Midterm Exam

A  take standardized tests

B  pray

C  desegregate

D  be bused

A  is a prior restraint

B  is critical of the government

C  qualifies as hate speech

D  creates a clear and present danger

A  prior restraint

B  probable cause

C  the Roth test

D  symbolic speech

A  right to privacy

B  right to marry

C  right to vote

D  right to travel

A  double jeopardy

B  self-incrimination

C  trials without a jury

D  unreasonable search and seizure

A  Tenth

B  Third

C  Eighth

D  Fifteenth

A  seeking the assistance of an attorney

B  benefiting financially from that crime

C  being tried again for the same crime

D  asserting innocence

A  privacy

B  commerce

C  family

D  sexual freedom

A  displays of religious symbols during holidays

B  recitation of prayer and Bible passages in school

C  displays of religious symbols on government buildings

D  teaching of evolution in school

A  an undue burden

B  a prior restraint

C  an inconvenient truth

D  any additional constraints

A  speak to an attorney

B  a jury trial

C  quick and speedy trial

D  a phone call

A  Orange

B  Prior Restraint

C  Lemon

D  Free Exercise

A  after the fact

B  before the fact

C  that is critical of the government

D  that is illegal

A  The state could ban it.

B  The state could regulate it if the mother’s life were in danger.

C  The state could do very little to limit a woman’s right to an abortion.

D  The state could ban the abortion unless the mother’s life was in danger.

A  actual malice

B  a written record

C  property loss

D  witnesses

A  incorporation

B  eminent domain

C  free exercise

D  establishment

A  the right to parole

B  reasonable bail

C  a written indictment

D  assistance of counsel

A  libel; defamation

B  slander; defamation

C  slander; libel

D  libel; slander

A  New York Times v. Sullivan

B  US v. Morrison

C  Lawrence v. Texas

D  Roe v. Wade

A  It increases the gross domestic product.

B  It increases citizens’ access to government.

C  It lowers voter turnout.

D  It lowers overall tax rates.

A  citizens can choose to live in those areas that have the policies they prefer

B  the quality of policies can vary from state to state.

C  the state governments can nullify laws passed by Congress

D  states can figure out which policies work best for them

A  A loose association of states constitutionally created by a strong central government.

B  A constitutional arrangement by which two or more levels of government share formal authority over the same area and people.

C  A loose association of states with mutually recognized compacts but no central government.

D  A constitutional arrangement concentrating power in a central government.

A  cupcake

B  layer-cake

C  pineapple-upside-down-cake

D  marble-cake

A  programmatic requests

B  categorical grants

C  block grants

D  business grants

A  coin money

B  establish schools

C  create courts

D  operate prisons

A  equal protection

B  full faith and credit

C  due process

D  supremacy

A  combined

B  dual

C  cooperative

D  progressive

A  dual federalism

B  cooperative federalism

C  progressive federalism

D  new federalism

A  confederation

B  direct democracy

C  oligarchy

D  conglomeration

A  centralizing power in the federal government

B  regulating interstate commerce

C  challenging the power of the states

D  limiting the national government

A  Eleventh

B  Third

C  Twelfth

D  Sixth

A  redevelopment

B  devolution

C  excavation

D  evolution

A  due process

B  commerce

C  full faith and credit

D  equal protection

A  Eighth

B  Fourteenth

C  Eleventh

D  Tenth

A  Independence

B  Federalism

C  Confederation

D  Declaration

A  Diversity helps Americans better understand each other.

B  Discrimination is a natural part of the human experience.

C  Affirmative action discriminates on the basis of race.

D  Unaddressed past discrimination causes perpetual inequality.

A  The separate-but-equal doctrine was never intended to apply to people.

B  The Supreme Court did not have all of the facts when it adopted the separate-but-equal doctrine.

C  The quality of life for African Americans in the South had deteriorated considerably since the adoption of the separate-but-equal doctrine.

D  School segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection.

A  to prevent the race riots from spreading from African American neighborhoods into traditionally white neighborhoods

B  because Congress was afraid the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. would lead a boycott of white businesses if the legislation was not passed

C  the Supreme Court had determined that only the national government could regulate elections

D  because it was clear that many areas in the South had no intention of living up to the spirit of the Fifteenth Amendment

A  Affirmative action policies are assumed to be unconstitutional unless the university can demonstrate the need to promote racial tolerance.

B  All forms of affirmative action are unconstitutional because they unfairly favor some people over others based on the color of their skin.

C  Affirmative action policies are generally permissible, but they cannot involve race-based quotas or numerical point systems.

D  Affirmative action policies must ensure that all racial and ethnic groups are represented in accordance with the population of the nation as a whole.

