U.S. Government and Politics
Test Preparation
Course Introduction
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the foundations, structure, and functioning of the United States government and its political processes. Students will explore the principles enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, the roles and responsibilities of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and the dynamics of federalism. The course examines the development of civil rights and civil liberties, the influence of political parties, interest groups, and the media, as well as the impact of elections and public opinion on policymaking. Throughout, students will analyze current issues and controversies, developing a deeper understanding of how government actions and political decisions shape American society.
Recommended Textbook
American Democracy Now 4th Edition by Brigid Callahan Harrison
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1359 Verified Questions
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Chapter 1: People, Politics, and Participation
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Sample Questions
Q1) What does the Greek term demokratia translate to mean?
A) democracy
B) people power
C) people's will
D) liberty
E) freedom
Answer: B
Q2) Which of these countries is considered an authoritarian state system?
A) the United States
B) North Korea
C) Canada
D) Japan
E) China
Answer: E
Q3) Outline how technology has transformed politics since the mid-twentieth century.
Answer: It is difficult to overstate the impact of technology on politics since the 1950s. Many different technologies, such as television, computers, the Internet, and mobile technologies have changed the ways parties communicate with voters and supporters, and how elections are conducted. In short, technology has fundamentally transformed American politics in the twenty-first century.
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Chapter 2: The Constitution
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Sample Questions
Q1) How many foundational government bodies are described by the U.S. Constitution?
A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four
E) six
Answer: C
Q2) Explain and discuss the important features of the system of dual sovereignty.
Answer: The framers of the Constitution created an innovative system of government with dual sovereignty-a system of government in which governing authority is divided between two levels of government, a central government and regional governments, with each level having ultimate authority over different policy matters.
Q3) Who formed the Massachusetts Committee of Correspondence in 1772?
A) John Hancock
B) Paul Revere
C) Patrick Henry
D) Samuel Adams
E) Benjamin Franklin
Answer: D
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Federalism
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Sample Questions
Q1) In most states, how long must new residents wait until they can register to vote?
A) 3 days
B) 7 days
C) 30 days
D) 90 days
E) 180 days
Answer: C
Q2) McCulloch v. Maryland was decisive because it
A) ruled in favor of state-centered federalism.
B) asserted that the necessary and proper clause was a restriction on the power of the national government.
C) affirmed that national law is supreme over conflicting state law.
D) established the Supreme Court's power to judge constitutional issues.
E) allowed for a narrow reading of the Constitution.
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following religious affiliations has the greatest number of adherents in the United States?
A) Catholic
B) Protestant
C) Mormon
D) Jewish
E) None of these answers is correct.
Q2) During the Civil War, which legal right did President Abraham Lincoln suspend as a means of silencing political dissidents?
A) access to legal counsel
B) the writ of habeas corpus
C) access to early release and parole
D) foreign residency status
E) the right of assembly
Q3) Discuss the creation of the clear and present danger test, and explain the government powers established under this standard.
Q4) Outline the course of public discussion on the balance between freedom and public safety since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
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Page 6
Chapter 5: Civil Rights
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Sample Questions
Q1) In which year did Congress pass the Missouri Compromise, which sought to regulate slavery in the western territories?
A) 1810
B) 1820
C) 1830
D) 1840
E) 1850
Q2) The Montgomery bus boycott began after the arrest of whom for refusing to give up a seat on the bus for a white man?
A) Martin Luther King, Jr.
B) Rosa Parks
C) Homer Plessy
D) Fannie Lou Hamer
E) Thurgood Marshall
Q3) Who was the first African American to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court?
A) Thurgood Marshall
B) Clarence Thomas
C) W. E. B. Du Bois
D) Oswald Garrison Villard
E) Richard Wright
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Chapter 6: Political Socialization and Public Opinion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT a way in which the media contributes to political socialization of Americans?
A) The media aid in shaping societal norms.
B) The media help determine the national agenda.
C) The media educate the public about policy issues.
D) The media play a stronger role than any other agent of socialization.
E) The media can skew people's perception of public policy priorities.
Q2) Which of the following political socialization agents has the overall greatest impact on forming political beliefs?
A) demographic characteristics
B) political leaders
C) groups
D) peers
E) school
Q3) Women are more likely to vote than men in every age group EXCEPT
A) those under 25.
B) those aged 25-34.
C) those aged 35-44.
D) those aged 45-54.
E) those over 55.
