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Federal Government Exam 1 Solutions

Q1. Self-government is another term for . . .

  • Liberalism
  • Gateways
  • Democracy
  • Conservatism

Q2. Robert Dahl is most closely associated with which of the following terms?

  • Pluralist
  • Capitalism
  • Power ellte
  • Individualism

Q3. Robert Dahl is most closely associated with which of the following terms?

  • Pluralist
  • Egalitarianism
  • Power elite
  • Individualism

Q4. Which of the following racial/ethnic groups has the LOWEST family income?

  • Asian Americans
  • African Americans
  • Hispanics
  • Whites

Q5. How have low-skilled workers been affected by the global economy?

  • All of the above
  • They have been harmed because American companies cannot afford to pay high wages to low-skill workers and still compete effectively against foreign competitors with lower wage costs.
  • They have been harmed because global competition has led to price increases for many of the products that they purchase.
  • They have been helped because the number of good jobs available to low-skill workers has increased.

Q6. Which of the following has NOT risen since the end of the Great Recession?

  • CEO pay
  • Household income
  • Corporate profits
  • Stock prices

Q7. Study the chart before you answer the question. What is the best explanation for the steep decline in median income in the latter years covered by the chart?

Median Income

  • The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
  • Rising inflation rate
  • The Great Recession
  • The recovery after the Great Recession

Q8. Since 1980, the percentage of total household income earned by the upper 1 percent of households has increased singificantly. This is a measure of which of the following?

  • Income inequality
  • Unemployment
  • Economic growth
  • Inflation

Q9. The map depicts population growth rates during the 2000-2010 decade. According to the map, which of the following states was NOT among the most rapidly growing states during the period?

growth

  • Idaho
  • Nevada
  • Utah
  • Louisiana

Q10. In which of the following types of countries must leaders periodically stand for election?

  • Democracy
  • Monarchy
  • Oligarchy
  • Authoritarian system

Q11. In which of the following continents are democracies LEAST common?

  • Europe
  • North America
  • Africa
  • South America

Q12. Based on the graph below, which of the following statements about religious faith in America is true?

religious affiliation

  • Between 1972 and 2012, the percentage of Americans identifying as Protestant increased.
  • Between 1972 and 2012, the percentage of Americans identifying as Catholic increased.
  • Between 1972 and 2012, the percentage of Americans identifying as Catholic, Protestant, or with no religious faith was unchanged.
  • Between 1972 and 2012, the percentage of Americans expressing no religious faith increased.

Q13. Missouri lost a seat in the U.S. House following the 2010 Census. Which of the following statements about Missouri is consequently true?

  • Missouri is one of the least populous states in the nation.
  • The death rate is higher in Missouri than in other states.
  • The nation as a whole is growing more rapidly than Missouri.
  • Most people living in Missouri are white.

Q14. Which of the following terms is defined as system of self-government by the people; rule by the many?

  • authoritarianism
  • government
  • democracy
  • monarchy

Q15. Which of the following is an example of a unitary government?

  • The Confederate States of America
  • The American government under the Articles of Confederation.
  • Great Britain
  • The American government created by the Constitution of 1787.

Q16. What is the relationship of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Bill of Rights?

  • The Fourteenth Amendment explicitly declares that the civil liberties protections contained in the Bill of Rights restrict the power not just of the national government but the state governments as well.
  • The Fourteenth Amendment has no relationship to the Bill of Rights because it was added to the Constitution more than 50 years later.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to mean that selected elements of the Bill of Rights apply not just to the national government but to the state governments as well.
  • The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to mean that the entire Bill of Rights applies not just to the national government but to the state governments as well.

Q17. What was the significance of Marbury v. Madison?

  • It established that the president has broad powers of appointment.
  • It was the first time the Supreme Court ruled that an act of Congress was unconstitutional.
  • all of the above
  • It established that Congress has the authority that extends beyond the letter of the Constitution.

Q18. Clarence Thomas is an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. In which branch of American national government does he serve?

  • judicial branch
  • legislative branch
  • executive branch
  • There isn’t enough information provided to correctly answer the question.

Q19. Most of the citizens of a particular region adhere to the same religion. The majority uses its control of government to adopt policies that seriously disadvantage people who do not share their belief. The framers of the Constitution would use which of the following terms or phrases to describe the situation?

  • Bicameralism
  • Tyranny of the majority
  • Shays’s Rebellion
  • Federalism

Q20. Why do political scientists consider Saudi Arabia to be a monarchy?

  • The Saudi economy is dominated by the oil industry.
  • Women do not have the right to vote in Saudi Arabia.
  • Saudi Arabia has long been ruled by the Saud family.
  • Religion is very important in Saudi Arabia.

Q21. Which of the following was a deficiency of the government under the Articles of Confederation?

  • Its lack of exclusive authority to coin money
  • All of the above
  • Its inability to regulate trade among the states
  • Its inability to force states to pay taxes

Q22. Marbury v. Madison is most closely associated with which of the following concepts?

  • Delegated and implied powers
  • Impeachment power
  • Power of the purse
  • Judicial review

Q23. What is the power of the purse and which branch of government exercises it?

  • It is the power to declare war. The Constitution delegates the power to the president.
  • It is the power to tax and spend. The Constitution delegates the power to Congress.
  • It is the power to tax and spend. The Constitution delegates the power to the president.
  • It is the power to declare war. The Constitution delegates the power to Congress.

