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American Federal Government Chapter 11
General Test Questions & Answers
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According to____, the average American exhibits little knowledge for political institutions, processes, or leaders.
recent studies by political scientists
 
Family provides most people with their____to politics.
initial orientation
 
If you consider yourself moderate, you are like
most Americans
 
Online social network such as Facebook and Twitter
likely increase the role of peers in shaping public opinion
 
Opposition to government expansion, opposition to increased taxation, and opposition to government regulation on
business are views that are generally identified as belonging to which political ideology?
conservative
 
Political and voting differences between men and women are known as the____gap.
gender
 
Political scientists Richard Lau and David Redlawsk argue that MOST public opinion is formed through
cues from political elites
 
Political socialization is the process through which
political beliefs and values are formed
 
Polls are____instruments for measuring public opinion.
scientific
 
States that adopt smoking bans provide an example of government policy
that shaped public opinion
 
Symbolic of the digital age, President Obama used which platforms for public communication.
Facebook and Twitter
 
The inherent gulf between the rich and the poor was considered by____to be the MOST perpetual source of conflict
in political life.
the framers of the Constitution
 
The religiously unaffiliated tent to be politically
liberal
 
The size of the overall population is____in determining the reliability of a poll
not important
 
Those with higher education, income, and occupational status and who are members of social or political organizations
are likely to have high
political knowledge
 
What is an impact of increasing polarization between the parties in the US
party endorsements have a larger impact on public opinion formation
 
What is the MOST important core value of liberals?
equality
 
When using a simple random sample, every individual in a population has an equal probability of being
selected as a respondent
 
Which of the following is generally considered a core US value?
liberty
 
Which of the following values or outcomes would likely be opposed by MOST americans?
equality of income
 
Which of the following was a conclusion made by political scientist Milton Lodge and colleagues about individual
formation of public opinion?
many individuals are politically informed but lack memory of some of the facts used to form their opinions.
 
___ is the interplay of opinions and views that takes place as competing forces attempt to persuade as many people as possible
to accept a particular position on a particular issue.
the marketplace of ideas
 
___ refers to a set of beliefs and values that, as a whole, form a general philosophy about government.
Political ideology
 
____ is a problem in measuring public opinion wherein respondents report what they expect the interviewer wishes to hear or
what they think is socially acceptable rather than what they actually believe.
Social desirability effect
 
a contemporary and very controversial example of a media leak is
the Edward Snowden leads of NSA classified material
 
blogs have been a particularly important tool for growing and enhancing
citizen journalism
 
Both Facebook and Twitter have contributed to political mobilization and information sharing by creating ____ where groups
of like-minded individuals or individual with shared interests can easily share information
visual social networks
 
convenience of getting news, up-to-the-minute currency of information, depth of information, diversity of viewpoints, and
low costs are all benefits of
online news
 
Even though newspapers are not the primary news source for MOST Americans, why could they still be considered important?
they are still influential among the political elite.
 
How has the dramatic rise in political information and the diversity of
the media in recent decades affected the population's political knowledge?
average level of political knowledge have remained constant
 
it is estimated that more than____of americans have access to the internet
80 percent
 
online media, by representing a wider range of political views than traditional news sources, have created
a more democratic press
 
Priming involves
calling attention to some matters while ignoring other when evaluation political officials
 
The 1969 case, Red Lion Broadcasting Company v. FCC, confirmed the FCC's regulation called
right of rebuttal
 
The FCC's fairness doctrine
is no longer being enforced
 
The Obama administration's labeling of its health care initiative as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
thus defining it as a matter of compassionate responsibility and good economic sense, is am example of
framing
 
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was an attempt to
loosen restrictions on media ownership
 
the loss of investigative power is a hew concern about which of the following media
online news
 
when newspaper first emerged they were motivate primarily by
profit seeking
 
when the delivery of news was dominated by only three networks and a handful of national papers, it tented to
be ___ than it is today
more moderate
 
which of the following media forms could be considered essentially a headline service
radio news
 
which of following about mass media number and ownership is accurate? the number of new sources –
those doing actual news gathering - has
stayed essentially the same in recent decades
 
_____, such as ESPN and Disney, have prompted questions about whether enough competition exists among
traditional media to produce a truly diverse set of views on political matters
media monopolies
 
____ are two popular news aggregators that serve a large number of readers by synthesizing coverage from a variety of sources
Google News and Real Clear Politics
 
____ journalism caters to specialized interests of new consumers
niche
 
a recent study form 2016 concluded that the reason college students were susceptible to "fake news" was because "fake news"
is clearly presented in the same format as real news the "real news" has such incredible information reported that it make
"fake news" seem potentially more believable than it otherwise would be
 
according to the text all of the following factors are involved in the medias decision to cover more political and
governmental news EXCEPT
So many news programs cover California political and governmental new that there is little for each station to report
 
