Deck 1: The Spirit of American Politics

Question 1

How many public officials, in total, do Americans elect?

A) 500,000
B) 300,000
C) 700,000
D) 100,000

Answer 1

A

Question 2

On how many occasions did Americans inaugurate presidential candidates who got fewer popular votes than their opponents?

A) Ten
B) Five
C) Three
D) Thirteen

Answer 2

B

Question 3

How long are the Supreme Court justices' terms?

A) They are elected for a term of two years.
B) They are appointed for life.
C) They are elected every four years.
D) They are appointed for a term of ten years.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The Supreme Court in 1857 ruled that black people were

A) equal in all respects.
B) inferior.
C) allowed to vote.
D) unable to marry.

Question 5

In a republic, who is in charge?

A) The people
B) The president
C) The Supreme Court
D) The bureaucracy

Question 6

Early America did not live up to the ideal expressed in the first three words of the Constitution, "We the People." Which of the following groups were actually included in government?

A) Slaves
B) Women
C) White men
D) American Indians

Question 7

What percentage of House Members win reelection?

A) 85%
B) 78%
C) 95%
D) 23%

Question 8

What does the term military-industrial complex mean?

A) A network of influence and money flowing between defense contractors, military figures in the Pentagon, and defense policy officials in Congress and the White House
B) A complex that housed military and industrial officials
C) The collaborative efforts between the military and industrial suppliers
D) A military base located in Virginia

Question 9

The idea that those who carry out day-to-day operations of government are in control is known as

A) pluralist theory.
B) elite theory.
C) social movement theory.
D) bureaucratic theory.

Question 10

The major difference between political theories is

A) who wrote them.
B) who is in charge.
C) who is elected president.
D) the major institutions at work.

Question 11

Benjamin Franklin believed Americans must be _______ to maintain their republic.

A) vigilant and active
B) quiet and inactive
C) willing to run for office
D) willing to serve in the military

Question 12

What is suggested by pluralist theory?

A) Multicultural existence
B) People can influence government through interest groups
C) People can influence government through individual advocacy
D) One can believe in numerous religions

Question 13

Where does pluralist theory say that influence is displayed in government?

A) Religious groups
B) Interest groups
C) Political groups
D) Unions

Question 14

According to pluralist theory, where is political power located?

A) Interest groups
B) Political machines
C) Religious groups
D) Bureaucracy

Question 15

Where does elite theory place the location of political power?

A) Richest in government, the judicial branch, and the military
B) Richest in college institutions, businesses, and the Central Intelligence Agency
C) Richest in unions, corporations, and banks
D) Richest in government, corporations, and the military

Question 16

What is the source of influence according to those who support elite theory?

A) Status based on economic influence and religious background
B) Status based on economic influence and leadership position
C) Status based on economic influence and academic background
D) Status based on economic influence and party affiliation

Question 17

Those who support social movement theory believe that the location of political power is

A) controversial uprisings and movements.
B) religious uprisings and movements.
C) popular uprisings and movements.
D) economic uprisings and movements.

Question 18

According to social movement theory, government is influenced by

A) strength of persuasion.
B) strength of student demands.
C) strength of union demands.
D) strength of private demands.

Question 19

Which of the following movements was an example of social movement theory?

A) Tea Party
B) Occupy Wall Street
C) Civil rights movement
D) All of the above

Question 20

What theory holds that all political outcomes-elections, the passage of a law, even mass rallies-are the aggregate of the public's individual interests?

A) Political-choice theory
B) Rational-choice theory
C) Mass-choice theory
D) Public-choice theory

Question 21

The four "I's" the textbook focuses on are

A) Ideas, institutions, interests, idiosyncrasies
B) Ideas, institutions, intelligence, individuals
C) Ideas, institutions, interest, individuals
D) Internationalism, institutions, interest, individuals

Question 22

Which person brought forward the idea of a "military-industrial complex"?

A) Franklin D. Roosevelt
B) Dwight Eisenhower
C) Harry Truman
D) John F. Kennedy

Question 23

Which of these persons was an American civilian in Iraq after the United States toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 and founded a public service organization to provide first aid, food, and health care to ordinary Iraqis hurt in the war?

A) Helen Williamson
B) Steven Johnson
C) Marla Ruzicka
D) Henry James

Question 24

What was the name of Marla Ruzicka's organization to help Iraqis with first aid, food, and health care?

A) Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, or CIVIC
B) Campaign for Iraqi Victims in Conflict, or CIVIC
C) Campaign for Ideological Victims in Conflict, or CIVIC
D) Campaign for Injured Victims in Conflict, or CIVIC

Question 25

Patrick Henry, a Virginia politician, made what declaration when he read the new Constitution?

