Public Policy Analysis
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Public Policy Analysis introduces students to the systematic evaluation of governmental policies, programs, and their impacts. The course explores key frameworks and methodologies used to assess policy effectiveness, efficiency, and equity, emphasizing the roles of political institutions, stakeholders, and evidence-based decision making. Students will learn how to define policy problems, develop and compare alternatives, and present recommendations. Real-world case studies and data analysis techniques are integrated to equip students with practical skills for analyzing contemporary policy issues at local, national, and international levels.
Recommended Textbook
American Government Institutions and Policies 16th Edition by James Q. Wilson
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Study of American Government the Study of
American Government
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Sample Questions
Q1) In 1935,__________ of American families paid no federal income tax.
A) 1 percent
B) 4 percent
C) 80 percent
D) 90 percent
E) 96 percent
Answer: E
Q2) Identify the requirements for representative democracy to work.
Answer: There must be an opportunity for genuine competition of leadership. Individuals and parties must be free to run for office. There needs to be freedom of speech and press. Voters must perceive that a meaningful choice exists.
Q3) In a referendum,citizens express their opinions about issues by means of
A) letters.
B) the ballot.
C) town meetings.
D) petitions.
E) All of these are correct.
Answer: B
Page 3
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Chapter 2: The Constitution the Constitution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The economic standing of most American colonists was __________ by the American Revolution.
A) improved, but only minutely,
B) significantly improved
C) worsened, but only minutely,
D) significantly worsened
E) unaffected
Answer: D
Q2) One of the biggest mistakes made by the Framers of the Constitution was
A) making the government too strong.
B) not making the government strong enough.
C) not including a bill of rights.
D) giving too much power to James Madison.
E) giving too much power to George Washington.
Answer: C
Q3) The Great Compromise reconciled the interests of the small and large states over representation.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Federalism Federalism
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Q1) In McCulloch v.Maryland,the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Maryland could not tax a bank chartered by the national government.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Judges have ordered Massachusetts to change the way it hires firefighters,even though the state does not receive aid from the federal government for firefighting.Such an order is referred to as a
A) condition of aid.
B) quid pro quo order.
C) mandate.
D) pro bono requirement.
E) per curiam order.
Answer: C
Q3) In United States v.Lopez,the Supreme Court said that Congress had exceeded its commerce clause power by creating gun-free zones around schools.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: American Political Culture American Political Culture
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Q1) Most conspicuous among the orthodox are
A) conservative persons from the Midwest.
B) Catholics.
C) fundamentalist Protestants.
D) labor leaders.
E) members of the Hollywood elite.
Q2) Some have argued that democracy flourished early in America because of
A) the lack of a national army.
B) strict immigration laws.
C) low population levels.
D) moderate temperatures.
E) the availability of land.
Q3) In a classic study of the political beliefs and attitude of children,American children were more likely to argue that a president who was pulled over for speeding would be
A) warned.
B) apologized to.
C) let off completely.
D) fined or ticketed.
E) impeached.
6
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Chapter 5: Civil Liberties Civil Liberties
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Q1) A civil liberty is a right to be free of __________ interference.
A) other people's
B) secular
C) religious
D) foreign
E) government
Q2) Which of the following amendments in the Bill of Rights applies to the states?
A) The right not to have soldiers forcibly quartered in private homes (Third Amendment).
B) The right to be indicted by a grand jury before being tried for a serious crime (Fifth Amendment).
C) The right to legal counsel (Sixth Amendment).
D) The right to a jury trial in civil cases (Seventh Amendment).
E) The ban on excessive bail and fines (Eighth Amendment).
Q3) The Smith Act of 1940 respected the right of Americans to join the political party of their choice.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Summarize the facts of the case and the Supreme Court's ruling in Miranda v.Arizona.
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Chapter 6: Civil Rights Civil Rights
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Q1) Laws that address public order and the safety and morals of citizens have traditionally been considered the focus of
A) Congress.
B) state judiciaries.
C) state bar associations.
D) police powers.
E) state secretaries of state.
Q2) The philosophy of civil disobedience suggests that there is value to
A) protesting against laws that are not enforced by civil authorities.
B) peacefully violating the law.
C) violating all laws with respect to civility.
D) protesting in a legal manner, with respect for civil authority.
E) using violence when laws are not conducive to civil society.
Q3) Explain how the Supreme Court ruled that persons have "right to privacy" in Griswold and how this ruling affected the Court's decision in Roe v.Wade.
Q4) Laws cannot treat people differently.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Public Opinion Public Opinion
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Q1) Discuss how social class affects public opinions in America.
Q2) A person's age tends to not have much effect on his or her political opinions.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Political activism is correlated most closely with
A) political conservatism.
B) libertarian politics.
C) political liberalism.
D) class differentiation.
