U.S. Government and Politics
Final Exam
Course Introduction
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the foundational structures, processes, and principles of the United States government and political system. Students will explore topics such as the Constitution, federalism, the three branches of government, civil liberties, political parties, interest groups, voting behavior, policy-making, and the roles of state and local governments. Through analysis of historical and contemporary issues, students will develop a deeper understanding of how governmental institutions function, the importance of civic engagement, and the impact of political decisions on society.
Recommended Textbook
The Enduring Democracy 4th Edition by Kenneth Dautrich
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16 Chapters
1193 Verified Questions
1193 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/1116
Page 2
Chapter 1: The More Things Changethe More They Stay the Same
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61 Verified Questions
61 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21932
Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following accurately describes an indirect democracy?
A) Regular elections allow voters to choose representatives.
B) Economic elites make decisions for the country as a whole.
C) Social elites make decisions for the country as a whole.
D) The people come together to discuss and decide on policy.
E) The judicial system creates legislation.
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following is not true of the framers of the U.S. Constitution?
A) They drafted a blueprint for how the government should go about dealing with problems and conflicts into the future.
B) They were only concerned with problems immediately facing the new nation.
C) They guaranteed the losers of political battles rights and liberties.
D) They included mechanisms to resolve conflicts in a procedural manner.
E) They established rules for settling conflicts based on fairness and proper procedure.
Answer: B
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Chapter 2: The Founding and the Constitution
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79 Verified Questions
79 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A Founding Father who refused to attend the Constitutional Convention was
A) Benjamin Franklin
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) Alexander Hamilton
D) James Madison
E) Patrick Henry
Answer: E
Q2) Thomas Paine is credited with irrevocably turning the tide of popular support toward the cause of American independence with publication of his 1776 booklet entitled
A) War and Peace
B) Of Mice and Men
C) The Pilgrim's Progress
D) Common Sense
E) On Liberty
Answer: D
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Federalism
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70 Verified Questions
70 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When considering the history of the federal government's powers over the states, what generally happens with the federal power during major economic depressions or world wars?
A) The powers of the federal government usually increase and state prerogatives decrease.
B) The federal government usually loses powers because it is perceived that it created the problem.
C) The federal government usually loses powers because of its inability to create solutions.
D) State powers increase because states are more able to generate consensus.
E) Federal powers increase because the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution creates a status similar to martial law during crises.
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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80 Verified Questions
80 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The idea that speech provides the mechanism whereby citizens deliberate on important issues of public policy, and check the abuse of power by public officials, is an example of ________________.
A) the "marketplace of ideas"
B) self-governance
C) a "safety valve"
D) self-fulfillment
E) "clear and present danger"
Q2) The legal standard that requires the government to attain a warrant demonstrating "probable cause" for any "search" that violates a person's actual and reasonable expectation of privacy is called the _______________.
A) good faith exception
B) Katz test
C) exclusionary rule
D) ex post facto law
E) free exercise clause
Q3) What was the significance of the Supreme Court's rulings in 2008 and 2010 regarding the Second Amendment? Do you agree with their interpretation? Why or why not?
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights, Equality and Social Movements
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76 Verified Questions
76 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed ______________________.
A) states could not deny the right to vote based on race
B) citizenship of all newly freed slaves
C) the right to veterans' benefits regardless of which side they served in the Civil War
D) the abolition of slavery in all states
E) prohibition against Jim Crow laws and racial segregation
Q2) Court-ordered busing to integrate schools was an attempt to remedy _______________.
A) forced discrimination
B) civil disobedience
C) de facto discrimination
D) de jure discrimination
E) racial discrimination
Q3) W. E. B. Du Bois helped found the __________.
A) HRC
B) NAACP
C) SCLC
D) KKK
E) ACLU
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Congress
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74 Verified Questions
74 Flashcards
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Sample
Questions
Q1) Article I of the U.S. Constitution sets a minimum age of __________ for anyone serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.
A) 16
B) 18
C) 25
D) 35
E) 50
Q2) Which of the following is not a duty or responsibility of the speaker of the House?
A) appointing committee chairs
B) acting as arbiter and interpreter of the House rules
C) recognizing members who speak in the House
D) assigning bills to committee for consideration
E) censuring House members for disciplinary reasons
Q3) Members of the U.S. House of Representatives serve _______________.
