Deck 13: Morality Policy

Question 1

Which of the following is a typical characteristic of morality policy interest groups?

A) Morality policy interest groups tend to be non-religious and disinterested in public policy.
B) Most morality-based interest groups are driven by a single issue.
C) Morality policy interest groups tend to mobilize their members to work indirectly in the religious arena.
D) Often, members of morality policy interest groups simply write checks and let lobbyists do most of the work.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Morality policy tends to

A) contain questions about whether a policy will work or not.
B) depress public interest in politics.
C) be less technical than other policies.
D) have complex arguments.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Citizens in which state became the first in the nation to reject constitutional amendment on the ballot that would have banned same-sex marriage?

A) Ohio
B) Indiana
C) Kentucky
D) Minnesota

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a reason why morality policy is difficult to implement?

A) Policy makers give less thought to how a morality policy will actually work.
B) In reality, the bans implemented by morality policies only increase the cost of engaging in certain activities.
C) The people charged with enforcing the policies may not share their advocates' zeal for them.
D) Morality policies are written to solve specific problems.

Question 5

Which of the following statements is NOT true regarding morality policy politics compared to the politics of other public policies?

A) Most public policy is primarily about distributing economic costs, whereas morality policy generally has little economic impact.
B) Morality policy is about government support of one set of values at the expense of another set of values.
C) Morality policy debates are usually about the means to achieve a policy goal, rather than the ultimate goal.
D) Proponents of most morality policies typically have no economic interest at stake.

Question 6

What issue was at the center of the political assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas?

A) Abortion rights
B) Same-sex civil unions
C) Alcohol regulations
D) Immigration reform

Question 7

Which of the following states does NOT have any of its counties prohibiting the sale of alcohol?

A) Alabama
B) Kentucky
C) Michigan
D) Texas

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT accurate regarding the unique features of morality policy politics?

A) People who form and join interest groups working on morality policy are often not motivated by economic reasons.
B) Morality policy making tends to attract interest groups with a broad, comprehensive focus.
C) Frustration with the political process is common in morality politics.
D) When a strong morality policy becomes law, it is often difficult to enforce.

Question 9

French observer Alexis de Tocqueville considered _____ to be America's first political institution.

A) state legislatures
B) governors
C) state courts
D) religion

Question 10

Many early settlers in what would become the United States believed that public policy in the states ought to outlaw

A) free education.
B) property trespassing.
C) racial discrimination.
D) violations of basic religious principles.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is true regarding moral arguments?

A) Both sides in a moral debate generally have enough support in a state or community to make them equally useful when discussing policy.
B) Typically, only one side in a morality policy debate makes a moral argument.
C) The most dominant moral arguments in American policy debates have statistical support and are steeped in fact-based logic.
D) It is clear that certain advocates are able to make their moral arguments relevant in any policy debate while others are not.

Question 12

Which of the following is a prominent way that most American politicians invoke morality policy today?

A) Leading the public in prayer
B) Regularly appealing to religious morality
C) Infidelity
D) Encouraging prayer in public schools

Question 13

Which of the following is central to morality policy making?

A) Legislators
B) Interest groups
C) Governors
D) Religious extremists

Question 14

What is the most common source for moral arguments against a particular behavior?

A) State constitutions
B) Religious documents
C) U.S. Constitution
D) Magna Carta

Question 15

Which of the following is generally NOT true regarding morality policy and the use of statewide initiatives?

A) The clear relationship of an argument to a person's basics values can lead to excitement about the issue.
B) The simplicity of the arguments allows virtually anyone to be well informed.
C) Having a morality policy initiative on the ballot can turn off voters, thus decreasing election turnout.
D) Morality initiatives can change the nature of a candidate's election.

Question 16

The source of much violence that sometimes accompanies morality politics can be traced back to

A) fact-based opposition with high citizen support.
B) media bias for moral-based arguments.
C) a lack of news coverage on a particular issue.
D) frustration with the political process in America.

Question 17

Which of the following stirs up public debate over the core values that help define our personal identities?

A) Ethical policies
B) Morality policies
C) Election policies
D) Belief policies

Question 18

What group of people are the main activists for morality policy issues?

