protects individuals from which of the following?
A) discrimination
B) persecution
C) governmental intrusion
D) segregation
E) dissenting opinions
Q4) The Taney Court generally favored use of private property for __________ rather than simple enjoyment.
Q5) __________ include profanity, obscenity, and threats.
Q6) Why is freedom of the press essential to democracy?
Q7) Explain how the Supreme Court used the due process clause to protect businesses from regulation by the federal and state governments.
Q8) Is the right to privacy in the Constitution?
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Chapter 16: Civil Rights: the Struggle for Political Equality
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108 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the source of de facto segregation and discrimination?
A) practice
B) law
C) the Constitution
D) Congress
E) affirmative action
Q2) The __________ Amendment guarantees African Americans the right to vote.
Q3) How has the rationale for affirmation action changed over time?
A) The rationale has changed from ensuring equal treatment to providing special privileges.
B) The rationale has changed from remedying past discrimination to enhancing diversity.
C) The rationale has changed from promoting equality to promoting reverse discrimination.
D) The rationale has changed from guaranteeing civil liberties to guaranteeing civil rights.
E) The rationale has changed from guaranteeing civil rights to guaranteeing civil liberties.
Q4) Jim Crow laws required __________ of African Americans and whites.
Q5) Brown v. Board of Education overturned the __________ doctrine.
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Domestic Policies
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements plausibly explains why Social Security is a prominent issue in many elections?
A) Young people are likely to follow politics and are likely to vote.
B) Young people are likely to follow politics, but they are unlikely to vote.
C) Seniors are likely to follow politics and are likely to vote.
D) Seniors are likely to follow politics, but they are unlikely to vote.
E) Seniors are unlikely to follow politics, but they do vote.
Q2) If all citizens who are 65 years and older are eligible for Medicare, but only some citizens are eligible for Medicaid because they lack certain resources, which of the following is also true?
A) Both Medicare and Medicaid are principally retirement programs.
B) Both Medicare and Medicaid are means-tested programs.
C) Medicare is an entitlement program, but Medicaid is a means-tested program.
D) Medicare is a means-tested program, but Medicaid is an entitlement program.
E) Medicare and Medicaid have been replaced by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Q3) Senior citizens are likely to be concerned about potential cuts to the medical program known as ___________.
Q4) How has welfare been restricted in the past two decades?
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Chapter 18: Foreign Policy and National Defense
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106 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following would be most consistent with Barack Obama's "Air-Sea Battle" concept for structuring the military?
A) expanding the size of the military to have the capacity to fight two major land wars simultaneously
B) using more armed drones to conduct counterinsurgency operations
C) increasing the number of large U.S. military bases in Europe
D) funding groups that that are attempting to overthrow democratically elected socialist governments
E) using the Air Force to fight terrorism and the Navy to provide homeland security
Q2) The Joint Chiefs of Staff serves as an advisor to the president on military policy. A)True B)False
Q3) Barack Obama's approach to U.S. foreign policy is best described as unilateralist. A)True
B)False
Q4) How is terrorism fundamentally different from traditional military action?
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Page 20