American Government Final

Front 1

What contemporary political scientists call an interest group, James Madison called a...

Back 1

Faction

Front 2

The Teamsters and the AFL-CIO are examples of what kind of interest group?

Back 2

Labor groups

Front 3

Interest groups are concerned with the __________ of government, while political parties are concerned with the __________ of government.

Back 3

policies/personnel

Front 4

The Christian Coalition is best described as an __________ group.

Back 4

Ideological

Front 5

The National League of Cities is a good example of

Back 5

Public Sector Interest Group

Front 6

Successful interest groups quickly become

Back 6

Beurocritized

Front 7

Approximately how many members does AARP have?

Back 7

38 million

Front 8

The increased number and importance of interest groups is a...

Back 8

response to an increase in the size and activity of government

Front 9

Since the 1930s, the number and scale of interest groups at the national level has

Back 9

Increased dramatically

Front 10

The first organized interest groups arose in response to the

Back 10

Economic interventions of the 1890’s

Front 11

Lobbying is...

Back 11

An attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on a member of congress or a slate legislator.

Front 12

What is the most important and beneficial resource that lobbyists provide government officials?

Back 12

Information

Front 13

The practice of lobbying is protected by

Back 13

By the 1st amendment

Front 14

Another name for lobbying is

Back 14

Petitioning

Front 15

An iron triangle is made up of an alliance between

Back 15

A legislative committee, an interest group, and an executive agency

Front 16

Interest groups can use the courts to influence public policy by

Back 16

1.bringing a suit directly on behalf of the group.

2. financing suits brought by individuals.

3. filing a companion brief as amicus curiae to an existing court case.

Front 17

What is the primary function of a political action committee?

Back 17

A fundraising arm, it organizes for the party,

Front 18

A political action committee (PAC) can contribute __________ to any candidate for federal office, provided it contributes to at least five different federal candidates each year.

Back 18

$5000

Front 19

By 2007, there were approximately __________ PACs in the United States.

Back 19

5000

Front 20

Which of the following has been more heavily regulated as a result of 2002 campaign-finance reforms?

Back 20

soft money

Front 21

When are national elections held in the United States?

Back 21

Always the 1st Tuesday of November

Front 22

When a congressional election is held that does not coincide with a presidential election, it is called a

Back 22

midterm election

Front 23

When a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting in that party’s election, it is called a...

Back 23

closed primary

Front 24

Recall elections are an electoral device first used by the

Back 24

populists

Front 25

Primary elections were introduced by the __________ in order to weaken the power of party leaders.

Back 25

progessives

Front 26

Which of the following politicians has been recalled from office?

Back 26

California Governer, Grey Davis

Front 27

Most European nations employ what system of elections?

Back 27

Proportional representation

Front 28

Smaller and weaker parties are most likely to have electoral success under...

Back 28

proportional representation systems

Front 29

A majority electoral system, which is used on a limited basis in the United States, requires that a candidate must acquire __________ to win an election.

Back 29

51%

Front 30

The boundaries of legislative districts in the United States are to be redrawn every __________ years.

Back 30

10

Front 31

When the Supreme Court announced the principle of “one person, one vote,” what did it mean?

Back 31

Within a state, electoral districts must have roughly equal populations.

Front 32

The practice of __________ means that district boundaries have been purposefully drawn to unfairly advantage one group or party.

Back 32

Gerrymandering

Front 33

If you voted for a Republican for president and a Democrat for senator, you engaged in

Back 33

Split ticket voting

Front 34

The result that is produced when voters cast a ballot for the president and then automatically vote for the remainder of that party’s candidates is called...

Back 34

The coat-tail effect

Front 35

The __________ is the last example of indirect voting in national elections.

Back 35

The electoral college process

Front 36

Who is the incumbent?

Back 36

A current office holder running for re-election

Front 37

What year marked the first time a major political party held a convention?

Back 37

1832

Front 38

The majority of PACs represent

Back 38

Business and professional groups

Front 39

Money contributed directly to a political party, to be used for voter registration or party building, is called

Back 39

Soft money

Front 40

PACs came to prominence during

Back 40

1980’s

Front 41

The newest federal cabinet department is

Back 41

Department of Homeland Security

Front 42

According to a 2007 poll, __________ percent of the U.S. population knew that Harry Reid was the Senate majority leader, while approximately __________ percent knew that Arnold Schwarzenegger was the governor of California.

Back 42

30% might know who harry reed is

Front 43

Survey data shows that the level of Americans’ political knowledge is

Back 43

Low and spotty

Front 44

What aspect of citizenship was most important for the ancient Greeks?

Back 44

Talking and debating

Front 45

In order to be a good citizen, it is most critical to possess

Back 45

Knowledge – namely political knowledge

Front 46

Studies show that an increasing number of young Americans receive their political knowledge from

Back 46

Late night comedy shows

Front 47

Of the nearly 200 governments in the world, what is the estimate of the number of actual constitutional democracies?

Back 47

20

Front 48

Government can best be defined as

Back 48

The institution by which a territory and its people are ruled

Front 49

A government that accepts no legal limits on its power but may accept the restraint of other social institutions, such as churches, is known as

Back 49

Authoritarian

Front 50

If the government were controlled by a small group of wealthy landowners and corporate leaders, this would be best described as

Back 50

Oligarchy

Front 51

Who said that the best government was the one that “governed least”?

