U.S. Government and Politics
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
U.S. Government and Politics examines the foundational principles, structures, and functions of the American political system. The course explores the Constitution, federalism, the roles of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and the complex interplay between national and state governments. Students analyze the impact of political parties, interest groups, and the media on the policymaking process, as well as the evolution of civil liberties and civil rights. Emphasizing current events and landmark Supreme Court decisions, the course fosters a comprehensive understanding of civic participation, electoral systems, and the challenges facing contemporary American democracy.
Recommended Textbook
We the People 11th Essentials Edition by Benjamin Ginsberg
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1101 Verified Questions
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Chapter 1: Introduction: the Citizen and Government
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements best describes naturalization laws in the United States prior to 1870?
A) All free people could become naturalized citizens after living in the country for at least five years.
B) Only free whites could become naturalized citizens.
C) Only freed African American slaves could become naturalized citizens.
D) Only Native Americans could become naturalized citizens.
Answer: B
Q2) The demand that there be no taxation without representation is a good example of what political reform of the eighteenth century?
A) the decline of popular influence on government
B) more popular influence on government
C) the decline in citizenship
D) the spread of autocracy
Answer: B
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3
Chapter 2: The Founding and the Constitution
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Q1) The decision to give the national government control over interstate commerce and finance was motivated primarily by the framers' desire to
A) end slavery in the United States.
B) eliminate state and local governments.
C) promote economic development and protect property from radical state legislatures.
D) guarantee economic equality for all citizens.
Answer: C
Q2) According to Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the president has the power to A) officially recognize other nations.
B) overrule federal judges.
C) regulate commerce in the states.
D) convene Congress in special session.
Answer: A
Q3) The Stamp Act was a A) tax on commerce.
B) prohibition on all unofficial mail.
C) law permitting the Crown to open mail.
D) tax on sugar, molasses, and other commodities.
Answer: A
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) Using block grants to return power to the states was part of ________ during the Nixon (1969-1974) and Reagan (1981-1989) administrations.
A) the New Deal
B) the Great Society
C) New Federalism
D) the New Frontier
Answer: C
Q2) The Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) was significant because it
A) allowed state governments to limit marriage to one man and one woman.
B) struck down state laws that made sodomy a crime.
C) required that all states offer marriage licenses to two people of the same sex.
D) declared the full faith and credit clause unconstitutional.
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
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Q1) After the Civil War, which amendments to the U.S. Constitution offered African Americans the most hope for achieving full citizenship rights?
A) the First, Second, and Third amendments
B) the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh amendments
C) the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments
D) The Twentieth, Twenty-First, and Twenty-Second amendments
Q2) ________ argued that there was a "wall of separation" between church and state.
A) George Washington
B) James Madison
C) Ben Franklin
D) Thomas Jefferson
Q3) When New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed in 2005, it illustrated that
A) the press has no constitutional right to withhold information in court.
B) prior restraint is permitted in cases that involve national security.
C) journalists are held to a higher standard of libel than ordinary citizens.
D) journalists can be punished for reporting inaccurate information on political stories.
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Chapter 5: Public Opinion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements about public opinion in America is true?
A) The average American's political knowledge is fairly high.
B) Citizens with low levels of knowledge are generally better able to evaluate new information and determine its relevancy to their beliefs.
C) Citizens with high levels of knowledge are generally better able to evaluate new information to determine its relevancy to their beliefs.
D) Almost 90 percent of Americans can name their U.S. senators.
Q2) A wealthy businessperson who is very liberal is an example of the
A) fact that group memberships can fully explain all of an individual's political views.
B) fact that group memberships never fully explain all of an individual's political views.
C) power of the bandwagon effect.
D) negative consequences of the power of the mass media.
Q3) In the 2012 presidential election, Gallup surveys significantly overestimated
A) Latino support for Mitt Romney.
B) African American support for Barack Obama.
C) Caucasian support for Mitt Romney.
D) Native American support for Mitt Romney.
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Page 7
Chapter 6: The Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evaluate the three types of traditional (i.e., nondigital) news sources in the United States. What are some of the distinct characteristics of each medium? How do the sources differ from each other in terms of the ways in which they disseminate news as well as the audiences they reach?
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a reason that many Americans appear to prefer online news?
A) the accuracy and objectivity compared to traditional media outlets
B) the depth of the information available online
C) the up-to-the-moment currency of the information available online
D) the convenience of getting news online
Q3) Which of the following news sources reaches the most Americans?
A) radio
B) television
C) the Internet
D) newspapers
Q4) Today, advertising revenue at print newspapers is ________what it was in 2005.
A) roughly equal to
B) one-tenth
C) half
D) more than double
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Political Parties, Participation, and Elections
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Sample Questions
Q1) A(n) ________ occurs when a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting in that party's election.
A) open primary
B) closed primary
C) majority system
D) referendum
Q2) As a third-party candidate, Ross Perot captured approximately ________ percent of the popular vote in the 1992 presidential election.
A) 10
B) 20
C) 30
D) 40
Q3) In 1964, Republican Party presidential nominee ________ was in favor of less taxation and less government regulation of the economy-two ideas that became major themes for the modern Republican Party.
