MCQS QUESTIONS

SET#1

1. The people that a legislator spends considerable time and effort serving are A) delegates.
B) trustees.
C) constituents.
D) representatives
E) members.
2. Bureaucracy is the name given to A) a large organization, structured hierarchically, that carries out specific functions.
B) any organization that has major problems when attempting to accomplish its goals.
C) a group of people who work to enforce policies in a way that prevents quick results.
D) any large branch of a government that has power to interpret laws.
E) government organizations, but not corporate or university ones.
3. Oversight is the process by which Congress A) makes sure laws it has enacted are being enforced in the way it intended.
B) reviews the actions of subcommittees.
C) chooses its leadership.
D) supervises the activity of the judicial branch.
E) passes legislation.
4. A justice who agrees with the result reached by the majority of the Court but wants to voice disapproval of the grounds on which the decision was made would write A) a majority opinion.
B) a dissenting opinion.
C) a consenting opinion.
D) an amicus curiae brief.
E) a concurring opinion.
5. Going public" means that the president A) goes to the public over the heads of the members of Congress.
B) goes to the Washington community over the heads of the members of Congress.
C) refrains from invoking executive privilege.
D) puts pressure on members of Congress by threatening to release details about their private lives.
E) publicizes information that was formerly classified.
6. The president, in his capacity as head of state, is responsible for A) determining with which countries the United States will have diplomatic relations.
B) engaging in activities that are largely symbolic or ceremonial in nature.
C) conducting the foreign policy of the country.
D) leading the legislative process by submitting legislation.
E) administering the laws.
7. The replacement of the spoils system with a civil service system was the long-term effect of A) the Civil War.
B) the killing of Alexander Hamilton by Aaron Burr in a duel.
C) the assassination of President James A. Garfield.
D) the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
E) the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
8. The necessary and proper clause A) has increased the powers of the state governments at the expense of Congress' powers.
B) was eliminated as a consequence of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment
C) has expanded the role of the national government relative to the states.
D) has served to limit the expansion of national authority.
E) is located in the Constitution in the text of the Tenth Amendment.
9. A pocket veto A) can be used by a president only once during his term in office, although he can use it twice if he serves two terms
B) means that the legislation cannot be reintroduced in the next Congress.
C) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1936.
D) is a veto in which the president does not send a veto message back to Congress.
E) can only be used when Congress adjourns for the session within ten days of the bill being submitted to the President.
10. The power of the courts to determine whether a law or action by the other branches of government is constitutional is called A) judicial review.
B) appellate review of fact.
C) precedent.
D) the writ of judicial appeal.
E) habeas corpus.
11. An executive order A) is a rule issued by the president that has the effect of law.
B) is not valid unless both chambers of Congress approve it.
C) must be approved by a majority of the cabinet.
D) can only be issued when Congress is not in session.
E) cannot be overturned by Congress.
12. The following two presidents are the only ones in American history to have almost been impeached: A) XXXXX XXXXX and Bill Clinton.
B) Richard Nixon and Franklin Roosevelt.
C) XXXXX XXXXX and William McKinley.
D) Thomas Jefferson and Martin Van Buren.
E) XXXXX XXXXX and Jimmy Carter.
13. A filibuster is A) an attempt to prevent the passage of a bill through the use of unlimited debate.
B) an attempt to persuade others to vote for a particular bill in return for a favor at a later date.
C) used in the House to force a standing committee to release a bill.
D) a method used by the Speaker of the House to promote the majority party's legislation.
E) a technique that is unique to the House.
14. A court rule bearing on subsequent legal decisions in similar cases is A) a precedent.
B) criminal law.
C) a judicial maxim.
D) common law.
E) statutory law.
15. The United States has a dual court system. There are A) civil courts and criminal courts.
B) misdemeanor and felony courts.
C) state courts and local courts.
D) state courts and federal courts.
E) district courts and territorial courts.
16. The granting of release from the punishment for a crime is A) a reprieve.
B) a congressional sanction.
C) a pardon.
D) executive privilege.
E) impeachment.
17. A brief filed by a third party who is not directly involved in the litigation but who has an interest in the outcome of a case is called A) a class-action brief.