A  It has ensured that men and women are treated equally in the workplace.

B  It has had little effect because it was not formally adopted.

C  It has ensured that the courts evaluate gender discrimination using the inherently suspect test.

D  It has eliminated gender discrimination in the military.

A  a college that spends significantly more on sports programs for men than for women

B  an employer who systematically pays women less than men for doing comparable work

C  a legal prohibition on hiring women for positions that are known to be hazardous to women’s reproductive health

D  an election jurisdiction that does not provide bilingual ballots when there is a large bilingual community

A  Male and female student athletes cannot compete on the same basketball team at the university level.

B  Businesses cannot discriminate against gays and lesbians in hiring and promotion decisions.

C  Government contracts must be awarded to a contractor who is a racial minority whenever at least 10 percent of the bidders are minority-owned businesses.

D  Those without a college degree are not eligible for upper-level civil service jobs.

A  setting aside a certain percentage of admissions slots for African American students

B  admitting some minority applicants with lower academic achievement than some rejected white applicants

C  considering race as a factor in university admissions decisions

D  considering how an applicant would contribute to the diversity of the university

A  affirmative action policies maybe broadly tailored to accomplish a compelling government interest

B  affirmative action policies must be scrutinized using the same suspect standard that is used for other policies classifying people by race

C  affirmative action policies are subject to an intermediate standard whereby they are presumed to be permissible

D  affirmative action policies must be designed to address past discrimination without taking into account race, ethnicity, religion, or creed

A  gays and lesbians

B  American Indians

C  Asian Americans

D  disabled Americans

A  What was the basis for the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) that upheld the constitutionality of a state law requiring segregated railroad facilities?

B  Former slaves are not entitled to full citizenship rights because they did not immigrate to the United States willingly.

C  Railroad transportation involves interstate commerce, which is regulated by Congress; there is no provision in federal law that prohibits segregation.

D  The Constitution does not prohibit segregation; it only mandates equal protection under the law.

A  It was unconstitutional, and Japanese Americans must be duly compensated.

B  It was legally permissible.

C  It was unconstitutional, but it was too late to do anything about it.

D  It did not pass the strict scrutiny test, and the internment was promptly terminated.

A  lynchings by the Ku Klux Klan

B  racial segregation

C  voter discrimination

D  racial quotas

A  property or chattel

B  separate but equal

C  eligible to vote

D  citizens

A  Jim Crow laws

B  grandfather clauses

C  all forms of affirmative action

D  racial quotas in university admissions

A  nonvoters

B  losing candidates

C  voters

D  winning candidates

A  Reed v. Reed

B  Korematsu v. United States

C  the 1965 Voting Rights Act

D  the Nineteenth Amendment

A  race

B  involvement in insurrection

C  economic status

D  property ownership

A  due process

B  equal protection

C  privileges and immunities

D  jurisdiction

A  congressional inaction

B  national referendum

C  natural law

D  judicial interpretation

A  by a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress

B  by a majority of voting-age citizens

C  by a two-thirds vote in a special election called for the purpose of voting on the amendment

D  by a majority of state governors

A  a stronger national government

B  stronger protections of individual liberties

C  stronger state governments

D  shorter terms of office

A  the divine right of kings

B  the consent of the governed

C  government itself

D  the right to revolt

A  The Federalists

B  The Anti-Federalists

C  Anti-Masons

D  Whigs

A  Republican Plan

B  Democratic Plan

C  New Jersey Plan

D  Virginia Plan

A  The Constitution was based on democratic principles; the Articles of Confederation was based on tyrannical principles.

B  The Constitution contained strong protections for individual rights; the Articles of Confederation contained strong protections for collective rights.

C  The Constitution contained stronger safeguards for states’ rights than did the Articles of Confederation.

D  The Constitution created a stronger national government than did the Articles of Confederation.

A  checks and balances

B  oversight and influence

C  weights and measures

D  privileges and immunities

A  direct popular election

B  electoral college

C  King Caucus

D  People’s Plebiscite

A  two chambers

B  a single chamber with each state receiving equal power

C  a single chamber with membership based on a state’s population

D  a single chamber whose members were appointed by the president

A  infringement of religious freedom

B  taxation of private property

C  free speech infringement

D  unlawful detention

A  Daniel Shays

B  Gramm Rudman

C  John Locke

D  John Boehner

A  a commercial act

B  free speech

C  a private action

D  a form of due process

A  judicial

B  legislative

C  executive

D  bureaucratic

A  15

B  36

C  10

D  27

A  the Committees of Correspondence

B  the Common Sense Committee

C  the Continental Congress

D  the Constitutional Convention

A  the Articles of Confederation

B  Magna Carta

C  the Declaration of Independence

D  Declaration of the Rights of Man

A  natural rights

B  Constitutional law

C  intrinsic laws

D  positive rights

A  Political socialization is more important to governments than to individuals.

