State and Local Government Test Preparation
Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth exploration of the structures, functions, and key issues of state and local governments within the United States. Students will examine the distribution of governmental power between federal, state, and local entities, and analyze the roles of governors, legislatures, courts, and local agencies. Topics include policymaking, fiscal management, intergovernmental relations, electoral systems, and the impact of historical, social, and economic factors on state and local governance. Through case studies and comparative analysis, students gain practical understanding of how state and local governments address public needs and influence citizens daily lives.
Recommended Textbook
Government in America People Politics and Policy Brief Edition 11th Edition by George C. Edwards
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17 Chapters
2189 Verified Questions
2189 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/439 Page 2
Chapter 1: Introducing Government in America
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108 Verified Questions
108 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7736
Sample Questions
Q1) The well-known phrase,"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal," in the Declaration of Independence is a statement of the principle of A)communism.
B)egalitarianism.
C)individualism.
D)libertarianism.
E)republicanism.
Answer: B
Q2) The basic principles of traditional democratic theory include all of the following EXCEPT
A)equality in voting.
B)effective participation.
C)government control of information.
D)inclusion.
E)citizen control of the agenda.
Answer: C
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3
Chapter 2: The Constitution
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129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7737
Sample Questions
Q1) A form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws is called a republic.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Who authored The Second Treatise of Civil Government?
A)Thomas Jefferson
B)John Locke
C)Thomas Paine
D)James Madison
E)Peyton Randolph
Answer: B
Q3) The Connecticut Compromise created a bicameral Congress and a system of representation that ultimately gives greater representation to citizens of less populous states.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Federalism
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118 Verified Questions
118 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7738
Sample Questions
Q1) To the extent that it increases citizen access to state level government,federalism increases opportunities for government to be responsive to demands for public policies.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) All of the following areas provide examples of how federalism decentralizes our policies EXCEPT
A)the federal income tax.
B)the regulation of abortion.
C)the death penalty.
D)the funding of education.
E)environmental protection.
Answer: A
Q3) The Constitution says that the states must return a person charged with a crime in another state to that state for trial or imprisonment.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Civil Liberties and Public Policy
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135 Verified Questions
135 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7739
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT a constitutionally permissible limitation on the Second Amendment right to bear arms?
A)Background checks for gun buyers
B)Mandatory trigger locks
C)Prohibitions on concealed weapons
D)Limits on the possession of firearms by the mentally ill and by felons
E)Restrictions on dangerous and unusual weapons not typically used for self-defense
Q2) The two clauses of the First Amendment regarding religion and government are commonly referred to as
A)the establishment clause and the free exercise clause.
B)the due process clause and the free exercise clause.
C)the due process clause and the establishment clause.
D)the free exercise clause and the necessary and proper clause.
E)the establishment clause and the necessary and proper clause.
Q3) Which amendments of the Bill of Rights protect the rights of the criminally accused?
Identify the appropriate amendments and explain the protections.
Q4) Describe how the Supreme Court has evaluated freedom of speech with respect to obscenity on the Internet.
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Civil Rights and Public Policy
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121 Verified Questions
121 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7740
Sample Questions
Q1) Most of the provisions in the Bill of Rights were applied to tribal governments in
A)the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
B)the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
C)Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
D)the 1982 Amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
E)the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.
Q2) The Equal Rights Amendment was ratified in 1973.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The equal protection clause has been used extensively.Describe its significance and how courts have used it to rule on matters related to racial and gender equality.Do you approve of this use of the clause? Explain.
Q4) Explain how civil rights laws expand both the scope and power of government,citing specific court decisions and federal laws as evidence.
Q5) Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority group in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is meant by the principle of comparable worth? How can this be achieved?
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion and Political Action
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126 Verified Questions
126 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7741
Sample Questions
Q1) Hispanics account for approximately ____ percent of the U.S.population,African Americans ____ percent,and Asian Americans _____ percent.
A)15,13,5
B)13,15,5
C)5,15,13
D)2,3,1
E)20,30,10
Q2) Compare and contrast the different agents of political socialization.What effect do they have on political learning?
Q3) Because it would be prohibitively expensive to ask every citizen his or her opinion on a whole range of issues,polls rely on what is called a(n)________ of the population.