B) an amicus curiae brief.
C) a writ of certiorari.
D) a civil brief.
E) a procedural motion.
18. The authority of a court to hear and decide a particular class of cases is known as A) common law.
B) judicial review.
C) jurisdiction.
D) precedent.
E) strict construction.
19. The Environmental Protection Agency is an example of a A) cabinet department.
B) government corporation.
C) independent regulatory agency.
D) independent executive agency.
E) corporation subject to regulation.
20. The organization created in 1883 to administer the personnel service of the national government on the principle of employment on the basis of open, competitive examinations was known as the A) Unemployment Office.
B) Civil Aeronautics Commission.
C) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
D) Federal Trade Commission.
E) Civil Service Commission.
21. The Hatch Act A) The Hatch Act
B) allows the president broad control over the federal bureaucracy.
C) prohibits federal employees from active involvement in political campaigns.
D) established the principle of employment on the basis of open competitive examinations.
E) established a merit system during the Civil War.
22. The federal court derives its power from A) Article III of the Constitution.
B) Congressional legislation.
C) Article IV of the Constitution.
D) the 5th Amendment.
E) executive order.
23. The most important committees in Congress are ________ committees, permanent bodies that possess an expertise resulting from their jurisdiction over certain policy areas. A) select
B) joint
C) conference
D) legislative
E) standing
24. As chief diplomat, the president A) is responsible for selecting judges to federal courts.
B) is responsible for all actions within the executive branch.
C) selects leaders of his or her party in Congress.
D) recognizes foreign governments, negotiates treaties, and makes executive agreements.
E) ratifies treaties.
25. The first cabinet department to be created was A) Treasury, and the most recently created was Education.
B) State, and the most recently created was Homeland Security.
C) War, and the most recently created was Energy.
D) Treasury, and the most recently created was Health and Human Services.
E) State, and the most recently created was Veterans Affairs.
26. Executive privilege A) involves the ability of the president and executive branch officials to withhold certain information from Congress and the courts.
B) means that members of the executive branch cannot be prosecuted for official acts.
C) is the concept that has been applied to the president's use of the pocket veto.
D) allows the president discretion in making political appointments.
E) was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1974.
27. In mid-term congressional elections, those held between presidential contests A) voter turnout increases sharply.
B) the president's political party will usually gain seats in Congress.
C) voter turnout falls sharply.
D) the president's political party will be unaffected unless the president campaigns for congressional candidates.
E) incumbents are more likely to lose.
28. The Constitution states that the minimum-age requirement for the presidency is _______-years. A) twenty-five
B) thirty
C) thirty-five
D) forty
E) forty-five
29. Most petitions for writs of certiorari to the Supreme Court are A) granted.
B) made by Congress.
C) ordered by state district courts.
D) denied.
E) moot.
30. Generally, leaders in the House of Representatives A) have more control over the agenda of the body than leaders in the Senate.
B) must work closely with the other party's leaders to achieve success.
C) are considered weak compared to party leaders.
D) hold more power than leaders in true party government legislatures.
E) need to overcome the unusual power of individual members.
31. Strict construction means A) that the Supreme Court should hear the fewest possible cases on appeal.
B) to stand on precedent.
C) attempting to follow the "letter of the law."
D) attempting to understand the law by looking to its context and purpose.
E) the doctrine that citizens cannot sue their own state governments unless the states permit them to do so.
32. The concept of logrolling refers to A) action taken by a senator that attempts to prevent a bill from passing in the Senate.
B) a method that is used to keep one bill on the floor for an extended period of time, thus blocking all legislation.
C) an arrangement by which two or more members of Congress agree in advance to support each other's bills.
D) a method that the president uses when he wants to prevent the passage of legislation.
E) a legislative strategy originally developed by representatives from the Pacific Northwest, in which one party ends up winning while the other ends up "in the water."
33. A representative who is performing the role of a trustee is A) only representing the needs of his or her constituents.
B) supporting the president on all of his legislative programs.
C) acting on conscience or representing the broad interests of the entire society.
D) supporting his or her political party.
E) representing other members of Congress.
