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Thought to ponder:
Its hard to make a program foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

 

POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT


1. Perceptions of the undesirable consequences of immigration have produced a significant public reaction that has led to restrictive public policies.
2. The number of immigrants to the U.S. has increased significantly since the 1970s.
3. The state that has incurred the largest group of foreign-born people is California.
4. In the 1996 election for the 46th Congressional seat in California, Loretta Sanchez won over incumbent Bob Dornan.
5. The newer immigrants and racial minorities have felt less of a desire to blend in and adopt the values and mores of the dominant group.
6. Not only is the gap between rich and poor in the U.S. large, but it is getting larger.
7. Interest group activity in recent years has created disparities in the U.S. and consequently has increased the politics of inequality.
8. After women obtained suffrage, their political attitudes and voting behavior differed only slightly from men's.
9. The Children's Defense Fund is the most prominent of the children's advocacy groups.
10. The "religious right" has become an extremely powerful force within the Republican Party.
11. Most Americans agree on fundamental principles and values.
12. On fundamental principles of government, America is said to have a broad consensus.
13. An authoritarian government normally does not consult with the people before making decisions nor does it recognize limits on its authority.
14. The Declaration of Independence stresses individual rights and liberties as opposed to social values. 
15. People in favor of affirmative action believe that the achievement of genuine equality of opportunity requires policies designed to make up for previous practices of discrimination.
16. Most Americans believe that the American economy operates as a free enterprise system.
17. At the root of capitalism is a commitment to the good of the individual.
18. The general public is likely to get involved in politics only after a policy goes into effect or when its cost must be paid.
19. A silent or inattentive majority poses a great threat to the democratic process.
20. A vibrant and stable democracy needs conflict.
21. Politics consists of struggles by individuals and groups in pursuit of their own interests.
22. The term "politics" often has a negative connotation.
23. Originally, politics had a positive meaning.
24. Politics provides the framework for understanding how government works and what it does.
25. The modern term "politics" is derived from the Greek word "polis" meaning city-state.
26. Aristotle once referred to citizens as "political animals."
27. The fundamental meaning of politics refers to "the means through which the process of who gets what, when and how is determined."
28. Politics is a fundamental means of resolving disputes.
29. Government, as defined by the authors, refers to formal institutions .
30. Public policy refers to what governments decide.
31. Power is generally measured in terms of persuading people to do what they otherwise would not do.
32. In a democracy, the failure of public officials to be sensitive to public opinion could result in their defeat or their recall.
33. According to the authors, free speech is the basic individual right without which a democracy cannot exist.
34. Concentrated power generally allows a few individuals or groups to make more efficient decisions.
35. When power is widely distributed, there is generally less opportunity for a few people or groups to dominate decision
making and determine policy outcomes.
36. When power is widely distributed, it is more difficult for one individual or group to determine public policy.
37. A public mandate is often claimed in order to generate consensus on policy issues.
38. Bob Dole resigned his position as Speaker of the Senate Majority Leader in order to run for president in 1996.
39. In 1995 the Speaker of the House was Newt Gingrich.
40. Under conditions of crisis, government actions tend to be hurried, inefficient, emotional, and less partisan.
41. During periods of national peril, support for public officials tends to be maximized and opposition muted.
42. Because of the bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma in 1995, the Senate passed antiterrorist legislation.
43. The tension between minorities and majorities is one of the principal ongoing problems in the American political system.
44. The word democracy comes from the Greek words demos, meaning "people," and kratos, meaning "authority."
45. The framers of the Constitution built checks into our system of government that made it easier for the minority to protect its rights and interests than for the majority to exercise theirs.
46. James Madison believed that no limits should be placed on the rights of the majority.
47. Most decisions of government benefit some people and hurt others.
48. In 1995, the committee chairs in the House remained loyal to Speaker Gingrich's initiatives and compromises.
49. In our system of government, the dispersion of authority leads to the dilution of policy goals.
50. The Constitution provides general guidelines for the exercise of authority, but each generation must decide for itself how to interpret those guidelines.

CONSTITUTIONAL BASIS


1. The Declaration of Independence is attributed to Thomas Jefferson.
2. Under the Articles of Confederation, most power was vested in the individual states.
3. The Articles of Confederation was the nation's first governing document.
4. The individual most responsible for the writing of the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson.
5. Daniel Shays and his compatriots demanded the issuance of paper money.
6. Shays' Rebellion was not short-lived—George Washington was asked to put down the insurgency but it took almost a year.
7. In a republic, citizens elect representatives.
8. The individual most responsible for writing the American Constitution is James Madison.
9. Publius was, in fact, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay.
10. In a unicameral form of government, the functions of government (judicial, legislative, and executive) may or may not be
separate.
11. A bicameral legislature has two houses.
12. The Great Compromise was over the representation issue.
13. Changes in the Articles of Confederation were supposed to be approved by all thirteen states.
14. Ratification of the Constitution was by the people because the framers were afraid that the state legislatures would not ratify it.
15. The Constitution was finally ratified by nine of the state legislatures.
16. In the three-fifths compromise, all slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a free person's vote.
17. The Anti-Federalists were against ratification of the new Constitution.
18. The Bill of Rights was not part of the original Constitution.
19. Patrick Henry of Virginia was a strong Anti-Federalist.
20. The Constitution was ratified without the Bill of Rights.
21. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.
22. In the early 20th century, the Progressive school of thought put forth the theory that the Constitution was reactionary and antidemocratic.
23. Many political scientists believe that the Constitution was revolutionary for its time.
24. The first secretary of the treasury was Alexander Hamilton.
25. The "necessary and proper" clause does not limit Congress to expressly listed powers.
26. The United States incorporated its first legal national bank on 2/25/1791..
27. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) upheld the national bank as being constitutional in a narrow reading of congressional powers.
28. The idea of "unalienable rights" is that people are born with certain rights given to them in advance by nature.
29. Congress does not need presidential approval in order to enact a law in all cases.
30. Separation of powers was designed to create a structure in which the legislative, executive and judicial branches would be separate branches of government.
31. Federalism refers to the local, state, and national levels of government.
32. Because of shared powers, government branches must work together.
33. The judicial system guards the integrity of the Constitution through the practice of judicial review.
34. Reserve powers are those powers the Constitution gives only to the states.
35. Concurrent powers are those powers the Constitution gives only to both the national and state governments.
36. The Constitution's supremacy clause states that the Constitution, the laws of the national government, and treaties of the national government will be the supreme law of the land.
37. Marbury v. Madison (1803) established the Supreme Court's power to be the final arbitrator of political conflicts.
38. The chief justice of the Supreme Court at the time of Marbury v. Madison was John Marshall.
39. In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court declared a law unconstitutional for the first time.
40. In Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), the Supreme Court struck down the Missouri Compromise, which had excluded slavery from the nation's territories.
41. During the past 200 years, constitutional change has been in the direction of making the Constitution a more democratic document than it was in 1787.
42. All constitutional amendments have been proposed by Congress.
43. The Constitution has had tens of thousands of proposed amendments.
44. Many political scientists oppose calling for a new constitutional convention in order to fix the problems still found in the constitution.
45. The Bill of Rights was necessary to quell fears about the coercive  power of the national government and to secure the rights of individuals.
46. Richard Nixon's refusal to turn over the tapes brought about the case of United States v. Nixon (1974).
47. The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution (1913) provides for  the popular election of senators.
48. The power of executive privilege is the power of the president to withhold White House communication in the interest of national security.
49. Strict construction is an interpretation that is confined to a literal reading of the Constitution.
50. A broad reading of the constitution requires judges to a broad principal that is applicable to different cases in light of changing circumstances.