A)extraction
B)sample
C)census
D)slice
E)demography
Q4) What has been the "regional shift" in America,and what are its political effects?
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8
Chapter 7: The Mass Media and the Political Agenda
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125 Verified Questions
125 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7742
Sample Questions
Q1) Describe how the media shape public opinion.What are the consequences of the media's influence on public opinion?
Q2) The media act as a(n)________between the people and policymakers.
A)key linkage institution
B)unappreciated mediator
C)sole form of communication
D)necessary evil
E)negative element of democracy
Q3) Rather than shaping what Americans think,the media more likely shape what American think about.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and others involved in politics are collectively known as the policy agenda.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Newspaper circulation has increased over the last several decades.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Political Parties
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129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7743
Sample Questions
Q1) The debate between the gold standard and free silver occurred during which time period?
A)1860-1928
B)1968-present
C)1796-1824
D)1932-1964
E)1828-1856
Q2) What is meant by the process of party realignment,and how does it occur in the United States?
Q3) Linkage institutions
A)help link the three branches of government together to achieve coherent policies.
B)are used to implement public policies.
C)link political parties to the government.
D)translate inputs from the public into outputs from the policymakers.
E)link the president to members of his or her party in Congress so they can coordinate their policies in government.
Q4) In your mind,what are the consequences for the party system of the increasing numbers of young Americans who do not identify with either the Republican or Democratic parties?
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Chapter 9: Campaigns and Voting Behavior
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156 Verified Questions
156 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7744
Sample Questions
Q1) Older Americans are more likely to vote than are younger Americans.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Do political campaigns affect individuals voting behavior? Explain.
Q3) One of the provisions of the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002 was to
A)increase the limit on individual contributions to $5,000.
B)increase the amount of federal money presidential candidates can spend.
C)increase the limit on "soft money" contributions.
D)increase the limit on individual contributions from $1,000 to $2,000.
E)increase the limit on individual contributions to $10,000.
Q4) Evaluate the Supreme Court's decision in Buckley v.Valeo (1973).Do you agree with the Court that limiting the amount of money an individual can spend from his or her own pocket on his or her own campaign would be an unconstitutional violation of free speech? Does the Court's free speech ruling serve the purposes of the First Amendment and of democracy?
Q5) Evaluate political campaigns in America in terms of their role in the democratic process.How do they make our system more democratic? What limits campaigns from making our system more democratic?
Q6) How has the nature of policy voting changed in the United States?
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Q7) What is meant by "soft money" in a political campaign,and why is it important?
Chapter 10: Interest Groups
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135 Verified Questions
135 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7745
Sample Questions
Q1) The hyperpluralist complaint that interest group politics creates subgovernments refers to the
A)cooperative efforts of business and government to promote special interests.
B)power of interest groups in determining government policies.
C)overwhelming influence of interest groups in local governments.
D)use of paid lobbyists on congressional committees and subcommittees.
E)network of groups within the American political system that continually work against each other.
Q2) According to the theory of hyperpluralism,subgovernments promote democratic policymaking.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Pluralism is a(n)______ theory of politics.
A)elite
B)group
C)individual
D)liberal
E)rational
Q4) What is Olson's law of large groups?
Q5) What did Theodore Lowi mean by interest group liberalism?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Congress
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140 Verified Questions
140 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7746
Sample Questions
Q1) Why are so many senators reluctant to use cloture?
A)For fear of setting a precedent to be used against them when they want to filibuster
B)Because it has always been used as a stepping stone to the Speaker's job,and once used,they may not get a second chance at the job
C)Because,in most cases,the House or Senate usually considers only the bills that obtain a favorable committee report
D)Because they have to stay in their positions to monitor the bureaucracy,otherwise there would be no congressional oversight
E)Because the size and complexity of today's government make it impossible for any one person to understand all the issues before the Senate
Q2) More than 90 percent of the incumbents in the House of Representatives seeking reelection win.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Describe how Congress is demographically atypical of the United States population.Does this present a problem for legitimate democratic government? Why,or why not?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Presidency
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127 Verified Questions
127 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Richard Neustadt,the most powerful power of the president is the power to persuade.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Among recent presidents,the average approval ratings in public opinion polls have been
A)higher at the end of the president's term than at the beginning.
