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Here is a set of 111 questions pertaining to The Challenge of Democracy created by 200 Northwestern University students the last time that Kenneth Janda taught the American Government course. He invited his lecture course to submit multiple-choice items for their final examination, promising to include some items among the 60 on the final. (It was multiple choice because course grades were due only three days afterward. The midterm was essay format, and there was a term paper.) The students' questions were posted on the course web site with this comment: Not all of these questions deserve Pulitzer Prizes, in fact some are not very good and a few seem to lack a good correct answer. Nonetheless, they all should help you study for the examination. I warn you that I may change the position of the alternatives and perhaps improve the questions or answer categories before using them on the final exam. You might find it helpful to try answering these questions, even if your instructor does not use a multiple choice exam.
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Week 1: The Purposes of Government (Chapter 1)--12 questions
- a. a laissez faire economic policy
- b. government efforts to redistribute wealth
- c. government intervening to promote both freedom and equality
- d. allowing sexually explicit art
- a. yes, they fit very well
- b. they partially fit
- c. yes, but they fit better to the majoritarian model
- d. no, they don't fit well at all
- a. communitarian
- b. liberal
- c. conservative
- d. libertarian
- a. Procedural Democracy
- b. Majoritarian Democracy
- c. Substantive Democracy
- d. Pluralist Democracy
- a. maintaining order
- b. providing public goods
- c. protecting private property
- d. promoting equality
- a. Libertarians and Liberals
- b. Conservatives and Liberals
- c. Liberals and Communitarians
- d. Communitarians and Conservatives
- a. equality of outcome
- b. laissez faire economics
- c. pro-life policies
- d. totalitarianism
- a. long distance phone service
- b. interstate highways
- c. elementary schools
- d. waste disposal
- a. Protecting Freedom
- b. Maintaining Order
- c. Providing Public Goods
- d. Promoting Equality
- a. Protection of Personal Liberty
- b. Control of the means of production
- c. Promotion of Social Equality
- d. Maintenance of Order
- a. Freedom
- b. Order
- c. Equality
- d. Religion
- a. Should a democratic government lean toward pluralism or majoritarianism?
- b. How much freedom should citizens give up for equality?
- c. Which is more important, equality of opportunity or equality of outcome?
- d. How much freedom should citizens give up for order?
- a. The U.S. has many different minorities, not just one.
- b. The U.S. has a government where minorities rule.
- c. The U.S. government is decentralized.
- d. In the U.S., all groups have equal influence on government decisions.
- a. Connecticut Compromise
- b. New Jersey Plan
- c. Virginia Plan
- d. Great Compromise
- a. Pluralism does demands more knowledge from ordinary citizens.
- b. Pluralism seeks to limit access to congressional policy makers.
- c. Pluralism implies that a small group make all decisions.
- d. Pluralism relies on a decentralized government structure.
- a. Elite theory is based on the idea of competing interest groups.
- b. Pluralist theory is based on the idea that a small group of people makes most of the important government decisions.
- c. Elite theory describes a government that operates in an undemocratic fashion.
- d. Pluralist theory defines government conflict in terms of a minority versus the majority
- a. Majority Rule
- b. Universal Participation
- c. Government responsiveness to public opinion
- d. Decentralization of Power
- a. All citizens are entitled to participate in government.
- b. Each citizen has one vote on governmental questions.
- c. Each citizen is represented by a group
- d. Government should be responsive to public opinion.
- a. no rule specified how many votes were needed to approve of important issues like war and taxation
- b. the national government consistently overstepped its boundaries with regards to power and states' rights
- c. the executive could not be controlled by the congress
- d. no power was given to the national government to tax which made the national government dependent on the states
- a. Political equality of citizens
- b. Republicanism
- c. Federalism
- d. Separation of powers
- a. the Iranian hostage crisis
- b. the Korean war
- c. the Cuba missile crisis
- d. the Vietnam conflict
- a. universal participation
- b. majority rule.
- c. social equality
- d. political equality
- a. The House of Representatives
- b. The Senate
- c. The Department of Justice
- d. The Supreme Court
- a. filibuster
- b. judicial review
- c. referendum
- d. interest groups
- a. pluralist
- b. procedural
- c. substantive
- d. direct
- a. Universal Participation
- b. Political Equality
- c. Minority Rule
- d. Government Responsiveness to Public Opinion
- a. Preemption delegates power from the national government to the states.