FEDERALISM


1. Federalism refers to different levels of government.
2. Federalism is very much a political, issue.
3. The three levels of government are local, state, and national.
4. Most states have laws against carrying guns to school.
5. There is no federal law against carrying guns to school.
6. The Supreme Court decision in the case of United States v. Lopez split 5 to 4.
7. The language of the Constitution is rather ambiguous.
8. The Canadian government has a system of federalism.
9. The Constitution is not specific about powers vested in the state governments.
10. Over the past few years, Americans have increasingly believed that of the three levels of government, they get the least from the federal government.
11. The Anti-Federalists held a specifically state-centric view.
12. John Marshall was the fourth Supreme Court chief justice.
13. An act under the commerce clause, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 attempted to prevent monopolies.
14. The First New Deal, from 1933 to 1935, was accomplished through the increased use of grants-in-aid.
15. Block grants are generally given directly to local governments for general policy areas.
16. The Constitution does not specifically limits the national government's power to interfere in state affairs.
17. Devolution federalism generally cedes control of national welfare policy to the states.
18. The trend in the past decade is to devolution of authority.
19. In Printz v. United States (1997), the Supreme Court ruled that devolution was constitutional.
20. In New York v. United States (1992), the Supreme Court ruled that the national government could not force a state to take legal responsibility for disposing of all its low-level radioactive waste.
21. Local governments must comply with direct orders issued by the national government or else face civil or criminal penalties.
22. Congress has the right under preemption to remove state activity policy areas even if they have broad national implications.
23. Partial preemption occurs when the national government establishes minimum standards in certain areas and authorizes state and local governments to exercise primary responsibility for the function as long as they maintain standards at least as high as those set by the national government.
24. The Adoption Promotion Act of 1997 requires states to make certain changes in their foster care programs.
25. The Clean Air Act of 1970 set air quality standards throughout the nation and required the states to develop effective plans for their implementation.
26. The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution (1913) gave Congress the power to impose an income tax.
27. Crosscutting requirements pertain to discrimination, environmental protection, planning and coordination, labor standards, and public access to government information and decision making.
28. Crossover sanctions impose national penalties in one policy area in order to affect another policy area.
29. In 1998, the Senate voted to require all states to adopt stricter definitions of drunk driving or risk losing part of their federal highway money.
30. Categorical grants are made for very specific purposes as defined by Congress.
31. Block grants allow appropriated funds to be used in broad policy areas such as job training.
32. The general revenue sharing program was terminated as a part of Reagan's budget reduction efforts.
33. General revenue sharing, created by the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972, distributed money to state and local governments with virtually no strings attached.
35. Project grants are for which potential recipients must apply directly to the agency responsible for administering the grant.
36. Wyoming received more per-person federal grant money in 1995 than any other state.
37. When state and local governments that are most capable of exploiting the various options provided by the grant programs are able to garner more than their fair share of federal grant money it is known as grantsmanship.
38. When the efforts of local officials to maximize the amount of federal grants they receive and to have grant rules interpreted so as to achieve the best funding distribution for their areas, it is termed grantsmanship.
39. Federal road grants may be denied to states that allow persons under age 21 to consume alcohol.
40. The Defense of Marriage Act was supported by President Clinton.
41. Americans generally feel very strongly about same-sex marriages.
42. The issue of same-sex marriages was not resolved by the Supreme Court in 1996.
43. A viable water resource management policy never emerged even though the federal government turned over several million acres to the states.
44. Historically, the issue of water has been a more important issue for the West than for the eastern part of the United States.
45. President Jimmy Carter tried to change water policy from high-cost projects to less costly policies of conservation and water resource management.
46. No major water policy initiatives were approved during the Carter years.
47. President Ronald Reagan was more supportive than Jimmy Carter of traditional water construction projects.
48. In 1995, under the Clinton administration, appropriations for energy- and water-related projects rose to $20 billion. 
49. With regard to water, the national government has taken more responsibility than have state governments.
50. Once the federal government becomes involved in a project and it is well on its way to completion and success, the federal government generally maintains its involvement in the project.

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT


1. From 1931 until 1975, all of the Dallas council members were elected at large.
2. In June of 1995, Ron Kirk was elected as Dallas mayor, becoming the city's first African-American candidate.
3. Almost one-third of the nation's total population lives in the country's twelve most populous metropolitan areas.
4. Urbanization has helped to create some of the nation's most persistent and intense political struggles.
5. There are approximately 85,000 units of local government in the U.S.
6. State and local governments are responsible for determining most marriage and divorce laws.
7. By today's standards, participation in state and local politics was severely restricted in the early decades of American history.
8. Political machines were party organizations whose primary purpose was to capture and hold political power.
9. Political machines were especially successful at exploiting the
economic and social needs of America's new immigrants.
10. Political machines were successful in most big cities.
11. The political machines found jobs for their supporters, who were expected to work for the party during elections.
12. Machine politics were essentially based on bribery.
13. Progressives advocated a policy that called for changes to improve the operation of local government, a merit system for
hiring government workers, direct and open primaries, nonpartisan elections, referendums, initiatives, and recall procedures.
15. Under machine rule, the political boss controlled most nominations.
16. Under at-large elections, all voters can votes for all representatives.
17. The progressive movement favored short ballots instead of the long ballots of the Jacksonian era.
18. A referendum is a vote by the public on public policy proposals.
19. Initiative is the right of voters to put issues on a ballot.
20. Recall is the right of voters to vote on removing an official from office.
21. City managers are hired by the city council to run day-to-day operations within the city.
22. Those who supported Jacksonian principles advocated long ballots, large legislative bodies, and strong district or ward representation on city councils.
23. The 1962 Baker v. Carr decision held that malapportionment was unconstitutional.
24. At-large elections tend to dilute the voting strength of minorities concentrated in segregated neighborhoods.
25. Studies show that legislative redistricting has resulted in more financial and technical aid to cities and less arbitrary state interference with city governments.
26. Most states are subdivided into counties, cities, municipalities, school districts, and special districts.
27. Nearly all Americans live in counties. The rest live in parishes or boroughs.
28. The governing body of county government is called a board of commissioners, a board of supervisors, or a commissioners' court.
29. One of the main political issues facing county government today is the class of interests between the "rural " and "urban" citizens.
30. Today, municipalities may be created under general-law provisions, optional law provisions, or home-rule provisions.
31. Under home-rule provisions, municipalities can draft their own charters, establish their own structure, and engage in activities not specifically prohibited by state law.
32. The council-manager government is part of the package of Progressive reforms that were designed to counter the negative effects of machine politics.
33. Government fragmentation occurs when there too many governments exist in a single geographic area and there is little overall coordination.
34. City-county consolidation occurs when the boundaries of a city are extended to coincide with those of a county, and the government of each are merged.
35. COGs are cooperative organizations of governments that engage in planning, research, and coordination on a regional basis.
36. Annexation without representation is constitutional.
37. The threat of annexation is one of the major factors stimulating the creation of new cities.
38. State governments differ in the distribution of authority among the branches of government and the formal powers that each branch can exercise.
39. In the past several years, the most significant political issues facing American legislatures have been apportionment.
40. Professionalism means working at a job on a full-time basis with adequate facilities, salary, and staff.
41. Most criminal and civil cases in America are handled at the state level.
42. Trial courts are the courts of original and general jurisdiction for  most cases of felony, divorce, title to land, and election contests as well as major civil matters.
43. States select  judges by several different methods.
44. Politics plays a role in the selection of all judges.
45. The proportion of people living in urban areas has grown steadily.
46. According to the latest census whites still constitute the greatest proportion of suburban residents.
47. Suburban residents are considerably more affluent and more politically active than urban residents.
48. Suburban politics is dominated by demands for and regulation of growth. As a result, major political battles in the suburbs are fought over growth policies.
49. Suburbs frequently have employed illegal tactics to discourage low-income families and racial minorities to locate in their areas.
50. According to your text, the shift of population from rural to urban areas is one of the most politically significant changes to take place in the United States.

