ANG Wrap-It Up Quizzes Pt. 1

Chapters: 1-8

Which of the following statements about political issues is correct?

Politics is the activity by which an issue is agitated or settled.

A president's speechwriters are adopting a new tone based on their own evolving views of a controversy while drafting a speech. These views are not strongly held by the president, but he will say the words as written. What concept does this illustrate?

Power

Which of the following phrases accurately describes the concept of authority?

The right to use power

What term refers to a situation in which the right to exercise power is vested in a governmental office?

Formal authority

Which of the following is accepted as a source of legitimacy in the United States?

The U.S. Constitution

Which of these statements best defines *democracy*?

The rule of the many

Most Americans believe that, without democracy, what is impossible at any level of government?

The legitimate exercise of political power

A town meeting where all adult citizens gather annually to vote on issues is an example of which type of democracy?

Direct

Representative democracy is sometimes disapprovingly referred to as what theory of democracy?

Elitist

A situation in which some politicians refer to referenda with which they agree as "the will of the people," while those who disagree with the referenda refer to it as "mass misunderstanding," reflects a common concern with which type of democracy?

Direct

A proponent of which view of democracy might contend that the CEOs of WarnerMedia, AT&T, and the NRA, the president of the AFL-CIO, and other top officials like them, dominate American democracy?

The power elite view

Which theorist is most commonly associated with the class view of how power is distributed?

Karl Marx

Which view of how power is distributed contends that appointed officials run everything, despite the efforts of elected officials and the public to control them?

Bureaucratic

Which theory of how power is distributed views political resources as widely distributed?

Pluralist

Patrick Henry, leaders of the civil rights movement, and progressive reformers are historical examples modeling which view of power distribution?

Creedal passion

What explains the ongoing expansion of the political agenda?

People want the government to continue doing all the things it has done in the past and to address new issues and needs as they arise.

Which of these terms refers to the issues that people with decision-making authority believe require governmental action?

Political agenda

School desegregation involved what chain of government actions?

Following the Supreme Court's order that all public schools be desegregated, local school districts resisted, and President Eisenhower had to send in troops to enforce the mandate.

As the bureaucracy has grown, what new significance has it acquired in American politics?

As it has grown, the bureaucracy has not only implemented policies, it has also become a source for new policy.

Clean, potable water and safe roads are examples of what kind of benefit?

Widely distributed

In what type of politics are interest groups relatively unimportant?

Majoritarian

In what kind of politics do many people incur the costs of a policy proposal that benefits a small group?

Client

Suppose Senator Richard Burr supported Senator Martha McSally's proposal in exchange for McSally's support of Burr's own proposal. What term describes arrangements like this one?

Log-rolling

In response to revelations about the dangers thousands of toxic waste sites around the country posed to public health, legislators developed the Superfund program in an attempt to force industries to clean up their own toxic waste sites. This program is an example of what type of politics in action?

Entrepreneurial

What is arguably one of the best barometers of changes in who governs?

The policy process

What was the primary goal of the American Revolution?

The protect individual liberties

Which commonly held colonial belief about politicians was a major guiding force in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence?

A belief in politicians’ tendency toward corruption

What key belief, a belief that John Adams referred to as the “radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people,” is essential to the vision laid down in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?

Because rights are unalienable, the government's job is not to grant them, but to protect them. Therefore, legitimate government is possible only with the consent of the governed.

Which branch did colonists believe should be the superior force in the government?

The legislative branch

What requirement had to be met in order to amend the Articles of Confederation?

Amendments had to be supported by all 13 states

Given conditions in the new nation under the Articles of Confederation, which of the following best describes the importance of individual gun ownership to citizens of the 13 states?

The national army was small and depended on support from independent state militias.

What lesson did those familiar with the Pennsylvania constitution take with them into the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia?

There is a danger, even in a democracy, of concentrating too much power in the hands of too few.

Why did Shays's Rebellion galvanize delegates to the Constitutional Convention?

