U.S. Political Systems
Exam Materials
Course Introduction
U.S. Political Systems offers an in-depth exploration of the structures, functions, and processes that define governance in the United States. The course examines the foundational principles of the Constitution, the roles of federal and state governments, and the operation of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Students analyze the influence of political parties, interest groups, the media, and public opinion on policymaking and elections. Emphasis is placed on understanding how historical developments and contemporary challenges shape the American political landscape, fostering critical thinking about the effectiveness and adaptability of U.S. political institutions.
Recommended Textbook
AM GOV 2015 2016 4th Edition by Joseph Losco
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16 Chapters
1073 Verified Questions
1073 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Citizenship in Our Changing Democracy
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61 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) How many of the 50 states grant their citizens the power of recall?
A)6
B)18
C)24
D)37
E)50
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following activities would be considered a form of civic engagement, though not a political activity?
A)placing a vote in a city council election
B)negotiating a higher salary from a potential employer
C)wearing a pin endorsing a candidate for office
D)joining a protest in front of City Hall
E)organizing a food drive at a local church
Answer: E
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Chapter 2: The Constitution: the Foundation of Citizens Rights
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Q1) The Philadelphia Convention, which drafted the Constitution, included delegates from every state EXCEPT
A)Rhode Island.
B)New Jersey.
C)Virginia.
D)Connecticut.
E)New Hampshire.
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a power of the president?
A)Call special sessions of Congress
B)Grant pardons
C)Veto bills
D)Appoint federal judges
E)Formally propose constitutional amendments
Answer: E
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Federalism: Citizenship and the Dispersal of Power
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Sample Questions
Q1) The powers necessary to carry out constitutionally enumerated functions of government are referred to as
A)implied powers.
B)enumerated powers.
C)official powers.
D)national powers.
E)None of these answers is correct.
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following styles of federalism characterized the immediate pre-Civil War era?
A)creative federalism
B)dual federalism
C)new federalism
D)devolution
E)cooperative federalism
Answer: B
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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties: Citizens Rights Versus Security
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Q1) The Powell v.Alabama case involving the Scottsboro boys was a landmark case with regard to
A)prior restraint.
B)right to counsel.
C)prayer in public schools.
D)the constitutionality of wartime dissent.
E)the right of police to conduct "reasonable" searches without a warrant.
Q2) The National Security Agency
A)is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense.
B)does not collect data on Americans.
C)reports to the National Security Advisor.
D)was formed during the administration of George W.Bush.
E)was abolished after the Snowden leaks were confirmed.
Q3) What is the Lemon test? How has the Supreme Court used the test to determine boundaries that separate church and state?
Q4) Are there currently any boundaries on political speech in the United States? Should there be? Defend your answer, whether it was yes or no.
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Chapter 5: Civil Rights: Toward a More Equal Citizenry
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Q1) Which of the following is true of the Brown v.Board of Education ruling?
A)Its chief impact was felt in the northern states.
B)It primarily affected the southern states.
C)Its chief impact was to reduce the prevalence of de facto segregation.
D)It did little to limit de jure segregation.
E)The use of the phrase "with all deliberate speed" in the ruling helped to bring about swift legislative changes in the southern states.
Q2) Which of the following phrases BEST encapsulates the meaning of the term "civil rights"?
A)the guaranteed freedoms on which the government cannot intrude
B)the personal liberties of individual citizens
C)the assurance of equal treatment to all citizens regardless of group identity
D)the protection of members of historically disadvantaged groups from discrimination
E)the protection of all groups and individuals from discrimination
Q3) Describe the impact of the African American civil rights movement on other oppressed groups.Which tactics developed by African Americans did members of these other groups adopt? Which tactics did they develop on their own? Which group has had the most success in bringing about legal changes to secure equal rights?
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Chapter 6: Public Opinion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is LEAST likely to vote Democrat?
A)a Jew
B)a black Protestant
C)a mainline Protestant
D)a Mormon
E)an agnostic
Q2) Overall, Americans
A)have less confidence in Congress than they do in the presidency.
B)have less confidence in the Supreme Court than they do in Congress.