Over the past two decades, the number of newspaper across the US has ___ and newspaper circulation have____
fallen; declined
 
Many experts see digital media as a catalyst for
enhancing
 
Following the 2016 election of Donald Trump to the presidency, subscriptions and donations to investigative media such
as ProPublica and Washington Post and New York Times.
increased
 
a series of experiments by Donald Green and Alan Gerber showed that face to face interaction may increase voter turnout by
10 percent
 
an example of ___ was the Black Lives Matters campaign staring in Ferguson but spreading to New York City, Baltimore
and dozens of other locations in 2015.
protests
 
anat from voting, this form of political participation is the most common way citizens participate in american politics
digital political participation
 
over the past two centuries of american history which of the following has been the MOST persistent barrier to increase
suffrage for disenfranchised groups?
state laws
 
Political scientist Russel Dalton argues that social media such as
Twitter and Facebook is making participation in politics much more
expressive
 
Reversing decades of negative trends digital media may foster community building. Digital media may also increase
American’s social capital which is defined as
community networks that motivated political participation
 
the latino vote is often referred to by analyst as the
sleeping giant
 
the concept defined as "when individuals are represented in government by officials of their same race, ethnicity,
or gender" is known as
descriptive representation
 
What is the single MOST important factor in predicting not only whether an individual will vote but also most
kinds of political participation
education level
 
which factor in particulate helped the Democrat Party in the 2008 presidential election
better mobilization effort by Democrats
 
which group won suffrage in 1920
women
 
which of the following granted 18 year olds the right to vote
the twenty sixth amendment
 
which of the following individuals would be MOST likely to vote
a white middle aged college graduate
 
which of the following is a voting practice that most European countries have but that the US does not
holding elections on nonworking days
 
which of the following statements about the voting rights of felons is
accurate
 
some states allow felons who have send their sentence to vote while
others do not
 
Which religious group become a significant part of the Republican party
base starting in the 1980s
white evangelical protestants
 
which voting trend began in 2004 and contributed through 2008
the first significant increase voter turnout in 40 years
 
women and minorities in the US congress are significantly underrepresented compared with their percentages of the US
population
 
___ are the hallmark of democracy
elections
 
____ refers to a groups right to vote
suffrage
 
a ___ is a nonprofit independent group that receives and disburses funds to influence elections
527 committee
 
a party caucus is a
closed meeting of a political or legislative group to select candidates, plan strategies or make decisions regarding legislative matters
 
a type of party formation which takes place when a group of politicians outside of government organizes popular
support to win government power is called
external mobilization
 
after 36 years of being dominating US political life, the Republican Party lost power after ____ began
the Great Depression
 
Contemporary American political parties mainly compete for the support of
different groups of middle and upper class americans
 
funding from politically active nonprofits whose donors and amounts contributed do not have tone made public is called
dark money
 
in the early years of the Republic, political parties were seen as
factions that represented a threat to the social order of the country
 
in the nomination process, a party
selects a candidate to run for an elective office
 
Jews are among the ___ party's most loyal consistent groups
Democratic
 
Most individuals who describe themselves as ___ identify with the ___ party
conservative, Republican
 
Nixon's southern strategy was aimed at attracting which southern group
Republicans
 
The speaker of the House of Reps is selected by
the Majority Party
 
the idea that the current party system does not properly represent the poor but pays more attention to the interests of the
affluent is known as
unequal democracy
 
The national ___ party supports expanded funding for social services and healthcare; public spending for infrastructure,
cuts in military spending, increased regulations of business, raised taxes on the wealthy and corporations and a variety
of consumer protection programs.
Democratic
 
the national leadership of the ___ party supports high military spending, cuts in government funded social programs,
and tax incentives for businesses; and opposes lenient immigration laws, abortion, Planned Parenthood, and same-sex marriage.
Republican
 
The original party system in the US pitted the Federalists, supported by ____ against Jeffersonian Republican, supported by___.
merchants; agricultural interests
 
the term _____ refers to the number of parties competing for power, the organizations of the parties, the dominant
form of campaigning, the main divisions between parties, the balance of power between and within party coalitions,
social and institutional bases, and the issues and policies around which completion is organized.
party system
 
third parties are least likely to achieve electoral success in which types of elections?
national
 
third parties would be more successful under which of the following election systems?
proportional representation
 
what did the McCain Feingold bill attempt to outlaw unregulated "soft money" raised by political parties and that could be
used to support candidates
 
which of the following differentiates an interest group form a political party
an interest group seeks to influence government on a narrow range of issues whereas a political party mobilizes
almost the entire electorate to win control of government.
 
