Federal And State Governments Of The U.S.
This is an exam for the big test.
- 1.
- A.
The Washington,D.C. Municipal Court
- B.
The Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands
- C.
The U.S District Courts
- D.
The Police Court of New York City
- E.
The Court of Military Appeals
- 2.Federal and state governments of the U.S. share the power to
- A.
Establish schools
- B.
Conduct foreign relations
- C.
Establish post offices
- D.
Charter banks
- E.
Issue money
- 3.
- A.
I, II, III, IV
- B.
II, I, III, IV
- C.
III, I, II, IV
- D.
IV, I, III, II
- E.
I, IV, III, II
- 4.The Following statement can be found in which part of the U.S. Constitutioin? "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
- A.
Fourteenth Amendment
- B.
Preamble
- C.
Article One, Section 5
- D.
Article One, Section 10
- E.
Bill of Rights
- 5.What principle protects citizens from being punished twice for the same crime?
- A.
Trial by jury
- B.
Presentment
- C.
Double jeopardy
- D.
Self-incrimination
- E.
Due process
- 6.What is the best example of close interaction between the two houses of legislature?
- A.
Iron triangle
- B.
Joint committees
- C.
Standing committees
- D.
Dual branch committees
- E.
Select committees
- 7.Political action committees are sometimes criticized for..
- A.
Limiting themselves to being only grass-roots organizations
- B.
Being dominated by foreign interests
- C.
Never supporting incumbent candidates
- D.
Encouraging strict campaign finance regulations
- E.
Making politicians dependent on their financial support
- 8.All the following are true about the majority leader of the Senate EXCEPT
- A.
He or she is the leader of the Senate majority party.
- B.
He or she is recognized first in debate.
- C.
He or she controls the scheduling of bills for floor consideration.
- D.
He or she has more power than Senate whips.
- E.
He or she is always selected from a different party than the vice president.
- 9.Marbury v. Madison is considered a critical Supreme Court case because it established the precedent of
- A.
Judicial review
- B.
Appellate jurisdiction
- C.
Juris prudence
- D.
Original jurisdiction
- E.
Checks and balances
- 10.The law which did the most to speed the demise of the spoils system and made merit the key qualification for hiring government civil servants was
- A.
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
- B.
The Pendleton Act of 1883
- C.
The Hatch Act of 1939
- D.
The Garfield Amendment of 1902
- E.
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1946
- 11.The most effective way that the Federal Reserve System can be used by the Government to influence the economy is to
- A.
Close banks which lend excessively to foreign countries and seldom to U.S. citizens
- B.
Take large amounts of money out of circulation in order to curb inflation
- C.
Raise or lower interests in order to influence interest rates of private banks
- D.
Levy taxes on luxury items in order to create more revenue for the government
- E.
Create new business by selling parts of federal agencies to the private sector
- 12.All the following have been suggested by experts as reasons for low voter turnout in the United States EXCEPT
- A.
Literacy requirements for voters
- B.
Cumbersome registration requirements
- C.
Weakening power of political parties
- D.
Apathy on the part of the electorate
- E.
Disiliusionment with politics in general
- 13.The Smith Act of 1940 occasionally put labor unions and the federal government at odds with each other because
- A.
Many labor unions were suspected of having communists or socialists among their membership who might advocate the violent overthrow of the government
- B.
The Smith Act forbade practices that might impede the profitable functioning of a business
- C.
The Smith Act forbade strikes in areas that were crucial to the functioning of the economy
- D.
Wages set by the Smith Act were often lower than the wages which many workers were currently receiving
- E.
Many labor union members expected consultation by the staff members of legislators before they made a law which would so profoundly affect union membership
- 14.What is the most accurate statement about political participation and political parties?
- A.
Voters feel a stronger affiliation to their political parties when they are voting for president than when voting for a congressional representative.
- B.
The Democratic and Republican parties hold conventions to nominate their presidential candidates in order to discourage participation by low-ranking members.
- C.
In major elections, there is usually a third major party that emerges to challenge the Republicans and Democrats.
- D.
The stronger the grass-roots support for a party, the more divisive the nominating conventions are likely to be.
- E.
The trend over the last 50 years has been a lessening of party loyalty, especially in national elections.
- 15.According to the information provided in the chart, which of the following statements is most accurate?
- A.
There were more undeclared candidates than Democratic candidates.