CIVIL RIGHTS


1. Civil liberties are freedoms that government must respect, such as the freedom to think, express oneself, and act in a manner that conforms to one's beliefs and values.
2. Civil rights are rights that government may not categorically deny or infringe on because of an individual's race, gender, or various other characteristics.
3. The Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the English Bill of Rights recognized the equality of individuals before the law and placed certain limitations on government power.
4. The Supreme Court nationalized the Bill of Rights, making its guarantees applicable to the states as well as to the federal government by construing them to be included in the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of due process of law.
5. The rights of the individual are protected and the rights of the national government restricted by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
6. The first ten amendments to the Constitution plus the Fourteenth have been used to nationalize the Bill of Rights.
7. Gitlow v. New York effectively upheld the First Amendment with regard to speech, religion, and assembly.
8. Some portions of the Bill of Rights currently apply to both national and state governments.
9. The exclusionary rule was nationalized with the case of Mapp v. Ohio.
10. The right to privacy is not specifically mentioned in the Fourth Amendment.
11. Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures was first used effectively in the 1914.
12. The exclusionary rule requires that evidence illegally obtained by police in violation of the Fourth Amendment's requirements for searches and seizures be excluded at trial.
13. Due process can be traced back to the Magna Carta.
14. Procedural due process is concerned with how laws are carried out—only if they actually are carried out.
15. The Supreme Court has found certain laws to be unconstitutional because they are overly broad or 'void for vagueness'.
16. Substantive due process is concerned with the subject matter of law, regulation, or executive order.
17. The privilege against self-incrimination is found in the Fifth Amendment.
18. The judicial double standard refers to the Supreme Court's recent practice of upholding all legislation regulating economic interests but invalidating much legislation impinging on individual rights and liberties.
19. Rights under the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures were a result of the British writs of assistance or general search warrants.
20. Police must obtain a warrant before conducting wiretaps even in cases of national security.
21. Chandler v. Georgia (1997) struck down as unreasonable a Georgia law requiring all candidates for public office to submit to drug tests in order to be placed on the ballot.
22. The second African-American to sit on the Supreme Court was Clarence Thomas.
23. Another word for the accusatory system is the adversary system.
24. A grant of immunity is often extended when the government wants something more than it can get without such a gesture.
25. Miranda warnings are required anytime you are arrested.
26. Accused individuals are guaranteed the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against them.
27. A grand jury is composed of twelve or more citizens who hear the charges in a preliminary presentation of the evidence and may hand down an indictment.
28. A petit jury consists of twelve persons from the community.
29. About half of the states allow a bill of information in lieu of an indictment.
30. A petit jury will determine the guilt or innocence of and individual of the crime for which he has been arrested.
31. During a trial, the defendant has the right to confront witnesses.
32. Double jeopardy means you cannot be retried for the same offense in the same court.
33. The right to a speedy trial is guaranteed under the sixth Amendment.
34. Individuals may be tried under both state and federal law.
35. The Supreme Court has approved the use of cameras in the courtroom as long as they are not disruptive.
36. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is required in all federal and state criminal cases.
37. Defendants are guaranteed a jury that includes members of their own race, gender, religion, and national origin.
43. The right to associational privacy is the right to form and join groups and organizations of one's own choosing.
44. The right to privacy has not been extended by the court to cover sexual activities between consenting adults.
45. It is illegal for a state to impose residency requirements on those who receive state welfare benefits.
47. The Miranda warnings are procedural warnings.
48. In an inquisitorial system, the presumption of the court is guilt.
49. Punishment that is disproportionate to the crime is an infraction of due process.
50. There is a constant tension between the rights of society and the rights of the individual.

CIVIL LIBERTIES


1. The freedoms of the First Amendment are not absolute.
2. Although most of the colonists from England were escaping religious persecution, they were far form tolerant of religious|
diversity.
3. The establishment clause forbids the creation of a national religion.
4. The free exercise clause guarantees that individuals may worship as they please.
5. In 1985, the Supreme Court overturned an Alabama law because it required a "moment of silent mediation or prayer" and did not have a clear secular purpose.
6. In recent years the Supreme Court has moved somewhat away from enforcement of a "high wall of separation" and has adopted instead an accommodationist approach to church-state relations.
7. In Lee v. Weisman (1992), the Supreme Court held that prayers during a high school graduation ceremony run afoul of the establishment clause.
8. In order to avoid violating the establishment clause, a law must have a secular purpose, neither advance or inhibit religion, and must avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.
9. In Agostini v. Felton (1997), a bare majority of the Court overturned an earlier decision that held that public school teachers may be sent to parochial schools for remedial education of disadvantaged children.
10. The secular regulation rule requires that all laws must have a reasonable secular purpose and that they must not discriminate on the basis of religion.
11. Under the Sedition Act of 1798, it was a crime to utter false, scandalous, and malicious statements about the government.
12. Seditious libel is defaming or criticizing the government or its officials.
13. The clear and present danger test was struck down in 1920s following the end of World War I.
14. Government must not exercise prior restraint on nor subsequently punish individuals for speech or publications that touch on political, scientific, literary, or artistic matters—or on national security.
15. In Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997), the Supreme Court extended First Amendment principles to the Internet.
16. Libel need not be intentional to be prosecuted in court.
17. Slander is a false statement or defamation of character by speech.
18. The Supreme Court has held that fighting words are not always protected speech under the First Amendment.
19. Commercial speech falls under the scope of the First Amendment.
20. Wearing a black armband in school and turning the American flag into an article of clothing are protected under the First
Amendment.
21. Freedom of association is broader than the freedom to organize rallies and peaceful protests.
22. The Supreme Court has held that speech-plus-conduct is protected under the First Amendment.
23. In 1868, with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Constitution for the first time expressly provided that no person shall be deprived of "the equal protection of the laws."
24. Black men do not earn more than black women.
25. Among both whites and blacks, the group with the largest percentage of people living in poverty is households headed by women.
26. Women used the nineteenth Amendment to gain the right to vote.
27. The twenty-fourth Amendment forced states to do away with such practices as literacy tests and poll taxes.
28. The Twenty-Fourth Amendment banned poll taxes in federal elections.
29. Poll taxes effectively eliminated the poor from voting.
30. Not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was suffrage for African-Americans effectively guaranteed.
31. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 banned literacy tests.
32. The Supreme Court has consistently been involved with issues dealing with redistricting on the grounds that they involve "political questions."
33. The busing of students to achieve racial desegregation is mandated within school districts but not between school districts.
34. The minimal scrutiny test looks at whether legislation has a rational basis.
35. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is generally considered a moderate jurist.
36. Gender is a "suspect classification."
37. The strict rationality test is used primarily in issues of race, gender, and age.
38. Penalizing whites and males in violation of their rights under the Fourteenth Amendments' equal protection clause is called reverse discrimination.
39. Critics of affirmative action argue that it tries to ensure equality of results.
40. Affirmative action cannot use quota systems to ensure equality of access.
41. Quota systems are illegal.
42. The affirmative action programs of universities can use race as one criterion of evaluation.
43. In the case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), an African-American was allowed admission to the university's medical program.
44. In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action programs that consider race as one among many factors in student admissions.
45. There is a legal cap of $300,000 on the amount of damages that women and members of nonracial minority groups may win in discrimination suits.
46. The free exercise clause guarantees that individuals may worship as they please.
47. The establishment clause forbids the creation of a national religion.
48. The quest for individual freedom is necessarily a pressure on government.
49. The Civil Rights Act of 1991 allows women, members of religious groups, and people with disabilities to sue for monetary damages for intentional discrimination.
50. The communication of political ideas through flags, armbands, and other symbols is called symbolic speech.

SOCIALIZATION AND PARTICIPATION


1. It is through political socialization that people learn to be citizens.
2. Preadolescents tend to view both their fathers and the president as authority figures.
3. By the second grade, children possess some knowledge and ideas about the political system.
4. During the preadolescent period, the majority of children develop positive feelings about their government.
5. The positive character of children's early perceptions of the American political system is important because it facilitates the bonding between citizens and government.
6. Gender-based differences in political socialization are diminishing.
7. Early socialization of children has long emphasized the public roles of males and the private roles of females.
9. Children generally "choose" political parties in the adolescent years.
10. An increasing number of children identify themselves as Independents.
11. The substantive differences between parties is generally understood by high school students.
13. Events such as the Great Depression help shape political attitudes.
14. The problem of the baby boomers is that they will put a strain on government finances in the future.
15. Baby boomers have resisted traditional calls to political action and political loyalty, turning instead to their own cultural, racial and economic groups.
16. Children tend to identify strongly with the party of their parents.
18. Symbolic behavior in high school, such as writing letters, sending food to American soldiers, and festooning buildings with yellow ribbons, have no significant impact on adult attitudes and political behavior.
19. The more formal education people have, the more likely they are to be better informed about politics.
20. The average American spends fifty hours a week watching television.
21. Americans, unlike the citizens of other countries, cite television as their number one source of news and information.
22. People's opinions are not significantly altered by their exposure to mass media.
23. Most Americans watch television news or read a newspaper.
24. Most radio talk-show hosts are conservative.
25. Recent studies have suggested that the cumulative effect of television watching may be to increase disaffection and cynicism among Americans.
26. Traditionally, secondary groups have played a very strong role in supporting and strengthening party affiliation.
27. Pre-adult experiences have more impact on adult political attitudes than on adult political behavior.
28. One fourth of all Americans do not identify themselves as regular voters.
29. Voting is the only political activity in which many Americans participate regularly.
30. It is not difficult to personally contact your state representative.
31. The political adage that says there is strength in numbers implies that when many people support a particular course of action, it is more likely that the course of action will be taken.
32. Unconventional participation included activities in which few Americans participate, like protest demonstrations, sit-ins, rent strikes, riots, and other forms of violence.
33. Unconventional activities most often occur when individuals or groups of citizens do not know how to follow conventional participation channels.
34. Participation in unconventional political activities does not preclude later participation in the political system.
35. Only 1 or 2 percent of the population participate in unconventional political activities.
36. More blacks than whites report participating in street demonstrations.
37. There are many reasons for not participating in politics.
38. The best democracies encourage everyone to participate extensively at all levels and on most issues.
39. Approximately one-fifth of American adults is politically inactive.
socioeconomic status.
41. Participation tends to increase as one gets older, level off in middle age, and then drop as one moves into the traditional retirement years.
42. African-Americans are less likely than whites to be politically active.
44. Women have voted nearly as often as men in recent years.
45. In the United States, socioeconomic status is the major explanatory variable of why people participate in politics.
46. Policy decisions are made by those who participate actively.
47. Americans tend to vary greatly in the extent to which they participate in political life.
49. Americans are free to choose whether to participate in politics or not.
50. Nonparticipation is generally explained as primarily a result of the exercise of free choice.