A) "I smell a rat."
B) "As little power to the people as possible."
C) "This will never work."
D) "We have a government."

Question 26

Who famously said, "Government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem"?

A) Patrick Henry
B) Dwight Eisenhower
C) Richard Nixon
D) Ronald Reagan

Question 27

Why did Patrick Henry, when he heard about the new Constitution in 1787, make the famous statement "I smell a rat"?

A) He believed that the new federal government would be too strong.
B) He was concerned that some members in Congress were unscrupulous.
C) He warned that the new Constitution would produce a new federal government that would be too weak.
D) None of the above

Question 28

Alexis de Tocqueville, a French visitor to America in 1831-1832, noticed particular ways of thinking in Americans that he called "_______," or patterns of social interactions that naturally flowed from Americans in their interchanges and mutual problem solving. He believed these patterns formed the foundation of a robust democracy.

A) habits of the heart
B) instincts for living
C) patterns of life
D) rules of living

Question 29

_______ are collaborative efforts between business firms and government officials to achieve public ends.

A) government-private partnerships
B) private-social partnerships
C) public-private partnerships
D) social-public partnerships

Question 30

Today, only about _______ percent of Americans trust the national government "to do the right thing most of the time."

A) 17
B) 5
C) 20
D) 17

Question 31

The fifteen cabinet departments employ how many civilian employees?

A) 2.7 million
B) 2,800
C) 280
D) 28

Question 32

The president's cabinet has _______ departments.

A) Fifteen
B) Twenty
C) Twelve
D) Thirty-three

Question 33

There are more than _______ active and reserve members of the armed forces.

A) 3.5 million
B) 4.5 million
C) 2.5 million
D) 1.7 million

Question 34

There are nearly _______ million state and local government workers.

A) 11.5
B) 15.5
C) 13.5
D) 19.4

Question 35

Americans give the government high marks for

A) responding to natural disasters.
B) growing the economy.
C) preventing poverty.
D) the education system.

Question 36

The Constitution begins by stating

A) the basic functions of government.
B) the reasons for revolution.
C) the office of the presidency.
D) a list of grievances.

Question 37

The annual federal government budget, according to the text, is

A) $4.8 trillion.
B) $1.5 trillion.
C) $3.3 trillion.
D) $9 trillion.

Question 38

Without the aid of _______ (their first client), the famous Wright brothers would not have been able to develop the airplane.

A) the U.S. military
B) their family
C) banks
D) their friends

Question 39

More than _______ percent of all federal government spending goes to just four programs.

A) 65
B) 50
C) 75
D) 80

Question 40

Which four programs collectively receive the largest share of federal government spending?

A) Education, human services, Social Security, and Medicare
B) The military, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
C) Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and education
D) The military, education, Medicare, and Medicaid

Question 41

The expenditures of the four largest programs of the federal government total over _______ trillion dollars.

A) 3
B) 1
C) 5
D) 7

Question 42

The U.S. tax burden ranks _______ among the thirty wealthiest nations in the world.

A) seventeenth
B) third
C) thirty-second
D) tenth

Question 43

Cars stop at red lights as a result of

A) common law.
B) accepted practice.
C) government rules.
D) interest groups.

Question 44

Who sets the rules for society?

A) Governments
B) Interest groups
C) Corporations
D) Religious organizations

Question 45

What is meant by the expression "The United States is a nation of immigrants"?

A) America is a country where people from different countries can come to work and vacation and then return home.
B) The United States is a nation where people from a few countries can come to live.
C) The United States is a country where individuals come to reinvent themselves.
D) All of the above

Question 46

When did the Puritans land in Massachusetts?

A) 1700
B) 1597
C) 1802
D) 1630

Question 47

In the New World, some colonists came up with a remarkable phrase: they considered themselves a community of saints, a "city on a hill." What is meant by this phrase?

A) They were a model for the whole world to follow.
B) Their new home was located on a hill.
C) The New World was their Heaven.
D) None of the above

Question 48

As early European settlers arrived in the New World, different settlers were arriving from Africa, chained in slave ships. Drivers and traders tried to strip Africans of which of the following?

A) Their families
B) Their identities
C) Their names and heritage
D) All of the above

Question 49

When did the first people from Ireland and Germany come to America?

A) In the 1770s
B) In the 1840s
C) In the 1900s
D) In the 1890s

Question 50

When did the first groups of people from Poland and Italy immigrate to America?

A) In the 1800s
B) In the 1750s
C) In the 1850s
D) In the 1900s

Question 51

From which of the following countries are people coming to America today?

