Poli Sci Midterm

Which of the following is a type of committee found in Congress?

Standing, select and joint committees

House party leaders are members’ bosses, not their agents.

false

For a bill to get through Congress and be sent to the president, both houses must pass versions of the bill that are at least 75% the same. The president can then decide between the two version of the bill to sign

False

Every member of the Senate represents roughly the same amount of people.

False

Parties work to achieve coordination and reduce transaction costs, but in the end members risk incurring conformity costs and agency losses.

True

Which of the following is NOT an enumerated power by Congress?

 To appoint supreme court justices

A member of Congress helping a constituent with a lost social security check is an example of casework.

True

Wallace's study in 2014 reveals that Latinos offer enhanced substantive representation for their fellow Latinos, encompassing both High-Salience and Low-Salience matters.

False

The Constitution’s single most extensive grant of power to Congress is judicial review, which allows Congress to review judicial decisions.

False

Committee chairs are powerful because they decide which bills their committees will formally debate over.

True

Which of the following are requirements to be representatives in the U.S. Congress?

Age requirement, Citizenship requirement, and Location requirement

In Anzia and Berry 2011, how do they measure if Congresswomen outperform Congressmen?

They measure the amount of federal funding that Congresswomen deliver to their Congressional Districts relative to Congressmen.

What is true about ranked choice voting in elections? Select all that apply.

1. If a candidate wins over 50% of the "first choice" ballots, that candidate is the winner

2. In ranked choice voting, voters can vote for the same candidate up to 3 times in order to increase the odds of their preferred candidate winning.

3. If no candidate receives 50% of the vote, the candidate with the smallest share of the votes is eliminated.

4. In ranked choice voting, if voters' preferred candidate is eliminated, their votes are awarded to their next most-preferred candidate.

The role of the Senate in confirming Supreme Court nominees occurs in their advice and consent capacity.

True

The Senate Majority Leader is entitled to "first recognition," which mean the presiding officer will allow the Senate Majority Leader to put forth one item on the Senate Agenda. The next item on the senate agenda is put forth by the minority leader, and the two leaders switch off until the legislative agenda is filled. This is why the Senate Majority Leader is the most powerful senator, and the Senate Minority leader is the second most powerful member of the U.S. Senate.

False

According to Anzia and Berry's research in 2011, it was discovered that female members of Congress receive a 9% decrease in discretionary federal funds allocated to their districts. This provides evidence of the discrimination against Congresswomen.

False

Drawing legislative districts in such a way as to give one political party a disproportionately large share of seats for the share of votes its candidates win is considered gerrymandering.

True

Most bills die in committee.

True

Most bills successfully proceed through the committee process, but die on the House floor.

False

Representatives in the Democratic party are much more demographically representative than representatives in the Republican party.

True

While gerrymandering has been a political issue across party lines, which party has been the primary beneficiary of gerrymandering over the past 2 decades?

Republicans

Because White males predominated in the lower level public offices and private careers that are the most common stepping-stones to Congress-

Congress has remained overwhelmingly White and male

Which Article of the U.S. Constitution establishes the Congress?

Article 1

Which of the following is a major difference between the House and the Senate?

The House allocates seats by population; the Senate is composed of two members from each state.

Which of the following is the most common background for members of Congress?

law

Which of the following is true about the religious freedom provision of the First Amendment?

It at first only applied to actions of the federal government.

The biggest problem with regard to protecting information privacy is that the law has trouble keeping up with changing technology

True

The constitutional right to privacy is to be found in the Constitution’s penumbras, which are best defined as ______.

implicit zones of protected privacy rights on which the existence of explicit rights depends

Which amendment from the Bill of Rights provides the right to counsel and an impartial jury of peers?

6th Amendment

#thechalkening was a widespread protest under the Trump administration where liberal students would throw crushed chalk at right-wing speakers when they would arrive to speak on a university campus

False

Over the past century, determination of national civil liberties policy has shifted from nearly the exclusive jurisdiction of Washington, D.C. to states and communities

False

Rulings where the Supreme Court interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment to apply the Bill of Rights to the actions of state and local governments is known as the process of incorporation.

True

It is illegal to burn the U.S. flag

False

Freedom of the press is important because

It helps provide reliable information on the performance of office holders. It helps office holders let their constituents know what they're doing. 