PUBLIC OPINION


1. In the 1994 midterm election, only 36% of the population voted.
2. Public opinion is rarely consistent and predictable.
3. Public opinion is measured by surveys.
4. Issues that touch on core values, such as personal rights, political equality, and national security, elicit a stronger response than those that do not.
5. Some of the most salient issues for the American public include personal rights, political equality, and national security.
6. Since opinions are easy to express, even without much information, intensity is a good indicator of whether people will act on the basis of their opinions.
7. Intensity refers to the depth of feelings about an issue.
8. The more intensely people feel about an issue, the more likely they are to do something about it.
9. Because of public opinion, opponents of smoking in public places have had great success in forwarding their agenda.
10. According to a 1997 poll, only about 48 percent of the people questioned were not at all worried about getting AIDS.
11. The general public is generally uninformed and uninterested.12. The attentive public generally refrains from all political activity other than voting.
13. Opinion makers comprise approximately 5 percent of the population.
14. The attentive public as well as the opinion makers tend to hold consistent political beliefs.
15. According to Table 8–2, differences in attitudes toward abortion differ only slightly between Protestants and Catholics.
16. Elites tend to express more support for individual civil liberties than does the mass public.
17. Opinion makers influence the news media.
18. Opinion polls cannot predict what opinions people will hold in the future.
19. One of the most important uses of opinion polls is to determine what the public is not interested in.
20. Sampling theory was first used in the presidential election of 1892  subsequently applied to political forecasting.
21. In 1948, Gallup went along with other pollsters to predict Harry S Truman's defeat by Thomas E. Dewey.
22. The first prediction of a presidential election based on a national sample occurred in 1892.
24. The Literary Digest's major mistake was in polling only people with telephones and cars.
25. Sampling error refers to the degree to which a sample could deviate from the population as a whole.26. When applied to election results, random selection means that every element in the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample.
27. Bias can be introduced in surveys by using emotional or controversial words.
28. Slight changes in the wording of polling questions can produce great  differences in responses.
29. A polling question that has no predetermined answer is called a open-ended question.
30. Closed-ended questions tend to be more easily categorized and analyzed than open-ended questions.
31. The order in which questions are asked can affect the responses people give.
32. In polling, it is important to control for the sequence of the questions, the personality of the interviewer, and the format of the questions.
33. More people tell pollsters that they vote than actually do.
34. The political opinions of the majority of the public rest on an extremely limited information base.
35. Only one out of five people between the ages of 18 and 29 pays close attention to the news.
36. Older people have an incentive to remain informed and involved.
37. Ambivalence refers to the consistency with which beliefs and opinions vary—for example, a belief in helping those that cannot help themselves coupled with an opposition to welfare programs.
38. Limited public knowledge greatly limits long-term solutions.
39. In the absence of discernible public concern, government officials rarely have a blank check. Some proposals cannot be enacted because they lie outside of the values and beliefs of most people.
40. Opinion differences between the races tend to be greater than those between the genders.
41. A political ideology is a set of interrelated attitudes that shape judgments about and reactions to political issues.
42. Opinion differences tend to show that education and income vary directly with each other.
43. People tend to use liberalism and conservatism as a basis for formulating opinions and making decisions.
44. Ideological awareness is growing in the American public.
45. Men tend to be more conservative than women.
46. Whites tend to be more conservative than nonwhites.
47. Fewer people trust government now than in the past ten years.
48. Young people have traditionally exhibited more trust in government than their elders.
49. Political correctness may limit First Amendment rights.
50. Change in public opinion generally precedes political change. 

INTEREST GROUPS


1. The Reagan administration was known for its support of economic concerns and wanted to decrease the federal government's regulatory activities.
2. Generally speaking, Democrats have supported environmental policies more than Republicans have.
3. The Clean Air Act was passed during a Republican administration.
4. The Clean Air Act (1990) did little to end the debate over water pollution.
5. People usually join groups to have a sense of community, security, self-enhancement.
6. The National Rifle Association is a political interest group.
7. The Friday Night Bridge Club is not a political interest group because it does not involve itself in the political process.
8. The objective of a political interest group is to support public policy favorable to its cause.
9. The objective of lobbyists is to influence government policy.
10. Political parties generally have a larger membership base than do interest groups.
11. Political interest groups are not uniquely American.
12. James Madison spoke disparagingly of factions in The Federalist, No. 10.
13. Struggles among interest groups tend to encourage compromise.
14. Legislative compromises are generally entail the risk of producing wishy-washy politics that do not do not alienate e powerful groups but do not solve difficult problems, as evidenced by the "Clean Air Act of 1990".
15. The principal incentives for joining a group are the Selective benefits.
16. Jack Walker argues that an interest group usually needs outside sources for start-up funds before the membership can sustain itself financially.
17. Federal programs and regulatory activities have tended to encourage the growth of interest groups.
18. Some of the first interest groups were formed over the issues surrounding immigration.
19. The list of groups wishing to protect their piece of the action has expanded in tandem with the expansion of government in the domestic sphere.
20. Ralph Nader opposed NAFTA.
21. The weakening of political parties has contributed to the growth of political interest groups.
22. There are so many lobbyists that there is now a lobby for lobbyists.
23. The larger the group, the more likely there is to be internal dissension.
24. The National Organization of Women is a large group plagued internal dissension and their leaders are interested in numerous public issues but their members may be united only in a few.
25. Emotional intensity raises the saliency of an issue.
26. The better the financial resources of a group, the more likely it is that its communications facilities will be state of the art.
27. Emily's List is a connected PAC that solicits contributions for women candidates.
28. PACs have been used to support casino gambling.
29. Non-connected PACs tend to spend more money than connected PACs.
30. Leadership PACs promote an individual's ability to enhance his or her political stature and clout.
31. In 1995–1996, the business PACs gave more money to members of Congress than did PACs representing labor.
|32. PACs give primarily to incumbents.33. PAC contributions are more important in congressional politics than in presidential politics.
34. PAC contributions account for a small percentage of the total contributions candidates receive in their quest for the party's nomination.
35. PAC contributions are less important in presidential elections than congressional elections.
36. Lobbying in which representatives themselves contact public officials is called direct lobbying.
37. A major strategy of a lobbyist is to write legislation.
38. Direct Mail technology, as used by fundraiser Richard Viguerie, has been the major reason for the financial success of conservative groups during the past twenty-five years.
39. Radio has been used extensively in recent years to activate the public.
40. Legislators are relatively easy to lobby, but not easily persuaded or influenced.
41. One of the strategies interest groups use to respond to other interest groups is coalition building.
42. Congress is the focus of most lobbying; but president and the executive branch are also the focus of much lobbying.
43. It is not illegal to lobby administrative offices of the executive branch.
44. Presidents often use lobbying techniques with the lobbies.
45. It is not against the law for foreign governments to lobby the Defense Department.
46. Lobbyists representing foreign governments are required to register with the state department, and anyone hired by
someone else to lobby Congress must file financial reports.
47. A 1995 law prohibits the director and deputy director of the office that represents the United States in trade negotiations
with other countries from representing foreign interests forever.
48. The beneficiaries of political interest groups are generally those with the most money, the best organization, and the greatest influence.
49. The American system puts the burden on those who wish to change policy, not those who wish to maintain it.|
50. The public mood influences the rate of change in public policy.

