U.S. Government and Politics
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Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth exploration of the foundations, structure, and functioning of the United States government and political system. Students will examine the Constitution, federalism, the branches of government, the roles and powers of public officials, and the process of policy-making. The course also delves into the influence of political parties, interest groups, media, and public opinion in shaping government action and outcomes. Through analysis of historical and contemporary issues, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of American political institutions and their impact on society, as well as the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic system.
Recommended Textbook
Understanding American Government 14th Edition by Susan Welch
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Chapter 1: The American People
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Q1) English Philosopher John Locke insisted people were equal, but the "why" conflicted with ___________.
A) Karl Marx
B) Thomas Hobbes
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Answer: B
Q2) Popular sovereignty reflects our form of government and, therefore, __________.
A) always leads to mob rule
B) is rooted in the idea of democracy
C) often disregards the rights of the few
D) is inconsistent with federalism
Answer: B
Q3) Europeans who migrated to America __________.
A) came from the same country
B) spoke the same language
C) practiced the same religion
D) brought some of their conflict with them
Answer: D
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Q1) One of the major differences between the Great Depression and today's economic crisis is __________.
A) most people were wealthy
B) Americans lost their jobs and savings
C) many struggled to find food
D) there were no systematic welfare programs to relieve the suffering
Answer: D
Q2) The Reconstruction Amendments __________.
A) were passed prior to the Civil War
B) were supported by most southerners
C) shifted power from state governments to the federal government
D) were later repealed
Answer: C
Q3) Patrick Henry, who did not attend the Constitutional Convention, feared another monarchy and wanted __________.
A) a new convention
B) a weak national government
C) Washington to become king
D) a stronger national government
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Federalism
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Q1) A particularly contentious issue associated with fiscal federalism centers on __________.
A) grants-in-aid
B) block grants
C) categorical grants
D) unfunded mandates
Answer: D
Q2) Citizen initiatives and popular referenda focus on ____________.
A) judicial policy
B) state and local policies
C) presidential policies
D) global policies
Answer: B
Q3) Over the last 15 years, ballot initiatives have approved __________.
A) the illegalization of medical marijuana
B) unlimited campaign spending
C) expansions on gambling
D) limits on the rights of adopted children to know the names of their biological parents
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Public Opinion
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Q1) Describe how polls measure public opinion.
Q2) Polls used with the intent of spreading false information about a candidate are called what?
A) phony polls
B) focus groups
C) push polls
D) Gallup polls
Q3) Though nearly 90 percent of Americans graduate from high school, and more than half go to college, __________.
A) citizens are more knowledgeable about only local politics
B) citizens' level of knowledge about politics has not changed much
C) citizens' level of knowledge about politics has declined
D) citizens believe the "Public Affairs Act" exists
Q4) George Gallup is important in the history of public opinion because he __________.
A) used straw polls to divine public opinion
B) predicted that the Literary Digest poll was wrong
C) predicted FDR would lose the 1936 election
D) invented the probability-based poll
Q5) Describe how the family impacts political socialization.
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Chapter 5: News Media
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Q1) Describe examples of politicians involved in symbiotic relationships with the media.
Q2) How is the relationship between the media and politicians symbiotic?
Q3) The mass media __________.
A) include newspaper, magazines, books, radio, television, movies, records, and the Internet
B) do not have an impact on government
C) are declining in influence in the United States
D) were established to influence the government
Q4) The media usually ________ third-party candidates.
A) provide extensive coverage of B) endorse C) ignore D) encourage voters to choose
Q5) Shifting dominance among the media show a(n) __________.
A) increase in the audience of nightly news programs among the major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC)
B) increase in conservative listeners tuning into National Public Radio (NPR)
C) decrease in liberals using the Internet
D) continued decrease in newspaper readership
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Chapter 6: Interest Groups
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Q1) What is meant by direct and indirect lobbying? Identify the various forms of each and assess their effectiveness in achieving group objectives.
Q2) Discuss the factors that account for the large number of interest groups in the United States.
Q3) A main interest of labor unions is to __________.
A) protect workers' wages
B) channel money primarily to Republicans
C) protect the jobs of company executives
D) ensure the safety of abortion clinics
Q4) Which of the following goals is more likely to lead to the success of interest groups than the others?
A) the promotion of broad policy changes
B) the promotion of sweeping social changes
C) the promotion of government action
D) the promotion and preservation of the status quo
Q5) How have the increased use of the Internet by the public and the development of Web pages by interest groups affected the lobbying process? Will Internet technologies increase interest group membership?