Which amendment in the Bill of Rights protects individuals from torture?

8th Amendment

There are exclusions to the first amendment.

True

The Federalists wanted a Bill of Rights to be included in the U.S. Constitution, and the Anti-Federalists did not.

False

Teacher-led Bible reading is allowed in public schools if it is done during the moment of silence at the beginning of the school day.

False

The Dobbs decision, decided in June of 2022, overturned TWO previous rulings.

True

The Lemon test is the contemporary method for determining if anything runs afoul of the establishment provision.

False

9th amendment prevents the Supreme Court from identifying constitutional rights that are not explicitly stated in the constitution.

False

The Supreme Court’s 1973 opinion in Roe v. Wade ended abortion’s varying legality across the states. In other words, abortions to some degree were legal in every state. The Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade.

True

The "Clear and Present Danger Test" and the "Brandenburg Test" are similar. The primary difference between them is that, under the Brandenburg test, words that intentionally advocate for violence are protected by the 1st amendment, even if the words are LIKELY to produce imminent lawless action.

False

Which of the following is a guideline that state laws must satisfy in accordance with the "Lemon Test?"

The state law must have a secular and legislative purpose. The state law's primary effect can neither be to advocate nor inhibit religion. The state law mustn’t create an excessive entanglement with religion.

The principle against ______ contained in the Fifth Amendment has been a bedrock of American jurisprudence.

Self-incrimination

The Miranda Rule is a right protected by which amendment in the Bill of Rights?

5th Amendment

In 2021, President Trump was removed from Facebook and Twitter platforms. These companies cited ________ as the reason for President Trump’s removal.

Inciting violence

The test currently favored by justices when making decisions related to the establishment of religion is known as ___.

Neutrality test

The incorporation of criminal rights into the Fourteenth Amendment has proved to be challenging for which of the following reasons?

Law-abiding citizens and their representatives tend to sympathize more with the victims of crime than with the accused.

The history of the concept of a public trial ___.

has less to do with prosecuting criminals than with preventing law enforcement officers from dealing out arbitrary justice

The reservation of power to the states to determine voting eligibility and the fragmented constitutional system are two major obstacles faced by African Americans in securing civil rights.

True

The difference between civil liberties and civil rights is which of the following?

Civil liberties are the Constitution's protections “from” government power, civil rights are the Constitution's protections provided “by” government power.

Civil Rights encompass which of the following?

Women's Suffrage

Banning employment discrimination based on the race, color, national origin, religion, or sex

The 14th Amendment

Ending legal segregation in schools

A violent crime directed against individuals, property, or organizations solely because of the victims’ race, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation is. called racial profiling.

False

The reservation of power to the states to determine voting eligibility and the fragmented constitutional system are two major obstacles faced by African Americans in securing civil rights.

True

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, which of the following affirmative action programs are currently unconstitutional?

A. An affirmative action program that calls for racial quotas- for example, a program where a university would pre-determine how many students of color it will admit (a quota).

B. An affirmative action program in which a university lowers its qualification standards for students of color in order to increase campus diversity. This program would result in some unqualified students of color gaining admission over White students.

C. An affirmative action program in which race is the sole determinant of admission into a university.

D. An affirmative action program where race is one of several factors in a holistic admissions review process.

Which of the following is a series of laws enacted in the late nineteenth century by southern states to institute segregation?

Jim Crow Laws

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) were sure to include Black women in all of their conventions and protests as they fought for the right to vote because, "Black Women are women too."

False

The rationale behind the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was that the parties compromised so the balance in the Senate between free and slave states would be maintained.

True

Affirmative action refers to a policy that required those employers and schools that had practiced past discrimination to compensate minorities (and subsequently, women) by giving them special consideration in hiring and school admissions.

True

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed literacy tests

False

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did which of the following?

Prohibited discrimination by government agencies that receive federal funds.

Prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, and sex. 

The Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka is most notable for which of the following reasons?

It struck down the separate but equal doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson.

Which of the following amendments granted former slaves the right to vote (though it would be another century before they could fully access this right)?

Fifteenth Amendment

What caused many Black people to switch from "the party of Lincoln," to "the party of Roosevelt" in the 20th century?