POLITICAL PARTIES


1. Members of the Christian Coalition tend to vote Republican and oppose abortion and homosexuality, but support school prayer.
2. Pat Buchanan, a Roman Catholic, received the support of the Christian Coalition in 1992.
3. Republicans tend to support big business.
4. Democrats tend to support labor interests.
5. The major goal of a political party is to win elections.
6. Partisans are groups of supporters made up of: professionals, candidates, elected officials, and rank and file supporters.
7. Simply running as a Republican or Democrat activates the support of a sizable portion of the electorate.
8. The emergence of minor parties in the United States occurred mostly around the election of 1840, with a small party known as the Anti-Masons holding a national convention in 1831 to nominate a candidate and propose a set of governing principals. Since 1948 there have been 12 minor parties to emerge.
9. Political party members are not issued membership cards.
10. The electorate in the United States is not divided over the question of equal opportunity, but over programs such as affirmative action that are designed to achieve that goal..
11. The Libertarian party is classified as an ideological party.
12. The Progressive party of Theodore Roosevelt is classified as a candidate oriented party.
13. The Know-Nothing party was created in opposition to immigration policies.
14. The United We Stand and the Reform parties are both creations of H. Ross Perot.
15. Perot's major issue has been deficit reduction.
16. The Progressive party of Theodore Roosevelt was also called the Bull Moose party.
17. Parties are not mentioned in the Constitution and did not occur prior to its adoption and the presidency of George Washington.
18. Although individual and group contributions to presidential candidates are limited, the amount the candidate can spend of his own money is not limited.
19. The term "loyal opposition" refers to individuals who oppose government policies from within the political system.
20. Andrew Jackson was a Democrat-Republican.
21. The election system of the convention replaced the caucus system.
22. The election of 1840 had the highest percentage of eligible voter turnout of any presidential election.
23. The Free Soil party opposed the extension of slavery into the western territories.
24. John C. Fremont was the first Republican candidate.
26. Abraham Lincoln had the smallest winning percentage of any president in U.S. history.
27. The Prohibition party still exists in the 1990s.
28. The Democratic party did not completely support the free-silver policies of William Jennings Bryan.
29. The Roosevelt realignment was generally considered a realignment of economic classes.
30. Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton won the majority of vote of white Democratic southern voters.
31. Organized labor remains Democratic.
33. Young people are tending to be more politically conservative than their elders.
34. The Republican majority consists of members of racial and religious majorities and higher socioeconomic groups.
35. The process of de-alignment has been occurring over the last 30 years.
36. De-alignment is occurring in the American political party system, but realignment is much less clear.
37. The chair of the party national committee is its chief public spokesperson and liaison to elected officials and party leaders.
38. State political parties operate independently of the national parties.
39. Local political parties operate independently of both state and national parties.
40. The Democrats are largely behind the Republicans in organized fundraising.
41. The Democratic Leadership Council created in the mid 1980s advocated a conservative agenda.
42. Electing candidates to state and national office remains the primary goal of state parties.
44. Political party bosses have lost power partially as a result of the assimilation of ethnic minorities.
45. Women have experienced increased electoral success at local as well as at higher levels of government.
46. Political primaries have generally replaced the convention system
47. The major ideological difference between American parties is over what the government should do.
48. Responsible party government refers to the coherence of promises and practices—that those elected will fulfill campaign promises.
49. The philosophies, goals, and positions of a political party as well as an action agenda are part of the party's platform.
50. Partisanship plays a large role in the selection of judges.

CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS


1. Both Presidents Bush and Clinton found it difficult to maintain their public approval ratings after two years in office.|
2. The political environment is a key factor in determining an election's outcome.
3. Attitudes about Congress have a major effect on presidential campaigns.
4. Voting is only one of many significant measures of whether a country is democratic.
5. Universal suffrage means that all citizens who are responsible for their own actions are permitted to vote in order to protect and promote their own interests.
6. To maintain a democracy, it is important to have multiple candidates with differing opinions.
7. Property ownership as a condition of voting was formerly used in Great Britain as well as in the United States.
8. Belief in a Christian God was a condition of voting in this country at one time.
9. The major direction of change in the franchise has been expansion.
10. Black men could vote before white women.
11. The right to vote was extended due to successful struggles in the public arena.
12. Restrictions on the right to suffrage benefited the more powerful people in American society.
13. The extension of suffrage has had a major impact on participation in political parties.
14. The conscription of young men into the military at the time of the Vietnam War led to the passage of a constitutional amendment allowing 18- to 21-year-olds to vote.
15. Since the passage of the Twenty-sixth Amendment, 18- to 21-year-olds have had a remarkably low level of voter registration and turnout.
16. To a significant degree, states control the rules that govern national elections.
17. The Federal Election Campaign Act required public disclosure of all contributions and expenditures above a certain amount.
18. The Federal Election Commission monitors activities and oversees compliance with the Federal Election Campaign Act.
19. Even personal expenditures have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission.
20. Personal expenditures on campaign activities are not restricted.
22. A wealthy person can no longer exercise direct and disproportionate influence on an individual election unless he or she happens to be the candidate.
24. PAC monies are also termed "soft money."
25. The Democrats generally raise less PAC money than do the Republicans.
26. When campaign spending is restricted, voter turnout will suffer.
27. In the United States, largely due to universal franchise, the gap between eligible voters and actual voters is very large.
28. As a percentage of the adult population voting, fewer people voted in 1824 than in 1992.
29. The more highly educated a person is, the more likely that person is to vote.
30. The newest voters are traditionally the least likely to vote.
31. People over the age of 75 do not retain high voting levels.
32. There has been a decline in voter turnout in all age groups since 1960.
33. The public has had declining feelings of government efficacy due to the strong economy in the past decade.
34. Partisan identification is relatively stable.
35. People who change party identification tend to not go very far. Many become independents.
36. Independent voters are likely to vote in a more partisan fashion than do people who continue to claim a weak partisan allegiance.
37. Two-thirds of the American people identify themselves with a political party.
38. Once candidates are nominated, they tend to become more moderate.
39. Today, more than three-fourths of the states have primary systems prior to national conventions.
40. In the Democratic nomination process, a candidate must receive at least 15 percent of the vote in order to take part in proportional voting by states.
41. The Republican party permits states to have a winner-take-all vote.
42. A winner-take-all system works to the advantage of front runners.
43. The way the parties select their delegates has led to increasing participation by the public.
44. A candidate's proven ability to raise money is important before and  after the nomination is in hand.
45. Compared to public mailings, television time is very expensive.
46. The news media provide more coverage of conventions than of any other single political event.
47. The Electoral College's power is very important in a winner take all system and candidates must plan campaigns accordingly.
48. The delegates to the Electoral College equal the total number of senators and representatives from the states.
49. Foreign affairs have traditionally played a small role in presidential elections.
50. Elections are rarely clear mandates of the public will.

NEWS MEDIA


1. The New York Times and the Washington Post published writings by the Unabomber.
2. An individual suspected of being the Unabomber was apprehended as a result of his writing on the Internet.
3. It is relatively unusual for major newspapers to cooperate with a government agency.
4. The relationship between the press and the government can be characterized as adversarial.
5. The freedom of the press in the United States is never absolute.
6. The publication of information known to be false is illegal.
7. News shows and the coverage of news events have been exempt from the equal time rule.
8. Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1969) established the principle that an individual or group whose honesty, integrity, or character has been attacked has the right of rebuttal.
9. The Communications Decency Act was passed in 1996.
10. Big chains or corporations own more than 50 percent of the print media.
11. The public generally believes that news coverage is unfair and prejudicial.
12. Newspapers seem to have a pro-business orientation.
13. News presentations that must cater to the general public have become increasingly entertaining.
14. The first newspapers in the United States were rarely objective and factual in their reporting.
15. The penny press got its name because of the cost of the paper.
16. The penny press was partially responsible for changing the financial support for newspapers from subscriptions to advertising.
17. The proportion of the population reading newspapers has increased, but the number of newspapers available has decreased.
18. The number of people reading newspapers is not as large as the number who watch television news.
19. There are fewer radio stations in 1996 than there were in the 1940s.
20. Great Britain and Germany outrank the United States in the percentage of people who read newspapers regularly.
21. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first sitting president to use radio effectively.
22. Most radio hosts tend to be ultraconservative.
23. Ninety-eight percent of Americans own a television.
24. Paid television advertising by political parties first appeared during the Eisenhower campaign.
25. The power of television contributed greatly to the downfall of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
26. The radio-listening public believed that Richard Nixon won the Kennedy-Nixon debates.27. The television public believed that Richard Nixon lost the Kennedy-Nixon debates.
28. Americans cite television as their principal and most believable source of news.
29. The Vietnam War and Watergate were turning points in the relationship between the press and the government.
30. Helen Thomas was the chief of the White House Bureau for United Press International.
31. Connie Chung lost her job when she became part of the news.
32. The first television speech was made by Calvin Coolidge.
33. The Congressional Record is available through a website.
34. The most effective use of radio fireside chats was that of Franklin Roosevelt.
35. A computer was used to forecast the outcome of the elections in 1952.
36. Over three decades ago, a database system was established by the Library of Congress with the full text of all bills that have been introduced into Congress since 1973.
37. Overwhelmingly, government officials go on-line more than the American public.
38. The number of people on-line and the amount of time they spend on-line have increased every year.
39. News media coverage of politics and government is very biased.
40. The key to media coverage of a political event is the newsworthiness of that event.
41. More men than women use computers.
42. "Horse race" stories deal with election campaigns.
43. The media uses a dominant "story line" in a campaign to explain individual events and happenings.
44. Journalists tend to be more liberal than conservative.
45. Owners of news media tend to be more conservative than liberal.
46. News programs have begun to devote less time to the candidate's own words and more to the correspondents and others for their reaction.
47. Giving a scoop to one reporter can extend a story for two days as other news outlets are forced to play catch up.
48. Paid advertising is used to convey political messages.
49. Negative advertising has increased its importance in recent years as voters have grown more and more cynical.
50. Local news media are less critical and negative than are national news media.