34. Gerrymandering is A) legislation passed in southern states to limit African American participation in elections.
B) an attempt to prevent the passage of a bill through the use of unlimited debate.
C) a process that attempts to limit debate on a bill in the Senate.
D) the drawing of legislative district boundaries for the purpose of gaining partisan advantage.
E) unconstitutional following an 1812 ruling by the Supreme Court.
35. The enumerated powers of Congress are powers A) expressly given to that body in the Constitution.
B) that Congress has created by passing legislation.
C) that have been created by decisions of the Supreme Court.
D) that are imprecise and are usually disputed by strong presidents.
E) that follow implicitly from the United States existing as one nation among many.
36. Rewarding faithful party workers with government employment is called A) going public.
B) pork
C) patronage
D) executive privilege.
E) civil service.
37. The State of the Union message is A) delivered by the president to the General Assembly of the United Nations at least once every four years.
B) a policy statement of Congress over which the president seldom has influence.
C) required by the Constitution and gives a broad view of what the president wishes the legislature to accomplish during the session.
D) an effective tool used by the president to limit other countries' foreign policy endeavors in this hemisphere.
E) limited to reviewing the events of the last year.
38. If all government employees are included, more than _____ of all civilian employment is accounted for by government. A) 2 percent
B) 4 percent
C) 8 percent
D) 15 percent
E) 22 percent
39. A dissenting opinion can be important because A) it represents the position of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
B) it is the statement of the defendant's attorney to the Court.
C) in criminal law it must be carried out by local police.
D) it often forms the basis of the arguments used later to reverse a previous decision and set a new precedent.
E) it means that the case cannot be used as a precedent.
40. The spoils system is A) the major problem of the federal bureaucracy today.
B) the most efficient way of structuring large organizations.
C) a new theory for employee selection and retention.
D) the awarding of government jobs to political supporters and friends.
E) a means of ensuring the best and the brightest will hold positions in government.
41. Usually appellate courts look at questions of A) fact.
B) law
C) jurisdiction
D) broad implications.
E) equity
42. A major power that Congress has over the federal bureaucracy is the A) authority to select high-level bureaucrats.
B) authority to authorize or appropriate funds for particular agencies.
C) authority to fire bureaucrats for not executing policy passed by Congress.
D) power to find agency actions unconstitutional.
E) power to appoint agency heads.
43. The job of a conference committee is to A) originate appropriations bills.
B) write a compromise bill that reconciles the versions of the bill from both chambers .
C) set the rules of debate for a bill.
D) determine the committee path of a bill.
E) override a presidential veto.
44. "Money bills" A) must originate in the Senate.
B) must originate in the House.
C) must originate in conference committee.
D) must originate with the president.
E) may originate from any of the above sources.
45. The principal and most obvious function of any legislature is A) carrying out the law
B) lawmaking.
C) checking the power of the judicial branch.
D) oversight.
E) advice and consent.
46. Before a treaty can become legally binding, the treaty must be A) signed by the justices of the World Court.
B) approved by three-fourths of the state governments.
C) ratified by the Supreme Court.
D) approved by a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
E) approved by a majority vote in both chambers of Congress.
47. As chief executive, the president is constitutionally bound to A) enforce acts of Congress, judgments of federal courts, and treaties signed by the U.S.
B) submit a balanced budget to Congress.
C) inform Congress prior to any military action.
D) oversee actions of state governments.
E) honor pronouncements of the United Nations.
48. The iron triangle is A) the three branches of government.
B) The CIA, the FBI, and the ATF.
C) the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice.
D) an alliance of related interest groups, Congressional committees, and bureaucracy..
E) a term for the constitutional barriers to regulation.
49. The reasoning upon which a court ruling was based is A) an amicus brief.
B) the judicial implementation.
C) the opinion.
D) Rule Four.
E) a writ of certiorari.
50. The requirement that the President of the United States report to Congress within forty-eight hours of sending troops into hostilities and then obtain the approval of Congress within sixty days is established by A) the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp.
B) the National Security Act.
C) the War Powers Resolution.
D) the Nixon Protocol.
E) Article II of the Constitution.