Back 51

Thomas Jefferson

Front 52

The willingness to be restrained by the power of social institutions, but not political or legal institutions, is a hallmark of a(n) __________ regime.

Back 52

Authoritarian

Front 53

A government that is formally limited by laws and rules is called

Back 53

Constitutional government

Front 54

The key group in Europe that pushed for limited government was

Back 54

The bourgeoisie

Front 55

John Locke and John Stuart Mill are important philosophers for which of the following ideologies?

Back 55

Libery and political rights

Front 56

Why did the Progressives support women’s suffrage in the early twentieth century?

Back 56

Progressives supported women suffrage because they believed women would support their reform movement

Front 57

Who described politics as “who gets what, when, and how”?

Back 57

Harold lasswell

Front 58

Direct democracy is best defined as

Back 58

A system that allows citizens to vote directy on all laws, policies, and statutes.

Front 59

Throughout American history, the concept of liberty has been linked to

Back 59

Limited government

Front 60

The Bill of Rights was designed to protect

Back 60

Liberty

Front 61

In American political culture, economic freedom means

Back 61

Laissez-faire capitalism

Front 62

The term laissez-faire means

Back 62

Leave alone

Front 63

The Constitution’s Preamble, beginning with the words “We the People . . .,” is an illustration of what principle?

Back 63

The principle of popular sovereignty

Front 64

The separate but equal doctrine was introduced in what Supreme Court case?

Back 64

Ples v. ferguson

Front 65

In __________ women were granted the constitutional right to vote.

Back 65

1920

Front 66

What was the primary goal of the Constitution’s framers?

Back 66

To create an efficient and effective government

Front 67

What led the British to raise taxes on the American colonists during the 1760s?

Back 67

The french and indian war

Front 68

Who defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre?

Back 68

John Adams

Front 69

The Stamp Act was a

Back 69

tax on commerce

Front 70

The events that led to the Revolutionary War were triggered by which of the following?

Back 70

The british increasing taxes on the colonies,

Front 71

Who orchestrated the Boston Tea Party?

Back 71

Sam Adams

Front 72

The first written constitution for the United States was called

Back 72

The Articles of the Confederation

Front 73

How was power in Congress divided under the Articles of Confederation?

Back 73

Each state had one vote

Front 74

Under the Articles of Confederation, it was left to the __________ to execute the laws passed by Congress.

Back 74

states

Front 75

The Articles of Confederation were adopted in

Back 75

1777

Front 76

What was the purpose of the Annapolis Convention?

Back 76

To discuss the weakness of the articles of the confederation

Front 77

A conference held to analyze perceived flaws in the Articles of Confederation was called the

Back 77

Annapolis convention

Front 78

The 1787 convention to draft a new constitution was held in

Back 78

Philadelphia

Front 79

Shays’s Rebellion was significant because it

Back 79

It demonstrates that, under the articles, the government is inefficient and ineffective.

Front 80

The Virginia Plan of the Constitutional Convention proposed a system of representation in the national legislature that was based upon

Back 80

Representation is based on the size of each state and their contribution of state revenue

Front 81

At the Constitutional Convention, the plan to create a Congress where representation was distributed according to population was called the

Back 81

Virginia plan

Front 82

What did the New Jersey Plan propose for Congress?

Back 82

Representation is equal for each state

Front 83

During the Philadelphia Convention, the New Jersey Plan was supported by

Back 83

The less populous states

Front 84

The Great Compromise led to the

Back 84

The creation of a bicameral congress

Front 85

Bicameralism is a constitutional principle that means the

Back 85

Division of congress into two chambers

Front 86

James Madison believed that in the Constitutional Convention the greatest conflict of interests was between

Back 86

Northern and southern states

Front 87

What is the Three-fifths Compromise?

Back 87

3 out of every 5 slaves would be counted for the purpose of representation and taxation

Front 88

The ability of the president to veto a bill passed by Congress is a good example of what principle of limited government?

Back 88

Checks and balances

Front 89

The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the states, is called

Back 89

Federalism

Front 90

What is the term length of a member of the House of Representatives?

Back 90

2 years

Front 91

The three branches of government created by the Constitution are

Back 91

Legislative, executive, judicial

Front 92

Procedures outlining how to amend the Constitution are found in Article

Back 92

Article 5

Front 93

Only one-third of the Senate is up for re-election during any single election year, because the framers believed that

Back 93

This is only way to protect the senate from radical changes

Front 94

Judicial review is the power of

Back 94

The courts get to decide on the constitutionality of the actions taking by the other branches of the goverment

Front 95

What is the term length of a federal judge?

Back 95

Life, barring impeachment

Front 96

To amend the Constitution requires a __________ vote by Congress, and approval by __________ of the states.

Back 96

2/3 vote in congress and ¾ of the states

Front 97

The supremacy clause

Back 97

States that the constitution and all laws under it, are superior to any state laws

Front 98

The Federalists believed that the most apparent source of tyranny was

Back 98

The popular majority

Front 99

The essential dilemma of a limited government raised by the ratification debates is that

Back 99

Government that is too weak to do harm cannot do good.

Front 100

The most important political value for the framers of the Constitution was...

Back 100

Individual Liberty

Front 101

How many times did Huxley marry?

Back 101

2

Front 102

1984, one word description

Back 102

Pain

Front 103

BNW, one word description

Back 103

Pleasure

Front 104

BNW and 1984 are examples of what genre?

Back 104

Dystopia