Download Multiple Choice

Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
Multiple Choice. Fill in the one letter that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1.
The American political culture tends to be
A) more stable than other political cultures.
B) less stable than other political cultures.
C) more conservative than other political cultures.
D) more liberal than other political cultures.
E) more reflexive than other political cultures.
2.
The American political culture is characterized by
A) relative stability.
B) a preference for capitalism over socialism.
C) the availability of a number of avenues to affect political change.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.
3.
The American Civil War was sparked when the pathways of action available in the United States
failed to adequately address the issue of
A) slavery.
B) the authority of state governments.
C) the scope of international trade.
D) both A and B.
E) both B and C.
4.
According to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, which American population group is
increasing most quickly in size?
A) Asians.
B) African Americas
C) Hispanics
D) Native Americans
E) Whites
5.
In the 1950s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led a boycott of public transit to protest racial
segregation of buses in which American city?
A) Montgomery, Alabama
B) Macon, Georgia
C) Philadelphia, Mississippi
D) New York, New York
E) Phoenix, Arizona
6.
The court pathway is
A) inequitable.
B) expensive.
C) easily accessible.
D) completely transparent.
E) all of the above.
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
7.
The pathways of action which tries to directly influence those who craft policies is the
A) Elections pathway.
B) Court-centered pathway.
C) Lobbying pathway.
D) Cultural change pathway.
E) None of the above.
8.
The system under which voters elect leaders and then hold those leaders accountable for the
decisions they make is generally known as
A) direct democracy
B) representative democracy
C) social democracy
D) authoritarian democracy.
E) anarchism.
9.
The American Civil War was fought between the years of _______ and___________.
A) 1776–1778.
B) 1812–1813.
C) 1850–1861.
D) 1861–1865.
E) 1911–1917.
10. Pathways of action are the activities, institutions, and decision points that
A) always result in radical change.
B) are controlled by government decision makers.
C) are set out in the U.S. Constitution.
D) elected officials choose among.
E) shape law and public policy.
11. A distinguishing feature of _____ is the ability of individual citizens to influence the actions of
government.
A) nationalism
B) democracy
C) republicanism
D) constitutionalism
E) oligarchy
12. The Constitution attempts to prevent any single branch of government from becoming too
powerful through a system of
A) federalism.
B) checks and balances.
C) free and fair elections.
D) shared powers.
E) judicial review.
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
13. During the revolutionary war,
A) Britain offered freedom to slaves fighting for the United Kingdom.
B) slavery was abolished by the American revolutionaries.
C) American revolutionaries offered freedom to slaves fighting against the United Kingdom.
D) slavery expanded into the northern colonies.
E) all of the above occurred.
14. A system of government in which members of the general public select agents to represent them
in political decision making is known as a
A) direct democracy.
B) republic.
C) liberal democracy.
D) authoritarian regime.
E) constitutional regime.
15. Which of the following is an example of pure democracy?
A) voting for elected officials
B) Congress impeaching the president
C) the Constitution limiting the power of the Congress.
D) participating in a town hall meeting
E) the courts declaring an act of Congress unconstitutional
16. How many times has the Constitution been amended?
A) 12 times
B) 17 times
C) 27 times
D) 37 times
E) 57 times
17. In 1789, each member of the U.S. House of Representatives represented approximately _____
citizens?
A) 10,000
B) 30,000
C) 50,000
D) 100,000
E) 1,000,000
18. The Bill of Rights was ratified
A) at the Constitutional Convention.
B) immediately after they were proposed.
C) more than a decade after the Constitution was ratified.
D) in the early nineteenth century.
E) upon adoption of the Constitution.
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
19. The French and Indian War was fought by which two foreign powers against each other in North
America?
A) France and Spain
B) France and Great Britain
C) Spain and the Netherlands
D) Great Britain and the Netherlands
E) France and Spain
20. Referred to as the Intolerable Acts in the colonies, the British referred to the acts intended to quell
unrest and punish colonial insolence were referred to as the _____ Acts by the British Parliament.
A) Coercive
B) Repressive
C) Redistributive
D) Tributary
E) Colonial Law
21. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson presents a notion of individual rights granted by
A) a monarch.
B) the people themselves, directly.
C) the people themselves, indirectly.
D) the representatives of the people.
E) God.
22. The most significant difference(s) between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans centered on the
A) distribution of seats in the national legislature.
B) nature and composition of the national executive.
C) relative balance of power between the national and state governments.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.
23. Thomas Jefferson’s party, the _____, was the distant precursor to today’s Democratic Party.
A) Federalists
B) Democratic Republicans
C) Whigs
D) Peace and Freedom Party
E) Social Order Party
24. As President, George Washington asked _____ to serve as the country’s first Secretary of the
Treasury.