Q6) What are the main ideas drawn out in Putnam's Bowling Alone?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Political Parties
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Q1) When the 2010 health care reform bill entered Congress, __________.
A) most Democrats blocked it
B) most Republicans influenced it
C) most Democrats voted for it
D) most independents abstained from voting
Q2) Why do minor parties tend to do well initially but inevitably fade away?
Q3) How did political parties as an institution rise and eventually decline in influence?
Q4) Which presidential candidate utilized a "southern strategy" to lure southern whites during his campaign?
A) John F. Kennedy
B) Richard Nixon
C) Ronald Reagan
D) Jimmy Carter
Q5) The characterization of the Tea Party is that its members are predominatly __________.
A) white
B) moderate
C) female
D) lower class
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Chapter 8: Elections
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Q1) Northern military presence in the South during Reconstruction __________.
A) prevented blacks from voting
B) enabled blacks to vote and hold office
C) helped protect the rights of white citizens
D) enabled property to be equitably distributed
Q2) The history of negative and slanderous mud-slinging in presidential elections began with __________.
A) Bush and Gore
B) Obama and McCain
C) Wilson and Roosevelt
D) Jefferson and Adams
Q3) "Stacking" tries to diminish black voting strength by __________.
A) dividing areas that are heavily populated by blacks into multiple districts
B) diverting ballot boxes to distant rural polling places
C) pairing one black voter with one white voter
D) diluting a population of black voter with whites
Q4) Explain the history of presidential nominations from party conventions to presidential primaries and caucuses.
Q5) How does the Electoral College help smaller states?
Q6) What was the significance of the Voting Rights Act?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) Give two examples of informal congressional norms.
Q2) What is a formal requirement for being a member of the House of Represenative?
A) Members must reside in the state of representation.
B) Members must be 35 years old.
C) Members must be born in the United States or its territories.
D) Members must be 30 years old.
Q3) How is the work of Congress done in committees?
Q4) The real leader of the Senate in terms of power is the ___________.
A) vice president
B) president pro tempore
C) majority leader
D) speaker
Q5) The committee chairs are selected by __________..
A) the president of the Senate
B) the Senate majority leader
C) party whips
D) special committees
Q6) What are the mechanisms of congressional oversight? Are they effective?
Q7) How did the Seventeenth Amendment alter the Constitution?
Q8) Explain how seats in the House of Representatives are reapportioned.
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Chapter 10: The Presidency
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Q1) Explain how the president does or does not accomplish his legislative agenda?
Q2) Presidents from both political parties have been known to use __________ to achieve legislative priorities in face of congressional resistance.
A) presidential proxies
B) executive privilege
C) budget-making powers
D) signing statements
Q3) Which of the following is an eligibility condition specified by the Constitution for the presidency of the United States?
A) being at least 35 years of age
B) residing in the United States at least seven years before taking office
C) holding a college degree from a U.S. university
D) living in the District of Columbia
Q4) Which unit within the Executive Office of the President "extends the president's reach" and "magnifies the president's voice?"
A) White House Office
B) National Security Council
C) Department of Homeland Security
D) Homeless Council
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Chapter 11: The Bureaucracy
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Q1) In a democratic republic, the public can directly influence how bureaucrats do their work through __________.
A) rebellion
B) constitutional amendments
C) quadrangles
D) lobbying
Q2) Clear and strong feedback about its performance when a suit has been filed is a check on bureaucracy provided by the __________ branch.
A) executive
B) legislative
C) military
D) judicial
Q3) The ultimate instrument of control that Congress has over the president is the __________.
A) confirmation of nominees
B) scope of oversight
C) power of the purse
D) threat of impeachment
Q4) List three categories of federal agencies and some examples of each.
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Chapter 12: The Judiciary
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Q1) The appointment of Rehnquist as chief justice __________.
A) reflected Reagan's conservative ideology
B) preserved the Warren Court's gains for minorities
C) reflected Clinton's liberal ideology
D) prevented the Court from swinging to the right
Q2) Discuss the problems inherent in interpreting statutes and the Constitution. How do the courts try to resolve these problems?
Q3) Adopting constitutional amendments is one check the __________ has on the federal courts.
A) executive branch
B) military
C) bureaucracy
D) legislative branch
Q4) Should there be term limits for Supreme Court justices?
Q5) ____________ is the authority to hear and decide cases.