which of the following groups has the highest proportion of Democratic voters
African Americans
 
which of the following was a major change that occurred in the political landscape of the 1890s in the US
the Populist Party came into being and then merged with the Democratic Party
 
who or what assigns individual member to committees in congress
committees within each party designed for that purpose
 
____ americans are considerably more likely to affiliate with the Republican party
Upper income
 
Democrats are the plurality party in California
TRUE
 
the number of voter in California who declined to state a party affiliation at the time they register is declining
FALSE
 
in California, most of the Democratic counties encompass major rural areas, whereas most of the Republican
counties are more Urban in nature.
FALSE
 
for the presidential primary elections, California presently operates under which of the following primary election systems
modified (semi-closed) closed primary
 
A push poll might include a question with which of the following
do you think it was appropriate for President Bush to lie to start a war with Iraq?
 
As part of their in monitoring and influencing executive agencies, congressional committees do which of the following?
Monitor agency budgets
Hold committee hearings.
 
Some have argued that amending the requirements for a ____, for example not allowing members to speak to an empty chamber, would improve the process of passing legislation.
Filibuster
 
Which of the following resulted from severely polarized political parties in government?
Highly partisan atmosphere
Gridlock
Unclear legislative agendas
 
Which amendment gave voters the power to directly elect their U.S. senators?
The Seventeenth Amendment
 
The ____ is responsible for action as the prosecutor during impeachment, while the ____ acts as the jury.
House; Senate
 
During the 1950s and 60s, which of the following groups of citizens began to press Congress for protective legislation for their causes?
Environmentalists
Minority groups
Women
 
In 2002, voters rewarded President ____ party during the midterm elections, reflecting their satisfaction with his handling of the "War on Terror."
Bush's
 
Why is voter turnout for congressional election low?
Voters are turned off by the politics of winning.
 
Pork barrel projects are funded through ____ that are added to appropriations bull with little debate or oversight from Congress.
Earmarks
 
Party polarization, the ideological divide between the major parties, is wider today than it has been since the period following
The Civil War
 
Why do members of Congress use home-style politics?
To gauge the pulse of their communities
To explain their actions in Washington
To present themselves to constituents
 
Following decentralization of Congress, the role of party leadership increased as they faced enormous pressure to
Highlight partisan differences.
Utilize chamber rules to ensure success.
Deliver legislative results.
 
How many signatures does a discharge petition require?
218
 
Highly trained professionals who provide assessments of policy problems and options for members of Congress to consider in drafting legislation are known as ____ staffers.
Committee
 
If the House and Senate pass different versions of a bill, it must first go to a ____ committee to have any differences reconciled before it can be sent to the president.
Conference
 
The practice of redrawing congressional district lines to accord with changes in a state's population is called
Redistricting
 
Which of the following are perks given to members of Congress?
Tax deductions for living expenses in Washington, DC.
Reimbursement for travel to and from their district
Generous pension benefits
 
Which of the following issues divided the Congress along with the nation, eventually leading to the dissolution of the Union?
Slavery
 
All of the following are "home-style" activities aimed at better representation, except
Making statements on the floor of the House or Senate.
 
The privilege of incumbents to send mail to their constituencies at the government's expense is known as ____ privileges.
Franking
 
As a result of the decentralization of congressional power, party members created the party ____ as a way to settle differences and develop strategies for passing legislation.
Caucus
 
Interest groups and their lobbyists assist members of Congress in all of the following ways, except
Helping members communicate with voters.
 
Which of the following are cited as reasons for the increase in divided government over the last several decades?
An increasingly divided electorate
Purposeful voting on the part of citizens
 
During the Progressive Era a number of changes were made in Congressional rules and procedures in order to
Make the chambers more professional
Ensure that members became experts in the matters they legislated
Reduce the influence of party bosses
 
Although lawmaking is the primary power of Congress, it also possesses the power to do which of the following?
Impeach federal officials
Fund the government through the budget
 
How does the public generally feel about Congress?
Dissatisfied
 
The reconciliation process is often used in the Senate for which of the following purposes, as demonstrated during the final passage of the Affordable Health Care Act of 2010?
To pass bills with a simply majority
To avoid the filibuster
 
Which of the following statement about the Senate in the mid-century are true?
Its debates were intense and sometimes violent
It eclipsed the presidency as the hub of policy formation
 
The budget process begins when the president sends a proposed budget to Congress, which is then reviewed by which of the following congressional offices?
Congressional Budget Office
 
During midterm elections, the out-of-power party will attempt to farm the election as a
Referendum on the president's policies.
 
The size of a committee staff depends on which of the following?
The size of the committee
The committee's jurisdiction
 
If the majority of the members of the House of Representatives are Republican, then every committee and subcommittee in the House will
Have a majority of Republican members.
 
Much of the mail received by members of Congress concerns
requests for assistance