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American Government CLEP Study Guide

Terms in this set (93)

Which of the following is generally the most significant influence on an individual's identification with a particular political party?
Family
Which statement best reflects the pluralist theory of American politics?
Public policies emerge from compromises reached among competing groups.
Which of the following committee assignments would confer the most power and influence on members of the House of Representatives?
Ways and Means
What is the Ways and Means committee?
A permanent committee of the House of Representatives, which makes recommendations to the House on all bills for raising revenue. The committee is the principal source of legislation concerning issues such as taxation, customs duties, and international trade agreements.
Which statement about Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka is correct?
It declared segregation by race in the public schools unconstitutional.
Prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, literacy tests were used by some southern states to...
Prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote.
The practice whereby individual senators can veto federal judicial nominations in their respective states is called
Senatorial courtesy
Differences between House and Senate versions of a bill are resolved...
in a conference room meeting.
Which of the following principles protects a citizen from imprisonment without trial
Due process
The passage of legislation in Congress often depends on mutual accommodations among members. This suggests that, to some extent, congressional behavior is based on
Deference to state legislatures
The following statements accurately describe the president's veto power
1. A president sometimes threatens to veto a bill that is under discussion in order to influence congressional decision making. 2. Congress is usually unable to override a president's veto.
All of the following issues were decided at the constitutional Convention of 1787
Representation in the legislature; the method of electing the president; congressional power to override a presidential veto; qualifications for members of the House and Senate
This is an example of soft money
Money that is given to a political party for advertisements about the party's goals
The usefulness to the president of having cabinet members as political advisers is undermined by the fact that
the loyalties of cabinet members are often divided between loyalty to the president and loyalty to their own executive departments.
In the electoral history of the United States third parties have been effective vehicles of protest when they
dramatized issues and positions that were being ignored by the major parties
The following best defines the term "judicial activism"
The attempts by judges to influence public policy through their case decisions.
High levels of political participation have been found to be positively associated with
A high level of interest in politics; A sense of political efficacy; A strong sense of civic duty
In the past 30 years, the single most important variable in determining the outcome of an election for a member of the House of Representatives has been
incumbency
The following best describes the concept of federalism embodied in the United States government
The constitution divides power between a central government and its constituent governments, with some powers being shared.
The following are constitutional rights that neither the federal government nor the states can restrict, EXCEPT the right to:
be indicted by grand jury
The power of the Rules Committee in the House of Representatives primarily stems from its authority to
limit the time for debate and determine whether amendments to a bill can be considered.
The following is a function of the White House Office
Advising the president on political decisions
A major difference between political parties and interest groups is that interest groups generally do NOT
Occupy a place on the ballot
An election is a realigning or critical election if
there is a lasting change in party coalitions
The following Supreme Court cases involved the principle of one person, one vote?
Baker v. Carr
The passage of broad legislation that leaves the making of specific rules to the executive branch is an example of
delegated authority
The redrawing of congressional districts in such a way as to give advantage to one political party is referred to as
gerrymandering
The details of legislation are usually worked out in which of the following settings?
a subcommittee
A theoretical explanation of the operation of diverse interests in American politics is found in
The Federalist Papers
The framers of the original Constitution thought that the following would best protect judicial independence
Life tenure during good behavior
The following activities of American labor unions is permissible by law
Engaging in strikes
The following best describes the relationship between socioeconomic status and participation in politics
The higher one's socioeconomic status, the greater the probability of active involvement in the political process.
One important change in political culture since the Second World War is that United States citizens have become
Less trusting of governmental institutions and leaders
All the following statements correctly describe judicial appointments at the federal level
Federal judicial appointments are typically evaluated by the American Bar Association or the Federalist Society; If a senator is a member of the president's party, tradition may allow the senator to exercise an informal veto over an individual being considered from the senator's state; Presidents seldom recommend for judicial appointment individuals from the opposition political party; and Federal judgeship's are often considered by presidents as patronage positions.
The following agency determines the domestic monetary policy of the United States
The Federal Reserve Board
Under the following condition, interest groups are most likely to influence policymaking
When the issue is a highly technical one requiring very detailed legislation.
The following help to explain the president's difficulty in controlling cabinet-level agencies...
1. Agencies have political support from interest groups. 2. Agency staff often have information and technical expertise that the president and presidential advisors lack. 3. Civil servants who remain in their jobs through changes of administration develop loyalties to their agencies. 4. Congress is a competitor for influence over the bureaucracy.
In the Constitution as originally ratified in 1788, the provisions regarding the following most closely approximate popular, majoritarian democracy.
Election of members of the House of Representatives
The most likely and often the most powerful policy coalition of interests is likely to include a federal agency plus the following...
An interest group and a congressional subcommittee.
Throughout most of the twentieth century, which of the following was most likely to occur in midterm congressional elections?
The party of the president typically lost seats in Congress, regardless of whether the president was a Republican or Democrat.