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Chapter 7: Interest Groups
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Sample Questions
Q1) When an interest group representing teachers lobbies a state legislature for an increase in retirement benefits, it is seeking to provide its members with
A) purposive benefits.
B) solidary benefits.
C) economic benefits.
D) ethical benefits.
E) moral benefits.
Q2) In what decade was union membership the LOWEST?
A) 1960s
B) 1970s
C) 1980s
D) 1990s
E) 2000s
Q3) Who can legally contribute to federal political action committees?
A) U.S. citizens only
B) U.S. citizens who vote in federal elections only
C) U.S. citizens and legal immigrants only
D) U.S. citizens and all immigrants, legal and illegal
E) U.S. citizens, all immigrants, and foreigners
Q4) Identify at least two negative effects of interest groups on policy formation.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Political Parties
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Sample Questions
Q1) Registering, canvassing, and mobilizing voters is an example of
A) interest group activity.
B) grassroots organizing.
C) the responsible party model.
D) party in the electorate.
E) party organization.
Q2) Of the following, which are MOST likely to vote for Republicans?
A) whites and men
B) people with some college education
C) ethnic minorities and women
D) people with no college education
E) whites, men, and people with some college education
Q3) Identify key principles of the Tea Party movement.
Q4) Discuss the rise of candidate committees and their influence on the political process.
Q5) Identify important features of the party system that have emerged since 1968.
Q6) Outline the arguments that suggest a decline in the two-party system.
Q7) Explain the structural factors that favor the maintenance of the two-party system.
Q8) Identify the three faces of political parties in the United States.
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Chapter 9: Elections, Campaigns, and Voting
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the United States, the length of presidential campaigns tends to lead to voter fatigue. How long do presidential campaigns in the United States generally last?
A) over three years
B) over one year
C) up to a year
D) six to nine months
E) three to six months
Q2) Efforts to limit the influence of money on political campaigns started after
A) the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. The Federal Election Commission during Barack Obama's presidency.
B) the Teapot Dome scandal during Warren Harding's presidency.
C) passage of the McCain-Feingold legislation during George W. Bush's presidency.
D) passage of the Hatch Act during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
E) Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act during Richard Nixon's presidency.
Q3) Identify the chief advantages of absentee voting.
Q4) Explain the relationship between party competitiveness and voter turnout.
Q5) Explain the difference between a referendum and an initiative.
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Chapter 10: The Media
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Sample Questions
Q1) American radio listeners first heard news in real time in which decade?
A) 1920s
B) 1930s
C) 1940s
D) 1950s
E) 1960s
Q2) The use of portable cellular technology like phones and tablets has
A) decreased news consumption as a whole.
B) increased consumption of news briefs, but decreased consumption of "long form" news.
C) increased the traffic on major newspaper websites.
D) has made television irrelevant for consuming news.
E) All these answers are correct.
Q3) Define yellow journalism and explain its impact.
Q4) Being telegenic first became a significant factor in politics in the A) 1940s.
B) 1960s.
C) 1980s.
D) 1990s.
E) 2000s.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Politics and Technology
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ helped spur the Internet revolution with the invention of hypertext.
A) Bill Gates
B) Steve Jobs
C) Al Gore
D) Tim Berners-Lee
E) the U.S. government
Q2) A canvasser for a candidate using E-motive software on a smartphone to survey potential supporters and then syncing the phone with a database that tracks citizens' preferences and concerns is participating in
A) an e-petition.
B) a macro-protest.
C) e-mobilization.
D) an e-campaign.
E) microtargeting.
Q3) What are some of the downsides of the use of technology in politics?
Q4) Discuss the free speech concerns that have arisen because of the rapid rise of the Internet and related technologies.
Q5) What are the key controversies currently surrounding the government's technology-based domestic surveillance programs?
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Chapter 12: Congress
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Sample Questions
Q1) In many congressional districts, particularly urban areas, House members' constituencies tend to have fairly ________ positions on many issues.
A) unified
B) similar
C) different
D) diverse
E) conflicted
Q2) In what year did Republicans regain control of both the House and the Senate?
A) 1988
B) 1994
C) 2006
D) 2010
E) 2012
Q3) Which of the following BEST describes the makeup of the legislature in the United States?
A) unicameral
B) parliamentary
C) bicameral
D) executive
E) unichamber
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Chapter 13: The Presidency
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Sample Questions
Q1) In what month do general presidential election campaigns usually begin?