A) terms of two years
B) terms of four years
C) terms of six years
D) lifetime appointments
E) staggered terms
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Page 8
Chapter 7: The Presidency
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79 Verified Questions
79 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21938
Sample Questions
Q1) A "signing statement" may be used for which of the following purposes?
A) to express the intent of the president to ignore a law
B) as a means of the president to undermine a law, short of a veto
C) as a statement that the executive branch will construe an act in a manner consistent with the president's own views
D) to express the intent of the president to ignore a law, as a means of the president to undermine a law, short of a veto, and as a statement that the executive branch will construe an act in a manner consistent with the president's own views
E) None of these choices is correct.
Q2) Currently the United States is considered the only true superpower in the world arena. However, from the close of World War II until the late 1980s another superpower existed that often opposed the United States and consumed much of the president's energies. This superpower was ___________.
A) the People's Republic of China
B) Great Britain
C) the Soviet Union (USSR)
D) Cuba
E) Israel
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Page 9
Chapter 8: The Federal Bureaucracy
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74 Verified Questions
74 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21939
Sample Questions
Q1) Which department currently runs the school lunch, school breakfast, and food stamp programs?
A) Department of the Interior
B) Department of Agriculture
C) Department of Treasury
D) Department of Health and Human Services
E) Department of State
Q2) Bureaucratic adjudication ___________________________.
A) includes determining the rights and duties of particular parties within the scope of agency rules or regulations
B) is the term used for the bureaucratic rule-making process
C) is a process whereby an agency expands its power into subject matter areas adjacent to its primary area of concern
D) requires action by the Supreme Court
E) in an oversight function of Congress.
Q3) Explain the constitutional foundation for the federal bureaucracy. Where in the federal government is most of the bureaucracy found, and what is the role of the bureaucracy? To whom is the federal bureaucracy accountable, and how is accountability achieved?
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Page 10
Chapter 9: The Judiciary
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76 Verified Questions
76 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21940
Sample Questions
Q1) Growing in popularity and use is the "Missouri Plan" for selecting judges at the state level. What are the steps in this process?
A) A non-partisan commission appoints the judge, and after a two-year trial service the governor may be appointed for life.
B) A judge is appointed by the governor through a partisan process but later must run for reelection as a nonpartisan candidate.
C) A judicial nominating committee chooses three judicial candidates based on merit; the governor appoints one from the list, and after two years the judge stands for election by the voters.
D) The state supreme court convenes a committee comprised of three of its justices, who then choose the new judge based on merit issues.
E) The legislature chooses the judge by a three-fourths vote and the judge is then appointed for a life term.
Q2) Fully explain the elements of civil litigation, including the parties involved, and the pretrial and trial proceedings.
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Chapter 10: Public Opinion
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74 Verified Questions
74 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain "sampling error." Describe the effects of sampling error on a poll, and how an analyst should interpret poll results accordingly. In addition to the sampling error, what are other pieces of information that should be disclosed about a publicly released poll, according to the NCPP?
Q2) Children who grow up in a home in which parents regard politics as important generally tend to ______________.
A) reject any reference to politics in adult life
B) return to their parents for guidance about voting or taking a stand
C) become rigid and unyielding in their political beliefs
D) also regard politics as important throughout their lives
E) seek mates with dominant political views
Q3) When an analyst seeks to find which position or preference a majority of people hold as their opinion, he or she is determining the __________ of public opinion.
A) intensity
B) causal inference
C) direction
D) continuity
E) sampling error
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Chapter 11: Interest Groups
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76 Verified Questions
76 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21942
Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the various ways interest groups achieve their goals, including lobbying, supporting candidates in elections, litigation, and persuasion campaigns.
Q2) Explain the "iron triangle" of policy-making? Describe each group and the role it plays in the process. Discuss the significance of the role of interest groups and what value they provide to the policy-making process.
Q3) Government interest groups are organized for the purpose of
A) limiting the size and scope of the federal government
B) representing a broad ideological approach on how government should deal with a host of issues
C) lobbying on behalf of small businesses
D) representing the interests of cities and states across the nation
E) providing citizens with representation in legal affairs
Q4) Historically, which Americans have been most likely to join interest groups? Describe the incentives for joining interest groups (material, purposive, and solidary), and how they help explain why people join interest groups.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Media and American Politics
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77 Verified Questions
77 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21943
Sample Questions
Q1) From a politically strategic standpoint, how has television benefited political candidates, as compared to radio?