SET#2

1.

A(n) _____ is a group of political activists who organize to win elections, operate the government, and determine public policy.

A) interest group
B) extra minority
C) political party
D) pluralism
E) social movement

2.

An interest group is

A) any association of individuals.
B) a group of people who want to gain control of the government.
C) an organization that actively attempts to influence government policy.
D) any organization that requires members to pay dues.
E) an organization set up to support a specific candidate for public office.

3.

Polls that track party identification show increasing numbers of voters identify as

A) Democrats
B) Republicans
C) Greens
D) Unaffiliated
E) Independents

4.

More interest groups are formed to represent _____ interests than any other type of interest.

A) cultural
B) religious
C) public health
D) economic
E) environmental

5.

In general, profits are made by the news media through

A) charging fees to tailor stories to certain perspectives.
B) charging fees for print newspapers, web-site access, and cable television access.
C) charging fees for advertising.
D) charging fees for publishing letters to the editor.
E) selling collections of news stories in book form.

6.

Which of the following is not a reason why the two-party system has endured in the United States?

A) the historical foundations of the system
B) political socialization
C) legislation requiring a two-party system
D) a winner-take-all electoral system
E) state and federal laws favoring the two-party system

7.

Many people believe that the media's influence on public opinion

A) has remained constant.
B) is decreasing.
C) has grown to equal the influence of the family.
D) is negligible.
E) is not, nor has it ever been, a significant factor.

8.

The most important principle in sampling is

A) the sample size.
B) to focus on a particular segment of the population.
C) the firm that is conducting the sample.
D) the number of people who have taken part in polls before this poll.
E) the random selection of respondents.

9.

In 1854 the Republican Party was formed by

A) the last members of the Federalist Party.
B) the pro-slavery southern Whig Party.
C) the pro-slavery Confederate States Party.
D) the anti-slavery Jacksonian Party.
E) anti-slavery Democrats, northern Whigs, and the Free Soil party.

10.

The National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) and the National Rifle Association (NRA) are examples of

A) economic interest groups.
B) public interest groups.
C) foreign interest groups.
D) fringe interest groups.
E) single interest groups.

11.

Political socialization is the process whereby

A) party affiliations are strengthened through monetary donations.
B) political advertisements affect a person’s political beliefs
C) members of the populace become more liberal as they age.
D) a person acquires political beliefs and values through relationships with family, friends, and co-workers.
E) political parties try to acquire new members through rallies and other large-scale meetings.

12.

The first partisan division in American politics, which occurred before the adoption of the Constitution, was between

A) Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
B) Revolutionaries and Redcoats.
C) Whigs and Republicans
D) Whigs and Democrats
E) Progressives and Democrats

13.

The difference between the percentage of women who vote for a particular candidate and the percentage of men who vote for the candidate is called

A) the gender gap.
B) the generational effect.
C) gendered opinion.
D) division opinion.
E) the lifestyle effect.

14.

The meeting held every four years by each major party to select presidential and vice-presidential candidates, write a platform, choose a national committee, and conduct party business is the

A) party brass.
B) national convention.
C) party organization.
D) party platform.
E) party machine.

15.

Many professional lobbyists are

A) former members of Congress and former government officials.
B) former movie stars or professional athletes.
C) college interns.
D) uninformed on the issues they represent.
E) called to present an objective picture that takes in many perspectives to legislators.

16.

Patronage is the practice of

A) having one leader direct a party’s ideology.
B) giving out small favors to all constituents, in the hopes of winning votes.
C) putting on cultural productions, like concerts, in the hopes of winning votes.
D) threatening community members with punishment if they don’t vote for a certain party.
E) rewarding the party faithful with government jobs or contracts.

17.

Since the early 1990s the American people have consistently shown more confidence in _______ than any other institution.

A) the military
B) the Supreme Court
C) the public schools
D) the media
E) Congress

18.

One party having control of the Presidency, The U.S. House, and the Senate is the exception rather than the rule because Americans often seem to prefer

A) patronage
B) divided government.
C) two-party government.
D) plurality
E) unit rule.

19.

By far the greatest number of radio and television hours are dedicated to

A) reporting the news.
B) identifying public problems.
C) providing a political forum.
D) socializing new generations.
E) entertaining the public.

20.

Agenda setting is

A) determining which public-policy questions will be debated or considered.
B) when a large proportion of the public appears to express the same view on an issue.
C) the process by which people acquire political beliefs and attitudes.
D) the ability of the elite to influence the opinions of others because of position or expertise.
E) the aggregate of individual attitudes shared by some portion of the adult population.

21.

The following is an example of _________ opinion: To reduce the threat of terrorism, would you be willing or not willing to allow government agencies to monitor the telephone calls and e-mail of ordinary Americans on a regular basis? (Willing: 41%; Not willing: 52%. Don't know/No answer: 7%.)

A) consensus
B) divided
C) dubious
D) favorable
E) unified

22.

At the heart of the debate between using a secret ballot or a card-check system to determine if a workplace will become unionized is

A) the expense of administering either method.
B) the literacy of the workers involved.
C) the difficulty of counting votes in either method.
D) the fear that intimidation will be used to influence workers.
E) the success or failure of either method when tried in other countries.

23.

