Principles of American Government Practice Questions
Course Introduction
Principles of American Government explores the foundational concepts, structures, and functions of the United States government. This course examines the Constitution, federalism, the separation of powers, and the roles of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Students will analyze the processes of lawmaking, the impact of political parties and interest groups, and the significance of civil liberties and civil rights. Emphasis is placed on understanding how historical events, philosophical ideas, and contemporary issues shape American democracy and civic participation.
Recommended Textbook
We the People 10th Edition by Benjamin Ginsberg
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Page 2
Chapter 1: American Political Culture
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Q1) How is a decline in political efficacy likely to matter for the health of the American democracy?
A) It is likely to lead to an increase in political participation and a renewed interest in political life.
B) It is likely to lead to a decline in political participation and a withdrawal from political life.
C) It is likely to lead to less dishonesty by elected representatives.
D) It is likely to lower the total national debt.
E) It is likely to lead to a stronger belief in the values of liberty and equality.
Answer: B
Q2) The Bill of Rights was designed to protect ________.
A) equality
B) liberty
C) democracy
D) capitalism
E) socialism
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Founding and the Constitution
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Q1) The expressed powers of Congress are listed in ________ of the U.S. Constitution.
A) Article I, Section 8
B) Article II, Section 1
C) Article III, Section 2
D) Article IV
E) Article VI
Answer: A
Q2) Procedures outlining how to amend the Constitution are found in Article ________.
A) I
B) II
C) III
D) V
E) X
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) What clause in the U.S. Constitution affirms that national laws and treaties, made under the authority of the Constitution, are the supreme law of the land?
A) the full faith and credit clause
B) the necessary and proper clause
C) the republican government clause
D) the supremacy clause
E) the establishment clause
Answer: D
Q2) Who wrote the Supreme Court opinions in both McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) and Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)?
A) Alexander Hamilton
B) James Madison
C) John Marshall
D) Roger Taney
E) Andrew Jackson
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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Q1) Freedom of speech and of the press have a special place in American democracy because
A) free and open debate is an essential mechanism for determining the quality and validity of competing ideas.
B) they are the only liberties explicitly mentioned in the Bill of Rights.
C) they were the last provisions in the Bill of Rights to be incorporated through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
D) they have never been restricted by any law in the history of the United States.
E) they were the only liberties explicitly mentioned in Article I of the Constitution.
Q2) The current prohibition on states to criminalize abortion is based on
A) the right to due process of law.
B) equal protection against sexual discrimination.
C) the right to privacy.
D) the right against cruel and unusual punishment.
E) the free exercise clause.
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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Q1) When did civil rights become part of the U.S. Constitution?
A) Civil rights have always been part of the Constitution.
B) Civil rights were included in the Bill of Rights.
C) Civil rights were incorporated with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment.
D) Civil rights were incorporated immediately following World War II.
E) Civil rights were incorporated when Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Q2) ________ was the setting for a major racial confrontation concerning school busing in the 1970s.
A) Atlanta
B) New Orleans
C) Boston
D) Dallas
E) Miami
Q3) Many advances in civil rights have been accomplished through federal legislation. Describe the different parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. What has it accomplished, and what kind of enforcement mechanisms have been established? What civil rights legislation has been passed since 1964?
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion
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Q1) Some contend that while Americans may be divided by ideology or opinion, they are united by fundamental political values. Describe these core values. How do they serve to unite American public opinion?
Q2) In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of ________ when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records.
A) probability sampling
B) illusion of salience
C) random dialing
D) selection bias
E) push polling
Q3) The term gender gap refers to
A) differences in political opinions between men and women.
B) differences in education and income levels for men and women.
C) differing levels of political participation between the genders.
D) differences in fundamental political values held by men and women.
E) differences in the amount of attention elected officials give to men and women in their campaign speeches.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: The Media
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Q1) "Marriage equality" is an illustration of ________.
A) horse race journalism
B) agenda setting
C) priming
D) framing
E) filtering
Q2) ________ has released thousands of secret government documents.