A) China
B) Mexico
C) India
D) All of the above

Question 52

Immigrants had to wrestle with what in their new land?

A) Parents
B) Welfare programs
C) Identity
D) Children

Question 53

Studies show that millennials, on average, are more responsible, harder working, and more law-abiding than the generations that came before. Which of the following are they more inclined to do than their predecessors were?

A) Volunteer
B) Donate a higher share of their income to charity
C) Start entrepreneurial organizations with social impact
D) All of the above

Question 54

Millennials were born between

A) 1945 and 1965.
B) 1963 and 1973.
C) 1972 and 1982.
D) 1981 and 1996.

Question 55

What is a republic?

A) A system of government that rests ultimate governing power in its people, who may rule directly or via representatives
B) A system of government that rests most governing power in an elite selected for authority based on superior education
C) A system of government that rests no governing power in its people but instead allows a single individual to exercise sole political control to ensure the well-being of all people
D) None of the above

Question 56

What is one way in which those with more money can gain greater political influence?

A) Buy votes
B) Give money to campaigns
C) Pay the salary of elected officials
D) Build new state buildings

Question 57

Political machines were corrupt parties that ran many city and state governments, most famously in which century?

A) The nineteenth
B) The twenty-first
C) The eighteenth
D) None of the above

Question 58

The principle of checks and balances ensures that which branch of government has the authority to block the other branches?

A) The executive branch
B) The judicial branch
C) The legislative branch
D) All three branches

Question 59

When most people talk about politics, who are they thinking of?

A) Individuals
B) Institutions
C) Ideas
D) Interests

Question 60

When did the first Constitutional Convention begin?

A) 1787
B) 1878
C) 1856
D) None of the above

Question 61

Political scientists stress which aspect of government?

A) Ideas
B) Institutions
C) Individuals
D) Interests

Question 62

An example of a government institution is

A) The Department of Agriculture
B) The Nevada Legislature
C) The Marine Corps
D) All of the above

Question 63

A form of government in which the people hold power is a

A) republic.
B) democracy.
C) dictatorship.
D) monarchy.

Question 64

The Supreme Court serves as a check on

A) The executive branch
B) Congress
C) State governments
D) All of the above

Question 65

As _______ left the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman stopped him. "What kind of government have you given us?" she asked. He responded, "A republic, madam-if you can keep it."

A) Thomas Jefferson
B) Benjamin Franklin
C) John Adams
D) None of the above

Question 66

_______, a republic that had collapsed during ancient times, was highly influential on the founders of the United States in the development of the Constitution.

A) Athens
B) Barcelona
C) London
D) Moscow

Question 67

The Constitution protected slavery and gave slaveholders _______ of a vote for every person they kept in chains.

A) One-third
B) One-fourth
C) Three-fifths
D) None of the above

Question 68

President Eisenhower was a five-star general who commanded American forces. In which war did he serve in this capacity?

A) World War I
B) World War II
C) Vietnam War
D) None of the above

Question 69

A government in which citizens rule indirectly through elected representatives is a

A) democracy.
B) dictatorship.
C) republic.
D) parliamentary system.

Question 70

What does the political term institutions mean?

A) Organizational establishments
B) The organizations, norms, and rules that structure political action
C) The mindsets of a political environment
D) The establishments of the political elite

Question 71

Which of the following is an example of an institution?

A) Congress
B) Red Cross
C) Occupy Wall Street
D) All of the above

Question 72

Which of the following is an example of an institution?

A) Little League
B) News media
C) The Daily Show
D) None of the above

Question 73

Which of the following is an example of an institution?

A) The Supreme Court
B) United Way
C) Families
D) All of the above

Question 74

Which of the following is an example of an institution?

A) Parent-Teacher Association
B) Knights of Columbus
C) Department of Homeland Security
D) All of the above

Question 75

What is the term for people joining others in order to achieve a common goal?

A) Civil society
B) Government
C) Sports
D) The military

Question 76

Which of the following is part of the three sectors of society?

A) Private life
B) Religious life
C) Civic life
D) None of the above

Question 77

Which of the following is part of the three sectors of society?

A) Little League sports
B) Government
C) Reality TV
D) None of the above

Question 78

What defines private life?

A) Individuals, families, and friends connecting with one another
B) Individuals' personal affairs
C) Individuals and their friends, acting on their own
D) All of the above

Question 79

What defines civil society?

A) Individuals achieving goals by themselves
B) People joining with others to achieve some goal
C) People joining groups to be entertained
D) None of the above

Question 80

What defines government?

A) Informal and formal organizations that make decisions for the whole society
B) Formal organizations that make decisions for the whole society
C) Public and private partnership to make decisions for the whole society
D) None of the above