E) ideological consistency.
Q4) Over the past half century,social class has had an increasingly polarizing effect on the average person's political opinions.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Policy tends to follow the minority view
A) when the minority is right.
B) when the minority is well organized and politically engaged.
C) when the minority is poorly organized.
D) never.
E) always.
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Chapter 8: Political Participation Political Participation
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Q1) The motor-voter law has led to an increase in the number of registered voters and in voter turnout.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Rates of political participation tend to be higher among those who
A) are employed.
B) have gone to college.
C) are white.
D) are black as opposed to Hispanic.
E) All of these are correct.
Q3) Several states permitted women to vote prior to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explain the difference between voting age population (VAP)and voting eligible population (VEP)and how making this distinction impacts our view of recent elections.
Q5) In the 2016 national election,in addition to voting in the ballot box,there were three other methods of voting used in many states.Identify those methods.
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Chapter 9: Political Parties Political Parties
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Q1) The Bull Moose and La Follette Progressive parties probably encouraged the major parties to pay more attention to
A) business regulation.
B) desegregation.
C) civil service reform.
D) slavery.
E) restricting the Supreme Court.
Q2) Which statement is incorrect?
A) Typically, a majority of Democrats vote for the Democratic candidate.
B) Typically, a majority of Republicans vote for the Republican candidate.
C) Typically, a majority of independents vote for the independent candidate.
D) Typically, a plurality of independents vote for either the Democratic or Republican candidate.
E) Typically, most independents vote for the two major parties.
Q3) The Populist Party is an example of a(n)__________ party.
A) ideological
B) single-issue
C) economic protest
D) factional
E) consensual
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Chapter 10: Elections and Campaigns Elections and Campaigns
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Q1) By custom,members of Congress must live in the district that they represent,not just the state.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A candidate who wins an upset victory in an early primary often tends to do better than expected in future contests.This is known as the _____ effect.
A) prospective.
B) battleground.
C) Coriolis.
D) caucus.
E) bandwagon.
Q3) To be president,a person must be
A) a natural born citizen.
B) 45 years old.
C) a legalized citizen.
D) 40 years old.
E) a veteran.
Q4) Discuss the benefits of incumbency for Congressional elections.
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Q5) Explain gerrymandering and the limits of its effects on Congressional elections.
Chapter 11: Interest Groups Interest Groups
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Q1) The organizational entrepreneurs who found interest groups tend to be
A) young.
B) involved in a social movement.
C) drawn to the need for change.
D) inspired by some kind of doctrine.
E) All of these are correct.
Q2) The text suggests that today's lobbying laws are
A) more lax than ever.
B) tighter than ever.
C) less relevant than ever.
D) too complex to have any particular impact.
E) completely without teeth.
Q3) Lobbyists provide information about legislation that is hard to come by without expert help.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Identify and explain three types of incentives offered by mass-membership organizations.
Q5) What four factors account for the increase in interest groups in recent years?
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Q6) Explain what earmarks are and how they are related to interest group politics.
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Chapter 12: The Media the Media
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Q1) Describe selective exposure and its consequences in American politics.
Q2) Discuss the reasons for public distrust in the media.
Q3) The press secretary heads a large staff that
A) meets with reporters.
B) briefs the president on questions he is likely to be asked
C) attempts to control the flow of news from cabinet departments to the press
D) arranges briefings for out-of-town editors.
E) All of these are correct.
Q4) The Carter-Reagan debate in 1980 was sponsored by the League of Women Voters (LWV)because
A) the LWV had an exclusive license for that purpose.
B) the LWV threatened to sue the networks.
C) both candidates wanted an impartial forum.
D) the fairness doctrine did not apply.
E) that arrangement allowed circumvention of the equal access rule.
Q5) Some people may have voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election because they read a story on Facebook about Hillary Clinton selling weapons to ISIS.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Congress Congress
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Q1) Unlike in the House,the scheduling of legislation in the Senate is
A) controlled by the Rules Committee.
B) initiated by means of a discharge petition.
C) governed by closed rather than open rules.
D) determined by the majority and minority leaders.
E) determined ad hoc.
Q2) In 2016,over __________ percent of House incumbents who sought reelection won it,as did more than __________ percent of Senators.
A) 75, 75
B) 85, 65
C) 90, 75
D) 95, 85
E) 95, 95
Q3) In the Senate,a filibuster can be ended by invoking
A) a rider.
B) a quorum.
C) a markup.
D) cloture.
E) a meeting of the whole.
Q4) Summarize the constitutional qualifications for members of the House and Senate.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: The Presidency the Presidency
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Q1) Like most governors,the president has the line-item veto.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The popularly elected president is
A) an American invention.
B) common in European democracies.
C) a key feature of parliamentarian systems.
D) a powerful figure in the Japanese government.