A) The New York Times
B) The Washington Post
C) WikiLeaks
D) Common Cause
E) Lewis "Scooter" Libby
Q3) If a television station sold commercial time to a Republican candidate for governor but refused to sell time to the Democratic candidate for governor, this station would be violating the ________.
A) Telecommunications Act of 1996
B) Fairness Doctrine
C) equal time rule
D) right of rebuttal
E) Communications Decency Act
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Chapter 8: Political Participation and Voting
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Q1) State-level data from 1980-2010 suggests that
A) stringent voter ID laws have the effect of lowering overall turnout.
B) stringent voter ID laws have the effect of substantially lowering the turnout of the rich.
C) the Twenty-Sixth Amendment has resulted in a sharp increase in voter turnout.
D) both b and c
E) the electoral college will be abolished by a constitutional amendment in the next few years.
Q2) Nonelectoral forms of participation usually require more ________ than voting.
A) time, money, and effort
B) knowledge, passion, and cynicism
C) information, trust, and strategic thinking
D) economic security, perseverance, and alienation
E) intelligence, pessimism, and mobilization
Q3) Which of the following states does NOT permit Election Day registration?
A) New Hampshire
B) Montana
C) Minnesota
D) Iowa
E) Indiana
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Political Parties
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Q1) Who elects the chairperson for the Republican and Democratic national committees?
A) party members
B) delegates to the national convention
C) the president if the party controls the White House; otherwise it is the party committee
D) the committee's chairperson, whose duty it is to appoint a successor
E) the party's membership in Congress
Q2) What issue led to the demise of the Whig Party?
A) slavery
B) economic regulations and tariffs
C) the admission of California into the Union
D) the death of Andrew Jackson
E) industrialization
Q3) ________ referred to himself as a "compassionate conservative" in 2000.
A) John McCain
B) Al Gore
C) George W. Bush
D) Bob Dole
E) Bill Clinton
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Campaigns and Elections
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Q1) In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, election campaigns tended to be
A) capital intensive
B) labor intensive
C) media driven
D) guided by campaign consultants
E) short and peaceful
Q2) During the course of American history, incumbent presidents running for re-election typically win about ________ percent of the time.
A) 25
B) 40
C) 50
D) 70
E) 90
Q3) Most European nations utilize a ________.
A) majority system
B) plurality system
C) system of proportional representation
D) blanket primary
E) closed primary
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Chapter 11: Groups and Interests
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Q1) What has been the effect of interest groups on political parties? Describe some of the differences between those who join interest groups and those who participate in political party organizations.
Q2) Public interest groups differ from other types of interest groups in that
A) they claim to serve the common good, not just their own particular interests.
B) they were the first political associations to use the strategy of direct mailing.
C) they were the first group to abandon lobbying and take up only grassroots activism.
D) unlike other interest groups, their status is like that of a charity, not a political organization.
E) unlike other interest groups, they have no membership requirements and allow any member of the public to join.
Q3) Alexis de Tocqueville argued that the proliferation of groups promoted ________.
A) tyranny of the majority
B) undemocratic elitism
C) governmental responsiveness
D) assimilation of immigrants
E) economic equality
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Chapter 12: Congress
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Q1) The jurisdiction of standing committees
A) is related to a specific geographic region.
B) is defined by the subject matter of legislation, which often parallels the major cabinet departments or agencies.
C) is determined by the different political parties.
D) is determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.
E) often overlaps with the jurisdiction of select committees.
Q2) Describe the process by which a bill becomes a law. What are the major steps in the process? What are the main differences in the legislative process between the two houses of Congress?
Q3) The process of allocating congressional seats among the fifty states is called
A) redistricting B) gerrymandering
C) redlining
D) apportionment
E) filibustering
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Chapter 13: The Presidency
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Q1) What is the general tendency of a president's popularity?
A) Presidents usually begin with moderate ratings that move drastically up or down, depending on their success.
B) Presidents usually start out popular and decline over the next four years.
C) Presidents usually maintain the public approval ratings they had when entering office, unless there is an economic recession or international crisis.
D) Presidents usually begin very unpopular and increase their popularity significantly as their terms in office continue.