- b. In cooperative dualism, states' rights is of primary importance.
- c. Judges are said to exercise judicial review when they interpret existing laws and rulings using previous cases in reaching their decisions.
- d. The elastic clause expands the powers of Congress beyond the enumerated powers, in order to make all laws that are "necessary and proper."
- a. majoritarian
- b. procedural
- c. pluralist
- d. elitist
- a. National and state agencies perform joint functions
- b. Power in government is fragmented rather than concentrated at one level
- c. The national government only has limited purposes
- d. National and state governments routinely share power
- a. 1st Amendment
- b. 5th Amendment
- c. 13th Amendment
- d. 20th Amendment
- a. The Free-Exercise Clause
- b. The Neutrality Clause
- c. The Establishment Clause
- d. The Free-Expression Clause
- a. Set the precedent of Judicial Review
- b. Established the supremacy clause
- c. The Court gave Congress the power to charter a bank
- d. Gives defendants in state courts the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
- a. the military
- b. political parties
- c. legislatures
- d. interest groups
- a. Barred government from passing bills of attainder
- b. Prohibited governments from enacting ex post facto laws
- c. Guarantees the principle of stare decisis
- d. Barred both nation and states from impairing obligations of contract
- a. Deliberative
- b. Pluralist
- c. Majoritarian
- d. Direct
- a. Free speech allows criticism of public figures, even if the criticism is outrageous and offensive.
- b. The Supreme Court has consistently held that freedom of the press overrides the requirements of law enforcement.
- c. Bills of attainder are laws that declare an action a crime after it has been performed.
- d. In Gideon v. Wainwright, the Court extended to defendants in state courts the right to remain silent.
- a. They should apply for a block grant which is awarded for specific purposes.
- b. They should apply for a project grant which is awarded on the basis of competitive applications.
- c. They should apply for a municipal grant which is awarded to local organizations.
- d. They should apply for a formula grant which is awarded based on financial eligibility.
- a. skewed
- b. hyperbolic
- c. bimodal
- d. normal
- a. Conventional Participation
- b. Direct Action
- c. Pluralist behavior
- d. Unconventional Participation
- a. Bimodal Distribution
- b. Normal Distribution
- c. Skewed Distribution
- d. Regular Distribution
- a. referendum
- b. initiative
- c. recall
- d. direct action
- a. Bimodal distribution
- b. Normal distribution
- c. Concave distribution
- d. Skewed distribution
- a. direct primary
- b. referendum
- c. traditional political parties
- d. recall
- a. family
- b. school
- c. newspapers
- d. community and peers
- a. Religion
- b. Education
- c. Gender
- d. Social Class
- a. Functions as a socialization tool
- b. Plays a communication role between the people and the government
- c. Often counteracts government attempts to promote order
- d. All of the above
- a. skewed distribution
- b. normal distribution
- c. average distribution
- d. bimodal distribution
- a. Age
- b. Gender
- c. Socioeconomic Status
- d. Race
- a. People who rely on television for their news score lower on tests of knowledge of public affairs than those who read the news.
- b. Television viewers learn to identify candidates for public office visually rather than by their positions on the issues.
- c. People with lower cognitive skills learn more from television than from print media.
- d. Studies have shown that print media is more effective than television in relating popular issues to the public.
- a. The strong agricultural base of the southern economy before the civil war.
- b. The tendency of the south to vote solidly Democratic before the middle part of this century.
- c. The tendency of southern voters to choose freedom over order.
- d. The strong economy of sunbelt states.
- a. voting
- b. all forms of unconventional participation except protesting
- c. all forms of conventional participation except voting
- d. all forms of conventional participation
- a. registering to vote
- b. writing letters to Congress
- c. voting
- d. attending city council meetings
- a. closed primaries
- b. blanket primaries
- c. split primaries
- d. open primaries
- a. party-centered strategy
- b. voter-oriented strategy
- c. issue-oriented strategy
- d. candidate-oriented strategy
- a. Limits on financial contributions.
- b. Who can run for office.
- c. Legislation on referendums.
- d. The number of parties allowed to run in a campaign.