The New Deal

A violent crime directed against individuals, property, or organizations solely because of the victims’ race, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation is called racial profiling.

False

Women were not included in the 15th amendment, which allowed Black men to vote.

True

The Voting Rights Act of 1975 requires jurisdictions with significant numbers of voters with limited or no English proficiency to provide voting materials and assistance in relevant languages in addition to English.

True

De facto segregation is not mandated by law, de jure segregation is mandated by law.

True

As a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, both voter registration and election to office increased dramatically for African Americans.

True

There are 7 titles of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

False

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) (1996) is a law passed by Congress that allowed the federal government to recognize any marriages between gay or lesbian couples for the purpose of federal laws or programs

False

Early feminists called themselves “suffragists” because they claimed to be suffering because of discrimination in hiring.

False

After Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) was decided, laws were passed that allowed for kids to only go to public schools in their local area. Furthermore, many schools in locations that would draw from white and Black populations were shut down, and new schools were built in areas that were only Black or only white. The result was that segregation persisted, as kids had to go to their local schools. This is an example of ____.

De facto segregation

The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling resulted in which of the following?

The doctrine that separate but equivalent facilities for African Americans and whites are constitutional under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Which of the following was at least partly responsible for the collapse of the Missouri Compromise?

Underground railroad

When did the United States Supreme Court decide that quota systems were discriminatory toward White people, and thus deemed quota systems as an unconstitutional form of Affirmative Action?

1978

______ occurs when law enforcement officers identify suspects primarily on the basis of race or ethnicity.

Racially Profiling

Which of the following is true about the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision?

The Court concurred that the federal government could not prevent slavery in the territories.

The term, "Race to the Bottom," signifies when states “race,” or compete, to provide a minimum level of services (such as welfare spending) or regulation (such as tax incentives for corporations).

True

Preemption Legislation are laws passed by the states that preempt Congressional laws, in effect preventing Congress from making new laws where states have claimed supremacy.

False

In unitary government systems which of the following is true?

The national government monopolizes constitutional authority

Roosevelt's New Deal was which of the following?

a comprehensive set of economic regulations and relief programs intended to fight the Great Depression

Across the world, unitary governments are far more common than federations and confederations combined.

True

In a federal system relationships between national and more localized actors satisfy which condition?

Both levels of government share the same people and territory; The nation’s constitution protects units at each level of government from encroachment by the other units; Each unit is in a position to exert some leverage over the other(s).

Which of the following granted the federal government ultimate power to determine within certain bounds the extent of its authority over the states?

The Constitution

Providing national defense is considered to be a mutually exclusive sphere of action reserved to the national government. This is an example of__

Dual Federalism

Federalism can be defined as a system of government in which a single government unit holds the power to govern the nation.

False

In a federal system, the constitution divides authority between two or more distinct levels of government.

True

The national government uses federal grants, in part, to control the actions of states.

True

When reviewing the constitutionality of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), the Supreme Court ruled that Congress is able to force the states to expand Medicaid by threatening their existing Medicaid funding.

False

When there is gridlock at the national level and state level, only liberal cities have historically turned to creating new local policies to realize their goals. Such policies include raising the minimum wage and requiring local businesses to provide paid parental leave.

False

Unitary federalism occurs when national and state governments preside over mutually exclusive spheres of sovereignty.

False

A broad grant of money is given by the federal government to a state government. The grant specifies the general area (such as education or health services) in which the funds may be spent but leaves it to the state to determine the specific allocations. This funding is capped. What type of grant is this? 

A block grant

When the federal government makes a matching grant,

the federal government promises to provide matching funds, usually between one and four dollars, for every dollar that a state spends in some area

Which of the following is an accurate perception of local governments in America?

 The relationship between state and local governments can best be classified as “unitary.”

Congress passed a law that penalized states that did not raise their legal drinking ages to 21 (for the consumption of alcohol). If a state did not raise its legal drinking age, Congress would cut federal highway way funds. This is an example of ___.

A crossover sanction

Which of the following is an example of the federal government solving a coordination problem among the states?

 Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act

Which of the following is true about the ways that both the New Deal and the Great Society programs broadened the scope of federal responsibilities?

They broadened the scope and were accompanied by the election of large national majorities to Congress from the president's party.