E) the same as a prime minister.
Q3) Scholarly research suggests that divided government reduces the likelihood that important legislation will be passed.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In __________ instances,candidates have won the electoral vote without winning a majority of the popular vote.
A) two
B) three
C) five
D) ten
E) twelve
Page 16
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Chapter 15: The Bureaucracy the Bureaucracy
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Q1) Agencies tend to be dominated by bureaucrats who have an "agency point of view."
A)True
B)False
Q2) Today,the federal government contains how many cabinet departments?
A) 10
B) 12
C) 14
D) 15
E) 20
Q3) Which of the following statements concerning the Pendleton Act is incorrect?
A) It was passed during a Republican administration.
B) It was, in part, a response to public outrage over abuses of the spoils system.
C) It was, in part, a response to the assassination of President Garfield.
D) It was passed to avoid mass firings of Republicans.
E) It enhanced the power of patronage in federal appointments.
Q4) Discuss some of the procedures to fire a federal bureaucrat.
Q5) Define the five bureaucratic pathologies described in the text.
Q6) What are some of the effects of constraints on bureaucratic agencies?
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Chapter 16: The Judiciary the Judiciary
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Q1) The Supreme Court will grant cert and hear a case if __________ justices agree to do so.
A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five
E) six
Q2) When Congress passed a law that forbade anyone from carrying a gun near a school,the Supreme Court declared the law invalid because such behavior
A) was protected by the First Amendment.
B) did not affect interstate commerce.
C) was not proven to be dangerous.
D) was jealously guarded by NRA lobbyists.
E) was protected by the Second Amendment.
Q3) Legislative courts are created by
A) Congress.
B) the president.
C) the Supreme Court.
D) the Constitution.
E) All of these are correct.
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Chapter 17: Domestic Policy Domestic Policy
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Q1) Environmental issues are receiving less support today than in the past.
A)True
B)False
Q2) On the subject of social welfare,a key difference between Americans and citizens of many European democracies is that Americans are more worried about
A) whether beneficiaries of government aid "deserve" it.
B) whether everybody gets their "fair share" of the national income.
C) whether social welfare programs will be financially solvent in the long term.
D) whether laws that mandate social welfare are constitutional.
E) the degree to which social assistance is carried out efficiently.
Q3) Much of the antitrust legislation passed in this country has been the result of
A) majoritarian politics.
B) client politics.
C) interest-group politics.
D) entrepreneurial politics.
E) None of these are correct.
Q4) Polls suggested most Americans supported Obamacare.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 18: Economic Policy Economic Policy
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Q1) The political compromise reached on taxation in the first half of the twentieth century included
A) high marginal tax rates and numerous loopholes.
B) low marginal tax rates and numerous loopholes.
C) high marginal tax rates and few loopholes.
D) low marginal tax rates and few loopholes.
E) None of these are correct.
Q2) Which of the following factors contributes to income inequality?
A) The rising premium attached to jobs requiring a higher education.
B) The decline of high-wage manufacturing jobs.
C) The decline of unions.
D) Tax and spending policies that disproportionately favor the well-off.
E) All of these are correct.
Q3) In 2015,the federal debt rose to over 18 trillion.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Identify the machinery of economic policymaking-sometimes called the "troika." Explain their roles.
Q5) Discuss the procedures for Congress in the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
Page 20
Q6) Discuss the tools that Congress has to influence the economy.
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Chapter 19: Foreign and Military Policy Foreign and Military Policy
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Q1) The National Security Act of 1947 created the
A) Department of Defense.
B) Department of War.
C) State Department.
D) Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.
E) Navy Seals.
Q2) The Clinton administration's about-face on foreign intervention was motivated by the adoption of which worldview?
A) Isolationism
B) Containment
C) Disengagement
D) Human rights
E) Imperialism
Q3) The disengagement view of foreign policy resulted from the experience of the younger foreign policy elite that came to power in the 1970s.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Discuss de Tocqueville's opinion of conducting foreign policy in a democracy.
Q5) What are some examples of the majoritarian component of foreign policy?
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Chapter 20: American Democracy, Then and Now
American Democracy, Then and Now
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Q1) According to Alexis de Tocqueville,Americans are most attached to
A) equality.
B) freedom.
C) security.
D) liberty.
E) effectiveness.
Q2) Which of the following most accurately describes the relationship between administrative agencies and Congress?
A) Bureaucrats and Congress have never had overlapping powers.
B) Bureaucrats and Congress have always had overlapping powers.
C) Bureaucrats can now make decisions that once only Congress could make.
D) Congress can make decisions that once only bureaucrats could make.
E) Bureaucrats now have more power than Congress does.
Q3) Today,bureaucrats have less discretion than they did several decades ago.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A dominant theme under the Old System of American politics was the importance of states' rights.
A)True
B)False
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