- a. direct lobbying
- b. grassroots lobbying
- c. high-tech lobbying
- d. indirect lobbying
- a. Nominating candidates for election to public office
- b. Coordinating the actions of government officials
- c. Structuring voting choice in elections
- d. Running congressional election campaigns
- a. a critical election
- b. an electoral realignment
- c. the result of a successful national convention
- d. the result of a two-party electoral system
- a. Voters from the north and south realigned; northerners voted Republican and southerners Democrat, and the realignment persisted for decades.
- b. Southerners turned out in larger numbers for the first time in a presidential election.
- c. The Republican party split, nominating two presidential candidates (Abraham Lincoln and John Breckenridge)
- d. It gave birth to the Democratic Party, which ran a presidential candidate for the first time.
- a. The public's lack of interest in politics
- b. The lack of public funding for congressional candidates.
- c. The reliance on primary elections to nominate party candidates.
- d. The lack of cohesive ideas within the party.
- a. The increase in the power of the presidency.
- b. The Great Depression.
- c. Higher national educational standards, allowing for better voter decisions and encouraging independent voting.
- d. Government provision of social services, i.e. better unemployment benefits, aid to families with children, etc.
- a. Their Constituents
- b. Interest Groups
- c. Members of Congress
- d. Government agencies
- a. the movement to create a series of protective tariffs in the U.S.
- b. the notion that women must be sheltered from life's harsh realities
- c. the idea that the Constitution should protect all citizens equally
- d. the concept that affirmative action exists to protect minorities
- a. freedom of opportunity
- b. freedom of outcome
- c. equality of opportunity
- d. equality of outcome
- a. people who don't contribute to an organization or activity can still benefit from the organization or activity.
- b. an amendment opposed by the majority of Congress is placed on a bill the majority of Congress favors.
- c. candidates are elected with low voter turnout.
- d. citizens get more in social order than they give up in freedom
- a. Personal contact with the policy makers.
- b. letter-writing campaigns and protests pushing an interest group's rank-and-file members.
- c. Providing the legislators with financial assistance to influence their vote.
- d. banding several organizations together in coalition building.
- a. letter-writing campaigns
- b. Internet postings
- c. boycotts
- d. public demonstration
- a. meeting with a policy maker to deal with an issue
- b. staging a letter writing campaign
- c. funding a television campaign to inform the public of your agenda
- d. protesting a bill directly in front of the Capitol
- a. people in a particular interest group share political goals
- b. interest groups influence public policy decisions
- c. interest groups nominate candidates
- d. the strength of an interest group depends largely on its resources
- a. propose controversial policies to members of congress
- b. nominate candidates for public office
- c. endorse candidates for public office
- d. form political action committees
- a. incumbents
- b. challengers
- c. the out-party candidate in elections without incumbents
- d. third party candidates that explicitly back the PAC's policy positions
- a. protests
- b. letter writing and email campaigns
- c. direct lobbying
- d. legal advocacy
- a. defining the political agenda for congressional action
- b. testifying in Congressional hearings
- c. writing legislation to submit to Congress
- d. monitoring government programs
- a. a referendum
- b. an amicus curiae brief presented to the court
- c. a centralized government system
- d. an initiative
- a. They both influence policy decisions.
- b. They both back candidates that are likely to lose their election.
- c. They both have a narrow policy focus.
- d. They both nominate candidates for public office.
- a. Act as commander in chief of the military.
- b. Declare war.
- c. Veto legislation.
- d. Make treaties.
- a. convene Congress
- b. veto legislation
- c. act as president of the Senate
- d. make treaties
- a. elites tend to rule the masses
- b. a centralized government structure
- c. competing interest groups
- d. a two party system
- a. Joint committee
- b. Rules committee
- c. Conference committee
- d. Select committee
- a. After a bill is introduced, it is referred to a subcommittee.
- b. Every bill introduced must be brought to a vote on the floor.
- c. Only Senators and Members of the House may introduce legislation in their chambers.
- d. If both the House and the Senate pass the bill in identical form, it is sent to the President.