A) Senior citizens
B) Conservatives
C) Catholics
D) Religious adherents

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT typically considered to be a morality policy issue?

A) Gambling
B) Pornography
C) Taxation
D) Abortion

Question 20

Groups working to ban abortion, same-sex marriage, pornography, or teaching evolution in schools typically

A) have no popular suport.
B) have no economic interest at stake.
C) use Curious George as their mascot.
D) have no sense of altruism.

Question 21

Most potential morality policy issues are

A) constantly being debated.
B) pushed aside by legislators.
C) not on the active political agenda at any given time.
D) highly complex and almost never visible to the public.

Question 22

Which of the following is NOT true regarding post- Roe abortion politics?

A) Post- Roe abortion politics began with pro-life forces trying to ban the procedure outright in their state legislatures.
B) As the 1970s progressed, pro-life reformers grew tired of symbolic victories .
C) Pro-life groups eventually tapped into their sympathizers' moral outrage by engaging in extensive direct political action to stop abortions, often one procedure at a time.
D) In 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all seven of Missouri's new abortion restrictions as unconstitutional, thus discouraging states to pass more restrictions.

Question 23

Which of the following morality policy issues has had a major impact on American politics since the 1960s?

A) Intelligent Design
B) Gambling
C) Prohibition
D) Abortion

Question 24

Which of the following is a fairly predictable pattern of how issues come onto the public agenda, how their politics develop, and how they recede from active debate?

A) Issue advocacy
B) Issue growth
C) Issue placement
D) Issue evolution

Question 25

A Pigouvian approach to minimizing minor 'sin' might be

A) placing an excise tax on cigarettes.
B) charging gamblers a negative externality when they enter a casino.
C) allowing abortion clinics to use public hospitals.
D) considering all behaviors to be morally reprehensible.

Question 26

Which early twentieth-century British economist's work has informed morality politics by arguing that negative externalities should be regulated with taxation?

A) Chester Arthur
B) Arthur Laffer
C) Arthur Schlesinger
D) Arthur Pigou

Question 27

Which of the following events regarding abortion regulation thrust the question of abortion-on-demand squarely into public debate?

A) The American Medical Association's ruling that abortion decisions should be made by doctors in order to prevent midwives from performing the procedure.
B) The decision by Sherri Finkbine of Houston, Texas, to make a well-publicized appeal to change a hospital's abortion policy.
C) The U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 ruling, Roe v. Wade , striking down state abortion bans.
D) The Roman Catholic Church's decision to become permanently involved in the morality debate over abortion-on-demand.

Question 28

When a law bans an activity that some see as sinful, it is known as a(n)

A) sin tax.
B) vice law.
C) anti-indulgence law.
D) social offense.

Question 29

Prior to Lawrence vs. Texas , a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003,

A) 13 states had laws prohibiting same-sex couples to have consensual sex with each other.
B) same-sex marriage was legal in only a dozen states.
C) there was no archeological evidence that God had sent two angels, disguised as men, to destroy the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
D) the issue of same-sex marriage had not been discussed in the states.

Question 30

When something happens to either change public opinion or public policy, thus upsetting the balance between them, it is known as a(n)

A) policy shock.
B) agenda change.
C) policy disruption.
D) political mess.

Question 31

Which of the following is true regarding the death penalty in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries?

A) Anti-death penalty reformers refrained from using moral arguments.
B) By 1880, executions were banned in a majority of the states.
C) Reformers found tremendous political success by advocating limits to the death penalty rather than banning it.
D) For each of their arguments, death penalty reformers suggested general, big-ticket changes.

Question 32

Morality policy advocates can be successful in reshaping a policy when their arguments are

A) less about absolute moral values and more about incremental, instrumental problems.
B) deeply compelling to a targeted interest group.
C) focused on the scriptures found in the Old Testament.
D) in line with the religious convictions of state legislators.

Question 33

A close congruence between majority public opinion and public policy is known as

A) policy equilibrium.
B) policy shock.
C) halted policy.
D) even-handed politics.

Question 34

The 1973 U. S. Supreme Court decision regarding the regulation of state abortion laws is commonly referred to as

A) Roe v. Wade .
B) Baker v. Carr .
C) Marbury v. Madison .
D) Miranda v. Arizona .