A) Nullification
B) Jurisprudence
C) Jurisdiction
D) Litigation
Q6) Why is it important for presidents to appoint women to the Supreme Court?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Civil Liberties
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Q1) In 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled the state must __________.
A) illegalize same-sex marriage
B) repeal sodomy laws
C) eliminate the rights of same-sex civil unions
D) equalize rights for civil unions
Q2) Plea bargaining __________.
A) increases access to government witnesses
B) reduces due process rights
C) involves the uncertainty of jury trials
D) takes advantage of rights to jury trials
Q3) The Constitution protects individuals from ____________ laws, which make some behavior illegal that was not illegal when the acts were committed.
A) habeas corpus
B) ex post facto
C) de jure
D) Marshall
Q4) Should a courthouse be able to erect a marble statue of the Ten Commandments on its grounds? Why or why not? What are the constitutional issues involved?
Q5) What rule was established by the Supreme Court in Mapp v. Ohio?
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Chapter 14: Civil Rights
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Q1) Describe Arizona's controversial 2010 immigration law?
Q2) How have the courts handled gender discrimination?
Q3) What is affirmative action?
Q4) Justice Taney ruled in the Dred Scott decision that free blacks __________.
A) were not citizens
B) were citizens, but that enslaved blacks were not
C) could not own black slaves
D) should have the same rights as white men
Q5) In 1971, what did the Burger Court apply the Fourteenth Amendment's equal-protection clause to?
A) racial minorities.
B) women.
C) children.
D) illegal aliens.
Q6) The __________ Amendment gives women the right to vote.
A) Thirteenth
B) Eighteenth
C) Nineteenth
D) Twenty-first
Q7) What was the impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1968?
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Chapter 15: Extension 1: Focus On: Economic Policy
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Q1) A period of prolonged high unemployment with a period of decline in the gross national product (GNP) is called __________.
A) a recession
B) a depression
C) inflation
D) stagflation
Q2) When the GDP has declined for two or more consecutive quarters, this economic time is known as a(n) __________.
A) depression
B) recession
C) inflation
D) misery index
Q3) What is included under discretionary spending?
A) Medicare
B) interest on the debt
C) national parks
D) government subsidies
Q4) Describe the partisan debate over revising the U.S. tax code.
Q5) Explain why changing the tax code is so difficult.
Q6) What is the difference between discretionary and mandatory spending?
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Extension 2: Focus on: Environmental Policy
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Q1) Which of the following presidents established the Environmental Protection Agency?
A) Theodore Roosevelt
B) Franklin Roosevelt
C) Jimmy Carter
D) Richard Nixon
Q2) A federal law that levies taxes on chemical and petroleum industries that endanger public health is popularly called __________.
A) Love Canal Act
B) Superfund
C) Toxic Substance Control Act
D) Clean Water Act
Q3) Moving to renewable resources and reducing greenhouse gases while creating jobs is called the __________.
A) "green economy"
B) "Better World Plan"
C) "Eyes of Nye"
D) "Democratic platform"
Q4) What is a negative externality?
Q5) What causes the global ozone hole?
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Chapter 17: Extension 3: Focus On: Foreign Policy
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Q1) The idea that the United States can strike first if there is a perceived threat against its interests is __________.
A) preemption
B) the Powell Doctrine
C) the Truman Doctrine
D) the Vietnam syndrome
Q2) U.S. ambassadors to other countries are personally appointed by _________.
A) the Congress
B) the president
C) the Chief Joints of Staff
D) the Central Intelligence Agency
Q3) The U.S. isolationist ideal lapsed briefly at the beginning of the twentieth century with our involvement in which war?
A) the Spanish-American War
B) the Russo-Japanese War
C) World War I
D) the American Civil War
Q4) Briefly compare Nixon's and Clinton's views on foreign policy.
Q5) What is the policy of containment?
Q6) Which officials are involved in the making American foreign policy?
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Extension 4: Focus On: Health Policy
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Q1) Describe a government agency that deals with public health.
Q2) What is the single-payer system?
Q3) The Massachusetts health care reform was passed in 2006 with the help of which governor?
A) Howard Dean
B) Jeb Bush
C) Barack Obama
D) Mitt Romney
Q4) Many hospitals are operated by corporations, meaning that many hospitals may be owned by __________.
A) the government
B) churches
C) insurance companies
D) charities
Q5) In June 2012, what part of the Affordable Care Act was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court?
A) the individual mandate
B) the Medicaid part
C) the preexisting condition coverage
D) the single-payer system
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