- a. trustee
- b. delegate
- c. party maverick
- d. party loyalist
- a. vice president
- b. most senior senator
- c. majority leader
- d. president pro tem
- a. racial gerrymandering
- b. redistricting
- c. gerrymandering
- d. descriptive representations
- a. lobbyist
- b. trustee
- c. incumbent
- d. delegate
- a. Name recognition to voters
- b. Routine gerrymandering done by the incumbent before the next election
- c. PACs preferring to donate financially to incumbents' campaigns
- d. Party affiliation
- a. when a president strikes out different sections of a bill, invalidating particular items but allowing the rest of the bill to become law
- b. when a president lets a bill "die" by not signing it after Congress adjourns
- c. Congress fails to send to the president a bill that passed both chambers
- d. A Senator invokes special privilege to prevent considering a bill
- 7-12: Concerning Impeachment, the House has
- a. the power to act as court to try impeachments brought by the Senate
- b. the power to formally charge the president and any other government official
- c. the power to formally charge any government official, except the president
- d. no constitutional power; the Senate controls all issues dealing with impeachment
- a. A parliamentary system usually has only one house or a much weaker second chamber.
- b. A parliamentary system, has fewer checks on government action and less separation of powers.
- c. In a parliamentary system, voters do not directly vote for the chief executive.
- d. More legislative bills are typically introduced in parliamentary systems than in our congress.
- a. Joint committee
- b. Select committee
- c. Standing committee
- d. Conference committee
- a. An annual State of the Union report.
- b. Supreme command of the military.
- c. Making treaties with the consent of the Senate.
- d. Proposing the federal budget to the Congress.
- a. Agencies can make policy decisions without authorization from Congress.
- b. Compared with other Western democracies, the U.S. bureaucracy is relatively small as a percentage of nation's workers employed in government.
- c. Bureaucratic policies tend to be "abrupt and fluctuating" rather than "steady and incremental."
- d. Bureaucratic decisions are usually insulated from interest group pressures.
- a. the Department of Health and Human Services
- b. the National Postal Service
- c. the Federal Communications Commission
- d. the Department of Defense
- a. cut taxes
- b. raise taxes
- c. increase the aggregate demand
- d. increase the money supply
- a. must be a candidate of a recognized political party
- b. lived in the US for a minimum of 14 years
- c. must be a US born citizen
- d. at least 35 years old
- a. attorney general
- b. vice president
- c. solicitor general
- d. special counsel
- a. Convene congress into special session
- b. Pardon an official who has been impeached
- c. Formally recognize other countries
- d. Veto specific lines in bills enacted by Congress
- a. Both head all three branches of government.
- b. Both act as head of state.
- c. One heads all three branches of government and is also the head of state.
- d. One heads only one branch of government but is also the head of state.
- a. first year of first term in office
- b. first year of 2nd term in office
- c. last year in of 2nd term when running for reelection
- d. last year in office when not running for reelection
- a. The U.S. Congress
- b. The Office of Management and Budget
- c. The Council of Economic Advisers
- d. The President
- a. the Line Item Veto
- b. the Gramm-Rudman Act
- c. the Balanced Budget Amendment
- d. the Flat Tax
- a. having the government take over failing factories to protect employment
- b. launching government programs to employ people on public works programs
- c. giving land grants to families that could not afford to buy property
- d. printing money to stimulate the economy
- a. The declaration of war
- b. The appointment of US ambassadors
- c. Calling out state militias to repel invasions
- d. Defining and punishing offenses against international law
- a. making treaties
- b. appointing U.S. ambassadors and heads of executive departments
- c. declaring war
- d. receiving ambassadors from other countries
- a. House of Representatives - Making Treaties
- b. President - Declaring War
- c. Senate - Ratifying/Accepting Treaties
- d. Congress - Commanding the Armed Forces
- a. specialization trade
- b. absolute advantage
- c. efficiency principle
- d. comparative advantage
- a. isolation
- b. the Marshall Plan
- c. containment
- d. regionalism
- a. Social Security Act
- b. Voting Rights Act
- c. Secondary Education Act
- d. Economic Opportunity Act
- a. Americans get better care for less cost than citizens in most other western democracies*
- b. The U.S. spends a larger percentage of its economy on health care than most other western democracies
- c. cost of health care is rising
- d. many Americans have no health insurance
- a. To help control the economy by raising or lowering taxes
- b. To lower the national debt
- c. To adjust overall revenue to meet budget outlays
- d. To make the tax burden more equitable to payers
- a. "No new taxes"
- b. "I will increase the AFDC allotment"
- c. "I will cut welfare by 25%"
- d. "Government is the problem, not the solution"
- a. Monetarists
- b. Keynesians
- c. Supply side economists
- d. Laissez-faire economists