Question 35

In recent years, anti-abortion groups have argued that

A) anything that stops fetal development artificially is, in effect, murder.
B) abortion clinics should be privatized.
C) Planned Parenthood clinics should only be allowed to provide contraceptive services.
D) parental rights should not be given to the father of a fetus.

Question 36

One problematic characteristic of morality policy politics is that

A) morality-based laws are often difficult to enforce.
B) Americans are uninterested in morality politics.
C) even with sufficient resources and policy-making knowledge, morality-based interest groups have not made a significant impact on public policy.
D) legislators ignore morality-based politics because of its effects on election results.

Question 37

A state's abortion regulations largely reflect the

A) decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court.
B) basic values of those who live there.
C) number of abortions performed in the state.
D) opinions of key elected officials, such as the governor.

Question 38

Which aspect of the Hawaii Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex marriage concerned most states?

A) Its fundamental and moral legality
B) Every state's constitutional requirement to honor legal documents from other state
C) The spread of same-sex marriage advocates across the nation
D) The reduction in taxable income if all same-sex couples could marry

Question 39

What positive moniker did groups opposed to abortion-on-demand adopt in the 1970s?

A) Pro-choice
B) Pro-life
C) Pro-fetus
D) Anti-murder

Question 40

Since the 1960s, the legal and social status of homosexuals in the United States has

A) improved dramatically, through steady, but quiet, political headway.
B) yet to appear on the agendas of state and local governments.
C) remained relatively constant, with minor gains and losses for advocates of gay rights.
D) substantially decreased, with the Supreme Court upholding various anti-sodomy laws.

Question 41

What have leaders of anti-same-sex marriage groups advanced as their primary argument?

A) Homosexuality is immoral.
B) Same-sex marriage is similar to abortion.
C) Heterosexual and same-sex couples should not live in the same neighborhoods.
D) Same-sex marriage threatens the institution of heterosexual marriage.

Question 42

Describe the origins and development of morality policy in the United States. Do you think the influence of morality policy is more prevalent today than in the past?

Question 43

What act allowed an exception to the Full Faith and Credit Clause and provided a definition of marriage according to federal law?

A) Defense of Marriage Act
B) Family Preservation Act
C) Freedom to Choose Act
D) Marriage Protection Act

Question 44

In 1873, the federal government passed the Comstock Act, which made

A) birth control illegal in the United States.
B) physician-assisted suicide illegal in the United States.
C) abortion illegal in the United States.
D) under-aged drinking illegal in the United States.

Question 45

What has been used extensively and successfully in many states by opponents of gay marriage?

A) Ballot measures
B) Legislative lobbying
C) Gubernatorial vetoes
D) State supreme court opinions

Question 46

Describe the characteristics of interest groups involved in morality policy.What role do interest groups play in morality policy debates? Provide examples.

Question 47

Explain three reasons why it is difficult to implement morality policy. Provide at least one example for each reason.

Question 48

Discuss the process of issue evolution. How do issues come onto the public agenda, how do their politics develop, and how and why do they recede from active debate?

Question 49

Which state was the first to establish, and has yet to repeal, a legal relationship for same-sex couples with all the legal trappings of marriage?

A) Massachusetts
B) Maine
C) Vermont
D) New Jersey

Question 50

What is one possible explanation for why same-sex marriage bans and public opinion might not always align?

A) The state's legislative referendum process is complex.
B) People lie on public opinion surveys.
C) Citizens are more likely to reject same-sex marriage bans than approve them.
D) Only a few states have held ballot measures on the issue.

Question 51

In the 1990s, several members of the group Operation Rescue

A) staged a series of intensive, long-term protests and vigils at abortion clinics in cities around the country.
B) tried to rescue gays and lesbians from their same-sex marriages.
C) engaged in political violence to bring attention to the plight of animals confined in laboratories on college campuses.
D) marched on Washington, D.C., in an effort to impel Congress to address global warming.

Question 52

With respect to morality policies, _____ often helps match incremental policy reforms with public opinion.

A) bicameralism
B) federalism
C) the Solicitor General
D) the U.S. Justice Department