The generational effect refers to the

A) way in which political socialization produces opinions.
B) increased tension between the two major political parties.
C) tendency for persons to become more conservative as they grow older.
D) long-lasting impact of significant events on the generation that came of age at that time.
E) way in which the family influences opinions.

24.

A _____ is a several second comment crafted for its immediate impact on the viewer.

A) public service announcement
B) sound bite
C) highlight reel
D) story line
E) news ticker

25.

In opinion polling, the difference between what the sample results show and what the true result would be if everybody had been interviewed is termed

A)    opinion bias.
B) inaccurate sampling.
C) the Truman Divergence.
D) sampling error.
E) a tracking poll.

SET#3

1 

. _____ have overtaken _____ as the nation's largest minority. A) African Americans; Hispanics
B) African Americans; Asians
C) Asians; Hispanics
D) Hispanics; African Americans
E) Hispanics; Asians
2. A small group of individuals who are led in discussion by a professional consultant to gather opinions on, and responses to, candidates and issues is a A) tracking poll.
B) quota poll.
C) focus group.
D) random sample.
E) push poll.
3. The Financial Stability Oversight Board is an example of an agency created to provide _____, in this case for the TARP program. A) agenda building
B) policy adoption
C) policy formulation
D) policy implementation
E) policy evaluation
4. Domestic policy A) is limited to policies that affect major economic variables.
B) can be defined as all policies that affect housing.
C) can be defined as all the laws, government planning, and government actions that concern internal issues of national importance.
D) is limited to matters relating to law enforcement.
E) relates to the activities of the government in its relations with foreign countries.
5. _____ is a subset of national security policy concerning the U.S. armed forces. A) Technical assistance
B) Economic Aid
C) Defense policy
D) Foreign policy process
E) Containment
6. The U.S. imports about _____ of the oil it consumes. A) one tenth
B) one third
C) one half
D) three fifths
E) three quarters
7. Campaigns, which used to center on political parties, now center on A) candidates
B) specific issues.
C) entertainment value.
D) regional preferences.
E) international approval.
8. The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) was agreed to in 1972 in order to A) stabilize the nuclear arms competition between the United States and the Soviet Union.
B) contain expansive Russian tendencies.
C) create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
D) normalize relations in the Middle East.
E) limit Communist power within its existing borders.
9. By _____, if not before, the economy of China is expected to be larger than that of the United States. A) 2010
B) 2020
C) 2030
D) 2040
E) 2050
10. Recent estimates have put the number of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. at about A) 2 million.
B) 6 million.
C) 12 million.
D) 18 million.
E) 22 million.
11. Foreign and domestic policy designed to protect the nation's independence and political and economic integrity is A) foreign policy.
B) détente
C) national security policy.
D) political realism.
E) diplomacy
12. Foreign policy is A) a nation's external goals and the techniques and strategies used to achieve them.
B) the formal agreements that are approved by the World Court.
C) interactions with other countries that are not related to economics.
D) the treaties that are ratified by the Senate.
E) the manner in which the armed forces are deployed.
13. In order to win in American politics today, candidates seek to capture A) only the votes of their party's supporters, since the votes of independents are largely irrelevant.
B) all of the votes of their party's supporters, as well as those of all of the independent voters and all of the voters from the other party.
C) a majority of their party's supporters, some of the independent voters and a few votes from supporters of the other party.
D) some of their party's supporters, most of the independent voters and a few votes from supporters of the other party.
E) all of the votes of their party's supporters, a majority of the independent voters and a few votes from supporters of the other party.
14. Policy implementation is A) concerned with the carrying out of policies by bureaucrats, the courts, police, and individual citizens.
B) the process of getting the media aware of the issue.
C) the discussion of proposals by governmental officials and the public.
D) concerned with a specific strategy for the proposal.
E) when studies are conducted to see what happens after a policy is implemented.
15. A policy of abstaining from an active role in international affairs or alliances, which characterized U.S. foreign policy toward Europe during most of the 1800s, is A) containment policy.
B) détente.
C) internationalist foreign policy.
D) isolationist foreign policy.
E) Washingtonian foreign policy.
16. Fiscal policy is A) using changes in the amount of money in circulation to affect overall business activity.
B) using changes in the amount of taxes and government expenditures to affect business activity.
C) using changes in interest rates to affect business activity.
D) under the control of the Federal Reserve System.
E) an area that is controlled exclusively by the President of the United States, according to Article II of the Constitution.