C)have more confidence in Congress than they do in the Supreme Court.
D)have about the same degree of confidence in all three branches of government.
E)None of these answers is correct.
Q3) Men are more likely than women to
A)favor the death penalty for murderers.
B)support stricter gun control laws.
C)believe that the government should provide health care for the sick.
D)think the government should provide more services for citizens.
E)think the government spends too much money on the military.
Q4) What are the major agents of political socialization and how do they affect political views? Which one overall is most important? Why?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Political Participation: Equal Opportunities and Unequal Voices
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Sample Questions
Q1) The degree of loyalty that an individual feels toward a particular political party is
A)known as party politics.
B)directly inverse to the individual's education level.
C)known as external political imprinting.
D)known as strength of party identification.
E)known as political efficacy.
Q2) ________ is the process by which political leaders use networks of friends and acquaintances to activate political participation.
A)Bundling
B)The "old boys" network
C)Indirect mobilization
D)Support group activation
E)Direct mobilization
Q3) Across most types of political activity, participation rates by Hispanics
A)are higher than blacks, but lower than whites.
B)are higher than both blacks and whites.
C)are higher than whites, but lower than blacks.
D)are lower than both blacks and whites.
E)are essentially the same as both blacks and whites.
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Chapter 8: Interest Groups in America
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Sample Questions
Q1) Persons who join an interest group because it promises to offer them discounts on certain services are responding to
A)monetary incentives.
B)social incentives.
C)relegated incentives.
D)fixed incentives.
E)idealist incentives.
Q2) Why did the Citizens United and Speechnow.org decisions drastically change the nature of expenditures to affect the outcomes of federal election campaigns? First address what the decisions legalized.Then examine how the decisions led to the ascent of super PACs.Finally, discuss the impact of super PAC spending in the 2012 presidential election and what the rise of the super PAC means for democracy in the United States.
Q3) Discuss how interest groups build support for favored candidates.What organizations are they allowed to create in order to influence elections? What limits have Congress and the courts placed on these organizations? Are these limits effective? Should there be limitations on how much money individuals and groups can donate to a cause, or do such caps violate First Amendment rights?
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Chapter 9: Parties and Political Campaigns
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true about the characteristics of the political parties and voters in recent years?
A)Neither party has been able to dominate the national government for a sustained period of time.
B)Much of the period has been characterized by divided government.
C)Partisan identification has been closely divided.
D)National elections have been extremely competitive.
E)All of these answers are correct.
Q2) The only two states that do not automatically award all of their electoral votes to one presidential candidate are Maine and A)Florida.
B)Nebraska.
C)Pennsylvania.
D)Ohio.
E)California.
Q3) The two major political parties currently exhibit a high degree of polarization.What factors account for this? What changes could bring about a new era of increased bipartisanship?
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Chapter 10: Media: Tuning in or Tuning Out
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Sample Questions
Q1) Organizations such as the Associated Press and United Press International are associated with the rise of
A)the partisan press.
B)the penny press.
C)yellow journalism.
D)muckraking.
E)objective journalism.
Q2) Americans, on average, are MOST likely to get their national and international news from
A)television.
B)newspapers.
C)magazines.
D)radio.
E)the Internet.
Q3) Young people report gathering most of their political information from A)the Internet.
B)television.
C)newspapers.
D)radio.
E)magazines.
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Chapter 11: Congress: Doing the Peoples Business
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Senate procedure of calling for an end to debate and forcing a vote on the floor is known as
A)a discharge petition.
B)a filibuster.
C)cloture.
D)a hold.
E)a gerrymander.
Q2) The 113<sup>th</sup> Congress, elected in 2012,
A)had fewer Blacks than the 112<sup>th</sup> Congress.
B)had fewer Asians than the 112<sup>th</sup> Congress.
C)had more white males in the Senate than the 112<sup>th</sup> Congress.
D)had fewer Democrats than the 112<sup>th</sup> Congress.
E)contained the first openly gay senator.
