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Political Science
Test 1
Spring 2008
Chapter 1
Question 01
• Definition: A system of rule by the people,
defined by the existence of popular
sovereignty, political equality and political
liberty.
• democracy
Question 02
• Who was the African-American woman
who refused to give up her seat to a
passenger of European descent which
resulted in the Montgomery bus boycott
and a boost to civil rights?
• Rosa Parks
Question 03
• Definition: The abuse of power by a
ruler or a government.
• tyranny
Question 04
• What was the decision by the U.S.
Supreme Court which ended legal
separation of the races in the U.S.?
• Brown vs. Board of Education of
Topeka, Kansas
Question 05
• Definition: Representatives of the states
who formally elected the president; the
number of votes in this body held by each
state is equal to the total number of its
senators and congressional
representatives.
• electoral college
Question 06
• What was the agreement which placed the
first, albeit small, constraints on the rule of
monarchs?
• The Magna Carta
Question 07
• Definition: A philosophical devise, used by
Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke,
Rouseau, and Harrington, to suggest that
governments are only legitimate if they are
created by a voluntary compact among the
people.
• social contract
Question 08
• Conflicts throughout the world such as
Bosnia, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the genocide in
Africa between Tutsi and Hutu are not
reflections of racism but what?
• tribalism
Question 09
• Who was Robert Moses?
• a Civil Rights activist in
Mississippi during the 1960s
Chapter 2
Question 10
• Definition: The power of the Supreme
Court to declare actions of the other
branches and levels of government
unconstitutional.
• judicial review
Question 11
• What characteristic is said to be part of the
genius of the American political system.
• compromise
Question 12
• Definition: The first ten amendments
to the U.S. Constitution, concerned
with basic liberties.
• Bill of Rights
Question 13
• The Founders [Framers or Founding
Fathers] chose to create a government
that differed significantly from the
parliamentary system which was
employed in Great Britain. Which item of
the following was a significant difference
between the British system and the
American system of government?
Answer 13
• In the parliamentary system there is
no separation between the legislative
and executive branches
Question 14
• Definition: The constitutional principle that
the federal government power shall be
divided and that the fragments should
balance or check one another to prevent
tyranny.
• checks & balances
Question 15
• Who presided over the Constitutional
Convention of 1787?
• George Washington
Question 16
• What was the Three-fifths Compromise?
• It allowed the South to count slaves
as 3/5ths of a citizen when
determining representation in the
House.
Question 17
• Why was slavery permitted to continue
once the Constitution was ratified and the
United States created?
• The Southern colonies would have
never joined the union had slavery
been prohibited.
Question 18
• What was the name of the insurrection in
Massachusetts where Revolutionary War
veterans turned to violence in protesting
against foreclosures and other
discriminatory practices against the poorer
classes which resulted in the
abandonment of this nation=s first
constitution?
•
Shays Rebellion
Chapter 3
Question 19
• Definition: An attempt by states to declare
national laws or actions null and void.
• nullification
Question 20
• The principle of judicial review was
established under what Chief Justice of
the U.S. Supreme Court?
• John Marshall
Question 21
• Definition: Federal grants to the states to
be used for general activities.
• block grants
Question 22
• 22. What about the English Parliament=s
geographic authority did the Founders find
undesirable?
• One legislative body ruled the
whole nation.
Question 23
• When modern politicians talk about turning more
and more power over to local control, what
problem arises to undermine the premise that
this would produce a more democratic outcome?
• The percentage of the electorate who vote
gets smaller and smaller the more local
the election is; this means that fewer and
fewer people are making the decisions in
local government.
Question 24
• What 20th Century social conditions
resulted in a dramatic increase in federal
authority regarding states?
• racial segregation of the South
Question 25
• What Constitutional Amendment imposes
national standards of due process?
• The 14th Amendment
Chapter 4
Question 26
• Definition: Anti-foreign (and anti-Catholic);
applied to political movements of the
nineteenth century.
• nativist
Question 27
• In defining America in 1776 as the land
which will eventually comprise the nation,
occupied by people, rather than merely the
political entities which were descendants
of the original thirteen British colonies
existing in and expanding in an
unpopulated vacuum, how does this
change the historical perception?
Answer 27
• It shows that the land which will eventually
comprise America was already ethnically,
racially, and religiously diverse when the
United States was created.
Question 28
• Definition: The period of transition from
predominantly agricultural to predominantly
industrial societies in the Western nations in
the nineteenth century (from text). A
exponential growth in the size and power of
businesses unanticipated by the Founders
(from lectures).