17. Soft money A) refers to contributions made directly to candidates for political office.
B) refers to money that will be spent on elections.
C) refers to campaign contributions unregulated by state or federal law, usually given to parties.
D) cannot be used for voter registration.
E) can be used only by candidates who sign a written pledge to obey the law.
18. In 2002, President George W. Bush enunciated a new foreign policy doctrine that held, in part, that A) the United States would go to war with any country that attacks it.
B) Islamists would not be allowed to take power in any additional nations.
C) America would leave the United Nations if that body did not support its military initiatives.
D) the United States would no longer participate in the World Trade Organization or in the World Bank.
E) the United States was prepared to wage preemptive war against perceived threats with or without allies.
19. Recessions A) have political advantages for a sitting president.
B) take place when the economy grows more than usual.
C) take place when the economy suffers a severe slowdown.
D) are no longer a problem in our modern economy.
E) are associated with periods of inflation.
20. The National Security Council (NSC) is A) an advisory body to the president on foreign policy matters.
B) under the functional control of the State Department.
C) a standing committee of the House and the Senate.
D) an advisory body to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
E) a private research council that provides analysis of world events.
21. Diplomacy is A) a title given to senior members of the State Department
B) a philosophy that sees nations as normally willing to cooperate.
C) formal public meetings held by heads of government.
D) the settling of disputes and conflicts among nations by peaceful means.
E) the manner in which the armed forces are deployed.
22. The purpose of introducing the primary as a means of nominating candidates for office was to A) strengthen control by party leaders in the selection of the best-qualified candidates.
B) help the Republican Party win more elections.
C) limit financial contributions to minor party candidates.
D) open the nomination process to ordinary party members and to weaken the influence of party bosses.
E) ensure the winning candidate was electable.
23. In most states, you are not eligible to vote if you A) were not born in that state.
B) have not lived in the state for at least a year.
C) are not employed in the state.
D) do not register before the closing date.
E) do not have a state driver's license or identification card.
24. The State Department is A) directly responsible to Congress.
B) not involved in short-term foreign policy.
C) the executive agency that has primary authority over foreign affairs.
D) responsible for making foreign policy, not the president.
E) one of the largest cabinet departments.
25. The organizations that came to be known as "527s" A) have been ruled by the Supreme Court to be unprotected by the First Amendment.
B) have been outlawed under regulations issued by the Federal Election Commission.
C) are required to be created by the final section of the Campaign Finance Reform Act.
D) offer an alternative for interest groups to use money to influence the course of elections by encouraging voter registration and running issue ads to energize supporters.
E) are allowed to run issue ads but are precluded from mentioning particular candidates.
26. A _____ is a meeting of party members designed to select candidates and propose policies. A) direct primary
B) indirect primary
C) caucus
D) closed primary
E) open primary
27. Monetary policy may have limited power to end a recession because A) the amount of income tax collected by the government goes down in a recession.
B) if interest rates go high enough, people will stop borrowing.
C) monetary policy is less effective than fiscal policy generally.
D) people will change their behavior to avoid high tax rates.
E) people may be unwilling to borrow even if interest rates fall to zero.
28. In 2004, The U.S. Congress labeled the situation in Darfur, a province of Sudan, _____. A) a tragedy
B) genocide
C) a holocaust
D) unfortunate
E) irremediable
29. A majority of the population of Iraq is A) Sunni Arab.
B) Kurdish
C) Shiite Arab.
D) Turkoman
E) Baathist
30. The policymaking process includes all of the following EXCEPT A) agenda building.
B) policy formulation.
C) policy adjustment.
D) policy adoption.
E) policy evaluation.
31. In 2002, during the boom in the housing market, mortgage originators increasingly approved loan applications from individuals who had unstable incomes, low incomes, or no incomes at all because A) privacy protections enacted by Congress had made it nearly impossible to determine an individual's actual income.
B) their conviction that every American should own a home blinded them to the risks of lending to unqualified individuals.
C) they knew they could sell the risky mortgages to someone else.
D) Internet application forms made it possible for individuals to falsely inflate their incomes.
E) mortgage originators were forced by banks to meet impossibly high sales quotas.
32. The main driver of growth in health-care spending from 1975 to 2005 was A) the increase in malpractice suits against doctors, who passed on the cost of malpractice insurance to patients.
B) the inefficient bureaucratic structure of hospitals.
C) new medical technologies and services.