A) Richard Nixon
B) Barry Goldwater
C) Ronald Reagan
D) Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Interest Groups
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Sample Questions
Q1) The free-rider problem occurs because
A) members of Congress are presented with many opportunities to amend a piece of legislation.
B) the benefits of a group's actions are available only to a specific segment of society.
C) the benefits of a group's actions are broadly available and cannot be denied to nonmembers.
D) members of Congress listen only to organized interest groups and not to public opinion polls.
Q2) The major organizational factors shared by most interest groups are
A) very close links with the national news media, direct ties to a member of Congress, a headquarters in Washington, D.C., and members.
B) very close links with the national news media, connections with Hollywood, direct ties to the president of the United States, and members.
C) leadership, money, an agency or office, and members.
D) leadership, a rigid hierarchical structure, access to loans from the Federal Reserve, and members.
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Chapter 9: Congress
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Q1) Describe how Congress exercises its checks and balances over the executive branch. Which chamber of Congress has more authority over the executive branch? Provide examples. How might partisanship help to diminish the exercise of congressional power over the presidency? Explain.
Q2) The House Rules committee is important because it A) is placed in charge of selecting the Speaker of the House. B) decides the order in which bills come up for a vote on the House floor and determines the specific rules that govern the length of debate and opportunity for amendments. C) reviews all applications regarding the formation of select committees. D) determines the jurisdiction of every congressional standing committee.
Q3) Compared to the rest of American history, recent congresses have been ________ polarized and ________ productive in terms of passing laws. A) less; equally B) less; less C) more; less
D) more; more
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Chapter 10: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) All executive agreements differ from formal treaties in that they A) must be approved by the U.S. Supreme Court but not by Congress. B) do not have to be approved by the Senate. C) do not have to be approved by the House.
D) are generally formulated at meetings of the United Nations.
Q2) The Cabinet
A) has its legal role clearly articulated in the Constitution. B) does not meet as a group, except during the State of the Union address. C) secretaries do not have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
D) has no responsibility to Congress.
Q3) During the nineteenth century, Congress was America's dominant institution of government, and members of Congress sometimes treated the president with disdain. Explain how presidents have changed this reality over the last 120 years by adopting an administrative strategy. Specifically, discuss how presidents have (1) enhanced the reach and power of the Executive Office of the President (EOP); (2) increased White House control over the federal bureaucracy; and (3) expanded the role of instruments of direct presidential governance.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: Bureaucracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Approximately ________ percent of the nation's employed workforce are employees of state or local government.
A) 1
B) 5
C) 15
D) 33
Q2) What is the origin of most federal bureaus?
A) Congress passes laws creating and funding most federal bureaus.
B) The Cabinet secretaries create most federal bureaus out of administrative necessity and convenience.
C) Most federal bureaus were explicitly described in Article II of the Constitution.
D) Most federal bureaus are created by executive order of the president.
Q3) Who has the authority to set interest rates and lending activities for the nation's banks?
A) the Federal Reserve System
B) the Secretary of the Treasury
C) the Internal Revenue Service
D) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
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Chapter 12: The Federal Courts
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Sample Questions
Q1) A writ of habeas corpus declares that
A) the government must show a legal cause for holding someone in detention.
B) the government cannot send a defendant to stand trial in a geographically distant jurisdiction.
C) a defendant in a felony trial must receive assistance from legal counsel.
D) capital punishment can be neither cruel nor unusual.
Q2) What is the most frequent and best-known action of Supreme Court justices in their role as circuit justices?
A) vetting cases for the Supreme Court
B) hearing challenges to state laws
C) reviewing requests for stays of execution
D) overturning laws passed by Congress
Q3) Under normal rules of oral argument, each lawyer has ________ to present his or her case before the Supreme Court.
A) 30 minutes
B) one hour
C) two hours
D) unlimited time
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Chapter 13: Domestic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Social Security provides a vital role for younger people by providing A) survivor benefits to those whose parents die or become disabled.
B) unemployment compensation for those who lose their jobs.
C) health care benefits to those whose jobs do not provide it.
D) food stamps for those who fall under the poverty line.
Q2) Medicare was established in A) 1888.
B) 1933.
C) 1942.
D) 1965.
Q3) In 2016, each individual's required contribution to Social Security was
A) zero percent of his or her first $118,500 of income.
B) 1.45 percent of his or her first $118,500 of income.
C) 6.2 percent of his or her first $118, 500 of income.
D) 7.65 percent of his or her first $118,500 of income.
Q4) The Affordable Care Act (ACA) enacted major changes to the health care system after its passage in 2010. Subsequent Supreme Court decisions have upheld some parts of the law and struck down others. Describe the three main features of the ACA as it was passed by Congress and discuss two Supreme Court decisions regarding the constitutionality of the ACA.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Foreign Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Congress has exercised its power to declare war ________ times in American history.
A) 2
B) 5
C) 8
D) 12
Q2) The three main goals of American foreign policy are
A) democracy, individualism, and isolationism.
B) liberty, fraternity, and equality.
C) freedom, order, and justice for all.
D) security, prosperity, and the creation of a better world.
Q3) The International Monetary Fund
A) provides loans and facilitates a short flow of money to countries in need.
B) sets a single monetary instrument that governs international monetary exchange.
C) is limited in its ability to loan money to developing countries.
D) was set up to provide for long-term money flow to developing countries.
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