A) It costs much less than radio advertising.
B) It is less expensive than radio, though radio reaches more potential voters.
C) It has allowed them to develop an "image" through carefully planned media appearances and advertisements.
D) There is little difference in benefit between radio and television.
E) It has increased the voter turnout in elections.
Q2) The first political "talk show" was __________________________.
A) distributed on news reel to movie theaters prior to World War II
B) Joe Pyne's show in 1950 on KABC radio
C) Walter Cronkite's news broadcasts of the 1960s on ABC television
D) developed with the advent of cable news, such as CNN, in the 1970s
E) Meet the Press on television in the 1960s
Q3) How has the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the First Amendment's freedom of the press and applied it to mass media? Give examples of some court cases.
Q4) Describe why it is important for the media to provide objective coverage of events. Do you believe today's media accomplish this goal? Support your answer.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Political Parties and Voting
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77 Verified Questions
77 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) E. E. Schattschneider observed in1942 that __________________________.
A) "democracy is unthinkable save in terms of the parties."
B) "factions have a baneful effect."
C) "factions are tools of the politically ambitious that tend to promote corruption and bias in the political system."
D) "republic under God, rather than democracy."
E) "individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives [and] they have the right to live in whatever manner they choose so long as they do not interfere with the rights of others."
Q2) In 1860, which political party was the supporter of states' rights?
A) Republican
B) Democratic
C) Freethinker
D) Federalist
E) Progressive
Q3) Describe the impact the presidential election of 1824 had on the creation of the Democratic Party and the election of 1828. What effects did Jackson have on the political party system?
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Campaigns and Elections
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72 Verified Questions
72 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following would not be a consideration for a presidential candidate in choosing his or her vice presidential running mate?
A) geographical and regional balance
B) ideological balance
C) ensuring the candidate does not differ in any respect from the presidential candidate
D) physical and mental health
E) balance of experience
Q2) March 6, 2012-"Super Tuesday"-was so named because
A) with that day's results, 26 states had held their contests
B) with that day's results 28 contests (50 percent plus 1) had been held
C) fifteen states all held their contests on that day
D) nine states all held their contests that day
E) it was the day that the parties formally nominated their presidential candidates
Q3) Identify and describe the five determinants of vote choice. Explain how each plays a role in influencing a voter's decision during an election. Which do you feel is the most powerful for American voters and why?
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Chapter 15: American Domestic Policy
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78 Verified Questions
78 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21946
Sample Questions
Q1) An economic slowdown is referred to as ___________________.
A) inflation
B) recession
C) stigmatization
D) economic morbidity
E) political stagnation
Q2) Which of the following is true of the policymaking process?
A) Congress and the president are most directly involved in the recognition, formulation, and adoption stages when media attention is most intense.
B) The influence of Congress and the president is limited by the practical need to delegate administrative details to agencies with the expertise and resources to handle such matters.
C) Courts may play a role in ensuring that all proper procedures are followed in the formulation of policy and in interpreting rules and regulations.
D) All of these choices are correct.
E) None of these choices is correct.
Q3) Define the term public policy. Describe the five stages of the policymaking process.
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Chapter 16: American Foreign Policy
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70 Verified Questions
70 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/21947
Sample Questions
Q1) __________ is the term used for the vast network of defense industries in the United States, such as manufacturers of weapons, missiles, aircraft, submarines, and their bureaucratic allies.
A) Civilian military influence
B) AFL-CIO
C) Military-industrial complex
D) Aerospace industry
E) Academic-industrial alliance
Q2) Many actors and institutions attempt either formally or informally to influence American foreign policy. Describe the role of the legislature in this process, including an understanding of committees that directly work on issues related to foreign policy. Provide an understanding of how the private sector plays a role in influencing foreign policy. Explain the term military industrial complex.
Q3) Explain "internationalism" as a theory of foreign relations. How and when did America adopt a theory of internationalism? Include an understanding of the Marshall Plan, NATO, and the Truman Doctrine in your answer.
Q4) What was the Cold War and how did it originate? Who were the major players in this era? What roles did NATO and the Warsaw Pact play? How did the Cold War end?
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Page 18