A) James Madison
B) Thomas Jefferson
C) James Monroe
D) Aaron Burr
E) Alexander Hamilton
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
25. Under the Presidency of Bill Clinton, oversight and control of social welfare programs was
A) completely centralized to the national government.
B) evenly divided between national, state, and local governments.
C) shifted from the national to the state governments.
D) completely turned over to state and local governments.
E) abolished.
26. The exclusive right of an independent state to reign supreme and have ultimate authority over a
geographic region and its people is referred to as
A) power.
B) supremacy.
C) legitimacy.
D) sovereignty.
E) federalism.
27. John Marshall’s understanding of federalism can best be characterized as
A) strongly supportive of states’ rights.
B) weakly supportive of states rights.
C) ambivalent about states’ rights.
D) slightly hostile to states rights.
E) decidedly hostile to states’ rights.
28. The secession of the American South during the Civil War was based on an understanding of
American federalism in which the
A) national government had supreme decision-making authority.
B) state governments had supreme decision-making authority.
C) national government and the states were co-equal branches of government.
D) president exercised ultimate decision-making authority.
E) Congress exercised supreme decision-making authority.
29. The idea of dual federalism refers to the
A) strength of political parties in the United States.
B) strict separation of powers between the national and state governments.
C) sharing of powers between the national and state governments.
D) ability of the federal government to overrule the decisions of the states.
E) ability of two or more states, when in agreement, to overrule the federal
government.
30. The doctrine of nullification maintained that
A) Congress could nullify the decisions of the president.
B) the Courts could nullify the decisions of the Congress.
C) the states could nullify the decisions of the federal government.
D) the federal government could nullify the decisions of the states.
E) the courts could declare the decisions of states unconstitutional.
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
31. The president most closely associated with the New Deal was
A) Lyndon Johnson.
B) Franklin Roosevelt.
C) John Kennedy.
D) Theodore Roosevelt.
E) Ronald Reagan.
32. Following a dispute over the court’s ruling on a part of the New Deal program, President
Franklin Roosevelt was criticized for his
A) court-packing plan.
B) court bypass plan.
C) appeal to popular opinion.
D) appeal to Congress.
E) unilateral action.
33. President Lyndon Johnson’s social programs aimed to create a(n)
A) New America.
B) Egalitarian America.
C) Great Society.
D) Re-born America.
E) City on the Hill.
34. __ are earmarked for specific programs but are far more flexible than other grants.
A) Categorical grants
B) Project grants
C) Formula grants
D) Block grants
E) Mandates
35. New Federalism refers to efforts to
A) recentralize political power away from the states.
B) transfer a greater amount of political power from the national government
to the states.
C) limit spending by the state governments.
D) limit spending by the national government.
E) establish a confederate system in the United States.
36. ____ are targeted for specific purposes and have strict restrictions that leave little room for
discretionary spending.
A) Categorical grants
B) Project grants
C) Formula grants
D) Block grants
E) Mandates
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
37. Of the twenty-three Native American groups in Texas, how many remain?
A) 3
B) 4
C) 5
D) 7
E) 9
38. The African American population of Texas _________ after the Civil War.
A) increased
B) remained the same
C) disappeared
D) boomed
E) decreased
39. Hispanics in Texas are estimated to be about what percent of the state’s population by 2020?
A) 25
B) 35
C) 45
D) 55
E) 65
40. The population of Texas has increased by about ___ percent in the last fifty years.
A) 23
B) 15
C) 30
D) 35
E) 40
41. Of the largest Texan cities, ________ has grown the least since 2000.
A) Houston
B) San Antonio
C) Austin
D) Dallas
E) Galveston
42. Of the different racial groups in Texas, which group had the highest percentage of college
degrees in 2000?
A) Hispanics
B) Anglos
C) Asians
D) African Americans
E) Germans
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
43. Houston owes much of its prominence to the fact that it is a major
A) port city.
B) banking center.
C) aeronautics center.
D) agribusiness center.
E) point of entry from Mexico.
44. The shared U.S.-Mexico border makes all of the following issues problematic EXCEPT
A) illegal immigration.
B) isolation.
C) unequal health facilities on either side of the border.
D) natural resource concerns.
E) trade.
45. Reasons for the high levels of migration from Mexico and Central America include all of the
following EXCEPT
A) political instability in these countries.
B) poor living conditions.
C) persecutions in these countries.
D) the lure of better-paid jobs.
E) economic problems in these countries.
46. Health care issues along the Texas-Mexico border include all of the following EXCEPT
A) poor housing.
B) lack of sanitation.
C) high levels of birth defects.
D) hepatitis.
