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American Federal Government Chapter 5
General Test Questions & Answers
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How did the Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP change its strategy in 1948?
It began to attack the "separate but equal" rule directly.
 
In 2013 the Supreme Court struck down which part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act?
preclearance
 
In which case did the Supreme Court rule that race could be used in university admission policies, as long as it was a plus factor and not a quota?
Grutter vs. Bollinger
 
Laws passed in the 1970s make it more difficult for banks to engage in redlining, which is the practice of
refusing to lend money for house mortgages for entire neighborhoods.
 
Responding to charges that black voters still faced discrimination at the polls, in 2006 Congress expanded which act for another 25 years?
the Voting Rights Act of 1965
 
Segregation or discriminatory practices that occur even when there is no
explicit legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the
 
United States today, is called ____ segregation.
de facto
 
Since the 1960s, rights for Latinos have been intertwined with debates about
immigration.
 
Southern government officials used gerrymandering to
dilute African American voting power through the drawing of district lines.
 
The "separate but equal" doctrine
permitted a system of segregated social facilities.
 
The Black Lives Matter movement started in 2015 over which controversial issue?
Police misconduct against African Americans.
 
The Seneca Falls declaration addressed civil rights for which group?
women
 
The judicial test that places the burden of proof on government to show that a race-based policy serves a compelling government
interest and is narrowly tailored to address identifiable past discrimination is called
strict scrutiny.
 
What Supreme Court case first restricted the use of racial quotas in university admissions?
University of California v. Bakke
 
What is the significance of the 2007 case, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1?
The Court has ruled that race cannot be a factor in assigning students to schools to achieve greater racial diversity; hence,
one of the few strategies to promote racial integration has been eliminated.
 
What is the significance of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act?
It expanded rights for legal recourse, especially in the realm of gender discrimination.
 
What level of scrutiny does the Supreme Court typically use in cases related to sex and gender discrimination?
intermediate scrutiny
 
What was accomplished by the 2013 Fisher v. University of Texas case?
It reaffirmed that racial categories can be deployed to serve a compelling state interest.
 
What was the Supreme Court's response to the Civil Rights Act of 1875?
It declared the act unconstitutional because the Constitution protects only against acts of public discrimination, not private discrimination.
 
Which agency hears claims of discrimination brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act?
EEOC
 
Which constitutional amendment guaranteed voting rights for African American men?
Fifteenth
 
Which important pre-1954 case addressed racial discrimination in housing and property ownership?
Shelley vs. Kraemer
 
Which of the following cases decided definitely on the legality of Voter ID laws?
The issue has not been definitely decided.
 
Which organization is the major lobby for seniors and actively works for the adoption and enforcement of laws that prohibit age
discrimination in employment and public accommodations?
AARP
 
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.
 
What did the Articles of Confederation and the original U.S. Constitution fail to?
guarantee that government would treat or protect all men equally
 
Who is the benefactor of the rights and privileges guaranteed under the equal protection and due process of the Fifth and Fourteenth
All "Citizens"
 
Who and/or what does the U.S. Constitution impose the responsibility of guaranteeing civil rights?
governments, including government officials and employees.
 
Is all discrimination unconstitutional?
No , Age, among other things
 
What do courts use to determine when unequal treatment?
three tests
strict scrutiny
heightened scrutiny
ordinary scrutiny
 
What test do the courts use in gender or sex-based discrimination?
heightened (intermediate) scrutiny test.
 
In the United States slavery was _________ _________ by the Constitution as it was first written
Implicitly; Endorsed
 
Amendment ended slavery throughout the United States
13th
 
What inherent characteristics is/are currently protected from discrimination under the Constitution?
persons nature: race, religion, national origin, and sex
 
What 1967 Supreme Court decision determined state laws barring interracial marriage to be unconstitutional
Loving v. Virginia
 
What types of discrimination, based on the rational basis test, have the courts been willing to allow
age-based
 
Between 1810 and 1850, how many people managed to escape slavery via the Underground Railroad
100,000
 
Which constitutional amendments were passed in the aftermath of the Civil War, and codified the victory of the North
13th, 14th, 15th
 
What were laws passed immediately after the Civil War by southern states that limited the right of "freedmen," or former slaves, called
Black Codes
 
What is another name for the Civil Right Act of 1872, which made it a federal crime to deprive individuals for their rights
Anti Ku Klux Klan Act
 
What tactics were used in southern states during the Jim Crow era to deny African Americans their voting right
White primary, literacy test, poll tax, grandfather clause
 
What Supreme Court ruling created the separate but equal doctrine, which upheld state laws that mandated racial separation in schools and all public accommodation
Plessy v. Ferguson
 
What was one of the main targets of the NAACP for the next several decades after their formation
The separate but equal doctrine.
 