E) No pattern has been discerned in presidential approval ratings.
Q2) After the president and vice president, which office is next in the line of succession?
A) Speaker of the House
B) Senate majority leader
C) chief justice of the Supreme Court
D) secretary of state
E) attorney general
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15
Chapter 14: Bureaucracy in a Democracy
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Q1) What has been one of the greatest difficulties in establishing the new Department of Homeland Security?
A) adjusting to the many different bureaucratic cultures now part of a single operation
B) finding a competent and willing department secretary
C) getting congressional approval for the new department
D) defending against the three challenges to the constitutionality of the department
E) getting the American people to take seriously the color-coded terrorism warning levels
Q2) Which president's approach to the managerial presidency featured a deep belief in the importance of scientific expertise in government service?
A) Barack Obama
B) George W. Bush
C) George H. W. Bush
D) Ronald Reagan
E) Bill Clinton
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Chapter 15: The Federal Courts
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Q1) The process of confirming federal court appointments has recently become very contentious. Describe the steps to becoming a federal judge. Why has this process become so controversial in recent years? Provide some examples of this conflict in the confirmation process.
Q2) There are ________ U.S. district courts.
A) 50
B) 94
C) 100
D) 200
E) 434
Q3) Which of the following statements about the U.S. Courts of Appeals is INCORRECT?
A) The appeals courts were created by Congress, not by the Constitution.
B) The appeals courts are able to hear all cases involving federal law, but not constitutional law.
C) About 20 percent of federal cases are heard by the appeals courts.
D) There are more than ten appeals courts in the United States.
E) Except for cases selected for review by the Supreme Court, decisions made by an appeals court are final.
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Chapter 16: Government and the Economy
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Q1) The ________ is determined by the amount by which government spending exceeds government revenue in a fiscal year.
A) budget deficit
B) inflation rate
C) gross domestic product
D) reserve requirement
E) gross national product
Q2) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Democrats support higher levels of public spending than Republicans.
B) Republicans' support for tax cuts creates a political dilemma for Democrats.
C) Democrats support raising taxes on the wealthy.
D) Republicans believe that government spending is wasteful and puts a drag on the economy.
E) all of the above
Q3) Describe some of the different tools and techniques that federal officials have at their disposal for regulating economic policy. What are monetary policies and fiscal policies? What are other ways in which government leaders can encourage or compel business representatives to behave in certain ways?
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Chapter 17: Social Policy
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Q1) The periodic adjustment of benefits or wages that takes into account the increased cost of living is called ________.
A) means testing
B) indexing
C) graphing
D) economic tabulating
E) inflation
Q2) What was the result of the efforts to reform health care in the United States in 1994?
A) A law was passed granting almost all Americans health care coverage.
B) A law granting health care coverage to almost all Americans passed Congress but was vetoed by President Bill Clinton.
C) A law increasing federal subsidies for health insurance to the working poor was passed and signed.
D) Health care reform met resistance and no bill was passed by Congress.
E) A law was passed in the Senate but not in the House of Representatives.
Q3) Describe some of the earliest forms of welfare. Why has social welfare been so controversial for much of American history? What event did the most to transform American attitudes toward poverty relief, and why?
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Chapter 18: Foreign Policy and Democracy
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Q1) The fact that the United States remains silent in the face of human rights violations by a number of countries illustrates that
A) the United States has been pursuing a policy of isolationism since the end of World War II.
B) promoting human rights is less important to American foreign policy than security concerns and economic interests.
C) the president has only limited power in determining American foreign policy.
D) Congress has only limited power in determining American foreign policy.
E) deterrence greatly influences American foreign policy.
Q2) A policy of deterrence is likely to fail against terrorist groups because
A) history has shown that only democratic nation-states respond well to deterrence.
B) deterrence has been made illegal under international law.
C) terrorist groups are nonstate actors who may believe that their lack of a fixed geographic location prevents their targets from retaliating militarily.
D) terrorist groups do not yet have access to nuclear weapons.
E) terrorist groups do not typically enter into negotiations with nation-states.
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