E) misuse of antibiotics.
47. Of the following economic areas, which has declined in importance in Texas?
A) oil
B) interregional trade
C) service
D) high-tech industries
E) exporting goods and services
48. Which town is an entry point for imports from Mexico?
A) Brownsville
B) Del Rio
C) Galveston
D) Laredo
E) Dallas
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
True/False. Fill in ‘A’ if the statement is true or ‘B’ if the statement is false.
49. Voter turnout in the United States is generally lower than turnout in other democracies.
50. The political system in the United States today can most accurately be described as a system of
direct democracy.
51. Organized groups are often more effective at pushing for political change than individuals are.
52. Because of the need for consultation and debate, democracies are less efficient than other forms of
government.
53. In the United States, judges have broader authority than in other countries to order government
to take specific actions.
54. It is only in the last three decades that diversity has become an important aspect of American
politics.
55. The American system of checks and balances undermines political stability in the United States.
56. Most Americans believe that capitalism is a key component of a free society.
57. Before the twentieth century, many Americans held the belief that women should play a
secondary role in society.
58. Organized campaigns to limit purchases of specific goods or goods produced by a specific
company are commonly referred to as boycotts.
59. The Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision is an example of the grassroots mobilization
pathway.
60. Political stability is based on three factors: a broadly accepted political and economic framework,
a stable and powerful political culture, and a variety of ways for citizens to seek and affect policy
changes.
61. For the founders, the Constitution represented a sacred and unchanging set of political principles
and institutional arrangements to guide the nation.
62. North Carolina and Rhode Island both initially rejected the new Constitution.
63. In the debate over ratification, the Federalists believed that a representative republic was possible
and desirable.
64. Even though he owned hundreds of slaves, Thomas Jefferson’s philosophy as expressed in the
Declaration of Independence seemed philosophically opposed to the system of slavery.
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
65. The United States is a direct democracy because we elect leaders to speak on our behalf.
66. The term “oligarchy” refers to a system of government ruled by a small group.
67. Every colony had its own colonial assembly.
68. Committees of correspondence were established in colonial America in order to encourage closer
ties between Britain and the colonies.
69. The Intolerable Acts were imposed on the colonies to punish them for the Boston Tea Party.
70. The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson.
71. John Locke’s political thought played a central role in the development of American political
culture and institutions.
72. The structure of government under the Articles of Confederation was largely a response to the
colonists’ opposition to the centralized power of the British government.
73. Shays’ Rebellion demonstrated the political instability of the early American democracy.
74. The ideal form of government for the founders was one that would be responsive to public
pressure but slow to change to popular demands.
75. In the American model of government, power and responsibilities are divided between layers of
government.
76. In a federal system, all ruling authority rests with the national government.
77. In his capacity as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, John Marshall oversaw the steady
expansion of federal power.
78. Prior to the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the United States could best be described as a
confederation.
79. In Gibbons v. Ogden, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Congress has sole and exclusive
authority to regulate interstate trade.
80. The most important impact of the Civil War was to recentralize political authority in the national
government.
81. The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to freed slaves.
82. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Programs resulted in a dramatic increase in the size and power of
the federal government.
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Homework Assignment #1
Chapters: 1-3 & 19
83. Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars racial discrimination in restaurants, hotels, movie
theatres, and other public accommodations provided by private business.
84. The Great Society refers to President Johnson’s expansion of social spending, especially for
community and urban development, in the 1960s.
85. Devolution has increased the power of state and local governments.
86. The largest form of local government in the United States is the city government.
87. Dillon’s rule refers to the idea that state and national governments should work together to solve
problems.
88. Plantation owners bringing their African American slaves were among the first wave of Anglos
moving into Texas.
89. At its height in 1950, the Anglo population of Texas was about three-quarters of the entire
population.
90. In 2000, the Texas population had a younger median age than the rest of the country.
Answer: TRUE
Bloom’s level: Knowledge
Page reference: 662
91. In five of the ten largest cities in Texas, Anglos are now less than half the population.
92. Some predictions warn that up to 20 percent of Texans may be below the poverty line by 2030.
93. The Texas Metroplex is centered on Dallas and Fort Worth.
94. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has focused on reducing tariffs.
95. Because illegal immigrants cost the state of Texas, business interests throughout the state that
employ them can also be said to be subsidized by the state.
96. The traditionalistic subculture holds that hierarchically-organized governments are good.
97. Texas had tipped from mostly rural to mostly urban by 1950.
98. In five of the ten largest cities in Texas, Anglos are now less than half the population.
99. Oil and gas, though historically important in Texas, currently make up only about 30% of the
state’s economy.
100. Texas’ percentage of U.S. exports to Mexico has fallen since 1993.
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