- B.
Republican membership contains a majority of people in the top 1/3 in income status.
- C.
Republicans and Democrats have an equal number of people in the middle 1/3 income status.
- D.
Republicans and Independents have an equal proportion of the members in the middle income status.
- E.
Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Undeclareds have an equal number of members.
- 16.Suppose that 30 percent of registered Republican voters who opposed the Republican platform on abortion rights voted for a different candidate as a protest vote, and at the same time 29 percent of the registered Democrats voted Republican because of their strong support for the Republican platform on abortion rights.Which of the folloing hypotheses is LEAST supportable by this information?
- A.
Many voters are single-issue voters.
- B.
Party affiliation is no longer a strong influence on voting patterns.
- C.
Party platforms are formed with the purpose of bringing in a diverse group of supporters.
- D.
The amount of voters gained and lost by the abortion stance almost equalled out.
- E.
Abortion is a key issue for a candidate.
- 17.Republicans referring to previous epochs in their party's history that could be used to persuade minority groups to join would have the most success using which of the following examples?
- A.
Herbert Hoover's economic policies
- B.
Richard Nixon's treatment of college students protesters
- C.
Abraham Lincoln's election platform
- D.
Teddy Roosevelt's African safaris
- E.
George Bush's stance on haitian refugees
- 18."Grandfather clauses" in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which required all prospective voters either to pay a tax or pass a test except for those who grandfathers had been eligible to vote, had the effect of
- A.
Keeping the children of illiterates from voting
- B.
Weeding out people who would not vote wisely
- C.
Preventing women from voting
- D.
Discrminating against the elderly
- E.
Keeping African-Americans from voting
- 19."For present purposes we may and do assume that freedom of speech and of press-- which are protected from abridgement by Congress-- are among the fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the states."This decision by the Supreme Court was important because?
- A.
It strengthened the power of states to interpret the Constitution
- B.
It affirmed the power of the Supreme Court to have the final say in interpreting the Bill of Rights
- C.
It led to the eventual overturning of the Fourteenth Amendment
- D.
It placed more stringent limits on freedom of speech
- E.
It weakened federalism in favor of a system that more equitably balanced state versus federal powers
- 20."For present purposes we may and do assume that freedom of speech and of press-- which are protected from abridgement by Congress-- are among the fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the states."This decision would most likely have significance for?
- A.
A person accused of sedition by the Congress
- B.
A person found guilty of slander against a mayor and jailed by local authorities
- C.
A union organizer accused of murder
- D.
A Senator accused of perjury by a political opponent
- E.
A doctor being sued for malpractice in two different states
- 21.If legislation stalls before it reaches the House floor for debate, it can most likely be found in which committee?
- A.
Ethics Committee
- B.
Committee on Committees
- C.
Foreign Relations Committee
- D.
Ways and Means Committee
- E.
Rules Committee
- 22.Impoundments are most likely to be used by the president to
- A.
Release prisoners he feels were falsely incarcerated
- B.
Take property from people who did not pay taxes
- C.
Control illegal narcotics imports
- D.
Strip errant legislators of their powers
- E.
Control the Congress's spending through the refusal to use funds
- 23.A president has the most unchecked authority when he or she is
- A.
Creating and implementing the national budget
- B.
Negotiating and signing treaties with foreign nations
- C.
Creating and passing legislation
- D.
Repelling sudden attacks on the U.S.
- E.
Formally declaring war
- 24.Which of the following statements supports the elitist theory of U.S. politics?
- A.
To be elected, politicians must earn the support of a large cross section of the electorate.
- B.
Policial action committees often support candidates of meager financial means.
- C.
In the last two decades, almost every mainstream candidate for the presidency has been a millionaire.
- D.
Business leaders are often in desagreement over policy and political candidates.
- E.
There are more registered Democrats than Republicans.
- 25.Which of the following theories about the president's political approval rating and military action is best supported by historical examples?
- A.
The longer and more protracted a war is, the higher and stronger the current president's approval rating will be.
- B.
Short successful military engagements are followed by a sharp rise in the president's approval.
- C.
Every president tries to have at least one military action during his/her presidency, in order to solidify public approval
- D.
Presidents are always blamed when wars are lost and lauded when wars are won.
- E.
The higher the casualty rate of the enemy during a war, the higher the president's approval rating will be.
Back to top