Q24. The concept of reserved powers is based on which provision of the Constitution?

  • Article VI
  • First Amendment
  • Article I
  • Tenth Amendment

Q25. Which provision of the Constitution is also known as the Elastic Clause?

  • Commerce Clause
  • Necessary and Proper Clause
  • Tenth Amendment
  • National Supremacy Clause

Q26. Which of the following statements most accurately describes the constitutional authority of Congress?

  • Congress can only take those actions that it can justify as based on the powers delegated to it in the Constitution.
  • Congress can only take those actions clearly and specifically spelled out in the Constitution.
  • Congress can take any action it chooses as long as that action is not prohibited by the U.S. Constitution.
  • Congress can take any action without constitutional limitation

Q27. Reserved powers are based on which of the following constitutional provisions?

  • Due Process Clause
  • National Supremacy Clause
  • Tenth Amendment
  • Necessary and Proper Clause

Q28. What is nullification?

  • The power of a state to leave the union.
  • The constitutional theory that gives an individual state the right to declare null and void any law passed by the U. S. Congress which the state deems unacceptable and unconstitutional.
  • The authority of the president to veto bills passed by Congress.
  • The power of a court to find an act of Congress unconstitutional.

Q29. A federal program that provides money in a broad, general policy area is known as which of the following?

  • categorical grant
  • block grant
  • matching grant
  • formula grant

Q30. Because of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), new buildings constructed at the college must be accessible for people with disabilities. This requirement is an example of which of the following?

  • Block grant
  • Federal mandate
  • Federal preemption
  • Project grant

Q31. What affect does the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have on Medicaid?

  • It reduces it.
  • It expands it.
  • It has no effect on it.
  • It replaces it

Q32. In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court affirm the National Supremacy Clause by ruling that states cannot tax units of the national government?

  • Marbury v. Madison
  • Dred Scott v. Sandford
  • McCulloch v. Maryland
  • Gibbons v. Ogden

Q33. The New Deal is most closely associated with which of the following presidents?

  • George W. Bush
  • Richard Nixon
  • Franklin Roosevelt
  • Ronald Reagan

Q34. McCulloch v. Maryland dealt with which of the following issues?

  • The power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce
  • The scope of the implied powers
  • Judicial review
  • Slavery and property rights

Q35. In which of the following forms of government are both the national government and the states sorvereign units of government?

  • Federalism
  • Unitary
  • Democratic republic
  • Confederation

Q36. A terror suspect who is an American citizen is arrested in the United States and turned over to the U.S. military. The military then spend the next few months questioning him without charging him with a crime or beginning judicial proceedings against him. Which of the following procedures could be used either to obtain the suspect’s release or to force the government to charge him and provide him with due process?

  • Bill of attainder
  • Writ of habeas corpus
  • Selective incorporation
  • Ex post facto law

Q37. Jason Rodriguez works as a waiter in a Houston restaurant. His boss overhears Jason telling a co-worker during a break period that he thinks that the president ought to be impeached. The boss, a big supporter of the president, fires Jason on the spot. Jason thinks the boss violated his freedom of speech. Would you expect that Jason would be able to get his job back on that basis?

  • Yes, because Jason is a Latino.
  • Yes. Because of the Fourteenth Amendment, the First Amendment applies to events that take place in the states.
  • Yes, because the First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech.
  • No. The First Amendment applies to the actions of the government, not private employers.

Q38. Which of the following is an example of a controversy that might arise under the Establishment Clause?

  • A state provides financial assistance to church-related schools.
  • All of the above
  • A public school asks a local clergyman to offer a prayer before graduation exercises.
  • A judge posts a copy of the Ten Commandments on the wall of her courtroom.

Q39. Which of the following constitutional provisions is the basis for the selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights to the states?

  • Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
  • Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
  • National Supremacy Clause
  • Commerce Clause

Q40. Engel v. Vitale dealt with which of the following controversies?

  • State aid to religious schools
  • School prayer
  • Right to privacy
  • Parental choice

Q41. Due process rights deal with which of the following issue areas?

  • Abortion rights
  • Criminal justice
  • Religious liberty
  • Right to bear arms

Q42. Which of the following phrases refers to the free speech doctrine that allows certain types of regulations of speech, as long as the restrictions do not favor one side or another of a controversy?

  • Fighting words
  • Exclusionary rule
  • Marketplace of ideas
  • Content neutral

Q43. In which of the following cases did the U.S. Supreme Court first rule that a constitutional right to privacy existed?

  • Griswold v. Connecticut
  • Lawrence v. Texas
  • Gideon v. Wainwright
  • Roe v. Wade

Q44. The publishing of false and damaging statements about another person is known as which of the following?

  • Libel
  • Clear and present danger
  • Prior restraint
  • Slander

Q45. To block the publication of a news story BEFORE it goes to press is known as which of the following?

  • Prior restraint
  • Libel
  • Clear and present danger
  • Slander

Q46. Match each statement with the Amendment to which it applies.

  • Outlaws slavery – 13th
  • Basis of reserved powers – 10th
  • Women’s suffrage – 19th
  • Lowered voting age to 18 – 26th
  • Due process clause of this amendment is the basis for the selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights – 14th