U.S. Government and Politics Exam Practice Tests
Course
Introduction
This course offers an in-depth examination of the structures, functions, and processes of the United States government and its political system. Students will explore the foundational principles of the U.S. Constitution, the roles and responsibilities of the three branches of government, federalism, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The course also covers political parties, electoral processes, interest groups, public policy, and the impact of media on politics. Through the analysis of historical and contemporary issues, students develop a nuanced understanding of how government and politics shape society and influence civic life in the United States.
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
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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) Most public policies are made by a single policymaking institution.
A)True
B)False Answer: False
Q2) Highways and public parks are examples of public goods.
A)True
B)False Answer: True
Q3) Which of the following is true of the United States?
A)Social Security consumes a greater share of the national budget than does defense spending.
B)National defense consumes a greater share of the national budget than does Social Security spending.
C)Medicare spending is the single largest item in the federal budget.
D)Aid to state and local governments consumes the largest share of the federal budget.
E)National defense spending consumes the largest share of the federal budget. Answer: A
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Chapter 2: The Constitution
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129 Verified Questions
129 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Federalists feared that the new government would be run by a few and would erode fundamental liberties.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) According to James Madison,the "most common and durable source of factions" was
A)the unequal division of property.
B)urban and rural divisions.
C)aristocracy.
D)the British army.
E)racial inequalities.
Answer: A
Q3) Judicial review was established in
A)Marbury v. Madison.
B)McCulloch v. Maryland.
C)Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,Kansas.
D)U.S. v. Lopez.
E)Dred Scott v. Sandford.
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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118 Verified Questions
118 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Grants for specific programs distributed according to community demographic factors,such as population or income,are
A)formula grants.
B)categorical grants.
C)revenue-sharing grants.
D)project grants.
E)block grants.
Answer: A
Q2) Federalism is a way of organizing a nation so that
A)power is centralized in state and local government.
B)both national and state levels of government have some authority over the same land and people.
C)there is one federal government,and all regional governments are administrative subunits of it.
D)power is centralized in the national government.
E)there are three branches of government and a system of checks and balances. Answer: B
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Civil Liberties and Public Policy
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135 Verified Questions
135 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Fifth Amendment forbids
A)cruel and unusual punishment.
B)forced self-incrimination.
C)illegal searches and seizures.
D)the government establishment of a national religion.
E)All of these except d.
Q2) In what way does the Constitution guarantee a right to privacy? How has this right evolved over time?
Q3) Explain the free exercise clause and the establishment clause.Provide an example in which the rights protected by each clause may conflict.
Q4) Describe the significance of the Supreme Court's Roe v.Wade ruling.Did the Court overstep its authority,or did it properly extend the right of privacy in this case? How have later Court decisions changed Roe? Explain.
Q5) The vast majority of criminal cases in the U.S.begin and end with "not guilty" pleas.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is prior restraint? How has the Supreme Court dealt with this issue?
Q7) What is the exclusionary rule and how has it been used by the Supreme Court?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights and Public Policy
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121 Verified Questions
121 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Hispanic Americans now constitute the largest minority group in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The Defense of Marriage Act,passed in 1996,permits states to disregard same-sex marriages even if they are legal elsewhere in the U.S.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In the case of Regents of the University of California v.Bakke,the Supreme Court ruled that race could never be considered in admissions policies and declared all affirmative action programs to be unconstitutional.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What were the three Civil War Amendments and what did each amendment do? Why were these amendments necessary?
Q6) What were the main provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
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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) The most recent wave of immigration since World War II has consisted primarily of A)Africans.
B)Hispanics and Asians.
C)northwestern Europeans.
D)southern and eastern Europeans.
E)refugees from communist countries.
Q2) Random sampling is considered
A)desirable,but not necessary,for an accurate poll of public opinion.
B)an unsophisticated way of measuring public opinion,but one that sometimes yields accurate results.
C)highly unreliable,but the cheapest way to measure public opinion.
D)the key to the accuracy of opinion polls.
E)a dangerous way to measure public opinion.
Q3) Who said America "is not merely a nation but a nation of nations"?
A)Franklin D. Roosevelt
B)John F. Kennedy
C)Ronald Reagan
D)Bill Clinton
E)George W. Bush
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Page 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) Newspaper chains are
A)organizations loosely linked by the wire services.
B)controlled by conglomerates that often control broadcast media as well.
C)local papers owned by fearless local editors.
D)disappearing as a result of the rise of television.
E)unaffected by the quest for profit.
Q2) In 1989,major networks broadcast _____ minutes of foreign news; in 2000 they broadcast ____ minutes of foreign news.
A)4,032; 1,382
B)1,382; 4,032
C)10,000; 5,000
D)5,000; 10,000
E)4,032; 4,032
Q3) Television,radio,newspapers,magazines,the Internet,and other forms of communication are collectively referred to as the
A)World Wide Web.
B)mass media.
C)media conglomeration.
D)world of high-tech politics.
E)fourth branch of government.
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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 first party system in the United States consisted of the
A)Democrats and Whigs.
B)Federalists and Whigs.
C)Democrats and Republicans.
D)Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.
E)Democratic-Republicans and Whigs.
Q2) Which group is most likely to engage in ticket splitting?
A)Democrats
B)Republicans
C)Independents
D)Northeasterners
E)Southerners
Q3) As ________,political parties serve the role of translating inputs from the public into outputs from policymakers.
A)coalitions
B)superdelegates
C)political converters
D)machines
E)linkage institutions
Q4) What was the importance of the election of 1896?
Page 10
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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) If an election is decided by the House,each state delegation gets one vote.
A)True
B)False
Q2) 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?