CONGRESS

1. The Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-First Century is a $200 billion highway bill.

2. Highway bills are classic examples of pork barrel legislation.

3. For congressmen, the needs of the district always come before the needs of the nation.

4. Because of its two houses, the U.S. Congress is considered a bicameral legislature.

5. The United States has a bicameral legislature.

6. The House of Representatives more accurately represents the principle of one person, one vote than does the Senate.

7. The state with the largest number of representatives is California.

8. The smaller of the legislative chambers is the Senate.

9. Senators serve for six-year terms.

10. Most representatives and senators are Protestant.

11. There was only one Native American in the entire 105th Congress.

12. The number of minorities and women in Congress is far less than their percentage of the population.

13. There are few blue-collar workers in the House of Representatives.

14. In the 105th Congress, no members of the House of Representatives listed "homemaker" as their principal occupation, and  there were no homemakers listed in the Senate.

15. In the 105th Congress, there were no members of the House who could be classified as poor.

16. Few members of Congress have extensive training and professional expertise in the sciences, especially in engineering.

17. One of the reasons for supporting mandatory term limits is that it may be the only effective way to ensure significant turnover in Congress.

18. A congressperson has little time for serious reading, reflection, and creative thought.

19. House members have fewer staff employees than do the Senate members.

20. Legislators tend to do constituency work for people no matter if they voted for them or not.

21. When the Senate changes from one party to the other, some  senatorial staff changes take place as dictated by the new majority party.

22. In 1995, significant numbers of individuals were cut from the legislative service organizations.

23. The Speaker of the House is always elected from the majority party.

24. In the Senate, parties play a less important role than they do in the House.

25. Most Speakers of the House define their role in terms of administrators rather than policy makers.

26. An issue entrepreneur is a lobbyist who is a legislator who specializes in particular matters and seeks support among their colleagues.

27. Most of the work of Congress is done in committees.

28. Congress has the right and obligation to exercise administrative oversight of the executive-branch agencies.

29. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees oversee the Department of Defense.

30. Public hearings are held by committees and subcommittees, which request diverse views on specific issues.

31. Subcommittees, such as those of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, generally publish the results of hearings.

32. Compromise usually weakens the impact of legislation.

33. The British legislative house that most corresponds to the U.S. Congress is the House of Commons.

34. Few Western democracies have a system of checks and balances patterned on that of the United States.

35. The French government is responsible for suggesting legislation.

36. The French National Assembly has more members than the House of Representatives in the United States.

37. The House's procedures in passing legislation differ from those of the Senate partially because of the House's larger size.

38. Mark-up sessions are part of the final stage of working on a bill.

39. Because enacting bills is difficult in Congress, few bills are passed each session.

40. In some cases, the president may veto a bill.

41. Attaching a controversial unrelated provision to an essential or popular piece of legislation is called attaching a rider.

42. Members of the House vote with plastic cards such as those used in teller machines.

43. The Senate has fewer secret votes than does the House.

44. If the annual session of Congress ends within ten days of the passage of a bill, the president may exercise the pocket veto.

45. The rules and procedures of Congress seldom slows the pace of legislative consideration.

46. The Senate uses a procedure called "unanimous consent."

47. Military base closures are often a test of legislative clout.

48. To end a filibuster, a vote by three-fifths of the entire Senate (sixty senators) is required.

49. Constituencies tend to be composed of people with varying mindsets and political attitudes.

50. A geographic constituency is the whole district from which a legislator is elected.

THE PRESIDENCY

1. Congress has given fast track to every president before Gerald Ford.

2. Fast track authority involves the expansion of presidential power.

3. One of the dilemmas of presidential leadership is that there is a gap between public expectation and political resources.

4. To achieve their goals, presidents can exert little influence over others and achieve the cooperation they need.

5. The pluralistic nature of American society has become a source of difficulty to presidents.

6. The legal powers of the president are not only those found in the Constitution.

7. Political power is the president's use of persuasion.

8. Institutional power is the president's use of subordinates.

9. The institutional powers of the president allow him to delegate authority to subordinates.

10. Once elected, the president is still very much involved in politics.

11. The idea of a single-term presidency was considered by the framers of the Constitution.

12. The framers of the Constitution did not support direct democracy.

13. The Electoral College actually elects the president.

14. The framers of the Constitution believed that institutional rivalry would limit the excesses and abuses of power.

15. Congress is responsible for the creation of executive departments and agencies.

16. The bill proposing the line-item veto was passed 1996.

17. The line-item veto was not beyond the scope of adjudication.

18. Presidents who confer with senators before nominating an individual from the senators' state are being "senatorial courtesy."

19. The Supreme Court has restricted the president's power to remove officials who serve on independent regulatory agencies.

20. The president can not remove most civil servants.

21. The President cannot request the resignation of federal district judges who had been appointed by predecessors.

22. Presidents have little power of influence over the day-to-day activities in executive departments and agencies.

23. President Reagan had a delegation of authority style of management.

24. An executive order eliminated the gag rule that had prevented federally funded family planning clinics from discussing abortion with their clients.

25. Executive orders may be published in the Federal Register.

26. According to the Constitution, the president is not required to inform Congress about the state of the union every year.

27. The Boland Amendment prohibited executive agencies from supporting the Nicaraguan revolutionaries.

28. The War Powers Resolution limits the power of the president.

29. The War Powers Resolution did not prevent President Bush from using force in the Persian Gulf.

30. The public generally has no uniform opinion concerning the conduct of foreign policy.

31. Until the 1900s, the principal architect of domestic policy was the Congress.

32. The president is expected to present an annual legislative program to Congress.

33. Presidents are not precluded from judicial power by Article III of the Constitution.

34. The more popular presidents are with the general public, the more congressional support they receive regardless of their partisan affiliation.

35. Going public tends to work for presidents unless they do it too often.

36. When running for president, Jimmy Carter made 125 promises.

37. Going public sometimes raises unrealistic expectations, which leads to public disappointment.

38. The first executive departments were the Department of State, the Department of War, and the Treasury.

39. The cabinet became partisan with the defection of Thomas Jefferson in 1794.

40. A cabinet functions as an advisory board.

41. The cabinet in the U.S. government is not as powerful as the cabinet in most other democratic countries.

42. The Office of Management and Budget is responsible to the President.

43. The OMB would be inclined to oppose a program that resulted in a large increase in expenditures.

44. Republican White House staffs tend to have more clear cut lines of responsibility than do their Democratic counterparts.

45. The chief of staff is responsible for reporting information to the president, make recommendations to the president be the president's ears, and run the White House.

46. The first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, has an office in the White House.

47. Originally, the presidential candidate with the second-highest number of Electoral College votes was to become the vice president.

48. In recent years, presidents have done much to prepare their vice presidents for the job that they might have to assume.

49. Because presidents tend to focus on a few policy proposals, issues that a sizable portion of the public thinks are important may be ignored.

50. Presidents have generally had more success with foreign issues than with domestic policy issues.

EXECUTIVE BUREAUCRACY

1. The building in Oklahoma City that was bombed in April 1995 was a Federal office building.

2. In a government such as that of the United States, there is a great deal of friction between executive agencies' ability to implement law and the accountability of those agencies to the public.

