State and Local Government Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
This course explores the structure, functions, and processes of state and local governments within the United States. Students will examine the roles of governors, legislatures, and local officials, as well as the relationship between state and federal governments. The course covers issues such as policy development, public finance, intergovernmental relations, and the impact of political culture and regional diversity. Through case studies and analysis of current events, students gain an understanding of how state and local governments address challenges in areas like education, transportation, law enforcement, and public health.
Recommended Textbook
Texas Politics 2015 2016 13th Edition by
Charldean Newell
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14 Chapters
868 Verified Questions
868 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Context of Texas Politics
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62 Verified Questions
62 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the approximate population of Texas as of 2010?
A)65 million
B)45 million
C)25 million
D)15 million
E)5 million
Answer: C
Q2) To prevent the spread of the Standard Oil Company's monopoly into Texas in 1889,the state's attorney general began to file "antitrust" suits against companies affiliated with Standard Oil.This suspicion of a major corporation is an expression of what?
A)the Populist tradition in state politics
B)the state's laissez faire culture
C)the power of the Republican Party
D)the state's cowboy culture
E)the power of the national government
Answer: A
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Constitutional Setting
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Sample Questions
Q1) Amendments to the Texas Constitution are successfully proposed by _____ and are successfully ratified by _____.
A)the Texas legislature; popular vote in Texas
B)the Texas legislature; the Texas governor's signature
C)the Texas governor's signature; popular vote in Texas
D)the Texas governor's signature; the Texas legislature
E)popular vote in Texas; the Texas legislature
Answer: A
Q2) The ideological philosophy of the Grange is best described as _____.
A)overwhelmingly conservative
B)overwhelmingly liberal
C)supportive of improving conditions for African Americans
D)evenly split between liberals and conservatives
E)overwhelmingly urban
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Interest Groups
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62 Verified Questions
62 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) LULAC,which is considered a racial/ethnic group,protects the interests of which group?
A)African Americans
B)Asian Americans
C)Hispanics
D)Arabs
E)Anglo-Americans
Answer: C
Q2) Which statement is not accurate with regard to the general rules of interest group formation?
A)Those in the working class are more likely to join groups than those in the upper class.
B)Economic-producing groups are more likely to be organized than are consuming groups.
C)People with more education are more likely to join groups than those with less education.
D)Passionate believers are more influential than citizens who are less emotionally involved.
E)All of these statements are accurate.
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Political Parties
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62 Verified Questions
62 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are political parties required to do when differences exist within the party?
A)moderate between intraparty differences
B)allow party leaders absolute discretion in selecting party positions
C)select only the positions leaders feel can enable them to win elections
D)select only the positions leaders feel most strongly about, even if it costs them elections
E)Sometimes, parties have performed these functions well, and sometimes they have not.
Q2) What do parties aim to do when recruiting political leaders?
A)persuade potential leaders to restrain their individial ambitions so that the party can achieve its collective purposes
B)encourage potential leaders to attain their individual ambitions and consider a party's collective purposes as secondary
C)advocate for a small number of issues that individual leaders care about, even if it reduces the chance the party wins elections
D)limit the involvement of ordinary people in the political process
E)encourage all intraparty factions to run their own candidates for election
Q3) How might factions within a political party disrupt party unity?
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6
Chapter 5: Voting,campaigns,and Elections
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62 Verified Questions
62 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Texas Campaign Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1973 requires that every candidate for political office appoint a(n)_____ before accepting contributions or making expenditures.
A)campaign manager
B)campaign treasurer
C)legal adviser
D)interest group liaison
E)ethics counselor
Q2) Discuss variations in the level of political participation in Texas by wealth,education,and ethnicity.Explain the effect that higher voter turnout might have on state politics.
Q3) Which individual was not part of the "dream team" the Democratic Party wanted to get elected into statewide office?
A)Rick Perry
B)John Sharp
C)Tony Sanchez
D)Ron Kirk
E)All of these were part of the dream team.
Q4) How might a Texas primary election trigger a runoff election?
Q5) How did the enforcement of poll taxes lower voter registration?
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Chapter 6: The Texas Legislature
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62 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who is the presiding officer of the Texas Senate?
A)governor
B)lieutenant governor
C)speaker
D)attorney general
E)comptroller of public accounts
Q2) The current salary for legislators in Texas was established by _____.
A)the governor
B)the legislature
C)the Texas Supreme Court
D)a constitutional amendment
E)the Legislative Budget Board
Q3) Which of these describes the typical Texas legislator?
A)college-educated
B)a white male
C)married
D)a member of several civic organizations
E)all of these
Q4) Cross-Chapter Essay Question (Chapters 6 and 7): In what ways does the governor limit the powers of the legislature?
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Chapter 7: The Governor
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Sample Questions
Q1) Discuss the nature of the plural executive in Texas.How does the plural executive affect and/or limit the governor's ability to govern? Explain your answer.
Q2) The Texas governor's veto power is absolute when _____.
A)the bill being vetoed is produced during a special (called) session
B)the bill being vetoed is an itemized appropriations bill
C)the veto occurs within ten days of the time the bill is sent to the governor
D)the legislature adjourns prior to the exercise of the veto
E)it is accompanied by an attorney general's opinion declaring the law unconstitutional
Q3) The Texas Constitution provides for fringe benefits for the governor, including _____.
A)official mansion
B)travel budget
C)car
D)use of state-owned aircraft
E)all of these
Q4) In comparison with governors from other states,how might Texas's governor run the state alongside a plural executive?