Q3) The reform impulse that led to the creation of the primaries was an antidemocratic impulse.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In the 2008 presidential election,Barack Obama received 53 percent of the popular vote and 365 electoral votes.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain the changes to federal regulations that resulted from the McCain-Feingold Act of 2002.Why were they necessary? Has this act done enough to make the campaign process fairer?
Q6) What happens if no candidate receives an Electoral College majority? Why did the Founding Fathers set up the system to work this way?
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Interest Groups
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135 Verified Questions
135 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7745
Sample Questions
Q1) The primary way that groups overcome Olson's law is through A)mandatory membership.
B)reducing membership fees.
C)selective benefits.
D)centralizing.
E)decentralizing.
Q2) An extremely low percentage of the U.S.population is members in environmental groups compared to other industrialized democracies.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The historic Tax Reform Act of 1986 is a good example of
A)the fact that big interests usually win in American politics.
B)the fact that big interests don't always win in American politics.
C)how difficult it is for large groups to provide an optimal level of a collective good.
D)how easy it can be for groups to overcome the free-rider problem through selective benefits.
E)the power of single issue groups.
Q4) Are PACs helpful or harmful to American democracy? Explain.
Q5) What are the key differences between interest groups and political parties?
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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) The House Rules Committee reviews most bills coming from a House committee before the bills go to the full House.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The fact that incumbents usually win reelection
A)creates stability in the membership of Congress.
B)allows representatives and senators to gain some expertise in dealing with public policy.
C)insulates members of Congress from political change.
D)makes it more difficult for citizens to "send a message to Washington" with their votes.
E)All of the above are true.
Q3) What is the seniority system,and how has it changed over the years?
Q4) An example of casework by a member of Congress is
A)writing a newsletter to send out to constituents.
B)helping a constituent gain citizenship.
C)voting for a bill desired by constituents.
D)working with a caucus on a public policy that affects his or her constituents.
E)All of the above are true.
Q5) Is Congress representative?
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Chapter 12: The Presidency
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127 Verified Questions
127 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/7747
Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the impeachment process.
Q2) Most analysts believe that the higher the president stands in the polls,the
A)less support he needs in Congress.
B)shorter the president's coattails.
C)less need there is for presidential public appearances.
D)easier it is to persuade others to support presidential initiatives.
E)less likely he will initiate new policy ventures.
Q3) The pocket veto can only be used
A)when a new president is about to take office.
B)during a presidential election year.
C)when Congress is in session.
D)on appropriations bills.
E)when Congress is adjourned.
Q4) Who said,"Public sentiment is everything.With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed"?
A)Bill Clinton
B)Ronald Reagan
C)George Washington
D)Abraham Lincoln
E)George W. Bush
Page 14
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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 an element of all regulation governing bureaucratic agencies?
A)A grant of power and set of directions from Congress
B)A set of rules and guidelines determined by the regulatory agency itself
C)Some means of enforcing compliance
D)A timeline for eventual deregulation
E)None of these; all are elements of regulation
Q2) Administrative discretion tends to be weakest when routines and standard operation procedures fit a particular case.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to Max Weber,bureaucracy has a hierarchical authority structure that uses task specialization and operates on the merit principle.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The elite cadre of federal government managers is known as the Senior Executive Service.
A)True
B)False
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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) The majority of all the criminal cases in the United States are heard in state and local court systems,not in the federal courts.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Explain why previous judicial experience might not be critically important in nominating individuals to the Supreme Court.
Q3) A ________ is a Supreme Court ruling without explanation that resolves an immediate case but has no value as precedent because the Court does not offer reasoning that would guide lower courts in future decisions.
A)stare decisis
B)writ of certiorari
C)concurring opinion
D)per curiam decision
E)writ of mandamus
Q4) Explain the relationship between the courts and Congress and the courts and the presidency.What is the relationship between these institutions in terms of judicial selection and policymaking?
Q5) What is the difference between judicial activism and judicial restraint?
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Politics of Taxing and Spending
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121 Verified Questions
121 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Tax expenditures are
A)sales taxes paid when goods and services are purchased.
B)money spent by the IRS collecting taxes.
C)rebates provided to individuals who have overpaid federal taxes.
D)revenue losses that result from special exemptions,exclusions,or deductions on federal tax law.
E)income that is taxable by the federal government.
Q2) The Social Security Act was passed as part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Most of the government's budget is paid for by borrowing,rather than through taxes.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Tax exemptions are revenue losses that result from special exclusions or deductions on federal taxes.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How does the federal government borrow money?
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Chapter 16: Social Welfare Policymaking
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The official poverty count is most likely an overestimate because there is a lag in the poverty count compared to the number of people who "work their way out of poverty."
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is the United States Bureau of the Census' definition of the poverty line,and why is it important?
Q3) According to Timothy Smeeding,
A)the U.S. has seen large increases in income inequality over the last four decades. B)income inequality is greater in the U.S. than most developed countries.
C)the U.S. has the widest extremes of income compared to other developed countries.
D)All of these are true.
E)None of these is true.
Q4) While the number of Social Security contributors is growing slowly,the number of Social Security recipients is growing rapidly.
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) In general,how do conservatives and liberals differ when it comes to defense spending?
A)Conservatives advocate increases in defense spending; liberals are generally skeptical of increases in defense spending.
B)Conservatives are skeptical of increases in defense spending; liberals advocate increases in defense spending.
C)Conservatives favor social spending over defense spending; liberals favor defense spending over social spending.
D)Conservatives emphasize strong economies; liberals emphasize strong military readiness.
E)None of these is true.
Q2) In 1946,who warned that the Russians had sealed off Eastern Europe with an "iron curtain"?
A)Winston Churchill
B)Franklin Roosevelt
C)Harry Truman
D)George Kennan
E)George Marshall
Q3) What is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,and why was it created?
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Page 19