• Industrial Revolution
Question 29
• What group of Americans believed they
were royalty, anointed by God to be
superior?
• industrialists
Question 30
• Definition: The federal government=s
calculation of the amount of income
families of various sizes need to stay out
of poverty.
• poverty line
Question 31
• Social Darwinism is the application of
Charles Darwin=s theories of evolution to
the condition of human beings. What
phrase would best describe the
philosophy?
• Survival of the fittest
Question 32
• Definition: The belief that America should
avoid foreign involvement of any form is
called.
• isolationism
Question 33
• How did work change for most Americans
during the nineteenth century (1800s)?
• The nature of work changed
dramatically with the introduction of
repetitive industrial work.
Lanahan Readings
Question 34
• Who wrote Reading #1, from Democracy
in America?
• Alexis De Tocqueville
Question 35
• In Reading #5, Race Matters, by Cornel
WestB What triggered Dr. West=s reflection
on racism in America?
• Cabs would not stop for him in New
York City
Question 36
• In Reading #8, from The American Political
Tradition, by Richard Hofstadter–
According to Hofstadter what
characteristics did the authors of the U.S.
Constitution attribute to human beings?
They were;
• selfish and untrustworthy
Question 37
• Who wrote Reading # 9, from The
Federalist 10 and Reading #18, from The
Federalist 39 and 46?
• James Madison
Question 38
• In Reading #12, The Power Elite, by C.
Wright Mills, what groups make up the
power elite?
• Corporate, political & military leaders
Question 39
• In Reading #20, from Laboratories of
Democracy, by David Osborne– What are
these laboratories?
• the individual states
Question 40
• In Reading #57, from Direct Democracy,
by Thomas Cronin– According to Cronin
the Framers [Founders] of the Constitution
designed a republic, what does the author
use as another term for “republic”?
• indirect democracy
Question 41
• In Reading #58, from Politicians Don’t
Pander, by Lawrence Jacobs and Robert
Shapiro– What political event of the past
twenty years showed that politicians don’t
let public opinion guide their actions in
Congress?
• The impeachment of
President Clinton
Question 42
In Reading #79, from Personal History, by
Katherine Graham– What did the author
do for a living?
• Publisher of The Washington Post
Question 43
• In Reading #79, from Personal History, by
Katherine Graham– What happened on
June 17, 1972 that warranted the
telephone call to Ms. Graham?
• the burglary of Democratic headquarters
by Republican operatives
Question 44
• In Reading #56, from Public Opinion and
the American Democracy, by V.O. Key–
What are opinion dikes?
• Public opinion creates boundaries, or
dikes, that channel the actions and
policy of elected officials.
Question 45
• From Reading #10, from A Machine That
Would Go by Itself, by Michael Kammen–
What does he see as the primary
ideological, and constitutional, argument
facing American politics and government?
• What is the most appropriate division
of authority: the federalism of states’
rights or national authority
Questions from
Mr. Conservative
Question 46
• Who made this documentary about
Senator Barry Goldwater?
• His granddaughter
Question 47
• What did President Kennedy and Senator
Goldwater plan for the federal election of
1964?
• They planned to tour the country in
one plane debating each other while
they both campaigned for president.
Question 48
• What was Senator Goldwater’s ethnic
background?
• Jewish and Episcopalian
Question 49
• What was the theme of the 1964 presidential
campaign advertisement made by the
Democrats regarding Senator Barry Goldwater’s
candidacy for president?
• It showed a little girl picking flowers
which implied Senator Goldwater
would start a nuclear war.
Question 50
• What role did Senator Goldwater play in
the Watergate scandal and the resignation
of Pres. Richard Nixon?
• He delivered the news to President
Nixon that he must resign
Current Events Readings
Question 51
• From Newsweek, “Who’s Listening to Your
Phone Call,” by Seth Colter Walls– What is
the name of the law which the Bush
administration believes grants them
unlimited wiretapping authority without
warrants?
• The Protect America Act
Question 52
• From the Syracuse Post-Standard,
“Terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman tells
Syracuse University audience how to win
the war on terrrorism” by Ngoc Huynh–
What does Hoffman say needs to be done
to win the war?
• Americans need greater cultural and
linguistic understanding
Question 53
• From Newsweek, “He Knew He Was
Right,” by Evan Thomas– what periodical
did the late William F. Buckley publish?
• The National Review