Massachusetts' relatively weak response to the rebellion suggested that a stronger, better-organized national government might be needed.

What proposal was at the heart of the Virginia Plan?

Establishing three branches of government, with the strongest being the legislative branch, which would consist of two houses and would choose the executive and judicial branches

What problem did the Great Compromise address?

Equitable representation in Congress

Why did the Framers favor a republic over a direct democracy?

They believed that the government should mediate rather than mirror popular views.

What aspect of American government, in addition to the moderate republic the Framers attempted to create, is a way of limiting the power of popular majorities?

Judicial review

What term describes systems where national and state governments share power?

Federalism

What term is used to describe those powers that are given exclusively to the states?

Reserved

What name is given to powers, like collecting taxes, building roads, borrowing money, and maintaining courts, that are shared by national and state governments?

Concurrent

What aspect of the government prescribed by the Constitution was intended to be effective not in spite of the imperfections of human nature, like the tendency to act in one's own best interests, but because of them?

Separation of powers

What allows multiple branches of government to limit each other's power?

Checks and balances

The population of the United States is very diverse, with people of different races, classes, religious beliefs, and cultural traditions dispersed in different regions around the country. What aspect of the government system prescribed in the Constitution would James Madison say is designed to ensure that no one element or interest in this diverse population dominates all the others?

Checks and balances

When the Constitution was presented for ratification, what position did Antifederalists take?

They wanted a weaker national government.

Suppose a politically radical Latino student is trying to decide where to move after graduation. If Madison were alive today, how might he advise this student, based on his writings in Federalist No. 10 and No. 15?

He would advise the student to move to a large urban area where people of many different views and experiences live in close proximity.

What effect did the three-fifths compromise have on antebellum American national government?

It is the primary reason why Southern-born presidents, House leaders, and Supreme Court justices often dominated antebellum American national government.

What did the Federalists believe was required to ensure a reasonable balance of liberty, order, and progress?

A strong national government

What most influenced the Framers regarding economic matters?

Their states’ economic interests

What did the Framers of the Constitution believe regarding the ideal size of government for preventing what they viewed as the worst inequality?

The Framers believed it was important to limit the size and scope of the government in order to prevent political privilege.

How did the arguments of eighteenth-century critics of the Constitution who believed it prescribed too weak a national government differ from those of the colonists who influenced the drafting of the Articles of Confederation?

Eighteenth-century critics of the Constitution who believed it prescribed too weak a national government wanted to give more power to the president, but the colonists believed that the legislature should be the most powerful branch of government

Which government has sovereignty in a federal system?

National and state governments share sovereignty

The Founders hoped that federalism, like the separation of powers, would serve what major goal?

Protecting personal liberty

According to Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 28, how would the Founders' vision for a federal republic work?

People could shift their support between national and state governments as needed to maintain a balance of power.

Which of the Founders' assumptions about how the United States' federal system would work is spelled out in the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?

The Tenth Amendment reserves any powers not expressly given to the national government for the states and the people.

What is the purpose of the elastic clause?

The elastic clause allows Congress to make new laws in order to execute its powers as the need arises.

What part of the Constitution did the Supreme Court reinforce when, in McCulloch v. Maryland, it upheld the right of Congress to create a bank?

The elastic clause

What does the doctrine of nullification affirm?

The states can declare a federal law void for violating the U.S. Constitution

What effectively invalidated the doctrine of nullification?

The Civil War

Debates over what clause in the U.S. Constitution resulted in the doctrine of dual federalism?

The Commerce Clause

The No Child Left Behind Act is an example of which kind of federalism at work?

Cooperative federalism

What type of federalism exists when national and state governments are equally supreme but kept separate?

Dual federalism

When the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Lopez (1995) that Congress overstepped its power to regulate commerce by prohibiting guns in a school zone, it reaffirmed what type of federalism?

Dual federalism

Why did the Supreme Court overturn the Violence Against Women Act in United States v. Morrison (2000)?

It found the act unconstitutional because attacks against women do not involve interstate commerce.

