UTRGV POLS 2305 Final Exam

The court case of Marbury v. Madison established the legal power of the Supreme Court to:

a. review acts of Congress.

b. establish lower federal courts.

c. force parties in a legal conflict to settle prior to trial.

d. amend the Constitution.

a. review acts of Congress.

The Constitution specified the number of justices that should sit on the Supreme Court.

False

Over the centuries, judges have developed a body of rules and principles of interpretation called ___________ law that are not grounded in specific statutes.:

a. basic

b. judicial

c. unwritten

d. common

Most cases reach the Supreme Court through a writ of:

a. habeas corpus.

b. publici juris.

c. certiorari.

d. in forma pauperis.

c. certiorari.

Justice Harry Blackmun's decision in Roe v. Wade was based on a judicial philosophy that involved looking beyond the text of the Constitution to find a right to an abortion. He relied on the philosophy of judicial:

a. activism.

b. expansion.

c. restraint.

d. flexibility.

a. activism.

In the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), the Supreme Court held that corporations and unions could not be restricted from financial participation in elections. The Court's decision to expand corporate and union participation in elections best exemplifies which of the following judicial philosophies?:

a. judicial impartiality

b. judicial ideology

c. judicial restraint

d. judicial activism

d. judicial activism

In the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court overturned statutes from several states.:

True

Federal judges are nominated by the:

a. Senate Judiciary Committee.

b. president.

c. Supreme Court.

d. chief justice.

b. president.

Considering that the U.S. Supreme Court rejects the vast majority of cases, what is typically the final federal court to which a case can be appealed?:

a. U.S. Dispute Commission

b. U.S. District Courts

c. U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals

d. U.S. Courts of Federal Claims

c. U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals

Congress can overturn the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution by enacting a new constitutional amendment

True

According to David Brooks, Americans are divided not so much along cultural lines but rather along the lines of ideologies and interests.

False

During the nineteenth century, a liberal was an individual who favored:

a. freedom from state control.

b. greater concern for consumers and the environment.

c. expansion of federal social services.

d. extensive government intervention in the economy.

a. freedom from state control.

How do well-financed groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, influence public opinion?:

a. spending millions of dollars on television commercials, contributions to think tanks, and other forms of issues management

b. paying spokespersons to travel the country giving speeches at college campuses

c. hiring junior high students as surrogates to post pro-business messages on liberal blogs

d. organizing nonviolent street protests by group members

a. spending millions of dollars on television commercials, contributions to think tanks, and other forms of issues management

Individuals' opinions are most strongly affected by their ________ interests.:

a. religious

b. altruistic

c. environmental

d. economic

d. economic

Members of the Hispanic community have tended to support the 2010 Affordable Care Act at higher levels than non-Hispanic whites.

True

Most people's initial orientation to politics comes from which source?:

a. families

b. exposure to news media

c. educational background

d. membership in social groups

a. families

Why do people take political cues from others rather than studying the issues themselves?:

a. They feel compelled to vote like their peers.

b. Most people lack the ability to understand most political issues.

c. Most people cannot afford the fees to pay for political news.

d. Shortcuts help people make good decisions while relieving them of having to gather their own information.

d. Shortcuts help people make good decisions while relieving them of having to gather their own information.

Which agency tracks the American population's housing, family status, employment, and demographic characteristics?:

a. Central Intelligence Agency

b. Labor Department

c. Census Bureau

d. Office of Management and Budget

c. Census Bureau

What is a general term for the psychological and sociological attachments that people may feel based on group affiliation?:

a. ideological teaming

b. identity politics

c. teamwork politics

d. clustering

b. identity politics

The gender gap has virtually vanished on the abortion issue.

True

According to James Madison in Federalist 10, what is the best way to curb the dangers of interest groups?:

a. have the government monitor and regulate the groups very closely

b. restrict liberty

c. allow them to exist and compete

d. join political parties instead

c. allow them to exist and compete

Any paid person who attempts to influence the passage or defeat of legislation is a:

a. political entrepreneur.

b. lobbyist.

c. free rider.

d. constituent.

b. lobbyist.

The American Bar Association and the American Medical Association are examples of:

a. free riders.

b. public interest groups.

c. professional lobbies.

d. labor organizations.

c. professional lobbies.

The prisoner's dilemma provides the important insight that individually rational behavior does not always lead to:

a. free riding.

b. a dominant strategy.

c. snitching.

d. the best collective results.

d. the best collective results.

This theory states that all interests should be free to compete for influence in the government, yielding compromise and moderation.:

a. elitism

b. capitalism

c. socialism

d. pluralism

d. pluralism

When political elites seek to mobilize and manipulate grassroots support on an issue, it is known as:

a. "Astroturf" lobbying.

b. free riding.

c. people's PACs.

d. netroots.

a. "Astroturf" lobbying.

Which interest group famously used the courts to achieve its policy aims in the Brown v. Board of Education case?:

a. SCLC

b. Sierra Club

c. NAACP

d. SNCC

c. eNNN double A see p?

Political action committees:

a. were first created in the aftermath of the Teapot Dome scandal.

b. have been increasingly regulated by various government agencies over time.

c. are the campaign finance arm of an interest group.

d. do not face any limitations on contributions or spending.

c. are the campaign finance arm of an interest group.

Which of the following best describes an "insider strategy" used by groups to influence policy?:

a. mobilizing public opinion

b. campaign activism

c. litigation in the courts

d. redistricting and apportionment

c. litigation in the courts

Which is an example of a public interest group?:

a. National Association of Realtors

b. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees

c. Natural Resources Defense Council

d. U.S. Chamber of Commerce

c. Natural Resources Defense Council

Civil rights are:

a. classifications based on race, religion, or ethnicity.

b. the legal or moral claims that government can make upon citizens.

c. the rules government must follow in the treatment of individuals, especially concerning participation in political and social life.

d. primarily related to the freedoms of speech, press, and religion.

c. the rules government must follow in the treatment of individuals, especially concerning participation in political and social life.

In Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court struck down state abortion laws on the grounds that:

a. only the federal government has the power to regulate reproductive decisions.

b. there can be no restrictions on a woman's right to choose at any time to have an abortion.

c. they violated a woman's right to privacy as protected by the Ninth Amendment.

d. they violated a woman's right to privacy as protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

a. only the federal government has the power to regulate reproductive decisions.

When the U.S. Constitution was ratified,:

a. all but one of the thirteen original states permitted slavery.

b. it called for a ban on the importation of slaves after 1808.

c. it guaranteed a general right to vote.

d. the greatest restriction on civil rights applied to women.

b. it called for a ban on the importation of slaves after 1808.

The legal principle of "separate but equal":

a. held that the use of race as a criterion of exclusion in public matters was not unreasonable.

b. was articulated in the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

c. was overturned in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson.

d. applied only to public accommodations for transportation, such as trains and buses.

a. held that the use of race as a criterion of exclusion in public matters was not unreasonable.

Black and white students are segregated into different schools within the same school district, but supposedly receive an equal education. This would be constitutional under the Supreme Court's decision in:

a. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

b. Plessy v. Ferguson

c. Regents of California v. Bakke

d. Milliken v. Bradley

b. Plessy v. Ferguson

Ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution:

a. enforced an uninterrupted right to vote for black Americans.

b. became politically popular after the adoption of women's suffrage.

c. provided a foundation for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

d. made tactics to suppress minority turnout illegal.

c. provided a foundation for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

According to Supreme Court decisions and amendments to the Voting Rights Act of 1965,:

a. Latinos are not required to receive comparable treatment to Asian Americans under the law.

b. school districts must provide education for students whose English is limited.

c. Literacy tests may only be employed at the voter registration stage.

d. non-English speakers do not need to be accommodated when voting.

b. school districts must provide education for students whose English is limited.

The Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education:

a. enforced busing.

b. had an almost immediate effect in integrating southern schools.

c. continued de jure (if not de facto) segregation.

d. had only a delayed effect in integrating southern schools.

d. had only a delayed effect in integrating southern schools.

As explained in the Eva DuVernay documentary, the amendment that abolished slavery was the:

a. 11th Amendment

b. 12th Amendment

c. 13th Amendment

d. 14th Amendment

c. 13th Amendment

The Black Lives Matter movement:

a. has been widely accepted among white Americans.

b. highlights allegations of police misconduct directed at African Americans.

c. focuses on continuing discrimination against blacks in employment and wages.

d. calls for increased educational opportunities to reduce the poverty rate among blacks.

b. highlights allegations of police misconduct directed at African Americans.

A central goal of President Trump's "America First" agenda is the promotion of democracy around the globe.

nope...

After the 2008 election, how did the Obama administration influence U.S. policy toward ongoing conflicts?:

a. President Obama immediately hastened the departure of American troops from Iraq but not Afghanistan.

b. President Obama renounced the Bush Doctrine.

c. President Obama immediately hastened the departure of American troops from Afghanistan but not Iraq.

d. President Obama initially chose to step up American's military effort in Afghanistan and keep U.S. forces in Iraq.

d. President Obama initially chose to step up American's military effort in Afghanistan and keep U.S. forces in Iraq.

In 1997, the United States withdrew from an agreement that set limits on the emissions of greenhouse gasses from industrialized nations that was known as the:

a. Montreal Protocol.

b. Manhattan Protocol.

c. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

d. Kyoto Protocol.

d. Kyoto Protocol.

Since 1947, a separate organization in the White House, composed of key actors from the vast foreign policy establishment, has helped the president make decisions and oversee the bureaucracy. What is the name of this unit?:

a. Intelligence Services Group

b. Central Planning Board

c. National Security Council

d. Office of Diplomacy

c. National Security Council

The Bush Doctrine asserts that the United States will no longer attack other nations unless the United States is attacked first.

false

The Constitution involves the Senate directly in foreign-policy making through the:

a. treaty power.

b. responsibility to receive ambassadors and recognize nations.

c. right to declare war.

d. fiscal appropriations process.

a. treaty power.

The United States accounts for roughly what share of global military spending?:

a. three-fourths

b. one-tenth

c. one-third

d. half

c. one-third

What major lesson did U.S. policy makers learn from the U.S. military actions in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq?:

a. Democratic presidents are more likely to get the country into wars.

b. The United States can succeed against guerrilla organizations with the help of China.

c. Public support for conflicts decreases if they last a long time without positive results.

d. Tanks are ineffective against large infantry formations.

c. Public support for conflicts decreases if they last a long time without positive results. There was a really interesting report done on that by some IB student.

What would the framers of the Constitution think of the president's ability to commit U.S. military forces abroad?:

a. They would be surprised because the military is supposed to exercise its own judgment on national security issues.

b. They would be surprised because the Supreme Court is required to rule on the constitutionality of each military deployment before it occurs.

c. They would be happy because the president is intended to have full discretion over foreign policy.

d. They would be surprised because Congress was assigned the power to declare war.

d. They would be surprised because Congress was assigned the power to declare war.

Which neighboring countries are the top recipients of U.S. military aid?:

a. Iran and Afghanistan

b. Israel and Egypt

c. Rwanda and Uganda

d. India and Pakistan

b. Israel and Egypt