FSO U.S. Government Review
Foreign Service Part One Written Exam: Job Knowledge TestUnited States Government
- 1.1) Why did President Franklin Roosevelt recommend expanding the size of the Supreme Court?
- A.
Because it had a backlog of Cases
- B.
He wanted the court to represent a greater diversity of the population
- C.
The Court had invalidated many New Deal programs
- D.
He wanted to divide the court into a criminal
- 2.Comparing 1964 to 1994, what happened to Americans' trust in government
- A.
It Declined
- B.
It stayed about the same
- C.
It rose
- D.
It rose sharply, and then fell sharply
- 3.President Bush has proposed a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage. To have this amendment added to the constitution, what must happen?
- A.
A. The amendment must be proposed by three-fourths of both houses of Congress and approved by the legislatures of two thirds of the states.
- B.
. The amendment must be proposed by two thirds of both houses of Congress and approved by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.
- C.
The amendment must be proposed by two-thirds of both houses of congress, signed by the President, and approved by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.
- D.
The amendment must be approved by conventions in two thirds of the states, and then approved by three quarters of both houses of Congress.
- 4.If the Office of Vice President is vacant, what happens?
- A.
A. It remains vacant until the next election.
- B.
B. The president's political party holds a mini convention to select a new vice president
- C.
C. The Senate selects a new vice president
- D.
D. The president nominates a new vice president, who must be approved by a majority of the Congress
- 5.5. The post-World War II defense policy used to maintain a balance of power in the world known as
- A.
A. Mutually assured destruction (MAD)
- B.
B. Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
- C.
C. The Marshall Plan
- D.
D. The Truman Doctrine
- 6.6. What is the theory that suggested that U.S. Democracy is based on many groups, each pressing its own interest?
- A.
A. elitism
- B.
B. pluralism
- C.
C. entrepreneurial politics
- D.
D. conflict resolution.
- 7.7. Conference committees are
- A.
A. permanent Joint Committees for dealing with serious national concerns, such as 9/11
- B.
B. temporary committees of House and Senate members to resolve bill differences between the chambers
- C.
C. special Committees that study issues but have no power to report legislation
- D.
D. Meetings between members of Congress and the Executive departments.
- 8.8. The President may veto
- A.
A. the entire bill and items in an appropriations bill
- B.
B. the entire bill and items in a tax bill
- C.
C. the entire bill and items in any bill
- D.
D. the entire bill only
- 9.9. One consequence attributed to malapportionment was that
- A.
A. Urban areas were over presented
- B.
B. Urban areas were underrepresented
- C.
C. Suburban areas were overrepresented
- D.
D. The minority party was concentrated, resulting in fewer minorities being elected than there percent in the population.
- 10.10. The function of the Office of Management and Budget to review al legislative proposals by the departments of government for consistency and conformity with the president;s policies is termed.
- A.
A. Central clearance
- B.
B. review and comment procedure
- C.
C. legislative oversight
- D.
D. bottom-up review.
- 11.11. the marble cake theory of federalism implies
- A.
A. The establishment of separate functions for the national and state governments
- B.
B. the sharing of functions between the national government and the states
- C.
C. the reservation of all non-delegated powers to the states
- D.
D. the establishment of a federal form rather than a confederational form of government.
- 12.12. The constitution requires that the members of the Supreme Court
- A.
A. Be a member of a state bar
- B.
B. Be at least 25 years old.
- C.
C. be born in the United States
- D.
D. No specific requirement is mentioned.
- 13.13. The courts are inundated with habeas corpus writs. The courts turn to Congress for help and ask them to suspend the writ for one year to allow them to get caught up. Can Congress do this?
- A.
A. Yes Article 1 gives the Congress the right to do this.
- B.
B. No, Only the president can do this
- C.
C. No Congress can suspend the writ but only in cases of rebellion or invasion
- D.
D. No Habeas corpus is a fundamental right and cannot be suspended.
- 14.14. A writ of centiorari is employed
- A.
A. appealing to the supreme court
- B.
B. the police want to search one's home
- C.
C. obtaining an injunction to stop the implementation of a law
- D.
D. the president wants to send a judicial nominee to the Senate for confirmation
- 15.15. Judicial Review
- A.
A. is clearly supported in the Federalist Papers
- B.
B. was first applied to the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison
- C.
C. is explicitly defined in the constitution
- D.
D. was a power given to the Supreme Court by the Judiciary Act of 1789
- 16.16. Which of the following comes closest to defining stare decisis?
- A.
A. majority opinion of the Supreme Court
- B.
Precedent
- C.
C. legislative intent of a statute
- D.
D. dissenting opinion
- 17.17. Freedom of religion would protect which of the following against state interference?
- A.
A. polygamy practices of Mormons
- B.
B. the refusal of the Amish to allow their children to attend school after 8th grade
- C.
C. the use of deadly snakes in religious ceremonies
- D.
D. the failure of Christian Scientists to seek treatment by an M.D. for their children who have a serious condition.
- 18.18. Before a case can be heard by a court, it must have all but one of the following. The one condition that need not be present is.
- A.
A. two real parties
- B.
B. parties bust have a personal and substantial interest or injury
- C.
C. the case must be a real situation and not a hypothetical situation
- D.
B. the case must be based on common law.
- 19.
- A.
A. full, faith, and credit
- B.
B. due process
- C.
C. equal protection
- D.
D. right of rendition
- 20.20. Which of the following was the last to receive the right to vote in the United States?
- A.
A. Women
- B.
B. non-property owners
- C.
C. African Americans
- D.
D. youth ages 18 to 21 years old
- 21.21. Which of the following taxes would be most likely to be considered progressive?
- A.
A. property tax
- B.
B. sales tax.
- C.
C. income tax
- D.
D. cigarette tax
- 22.22. Open market operations in economic policy refer to which of the following.?
- A.
A. The buying and selling of securities by the Federal Reserve to affect the economy
- B.
B. the reduction in trade barriers to facilitate trade (for example, NAFTA)
- C.
C. the clearance of checks by the Federal Reserve.
- D.
D. the lending by the Federal Reserve to member banks who them make loans
- 23.23. The scientific management school of public administration affected the organization of many cities. Its approach was based upon the conception of the city as.
- A.
A. a responsive mechanism; the need of the city to be responsive to all groups in a city.
- B.
B. a representative mechanism; the city must have on the council exact proportions of each major social group in the city
- C.
C. a service deliverer concerned with efficiency and economy of service provision
- D.
D. a holding corporation whose purpose is to contract with private business to provide services.
- 24.24. Which of the following describes the differences between Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) and the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)?
- A.
A. TANK is entirely federal, while AFDC was a federal-state cooperative program
- B.
B. There was no time limit on receiving AFCD; for TANF, you can only receive funding for five years
- C.
C. AFDC did not go to non-citizens immigrants; TANF does include them
- D.
D. AFDC included the provision of child care; TANF does not.
- 25.25. Medicare does not use tax dollars from the general treasury for some of its programs. Other programs are restricted to amounts in the trust fund. For what are tax dollars used as a portion of the funding?
- A.
A. hospital payment
- B.
B. physicians and outpatient services
- C.
C. nursing homes for custodial care
- D.
D. experimental procedures.
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