Public Policy Final Exam

Tests A and B

One of the original purposes of government is?

Maintaining security and order

To say that authority is legitimate is to say that?

Authority is broadly accepted

Authoritarianism differs from totalitarianism in that?

Only the government itself is fully controlled by the ruler

The literal meaning of theocracy is?

Rule by god (or the gods)

The type of government that the United States has?

A representative democracy/republic

Elite theory suggests that?

Society is ruled by a small number of people who exercise power to further their self-interest

The concept of political socialization refers to?

The process by which political beliefs and values are transmitted to individuals

Probably the most fundamental weakness of the Articles of Confederation, and the most basic cause of their eventual replacement by the Constitution, was the?

Lack of power to raise funds for the militia

Who wrote drafts of the declaration of Independence before the American Revolution formally started?

Thomas Jefferson

The Bill of Rights was important for ratification of the Constitution because?

Some states would not have voted to ratify the constitution without the promise of amendments to protect individual liberties.

The concept of separation of powers was included in the Constitution to prevent?

The imposition of tyranny-either by the majority or by a minority

The initiative and the referendum are both?

Modern adaptions of direct democracy

A constitutional amendment can be ratified by?

A positive vote in three-fourths of the legislatures of the various states

According to the Constitution if a state or local law conflicts with a national law?

The national law supersedes the state or local law

Those personal freedoms, including freedom of religion and of speech, that are protected for all individuals in a society are called?

Civil Liberties

Powers held jointly by the national and state government are called?

Concurrent powers

State funding to private or parochial schools has raised issues involving the ____ of the constitution?

First Amendment

Which of the following best define symbolic speech?

Nonverbal expression

Slander is?

The public uttering of a false statement that harms the good reputation of another?

The Bill of Rights provided?

Protection of individual liberties at the national level

The Doctrine that was born of the Plessy V Ferguson case was known as?

Separate-but-equal

In the Brown V Board of Education, the supreme court?

Ruled that segregation of races in public schools is unconstitutional

A practice, policy, or procedure that denies equality of treatment to an individual or to a group because of gender is?

Gender Discrimination

The policy admissions or hiring that gives special consideration to traditionally disadvantaged groups to overcome the present effects of past discrimination is known as?

Affirmative Action

The modern movement for gay and lesbian rights began?

In 1969, following the Stonewall Inn incident

What is Public Opinion?

The aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs shared by some portion of the adult population

Political Socialization is?

The process by which people acquire political beliefs and attitudes

Many people contend that the media’s influence on public opinion?

Has become just as important as the influence of the family

Recently, Having a bachelors degree is associated with a greater tendency to vote for?

Democrats

Currently, which regions are more supportive of the Republicans than the Democrats?

The South, The Great Plains, and several of te Rocky Mountain States

What best describes an opinion poll?

A method of systemically questioning a small elected sample of respondents who are deemed representative of the total population

The media tends to depend on ____ for their income?

Advertisers

A political party is a group of political activists who?

Organize to win elections, operate the government, and determine public policy

Lobbyists are best defined as?

Organizations or individuals that attempt to influence legislation and the government’s administrative decisions

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

Interest groups or professionals

The National Right-to-Life Committee and the National Rifle Association are examples of?

Single-issue interest groups

Successful interest groups and their representatives try to cultivate long-term relationships with?

Legislators and government officials

When an interest group and its lobbyists approach officials personally to present their case, they are engaging in?

Direct techniques

A true independent politically is a?

Voter or a candidate who does not identify with a political party

What is NOT a function of U.S political parties?

Signing up large numbers of committed dues-paying members

Which of the following best describes a focus group?

When professional consultants organize a discussion about candidates or certain political issues among small groups of ordinary citizens

One of the main ways third parties have influenced American Politics is by?

Sometimes determining an outcome of an election by pulling votes from one of the major-party candidates

Interest groups recognize that the greatest concern of legislators is to?

Be reelected

A committee set up by and representing a corporation, labor union, or special interest group to raise campaign donations is a?

Political action committee

Today, in national elections, most campaign tasks are handled by?

Paid professionals

If a candidate is a highly visible incumbent seeking reelection there is little need for?

Campaigning, except to remind the voters of the officeholder’s good deeds.

The qualifications to run for any office at the local, state, or federal level are?

Set depending on the location and level of the office

Under the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United V FEC, corporations and unions are allowed to?

make direct contributions of any amount to candidates

When only declared party members can vote in a primary election like in NYS is called?

A closed election

The process in which more and more states mover their primaries into the first month of the year is called?

Front-loading

Congress’s main function is to?

Make laws

The division of a legislature into two separate assemblies is called?

Bicameralism

A special provision in legislation to set aside funds for projects that have not passed an impartial evaluation by agencies in the executive branch is called a?

Earmark

Why the representation function is often a source of conflict for individual lawmakers?

The interests of constituents in a specific district my be t odds with the demands of national policy

The “necessary and proper” clause has provided what?

The basis for an expanded role of the national government

A filibuster is?

The use of unlimited debate as a delaying tactic to block a bill

Gerrymandering is?

The drawing of legislative district boundary lines to give the dominant party an advantage

One of the most powerful agencies in Washington, the ______ assemblies the budget documents and monitors federal agencies throughout each year?

Office of Management and Budget

The people represented by a legislator or other elected or appointed official are called?

Constituents

Which is NOT a function of congress?

Determining if laws are constitutional

To be elected president, a candidate must obtain?

A majority of the electoral vote

Which is true regarding presidential election campaigns?

One can become president without winning the popular vote

The president, in the role of head of state, is responsible for?

Acting as the ceremonial head of the government

The presidential power known as diplomatic recognition?

Is the power of the president to recognize, or not recognize, foreign governments.

What happens when the president sigs a bill?

It becomes a law

Bureaucracy is the name given to?

A large organization, structured hierarchically, that carries out a specific function

The original government bureaucracy included the Attorney General’s Office and the departments of?

State, War, and Treasury

Which part of the federal government employs most of the governments staff?

The executive branch

Independent executive agencies are?

Federal agencies that are not part of a cabinets department, but report directly to the president

The merit system refers to?

Job appointment based on competitive examinations

A major power that Congress has over the federal bureaucracy is the?

Power to refuse to appropriate funds for a particular agency.

Regulatory agencies and commissions perform?

Some functions of all branches of government-legislative, executive, and Judicial

Supreme Court justices are appointed by the?

President

The body of judge-made law that originated in England from decisions shaped according to prevailing custom is known as?

Commo law

A court rule bearing on subsequent legal decisions in similar cases is called a?

Precedent

The federal appeals court process involves?

A panel of judges that reviews the case record and determines whether the trial court committed an error

A writ of certiorari by the Supreme Court orders?

A lower court to send up the record of a case review

A written opinion of the Supreme Court is best described as?

The Court’s ruling on the issue presented, its reasoning, and applicable law

Once appointed to a judgeship, federal judges hold the job for?

life

The power of the courts to determine whether a law or action is constitutional is called?

Judicial review