B  The age of the demographic that consumes television news is much higher on average than those that consume alternative sources of news.

C  Today’s generation of young adults is significantly more likely to read newspapers than their elders.

D  Children who develop positive feelings toward political authorities grow into adults who are not easily disenchanted with politics.

A  Civil disobedience is involuntary; a protest is voluntary.

B  Civil disobedience involves unintentionally breaking a law; a protest involves intentionally breaking a law.

C  Civil disobedience involves violence; a protest is peaceful.

D  Civil disobedience involves intentionally breaking a law; a protest involves getting attention from the media.

A  government-run services would likely be privatized

B  government programs to alleviate economic inequality would likely be higher on the political agenda

C  government workers would likely unionize

D  government programs to help individuals invest their Social Security income would likely be higher on the political agenda

A  women with children

B  parents of children under age 18

C  citizens in the school district

D  parents

A  signing a petition in a school parking lot

B  gathering signatures for a proposed ballot measure

C  running for public office as a third party candidate

D  staging a sit-in

A  Taxes and spending should be kept low.

B  Government should regulate the economy in the public interest.

C  The United States should stop letting criminals hide behind the law.

D  Prayer belongs in school.

A  political participation and suspicion of out-groups

B  liberalism and political tolerance

C  political participation and strength of party attachment

D  candidate loyalty and authoritarianism

A  The majority party in the House of Representatives is determined by each state’s proportion of party-affiliated voters.

B  The number of seats each state has in the House is based on a state’s population, which changes over time.

C  Each congressional district must be redrawn to reflect changes in the state’s population.

D  The Constitution requires that each state’s taxes be proportional to the size of its population.

A  The flow of low-income immigrant families from Mexico increased.

B  Most new immigrants were from northwestern Europe.

C  Most new immigrants were being reunited with family in the United States.

D  The flow of immigrant families with children decreased.

A  overthrowing the government

B  affecting public policy change

C  influencing voting behavior

D  informing the public about the candidates

A  the capacity of individuals (or groups) to exert their own political will

B  all the activities used by citizens to socialize their children to the political process

C  a measure of the minimum requirements needed to vote

D  all the activities used by citizens to influence the selection of political leaders or the policies they pursue

A  Democrats are overrepresented at the polls.

B  Conservatives are overrepresented at the polls.

C  Young citizens are overrepresented at the polls.

D  Liberals are overrepresented at the polls.

A  changes in the U.S. population affect membership in political parties

B  information the census collects helps to determine how more than $400 billion in federal funding is spent each year

C  information from the census determines tax rates

D  participation indicates the legitimacy of government and of laws passed by Congress

A  West Coast residents consume more political news than do East Coast residents.

B  Men consume considerably more political news than do women.

C  Older people consume more political news than do younger people.

D  Working-class people consume more political news than do wealthier people.

A  writing letters to the editor

B  protesting

C  volunteering with a campaign

D  contacting government officials

A  the predominance of liberals in the United States

B  the absence of pluralist thinking in the United States

C  the predominance of conservatives in the United States

D  the absence of moderates in the United States

A  big business

B  political parties

C  ordinary citizens

D  Congress

A  Congress is stronger and more influential than the presidency.

B  Many groups vie for power with no one group dominating politics.

C  Too many influential groups cripple government’s ability to govern.

D  Because most citizens fail to pay attention to serious issues, government has become an elite institution.

A  a congressional statute

B  a regulation

C  a budgetary choice

D  a presidential action

A  populist

B  egalitarian

C  pluralist

D  laissez-faire

A  government

B  political culture

C  public policy

D  politics

A  pluralism

B  majority rule

C  federalism

D  hyperpluralism

A  policy gridlock

B  pluralism

C  balance of power

D  elitism

A  pluralism

B  representation

C  majority rule

D  enlightened rule

A  inclusion

B  freedom of speech and of the press

C  one person, one vote

D  universal citizenship

A  a system that ensures freedom, justice, and peace to all citizens

B  a system that perpetuates the status quo and upholds the values of the party in power

C  a system that selects policymakers and organizes government so that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences

D  a system that grants a status of privilege to the most active and informed voters

A  the issues that concern single-issue interest groups

B  the issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other political actors

C  the issues that are asked about on public opinion polls

D  all of the issues that candidates talk about on the campaign trail

A  government

B  Congress

C  the courts

D  political culture