Delegates to the Republican and Democratic national conventions are primarily chosen...
in primaries
The political philosopher who most influenced the writing of the United States Constitution
Locke
The concept of responsible party government emphasizes the following about elections
Political parties will take clear, unambiguous positions
The following is a difference between the House of Representatives and the Senate
The Senate has the exclusive power to ratify treaties
The following was a consequence of the new Deal legislation passed during the Great Depression under the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt
The federal government became a more important agent of change than in previous presidential administrations.
Congressional oversight is best described as
monitoring the federal bureaucracy
The differences between the political attitudes of men and women are referred to as
the gender gap
According to the Constitution, the following decides the presidential election outcome in the event that a single candidate does not get a majority of electoral votes
The House of Representatives
If the vice presidency of the United States is vacated the Constitution stipulates that the president must
appoint a new vice president with the approval of both houses of Congress
James Madison's goal of setting power against power to minimize the concentration of authority in any one branch of government is outlined in the Constitution as a system of
checks and balances
The declining number of marginal seats in Congress means that
fewer seats are won by 55% or less of the vote
The ability of the media to define the importance of particular events and issues is called
agenda setting
The power of judicial review was established in
Marbury v. Madison
The following is true of both the House of Representatives and the Senate
Both chambers employ a complex system of permanent committees to assist them in carrying out their legislative duties.
The authority of a chief executive to withhold approval from specific parts of appropriations bills passed by the legislature is known as
a line-item veto
The weakening of political parties is most often traced to
Progressive Era reforms
The following contemporary political ideologies posits that government power should be used to promote individual economic security and redistribute resources, but rejects the notion that government should favor a particular set of social values...
Liberalism
The following best describes a referendum
Citizens vote directly on laws proposed by state legislature
The process by which selected rights in the Bill of Rights (such as the right to an attorney) are incorporated into the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in order to protect them from state action.
selective incorporation
Legal standard that says First Amendment does not protect speech that has a "tendency" to incite unlawful activity.
Bad tendency test
The following is true of federal administrative agencies
They have substantial influence over public policy through administrative discretion.
Legal standard that says First Amendment does not protect speech aimed at inciting lawless action if such action is both imminent and likely.
imminent lawless action test
Legal principle that evidence gathered by unconstitutional means cannot ordinarily be used against the accused in a trial...
exclusionary rule
Individual rights
Civil liberties
The following is a check on the power of the United States Supreme Court
Congress controls the number of justices who may sit on the Court
States, according to the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution...
must honor public records, acts, and judicial proceedings of every other state
The following is most likely to weaken party leadership in the Senate
The use of filibuster by individual senators
The principal source of presidents' political influence is their
constitutional authority to execute public policies
Among the expressed powers of the federal government enumerated in the Constitution of the United States is the power to
regulate interstate trade and commerce
The following accounts for the greatest percentage of expenditure for state and local governments in the United States
Elementary and secondary education
The use of initiative and referendum illustrates the following theory of governance
Direct democracy
The U.S. political system, the situation when one party controls the presidency while the opposing party controls both houses of Congress is known as
divided government
In the Federalist paper number 10 James Madison argued that...
the growth of factions was inevitable in a democracy
The constitutional redistribution of House seats after the census every ten years is known as
reapportionment
The following is true of the Articles of Confederation
They created a national government with a legislature, but no executive or judiciary.
According to the US Constitution, who has the right to create inferior courts?
The Congress
The following is an example of monetary policy...
Increasing the reserve requirement
Congress has the least discretion to change spending for the following...
Interest on the national debt and entitlement programs
The following statement is historically true of the electoral college
The winner of the electoral college also usually wins the popular vote
The following action gives the president an advantage over Congress in promoting policy...
Utilizing the media through the bully pulpit
The following is true of political parties
They try to gain control of government by winning elections
The following best defines political culture
It is the shared attitudes of a people regarding government
The following is the strongest determinant of an individuals voting behavior...
Political party affiliation
In the following case the Supreme Court established the precedent that a right to privacy stems from several amendments in the Bill of Rights
Griswold v. Connecticut
Each of the following is a power of Congress
declaring war, ratifying treaties, confirming ambassadors, appropriating funds of war
Individuals who identify themselves as conservative would most likely support the following
Lowering barriers to trade
The phrase "divided government" refers to
one political party controlling the presidency while another political party controls one or both houses of Congress
The following factor has most contributed to the persistence of the two-party system in the United States
Plurality rules for determining election outcomes
As compared with Republicans and Democrats, Independents in the United States are typically
less likely to vote in elections
The following best describes the relationship between the media and citizens...
citizens tend to seek out media that reinforce rather than challenge existing ideological views
The Supreme Court's decision in Arizona v. United States (2012), which held that Congress, not the states has the sole authority to regulate immigration, best illustrates which of the following features of the constitution?
Federalism
When judicial nominees come before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify, the Senate is fulfilling this role...
Advice and consent
If a party to a federal civil lawsuit loses the case and chooses to appeal, it would take the appeal to the
United States Courts of Appeals
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...