When gridlock occurs in a divided Congress, how does federalism help citizens address pressing issues?

Citizens can appeal to state governments to address issues the national government is unable to address.

In what way does Congress ensure the independence of the states?

State residents elect representatives to the U.S. Congress, and these representatives are responsive and accountable to those constituencies.

How does federalism in the United States mobilize political activity?

People are more likely to engage in political activity when they have reason to believe their actions may produce an effect.

Initiative, referendum, and recall are all examples of what form of democracy at the state level?

Direct

Which procedure permits voters to remove an elected official from office?

Recall

Land grant colleges are an example of what element of American federalism?

Grants-in-aid

Beginning in the 1960s, federal grants to states were increasingly made on what basis?

What federal officials perceived to be national needs

What type of federal funding is intended to be used for a specific purpose?

A categorical grant

The federal government may create rules that all states must follow, whether or not they accept federal grant money. What are these rules called?

Mandates

What name is given to the Republican effort in the 1980s and 1990s to pass federal functions on to the states?

Devolution

What person or group led the devolution attempt in the 1980s and 1990s?

Congress

A Congressional representative, a governor, and a city mayor representing the same location may differ on certain issues. This illustrates what facet of contemporary American federalism?

The differing experiences and views among members of an increasingly diverse society

Americans are more likely than the French or British to believe that everyone should be equal politically and less likely to think that it is important that everyone be equal economically. What do these differing views reflect?

Differences in the countries' political cultures

Which of these statements best fits the way most Americans view liberty?

People should be free to do as they please as long as they don't hurt anyone.

Which of the five important elements of the American view of the political system do some individuals use to argue against welfare programs?

Individual Responsibility

Even though equality is a foundational American value, Americans denied political equality to African Americans for generations. Besides values, what helps explain this contradiction?

Self-interest and social circumstances

Why do significant conflicts over policy persist even though Americans share a common political culture?

Differing interpretations of beliefs

What personal characteristics most often result in differing interpretations of political values?

Age and education

How do typical American economic values reflect the American belief in liberty?

Most Americans support free enterprise

Why do the leaders of some left-leaning groups support preferential hiring and promotion practices for minorities and women?

They believe the disadvantages minorities and women face are the result of inequalities in the economic system rather than flaws in the individuals.

Compared to citizens of other nations, Americans are most likely to believe in what value?

Hard work

Compared to citizens of Sweden, Americans are more likely to do what?

Challenge governmental decisions in court

Compared to citizens of Japan, what value are Americans more likely to emphasize?

Competition

A classic study of political culture found that, of the five nations the study examined, the citizens of what country had the strongest sense of civic duty?

The United States

In what area of political participation do Americans consistently lag behind many European countries?

Voter participation

Which of these is a good example of civic competence?

Voting because you believe your vote can make a difference

Why are Americans more likely than citizens of many other Western democracies to accept income inequalities?

Americans value equality of opportunity more than equality of outcome

Compared to the average European, the average American is more likely to have what orientation toward religion?

The average American is more likely to acknowledge clear standards of right and wrong.

In 2002, Americans showed the importance they place on religion when they protested a federal appeals court attempt to ban what?

The Pledge of Allegiance

What strain of Protestantism was especially dominant around the time of the writing of the U.S. Constitution?

Puritanism

Which of the following characterizes Max Weber's Protestant ethic?

Hard work

Which of the following is the primary source of U.S. political party affiliation?

Family

In the United States, most people, regardless of their job, think of themselves as belonging to what socioeconomic group?

The middle class

An American who belongs to the orthodox cultural class holds what belief?

Morality is as important as, or more important than, self-expression.

Two opposing views exist about the importance of the culture war. One view holds that it is a myth perpetuated by political leaders and the media. Which of these statements describes the rival view?

More and more people are choosing party affiliations based on the party's position on moral issues.

What explains the unusually high confidence Americans had in their government in the 1950s?

Americans expected far less of the government.

According to scholar Robert Putnam, what determines the level of trust among members of a community?

Social capital