Q3) Discuss the methods by which Congress might be made more receptive to the American public, and the American public more invested in Congress.What significant problems must be addressed in order for Americans to regain trust in and engagement with Congress? What solutions are best suited to solving these problems? Are these solutions feasible? Is there any likelihood that the people's relationship with Congress will change meaningfully in the immediate future?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Presidency: Power and Paradox
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements about the Executive Office of the President is LEAST accurate?
A)All of the EOP's high-ranking members must be confirmed by the Senate.
B)The EOP includes groups as diverse as the Speechwriting Office and the National Security Council.
C)The EOP includes the president's chief of staff.
D)The largest policy group in the EOP is the National Security Council, which, despite its size, has seen a decline in influence in the past few years.
E)One element of the EOP, the Office of Management and Budget, originated under the Treasury Department but was moved to the White House where it has become a tool for advancing presidential agendas.
Q2) Who was the MOST recent presidential candidate to win the popular vote yet lose the Electoral College?
A)Republican Thomas Dewey in 1948
B)Republican Richard Nixon in 1960
C)Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1980
D)Democrat Al Gore in 2000
E)Republican John McCain in 2008
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Bureaucracy: Citizens As Owners and Consumers
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Sample Questions
Q1) The typical bureaucracy is characterized by all of the following traits EXCEPT
A)a hierarchical structure.
B)a clear chain of command.
C)formal rules and procedures.
D)individual flexibility.
E)division of labor.
Q2) Which president implemented policies that led to a dramatic reduction in the number of federal employees?
A)Franklin Roosevelt
B)Richard Nixon
C)Ronald Reagan
D)Bill Clinton
E)George W.Bush
Q3) Which period in American history saw the federal civil service adopt its current emphasis on professionalism?
A)the late eighteenth century
B)the mid-nineteenth century
C)the late nineteenth century
D)the mid-twentieth century
E)the late twentieth century
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Chapter 14: The Courts: Judicial Power in a Democratic Setting
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is among the small number of nations whose citizens are nearly as litigious as those of the United States?
A)Germany
B)Spain
C)Japan
D)Italy
E)England
Q2) Petitions for writs of certiorari are an important part of the process by which
A)the Supreme Court decides which cases to hear.
B)the Supreme Court decides which justice will author the majority's decision.
C)the president decides whom to appoint when a vacancy appears in the Court.
D)the Senate decides whether or not to approve a presidential appointee to the Supreme Court.
E)the Supreme Court decides whether the argument of a disputant in a given case has a strong factual basis.
Q3) Discuss the changing role and ideology of the Supreme Court.During what periods of time has it seemed to be most active? When has it retreated into the shadows? How has it helped to shape American history? Is the Court more likely to react to or to set historical trends?
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Chapter 15: Public Policy: Responding to Citizens
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the general process of public policy formation.How does public policy evolve from the recognition of a problem to the implementation of an effective solution? Can a system of public policy formation be perfected? How can the government adequately assess all potential problems and manage its resources to deal with as many as possible? Must the government necessarily overlook or underfund certain problems? To put it another way, do Americans expect too much from the national government?
Q2) Policy evaluation is primarily carried out by A)bureaucracies.
B)the president.
C)congressional committees.
D)interest groups.
E)the public.
Q3) Which nation will probably produce the highest absolute levels of carbon dioxide emissions fifteen years from now?
A)Brazil
B)China
C)Japan
D)United States
E)Mexico
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Chapter 16: Foreign and Defense Policy: Protecting
American Interests in the World
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Sample Questions
Q1) What were the major orientations toward foreign and defense policy of President George W.Bush? And what about those of President Obama? In what ways has President Obama acted in ways similar to his predecessor? In what ways has he acted differently?
Q2) The central tenet of the Truman Doctrine was that the United States would
A)make no attempt to increase its own territorial holdings, and would prevent any other country from trying to seize new land.
B)welcome European military intervention in the internal affairs of American countries that had proven themselves incapable of self-government.
C)work closely with European powers to extend the blessings of republican government throughout the Americas.
D)intervene in the affairs of American nations whose internal disorder threatened regional stability.
E)intervene on behalf of people who were struggling to prevent their liberties from being taken away by internal factions or outside threats.
Q3) What role does public opinion play in shaping foreign policy? Should the American people have more or less of a say in the handling of foreign affairs?
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