Who enacted Jim Crow laws
State and Local governments in the south
 
What year saw Rosa Parks challenge the constitutionality of Jim Crow laws in Alabama?
1955
 
When did the Supreme Court rule that segregated classrooms in graduate schools was unconstitutional?
1950's
 
What decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in1954 ruled that segregated schools violated the equal protection clause
Brown v. Board of education
 
Who was the first African American to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court
Thurgood Marshall
 
How old was Martin Luther King, Jr. when he took the leadership of the civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama
27 years old
 
In 1961, what groups joined the NAACP under the umbrella organization COFO(Coalition of Federated Organization) Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
Student Non-violent coordinating committee (SNCC)
 
What parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 established a standard of equality in employment opportunity, and established a body of law that regulates
legal employment practices?
Last part of the Act Article VII (7)
 
What did the Civil Rights Act of 1968 seem to do
end discriminatory housing practices
 
What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 mandate
Federal Intervention in any county in which less than 50% of eligible voters were registered
 
From 1965 to 2008, what happened in Mississippi as a result of the Voting Rights Act.
people registered to vote
1965 = 7%
2006 = 72%
2008 = 82%
 
What Supreme Court decision resulted in the Court ruling that the privileges and immunities clause did not give women the right to vote?
Minor vs. Happersett
 
What caused the push for women's rights cases to be a mass movement?
after the addition of the 19th Amendment
 
What is the amendment to the Civil Rights Act which prohibited sex-based discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal funds?
Title IX (9)
 
What did the 1976 Supreme Court case of Craig vs. Boren establish?
They heightened scrutiny tests.
 
What type of discrimination did proponents of the ERA argue that the strict scrutiny test should be applied?
Sex based discrimination cases.
 
What Congressional act allowed Native Americans to have a right to U.S. Citizenship?
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
 
What rights for women were specified in the Declaration of Sentiments?
Right to vote
Education & Employment opportunities = to men
Married women right to own property
Right for legal Standing (sue)
 
Who chaired the Commission on the Status of Women between 1961-1963
Eleanor Roosevelt
 
What outcome resulted from most of the 370 treaties between Native-American tribes and the federal government between 1778 and 1870?
Most of treaties promised land to tribes that moved;
Most treaties were empty promises.
 
What Native-American movement, formed in 1968, pursued aggressive tactics in an attempt to gain full legal equality
American Indian Movement (AIM)
 
What 1971 court decision established Latinos as a legally recognized minority group in the United States
Corpus Christi Independent School District Vs. Cisneros
 
Today, the largest percentage of Asian Americans derives from which country of origin
China
 
What year saw the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which enhances the federal prohibition of discrimination against people with disabilities
1973
 
What things do colleges and universities use affirmative action policies to ensure a student body is diverse?
Having a wide variety of backgrounds enhances all students educational experience.
Best prepares them to function in increasingly diverse nation.
 
What test is used by the courts when race is the differential treatment under the law
Strict Scrutiny
 
Which U.S. president was the first to define and use the term affirmative action
John F. Kennedy
 
Which is a person part of when he or she volunteers to help with a presidential campaign?*
the party organization
 
What is the purpose of a platform committee?
developing policy statements
 
Which is a reason the United States has a two-party system?
because of single-member district elections
 
Which is true about the the multiparty system?
it tends to push parties into forming a coalition government
 
What helped a two-party political system to develop?
the battle over the Constitution gave rise to two politic parties
 
What important change did Andrew Jackson's administration bring?
voting rights for white males
 
How did the Democratic Party gain power in the 1930s?
by providing economic help during the Great Depression
 
How would you describe the era of American government since 1968?
an era of divided government
 
Which of the following is an example of an ideological party?
the Socialist Party
 
What is one way minor parties affect American politics?
they influence the outcome of elections
 
What is likely to happen when minor parties are successful?
their ideas are adopted by one of the major parties
 
What is a reason that the two major political parties do not have a strong central structure?*
federalism
 
Who is the leader of a party's national committee?
the national chairperson
 
Wards and precincts are party election units at what level?
the local level
 
What is the main purpose of a political party?
to control government by winning elections
 
The party out of power criticizes the policies and behaviors of the party in power. What is this called?
the watchdog function
 
One function of a politic party is to make sure that its candidates are well qualified and of good character. What is this called?
the bonding agent function
 
Which is a true statement about political parties in the United States?
the Framers did not want political parties
 
Why do Democrats and Republicans take similar stands on many issues?
because the American people share many ideals and beliefs
 
About what main issue did the Federalists and Anti-Federalists disagree?
how strong the central government should be
 
Which event marked the beginning of a long period of Republican control?
the Civil War
 
In general, when has control of the government switched from one party to another?*
during an economic political crisis
 
What usually happens to economic protest parties?
they fade away after the economic crisis is over
 
What is true about splinter parties?
they take away supporters from a major party
 
What is one advantage minor parties have over the major parties?
they can take clear-cut stands on controversial issues
 
What role does the President play in the organization of his or her party?
the President's leadership generally makes visor her party more organized than the other major party
 
What is an important purpose of a major party's national convention?*
to select the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates
 
What does the national committee of each party do between presidential elections?*
it raises money and recruits new voters
 
What is a political party?
people with shared ideas who seek to control the government
 
Which party system is most common in a typical dictatorship?
one-party system
 
The Federalists were the first American political party. What was their main political goal?
to build a stronger central government
 
Which party has dominated the federal government in recent decades?*
neither of the major parties
 
Since 1968, American government can best be described as an era of
divided government
 
A new party is formed whose primary concern is the environment. This party would be considered an
economic protest party