A) June
B) July
C) August
D) September
E) October
Q2) Thomas Jefferson's decision to initiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 was an early example of the exercising of ________ presidential powers.
A) expressed
B) statutory
C) inherent
D) emergency
E) declaratory
Q3) Which president began the practice of using a cabinet to assist in executive governance?
A) George Washington
B) James Madison
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) John Adams
E) Andrew Jackson
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Chapter 14: The Bureaucracy
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the biggest downside to holding a patronage position in the federal bureaucracy?
A) no access to the president
B) no real benefits
C) no chance of promotion
D) no job security
E) no opportunity to shape policy
Q2) A bureaucracy that follows Weber's ideal bureaucratic structure has all of the following characteristics, EXCEPT
A) division of labor.
B) hiring systems based on worker competency.
C) hierarchy with a vertical chain of command.
D) standard operating procedures.
E) all workers rotate through all tasks.
Q3) Which of the following is the second stage in the public policy cycle?
A) agenda setting
B) resource allocation
C) policy formulation
D) policy approval
E) policy implementation
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Chapter 15: The Judiciary
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Sample Questions
Q1) The term symbolic representation refers to which of the following in the selection of federal judges?
A) judicial qualifications of the candidate
B) the candidate's ideological views
C) the demographic represented by the candidate
D) opinions of constituents regarding the candidate
E) All these answers are correct.
Q2) A court's jurisdiction is determined by
A) a constitution only.
B) a statute only.
C) a constitution or a statute.
D) a higher court.
E) the president or a governor.
Q3) The compilation of all the laws passed by the U.S. Congress is known as
A) the Federal Register.
B) United States Reports.
C) constitutional law.
D) the U.S. Code.
E) the U.S. common law.
Q4) Identify the differences between concurring opinions and dissenting opinions.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Economic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which year had the lowest unemployment rate?
A) 2008
B) 2009
C) 2010
D) 2011
E) 2012
Q2) Which of the following is the newest of the business-regulating government agencies that was established to help protect consumers of banking and financial industries?
A) Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
B) Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
C) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
D) Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
E) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Q3) Congress and which president established the Federal Reserve System in 1913?
A) William McKinley
B) Theodore Roosevelt
C) Woodrow Wilson
D) Calvin Coolidge
E) Herbert Hoover
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Chapter 17: Domestic Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most federal money spent on housing assistance is in the form of
A) block grants to states.
B) grants-in-aid to states.
C) direct cash transfers.
D) in-kind assistance.
E) tax breaks.
Q2) Which of the following was instrumental in bringing awareness to the dangers of pesticides, and resulted in the creation of a presidential panel to investigate them?
A) the fire on Cuyahoga River in northeast Ohio
B) Earth Day festivities in 1970
C) the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency
D) the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
E) the passage of the Clean Air Act
Q3) Discuss the purposes and features of the minimum wage, and identify groups of workers not guaranteed it.
Q4) Outline the factors that complicate the formation of national domestic policy.
Q5) Outline the relationship between energy use and global warming.
Q6) Describe the circumstances that led to the creation of Earth Day.
Q7) Define direct provision and provide examples of its application.
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Foreign Policy and National Security
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain the doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD).
Q2) Which Cold War policy was designed to prevent the spread of communism?
A) massive retaliation
B) engaged diplomacy
C) containment
D) détente
E) brinksmanship
Q3) Which of the following is the foremost foreign policy actor in the United States?
A) the president
B) the State Department
C) Congress
D) the Department of Defense
E) the Secretary of Defense
Q4) NATO was formed primarily to defend
A) the United States.
B) North America.
C) Western Europe.
D) Eastern Europe.
E) the Middle East.
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Chapter 19: State and Local Government
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Sample Questions
Q1) In most states, if a governor is unable to complete his or her term in office, this person takes over as governor:
A) secretary of state.
B) lieutenant governor.
C) treasurer.
D) attorney general.
E) auditor.
Q2) The dominant shared views among the people of a community regarding the role of government and who should participate in government comprise that community's A) charter.
B) commission.
C) participation in intergovernmental relations.
D) political culture.
E) ballot initiatives.
Q3) What is direct democracy and how is it used in state and local governments?
Q4) Define and identify important features of a legislative referendum.
Q5) Explain Dillon's rule and discuss its key features.
Q6) Explain the key features of municipal governments and townships.
Q7) Compare and contrast district and authority special-purpose governments.
Page 21
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