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Chapter 8: The Administrative State
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62 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Max Weber,hierarchical authority,defined jurisdictions,and extensive rules and regulations are all characteristics of what?
A)government
B)politics
C)bureaucracy
D)legislatures
E)all of these
Q2) In a comparison of all the states,Texas has among the fewest employees per 10,000 population in all of these areas except _____.
A)higher education
B)highways
C)corrections
D)hospitals
E)public welfare
Q3) What are the pros and cons of a civil service system?
Q4) According to Max Weber,bureaucratic organizations have several basic characteristics.In your essay,describe the basic characteristics of bureaucracy Weber lists.In comparison,discuss how modern bureaucracies have changed since Weber's writing.
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Chapter 9: The Judiciary
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Sample Questions
Q1) The _____ is authorized by the legislature to reprimand or disbar any practicing attorney in the state for fraudulent,dishonest,or unethical conduct.
A)American Bar Association
B)State Bar of Texas
C)Texas Supreme Court
D)attorney general
E)governor
Q2) The Texas court with final appellate jurisdiction in civil cases is the _____.
A)District Court
B)Court of Appeals
C)Supreme Court
D)Court of Criminal Appeals
E)Justice of the Peace Court
Q3) The highest appeals court for criminal matters in Texas is the _____.
A)Supreme Court
B)Court of Criminal Appeals
C)Court of Appeals
D)Court of Grand Appeals
E)Justice of the Peace Court
Q4) Explain the difference between original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: The Substance of Justice
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these is not true of tort reform in Texas?
A)It took power out of the hands of judges and juries.
B)It limited the discretion of judges andjuries.
C)It denied jurisdiction to judges and juries.
D)It was heavily supported by doctors.
E)It protected consumers.
Q2) What are the differences between a civil case and a criminal case?Which one is a tort?Explain.
Q3) Contrast the terms civil rights and civil liberties.Provide an example of each.
Q4) Which of these was a U.S.Supreme Court case that arose in the Texas courts and was used to overturn antiabortion laws in all states?
A)Webster v. Reproductive Health Services
B)Roe v. Wade
C)Penry v. Lynaugh
D)Smith v. Allwright
E)Beare v. Smith
Q5) Contrast the cases of Texas v.Johnson and the peace activists at the University of Texas whoblocked traffic.Both cases involved protests.Why was one protestlegal andthe other one was not?
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Chapter 11: Local Government
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62 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Residents of the ETJ _____.
A)pay city taxes
B)receive city services
C)conform to city building and construction regulations
D)vote in city elections
E)all of these
Q2) In whichform of municipal government does the council act as a policymaking body and appoint a chief administrator for the city?
A)strong mayor-council
B)weak mayor-council
C)commission
D)mayor-manager
E)council-manager
Q3) Whichform of city government is said to have originated in Galveston near the turn of the century?
A)strong mayor-council
B)weak mayor-council
C)commission
D)council-manager
E)urban machine
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Chapter 12: The State Economy and the Financing of State Government
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the process of budgeting and appropriating funds for government programs in Texas.Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the dual-budgeting system as it operates in Texas.
Q2) Explain the difference between a progressive and a regressive system of taxation.How does Texas's tax system function with regard to progressivity and regressivity? Are taxes in Texas fair? Describe what changes,if any,you would recommend be made to Texas's system in order to improve it from the standpoint of fairness.
Q3) In order for tax restructuring to occur in Texas,_____.
A)the public would have to be more accepting of a state income tax
B)businesses would have to accept an activity tax like a corporate income tax
C)state politics and attitudes would have to change
D)regular revenue shortfalls would have to end and taxes would have to be more elastic
E)all of these
Q4) What is tax elasticity?How does Texas's lack of tax elasticity create problems for budgeting in Texas?
Q5) In what ways would you consider Texas's taxing and spending system to be "democratic"?In what ways would you consider it to be "undemocratic"?
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Chapter 13: Public Policy: People
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these is not true of education in Texas?
A)Local Independent School Boards hire teachers, build school buildings, and make judgments about allocations of resources in their own local areas.
B)The state of Texas has a State Board of Education that makes broad decisions about what is required to gain an education in Texas and to graduate from a Texas high school.
C)The single largest area of the state budget is education.
D)Local governments in Texas pay for the largest share of the costs of education in the state.
E)Spending large amounts of funds at the state and local levels has resulted in Texas having one of the best-funded education systems in the country.
Q2) Texas,after struggling to encourage diversity in higher education,developed the "top 8 percent rule."What do you think about this idea?Is this preferable to directly considering race in university admissions?If you were in charge of making public policy for Texas in this area,what would you do?
Q3) Assess the results of "workfare" reforms in Texas.How is Texas's approach different from that of other states?
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Public Policy: Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these does not describe the recent conflict between rice farmers and the Lower Colorado River Authority?
A)The Lower Colorado River Authority charged farmers less than what it charged other businesses for water, thus subsidizing agriculture at the expense of other businesses.
B)The policy assumed that few countries produce rice, importing was difficult, and Texans would have no rice to eat unless access to water was protected.
C)The policy was based on an assumption that agriculture is such an important activity that it should be supported by nonagricultural interests even if it is not economical.
D)As water became scarce,the Authority realized that they did not have enough water to satisfy the desires of farmers, urban businesses, and homeowners.
E)The Lower Colorado River Authority cut off water to the rice farmers, and it is unclear whether the rice-growing industry will be able to survive.
Q2) Explain the NIMBY and YBNIIMP principles.Discuss how they make policymaking difficult in many areas of natural resource policy.Provide examples to support your points.
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