3. The federal bureaucracy implements decisions made by the president.

4. The federal bureaucracy implements laws made by the Congress.

5. The federal bureaucracy implements court decisions.

6. Federal bureaucrats are rarely neutral implementers of decisions made in the political arena.

7. A bureaucrat is a career government employee.

8. An agency, a bureau, and an office are all different things.

9. The growth of the federal bureaucracy began to accelerate after the US. Civil War.

10. Most agencies are rather small.

11. Bureaucratic organizations lie inside the realm of the political process.

12. The major operating units of the federal government are departments.

13. There are fourteen departments in the federal government.

14. In 1802, the number of federal employees was approximately ten thousand.

15. The largest federal agencies until the Civil War were the Post Office and the Treasury.

16. No all agencies must be called agencies.

17. The U.S. Information Agency is, in fact, an agency.

18. Departments spend more money and employ more people than do agencies.

19. The State Department's budget is less that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's budget.

20. Independent regulatory commissions can issue rules and regulations as well as adjudicate disputes and issue rulings.

21. The major purpose of a regulatory commission is to regulate commerce and trade in an assigned area of jurisdiction.

22. There are twelve regulatory commissions.

23. Government corporations are allowed to make a profit.

24. Advisory committees generally do not provide permanent, year-round jobs.

25. The use of patronage by the government was not completely discontinued after the passage of the Pendleton Act.

26. Most federal employees are covered by the civil service system.

27. The civil service is controlled by the Office of Personnel Management.

28. A "reduction in force" strategy was actively pursued by President Ronald Reagan.

29. Nearly all top-level positions in the executive branch are held by political appointees.

30. The top level of the French civil service is called the "grands corps."

31. The French system of bureaucracy is more centralized and integrated than that of the United States.

32. There is a special school in France specifically devoted to the education of future civil servants.

33. The NEA supported the creation of the Department of Education  from the time of its inception.

34. The primary task of federal agencies is to implement and interpret the public policies that emerge from the legislative process.

35. Economic regulation is necessary to maintain the stability of the free-market system.

36. Social regulation aims to control the social and physical impact of a wide range of economic activities.

37. In making rules, agencies must follow procedures laid down in the Administrative Procedures Act of 1946 and its amendments.

38. Administrative hearings are overseen by an administrative law judges.

39. Administrative law judges' opinions are binding.

40. The USDA conducts regular inspections of beef-producing companies.

41. Federal agencies allocate funds to purchase the goods and services necessary to implement federal programs.

42. Agency staffs generally play an active role in trying to define and protect the policies they are charged with administering.

43. Most bureaucratic decision making does not follow democratic principles.

44. Most public officials seek to enlarge their own resources and protect their turfs.

45. Standard operating procedures are predetermined ways of responding to a particular problem or set of circumstances.

46. Capture occurs when an agency is taken over by its clients.

47. Territorial imperative is a situation in which an agency guards its own turf or territory.

48. An iron triangle consists of executive agencies, interest groups and congressional subcommittees.

49. An issue network consists of specialists in a particular subject working in bureaucratic agencies at all levels of government.

50. Organizational vitality is difficult to sustain.

THE JUDICIARY

1. Its refusal to take a case does not always mean that the Supreme Court agrees with the decision of the lower courts.

2. The issue of contraceptives is not a new issue.

3. The court with the final jurisdiction in cases involving federal law is the Supreme Court, not the state courts.

4. Each of the fifty states has an independent judiciary.

5. There are at least one Federal District court in each state.

6. Each district court has at least one judge.

7. District courts may use grand juries or petit juries.

8. Courts of appeals usually hear no oral arguments or permit new evidence.

9. Most cases end at the district court level.

10. Political scientists maintain that jury duty is an obligation of citizenship.

11. Potential jurors can be legally disqualified if they show bias, or for cause.

12. Courts are not like roving commissions or "knights-errant, " but must wait disputes in the form of lawsuits.

13. The specific jurisdiction of federal courts is found in Article III of the Constitution.

14. A personal injury must be claimed if an individual or group is to be granted standing in court.

15. Some disputes that are granted standing in court are real events and are not hypothetical.

16. All other remedies must be exhausted for a case to be granted standing by the Supreme Court.

17. A case must be ripe or important to be granted standing by the Supreme Court.

18. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in cases involving U.S. ambassadors to foreign countries.

19. Lawsuits may involve non-monetary interests such as aesthetic and environmental well-being.

20. Under no conditions does the Supreme Court will hear "friendly lawsuits."

21. Political questions are generally avoided by the Supreme Court.

22. The Supreme Court may hear test cases.

23. If a dispute is justiciable, that means that it is open to judicial resolution and remedy. 

24. The principle of judicial review are not specified in the Constitution.

25. Alexander Hamilton believed that the judiciary was the least dangerous branch of government.

26. Judicial activism can refer to either liberal or conservative findings.

27. Ronald Reagan tried to change the balance of the Supreme Court by nominating justices who would exercise self-restraint.

28. Americans are extremely litigious.

29. It is estimated that there is one attorney for every three hundred citizens.

30. Most Supreme Court appointees do not have a difficult time getting through the Senate confirmation hearings.

31. Not all presidents try to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court with political associates and individuals who share their ideological views.

32. Presidents do not try to balance the Supreme Court by crossing party lines.

33. Presidents do not try to balance the Supreme Court by nominating individuals from various regions of the country.

34. Confirmation hearings for nominees to the Supreme Court are held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

35. The Supreme Court is the least well known of the three major branches of government.

36. The appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court was very  controversial.

37. All of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1992 were white males.

38. The Supreme Court can issue petitions for a writ of certiorari.

39. People without significant amounts of money can actually file a brief with the Supreme Court.

40. Frivolous requests are a nuisance but are turned away by the Supreme Court.

41. The Supreme Court must review and decide all mandatory appeals.

42. Review of an case can be granted on the vote of only four justices - the informal "rule of four." 

43. In most instances, all of the Supreme Court justices agree to hear a case.

44. When the Supreme Court hears oral arguments, it gives each side equal amounts of time.

45. The public is allowed to hear oral arguments in Supreme Court cases.

46. The press is allowed to hear oral arguments in Supreme Court cases.

47. Most Supreme Court justices use bench memos prepared by law clerks.

48. One Supreme Court justice writes an opinion on each case presented in oral argument.

49. The papers and notes of Supreme Court justices, in this century, are often donated to the Library of Congress or the law school from which they graduated.

50. Supreme Court justices who disagree with the institutional opinion may write dissenting opinions.

POLICY-MAKING

1. Policy making is almost always conflictual.

2. The anticrime legislation passed in 1994 authorized $30.2 billion over six years to be spent by states, counties, and cities.

3. Policy making is a goal directed course of action taken by government in an attempt to deal with a public problem.

4. Private groups are allowed to lobby government in the policy-making process.

5. Public policy is an action by government designed to address public problems.

6. Public policy is the actual accomplishment of governments.

7. Most Americans think of policy problems as issue areas.

8. Policies that provide public safety and transportation are distributive policies.

9. The policies that regulate child labor, auto emissions, and industrial wastes are regulatory policies.

10. Distributive policies are generally not seen as punitive.

11. Regulatory policies are often seen as punitive.

12. Rules and standards are most often associated with regulatory policies.

13. Pork-barrel politics is usually associated with distributive policies.

14. A policy that provides recreational facilities is a distributive policy.

15. Redistributive policies are frequently controversial.

16. Redistributive policies are often seen as a zero-sum game.

17. Many public problems do not require government amelioration.

18. During a crisis period, the government is less cautious about changing the course of public policy.

19. Inaction is actually a policy action because the decision to do nothing has consequences as real as the decision to do something.

20. AFDC is no longer an entitlement program.

21. Proponents of the block grant approach argue that government closest to the people will make better decisions about what kinds of welfare programs are the most efficient and effective.

22. Republicans are generally considered less compassionate than Democrats.

23. Republicans are generally seen as being punitive with regard to unwed mothers.

24. There is a trend toward requiring all welfare recipients to work.

25. The "race to the bottom" hurts poor people.

26. Governors of states such as Mississippi and Michigan have suggested that states be responsible for distributing welfare but not for collecting the taxes to support those programs.

27. Cigarette smoking has been a public issue with high visibility in recent years.

28. President Clinton was an active proponent of legislation restricting access to tobacco products by those under the age of 18.