D) a scarcity of doctors which allowed the doctors who were practicing to charge more for care.
E) the dramatic increase in drug company advertisements which has created a "culture of sickness" in the United States.
33. The value of all final goods and services produced in a year is the A) balance of trade.
B) current account balance.
C) gross domestic product.
D) gross national product.
E) national product.
34. Until recently, women were generally considered to be appropriate candidates A) only for the Democratic Party.
B) when fundraising was not an issue in the campaign.
C) primarily when women's and family issues took center stage.
D) when the district was primarily composed of minorities.
E) only for lower-level offices, such as state legislator or school board member.
35. The number of members each state will have in the Electoral College A) cannot exceed fifty members.
B) cannot be changed without a Constitutional amendment.
C) changes every four years.
D) is determined by the number of senators and representatives a state has in Congress.
E) is identical so that each state plays an equal role in selecting the president.
36. The Department of Defense A) is larger than any other federal department.
B) was created during the administration of XXXXX XXXXX.
C) was formed in 1978 through an executive order.
D) is run by the secretary of defense who is always an admiral or general.
E) has primary authority over foreign affairs.
37. In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution, which A) required congressional approval before the president could dismiss the Secretary of Defense.
B) limited the president's use of troops in military action without congressional approval.
C) extended the president's power over the military.
D) was necessary because of the increased threat of nuclear war.
E) allowed the president to declare an unlimited national emergency.
38. Today's dollar is worth about how much relative to a dollar of a century ago? A) a penny
B) a nickel
C) about the same value
D) twice as much
E) five times as much
39. _______ is a joint federal-state program designed to subsidize health care costs for the poor. A) Medicare
B) Medicaid
C) Social Security
D) Medivac
E) Blue Cross
40. Voter turnout for Congressional elections is influenced most greatly by A) the state of the economy.
B) the type of ballot used.
C) the weather on the day of the vote.
D) how easy it is to pronounce the candidates' names.
E) whether there is a presidential election in the same year.
41. With the exception of race, ______ is the most important determinant of voting behavior in national elections. A) party affiliation
B) economic status
C) religion
D) education
E) geographic region
42. Inflation refers to a sustained rise in the A) stock market.
B) general price level of goods and services.
C) money supply.
D) interest rates charged by banks.
E) salaries of members of government.
43. Political realism is a philosophy that A) sees nations as normally willing to cooperate and agree on moral standards for conduct.
B) mandates noninterference with the internal policies of sovereign nations.
C) supports steps to establish a single world government.
D) sees each nation as acting principally in its own interest.
E) contends that spreading Christianity ought to be a major goal of U.S. foreign policy.
44. A statewide election of delegates to a political party's national convention to help a party determine its presidential nominee is A) a general election.
B) a presidential primary.
C) a delegate selection caucus.
D) the Electoral College.
E) a preliminary explorative endeavor.
45. African Americans and most Asian American groups tend to A) vote for a third-party.
B) vote Democratic.
C) vote Republican.
D) fail to vote.
E) commit voter fraud.
46. In cases where no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral college vote, A) the current president serves two more years, at which time there is another general election.
B) the candidate who receives a plurality of the popular vote is elected.
C) the electors cast a second ballot to determine who will be elected.
D) Congress is required to call a second presidential election.
E) the election is decided in the U.S. House of Representatives.
47. The U.S. policy that stated that European nations must not establish new colonies in the western hemisphere or intervene in the affairs of the western hemisphere is known as the A) Bush Doctrine.
B) Marshall Doctrine.
C) Monroe Doctrine.
D) Powell Doctrine.
E) Truman Doctrine.
48. In the years following the adoption of the Constitution, many states placed legal restrictions on the right to vote because of the A) belief that voters should own property since many government decisions affect property..
B) belief in the South that if poor whites could vote, they might abolish slavery.
C) belief that woman's suffrage would injure the traditional family.
D) fear of an aristocratic form of government.
E) fear of the voting power of recent immigrants.
49. Sunnis and Shiites A) are two major ethnic groups in Iraq who speak different languages.
B) are two branches of the religion of Islam with somewhat different beliefs and traditions.
C) were opponents and supporters, respectively, of Saddam Hussein.
D) are two political parties in the Arab world.
E) are the names of two refugee camps that were destroyed by Israel.
50. All of the following nations are known to possess nuclear weapons capabilities except A) India
B) China
C) Pakistan
D) North Korea
E) Afghanistan