B)over 75 percent.
C)higher at the beginning of the president's term than at the end.
D)below 40 percent.
E)slowly rising over the course of a president's term(s).
Q3) In order to convict and remove an impeached president,it takes a
A)two-thirds vote in the Senate.
B)majority vote in the Senate.
C)majority vote in the House of Representatives.
D)two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives.
E)majority vote in the Senate AND a two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives.
Q4) List and briefly describe the constitutional powers of the president.Which are the most important and why?
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Chapter 13: The Federal Bureaucracy
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125 Verified Questions
125 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7748
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT a strategy that Congress employs to try to control the bureaucracy?
A)Altering agency budgets
B)Influencing the appointment of agency heads
C)Holding oversight hearings
D)Rewriting or altering legislation
E)Issuing executive orders
Q2) Describe some of the more prevalent myths about the federal bureaucracy and why they are only myths.What has your experience been with government bureaucrats? Would you recommend any changes based on your experience? Explain.
Q3) President James Garfield's assassin was disgruntled because he had not received a federal appointment under the spoils system.
A)True
B)False
Q4) NASA,the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,is an independent executive agency.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Why are standard operating procedures important to an agency?
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Chapter 14: The Federal Courts
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127 Verified Questions
127 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7749
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these is NOT associated with the theory of judicial restraint?
A)Judges should chart new constitutional ground given their power of judicial review.
B)Federal courts are the least democratic branch of government.
C)Observers question the qualifications of judges for making policy decisions and balancing interests.
D)Decisions such as those on abortion and school prayer in public schools go well beyond the "referee" role that judges are supposed to play.
E)Policymaking should be left strictly to the legislature.
Q2) The vast majority of all civil and criminal cases
A)begin and end in courts with original jurisdiction.
B)involve federal law but are tried in state courts.
C)begin and end in federal courts.
D)begin in state courts and are appealed to federal courts.
E)involve state laws that are tried in federal courts.
Q3) What are the strengths and weaknesses of judicial restraint and judicial activism? To what extent is each of these associated with particular political ideologies (i.e.,liberal or conservative)?
Q4) What is a per curiam decision? Why is it significant?
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Congress,the President,and the Budget: the
Politics of Taxing and Spending
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121 Verified Questions
121 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7750
Sample Questions
Q1) The Sixteenth Amendment,ratified in 1913,
A)explicitly permitted Congress to levy an income tax.
B)limited the total income tax Congress could levy on an individual.
C)set up the Social Security system.
D)forbade Congress from levying an income tax.
E)required the federal government to balance its budget each year.
Q2) The total federal debt is about $15 million.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the early years of the nation,the federal government raised most of its revenue through
A)income taxes.
B)sales taxes.
C)fees collected on imported goods.
D)sales of natural resources.
E)property taxes.
Q4) What was the result of the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Pollock v.Farmer's Loan and Trust Co.(1895)?
Q5) How does a flat tax differ from a progressive tax?
Q6) How does the federal government borrow money? Page 17
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Page 18
Chapter 16: Social Welfare Policymaking
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7751
Sample Questions
Q1) Policies that provide benefits,cash or in-kind,to individuals based on either entitlement or means testing are called social welfare policies.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which president formed the Commission to Strengthen Social Security through a system of limited privatization?
A)Franklin D. Roosevelt
B)Ronald Reagan
C)George H. W. Bush
D)Bill Clinton
E)George W. Bush
Q3) Most industrial nations are more generous with social welfare programs than is the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Female-headed households have a 30 percent greater chance of being poor than non-female-headed households.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: National Security Policymaking
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144 Verified Questions
144 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Military,economic,and diplomatic tools are the three essential elements employed in the realm of
A)economic policy.
B)foreign policy.
C)monetary policy.
D)international relations.
E)domestic policy.
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a permanent member of the U.N.Security Council?
A)Japan
B)Great Britain
C)France
D)Russia
E)China
Q3) George Kennan is noted for developing the policy of containment.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Among Congress' foreign policy powers is the ability to declare war and raise the armed forces.
A)True
B)False
Page 20
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