29. The spotted owl controversy deals with many issues and not just the plight of an endangered bird.

30. Public awareness of an issue is not enough to guarantee that the issue will be placed on the policy agenda.

31. The Environmental Defense Fund is a special interest group  responsible for the protection of endangered species.

32. Academics and students have had an active role in environmental protection.

33. The Brady bill was signed by President George Bush.

34. The Brady bill was not designed to eliminate individual ownership of most handguns.

35. James S. Brady was Press Secretary for President Ronald Regan when he was shot by a bullet meant for President Reagan.

36. The NRA actively opposed Brady bill.

37. The policy formulation process does not always results in a new law or administrative action.

38. The concept of "sub government" is a reference to an iron triangle.

39. Issue networks complicate calculations, decrease predictability, and impose considerable strains on those charged with governmental leadership.

40. A "revolving door" allows an individual to move back and forth from the private sector to the public sector within a given sub government or issue network.

41. During the 1980s, 20 percent of the members of Congress who left Congress took positions as lobbyists.

42. The abortion issue is a primary example of the policy roles of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

43. The EPA has not faithfully executed laws enacted by Congress.

44. Historically, the Supreme Court has had great influence on public policy implementation.

45. Both intended and unintended consequences of public policy are taken into consideration during the evaluation process.

46. A "seat of the pants" evaluation refers to an impressionistic evaluation of public policies.

47. A public mandate seems to give a president more public authority to initiate public policy.

48. Policies that are not meeting their objectives or have outlived the problem for which they were created may be overhauled or may undergo termination.

49. President John F. Kennedy proposed a measure that would have provided major new federal assistance to public education but denied such aid to parochial schools.

50. Vice President Albert Gore was asked to head a commission designed to eliminate useless bureaucracy and waste and free the government of red tape and senseless rules.

DOMESTIC POLICY

1. Environmental issues are considered domestic policy issues.

2. In politics, it is often difficult even for friends to agree on complex issues.

3. During President Clinton's efforts at health-care reform in 1993–1994, he had a difficult time finding the "vital center" of the political spectrum.

4. The middle ground may be the most vexing and complex policy alternative.

5. Education costs have traditionally been the responsibility of state government.

6. National education policy is partly distributive and partly redistributive.

7. Federal involvement in public education grew during the 1960s and 1970s and is currently increasing.

8. The Department of Education is a cabinet-level department.

9. Ronald Reagan called for the dismantling of the Department of Education in his campaign of 1980 but did not dismantle it after he was elected president.

10. Civil rights groups believe that minorities would not fare as well under state control of education as they do under federal control.

11. The Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 provided for a Federal block grant to fund programs for disadvantaged children be the responsibility of state governments.

12. President Bush held a widely publicized education conference with the nation's fifty governors and announced six national education goals to be achieved by the year 2000.

13. Under the America 2000 goals, an innovative school was set up in each of the congressional districts.

14. President Bush did not supported education grants of federal monies sufficient to achieve the goals of the year 2000 program.

15. The education legislation passed by Congress during the Bush administration was largely limited to outlining broad objectives and standards.

16. A national service program was initiated by President Clinton and eventually funded by Congress.

17. National standards for educational achievement have been controversial and deemed less than successful.

18. Approximately 40 million Americans lack any kind of health insurance.

19. The United States is the only major industrialized country without a universal health-care system.

20. In 1993, a family of four with an annual income of less than $14,335 was defined by the government as "poor."

21. Nationally funded programs for retirement, health, housing, and college loans are categorized as "distributive."

22. There are as many people on welfare today as were on welfare in 1964.

23. Since 1965, the gap between rich and poor has increased.

24. President Lyndon Johnson called for a "war on poverty."

25. When comparing groups of people living below the poverty level, a higher percentage of blacks are poor than are whites.

26. There are more white poor people than black poor people.

27. About one-fourth of all American children live in poverty.

28. Social insurance requires employees to contribute to a national insurance fund.

29. The percentage of people living in poverty is highest in the northeast part of the United States.

30. Public assistance programs are means-tested.

31. The largest of the social insurance programs is Social Security.

32. In 1996, both employers and employees paid approximately 7.65 percent of the employees' annual income into the Social Security trust fund.

33. Self-employed individuals must pay into Social Security twice what wage earners pay.

34. The average monthly income of an individual who receives only Social Security benefits would put that person under the poverty line.

35. Medicare does not include provisions to cover catastrophic illness.

36. Individuals will be required to work to a later age under new Social Security requirements.

37. AFDC was originally intended to provide assistance to mothers who were left with children as a result of the death of the father.

38. In the early 1990s, the percentage of AFDC recipients who had been receiving benefits for more than ten years was approximately 25 percent.

39. Medicaid was established to help low income people pay hospital, doctor, and other medical bills.

40. The Democratic party has generally taken the lead in the expansion of welfare programs.

41. The Agriculture Committee is concerned with the food stamp program.

42. The AARP is a major interest group.

43. Both the Democratic and Republican parties agree on the need to reform welfare.

44. Newt Gingrich supported block grant programs as being representative of the devolution of government to the states.

45. Under the 1996 welfare reform legislation, recipients are required to seek work or training.

46. AFDC was eliminated in 1996.

47. Critics of welfare reform believe that cities and states are not able to care for indigent and poor citizens in a decent and humane way.

48. The Kennedy-Kassebaum bill makes health care portable.

49. The United States has about 5 percent of the world's population and consumes almost 25 percent of the world's energy supply.

50. The Energy Policy Act passed in 1992 aimed to decrease dependence on foreign oil by promoting conservation and supporting domestic production.

ECONOMIC POLICY

1. The federal budget had not shown a surplus since 1969.

2. The budget process is intensely political.

3. The American economy has been a remarkable engine of progress.

4. Government has always played a role in encouraging economic development.

5. The New Deal ushered in three decades of Democratic control of economic policy.

6. The American public concurred that the Depression was serious enough to support the policies of the New Deal.

7. Under the New Deal, the government spent more than it brought in.

8. The policies of the New Deal did not include the takeover of private production by the government.

9. Conservatives generally believe that the government should interfere as little as possible in the free-enterprise system.

10. Laissez faire advocates generally believe that the government should never interfere in the free-enterprise system.

11. Both liberals and conservatives believe that a goal of government is to encourage economic growth.

12. High levels of economic growth can be maintained with almost any level of employment.

13. Inflation tends to hurt people on Social Security more than any other economic sector.

14. A COLA is a cost-of-living-adjustment in benefits to keep pace with inflation.

15. Congress has approved a system of indexing Social Security benefits to the cost of living.

16. The wage-price spiral is a principal cause of inflation.

17. Inflation may be a result of deficit spending.

18. Democrats tend to support more government intervention in the economy than do Republicans.

19. NAFTA is a treaty between Mexico, Canada, and the United States.

20. Antagonism to NAFTA crossed party lines.

21. The Federal Reserve System is the United States Treasury's fiscal agent.

22. There are twelve Federal Reserve Banks.

23. The Federal Reserve System was created in 1913, during the Wilson administration.

24. The head of the Federal Reserve System, Alan Greenspan, has an appointment that does not expire until 2006.

25. Alan Greenspan has called for a major reduction in the federal budget, but his chief concern is controlling inflation.

26. Alan Greenspan believes that the most effective way to control inflation is by raising interest rates.

27. The Budget and Accounting Act, which gave the president responsibility for presenting a unified budget recommendation each year, was passed in 1921.

28. John Maynard Keynes was a monetary and fiscal liberal.

29. Keynesian economics is associated with large budget deficits.

30. During the Reagan administration, the United States had the largest budget deficits in its history.

31. The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act completely broke down before it could successfully in eliminating the budget deficit.

32. In 1998, Congress produced the first federal budget surplus in 30 years.

33. The budget expenditures of the United States are over $1,700 trillion.

34. One dollar of every four dollars spent in the United States is spent by the federal government.

35. The federal budget is by far the largest single factor in national economic activity.

36. A balanced-budget amendment would probably require steep tax increases.

37. A balanced-budget amendment would probably require decreased levels of federal spending.

38. A balanced-budget amendment would probably take considerable power from elected representatives.

39. The federal government has an annual budget.

40. The budget process is pervaded by conflict.

41. A continuing appropriations resolution allows for new policy initiatives to be funded.

42. Income tax revenues are the largest single source of income for the federal government.

43. A flat tax would disproportionately affect poorer people.

44. In the United States, taxes are a lower percentage of the GDP than in most Western democracies.

45. Luxury taxes are aimed at deliber