PSC101 Final Exam

We The People 2025 - Ch. 10-15, plus NV Constitution

the Senate and the House of Representatives

What two bodies make up the U.S. Congress?

Local Districts - Represents the population of their specific congressional district

• The number of representatives of a state (1-52) depends on the population of their congressional district

What are the constituencies for the House?

Statewide - Represents the state as a whole

• Two per each state

What are the constituencies for the Senate?

The electoral college

What are the constituencies for the U.S. President?

True

True or False: The # of women and minorities in Congress increased over the last 50 years.

• More likely to get reelected (by ~90%)

• Name recognition

• More money and resources for campaigns

• More ability to perform constituent services such as casework (helping constituents with problems they’re experiencing with federal agencies)

What are the advantages of incumbency?

1. Redistricting: the process of redrawing election districts and redistributing legislative representatives; happens every 10 years to reflect shifts in population

2. Gerrymandering: the manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group

What are redistricting and gerrymandering?

Standing committees

(They have the power to propose and write legislation)

Which congressional committees are the most important arenas for policy making?

• Constituency

• Interest groups

• Political party

What are the major influences on the decision-making of Congress?

A tactic used by Senators to prevent action on legislation they oppose by continuously holding the floor and speaking until the majority backs down.

There is no time limit for how long a Senator can speak, and to end a filibuster, 3/5ths of Senate must agree to end it.

What is a filibuster?

1. House votes on whether the accused should be impeached

2. If majority votes YES, then Senate votes on whether to convict and remove the official (2/3rds majority must vote YES).

3. If Senate votes no, he’s acquitted.

How does the impeachment process work?

US Congress

Who in the US government has the power to declare war?

• Most are white (excluding Obama who is black)

• All Christian

• Most have attended university

• Many have prior experience in public service

• Old

What are traits/characteristics that most, if not all, US president share?

The Vice President

• Succeed the President in case of death, resignation, or incapacity

• Cast a tie-breaking vote in Senate

Who is the President of the Senate? What are his powers?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

Which president practiced going public with his Fireside Chat radio addresses?

True

True or False: Since the beginning of the 20th Century, U.S. Presidents are utilizing executive orders more commonly.

The Electoral College

Who elects the President of the United States?

Executive branch

Which branch houses the federal bureaucracy?

• Implement laws

• Make rules

• Enforce laws

• Innovate

What do federal bureaucrats actually do?

(2019) 2.8 million civil; 1.3 million military

How many people does the federal bureaucracy employ?

Employees who report wrongdoing within public or private organizations, including federal agencies

What is whistleblower?

Lowest to Highest

1. Federal trial courts

2. Federal appellate courts

3. Supreme Court

Know the hierarchy of the federal court system.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

The state of Nevada is within the jurisdiction of what federal appellate court circuit?

True

True or False: Most criminal and civil cases are settled before going to trial.

100

Of the 5000 cases appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court each year, roughly how many does the court accept?

Getting considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee and confirmed by a majority vote in the full Senate

To become a federal judge it is a two-step process. Step 1 is getting nominated by the U.S. President. What is Step 2?

True

True or False: Prior to 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court had no racial or gender minorities.

Judicial review is the power of the judiciary to examine actions taken on by the legislative and executive branches, and if necessary, invalidate them if it finds it unconstitutional.

• Marbury v. Madison (1803)

What is judicial review? Which court case first invoked it?

True

(Other countries with life terms have age limits, but the US has neither)

True or False: The U.S. is the ONLY country to provide federal judges a life term AND no mandatory retirement age.

• Constitutional law

• Political ideology and partisanship

• Judicial philosophy

• Institutional interests

What influences the decision-making of the Supreme Court?

$38 trillion

What is the current national debt of the United States?

True

True or False: Before 1981, the United States national debt was less than $1 trillion.

Theory that if left to its own devices, the economy would produce full employment and maximum production

• Began regulating in the 1930s during the Great Depression (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

What is laissez-faire capitalism? When did the U.S. begin regulating?

Deterrence and containment

(The US built their military to put the Soviet Union’s growing power in check (containment) and asserted that if the Soviet Union dared to attack, the US would retaliate at full force (deterrence))

What was the United States foreign policy during the Cold War?

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• Intergovernmental military alliance born after WWII to ensure deter the growth of the Soviet Union, now Russia

  • “If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us” type alliance but for war

What is NATO?

(UN) Organization for nations to negotiate and settle international disputes peacefully (1945)

What is the United Nations?

NATO is a military alliance between 32 countries and the UN is for diplomacy and peaceful negotiations for all countries.

How do NATO and the United Nations’ roles differ?

• US President is the head of Executive branch.

  • Commands troops and decides when to go to war as commander-in-chief

  • Can make treaties, and executive agreements with other countries instead of treaties

  • Appoints and receives ambassadors

• National Security Council (NSC)

  • Oversees America’s foreign policy institutions

  • Synthesizes info from the bureaucracy

  • Helps US president develop foreign policy

• State Department

  • In charge of international diplomacy

  • Oversees 300 US embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions around the world

• Department of Defense (DOD)

  • Oversees each of the military branches

  • Employed >2 million military and civilian personnel; huge/complex bureaucratic entity

• Intelligence Agencies

  • Like CIA and

  • FBI

  • Collects information from around the world

  • Does covert operations

How can the executive branch shape foreign policy?

October 31, 1864

On which date did Nevada become a state?

US Army Captain John C. Fremont

Which military officer painstakingly and accurately mapped Nevada, as well as gave names to its features.

30 days

How long must a citizen live in Nevada before they are eligible to vote in the state?

Taxes, fees, fines and the federal government

• Taxes:

  • Sales and use tax

  • Gaming tax

  • Insurance Premium tax

  • Modified Business tax

• Excise taxes:

  • fuel, cigarettes, alcohol, insurance

• Fines and fees:

  • parking and traffic fines; license fees for marriage, hunting, fishing, motor vehicles, etc.

What are the major sources of revenue for the state of Nevada

True

True or False: The Nevada Constitution requires a balanced budget

True

True or False: At the time, the Nevada Constitution was the longest, most expensive telegram dispatched.

12 years

• State Assembly - 6 terms, 2 yrs each

• State Senate - 3 terms, 4 yrs each

What is the maximum number of years members of the Nevada State Assembly and/or Senate may serve?

• NV Assembly: 42 members

• NV Senate: 21 members

• Governor: 1 member

• NV Supreme Court: 7 Justices

How many members in Nevada’s Assembly, State Senate, Governor, State Supreme Court?

Declaration of Rights listing civil liberties

Article I of the Nevada Constitution addressed what subject?

False

True or False: The Governor of Nevada possesses line-item veto power.

Choose THREE of the following essay questions. Your response should be complete and be 1-2 pages in length EACH.

Essay- Explain the process of how a bill becomes a law.

Choose THREE of the following essay questions. Your response should be complete and be 1-2 pages in length EACH.

Essay- Name at least 5 presidential expressed powers and give examples how presidents have exercised them.

Choose THREE of the following essay questions. Your response should be complete and be 1-2 pages in length EACH.

Essay- Explain the history of American foreign policy over time. Start with George Washington and go through Biden's administration noting the key shifts in policy and what caused said shifts.

Choose THREE of the following essay questions. Your response should be complete and be 1-2 pages in length EACH.

Essay- What are the 3 major goals of foreign policy and give examples how the nation practiced each

Choose THREE of the following essay questions. Your response should be complete and be 1-2 pages in length EACH.

Essay- Explain the settlement of Nevada prior to 1900. Who were the first groups (at least 3) to settle? When, where and why did
they settle?