Which of the following statements best describes the history of American federalism?
Throughout American history, there has been considerable debate about the allocation of responsibilities between the states and the federal government.
In a federal system, governmental responsibilities are
shared by both state and federal authorities.
What constitutional clause affirms that national laws and treaties, made under the authority of the Constitution, are the supreme law of the land?
the supremacy clause
The federal system can be best defined as
a system of government in which power is divided between a national government and lower levels of government.
The specific powers granted to the national government in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution are called the
expressed powers.
Which of the following powers do state governments not have?
to coin their own money
What is the purpose of the Tenth Amendment?
to limit the powers of the central government by establishing reserved powers for states and individuals
Which is the best example of a concurrent power under the federal constitution?
the power to regulate commercial activity
The full faith and credit clause of the Constitution
requires states to normally honor each other's public acts and legal decisions.
Which clauses of the Constitution involve the relationships among various states?
the full faith and credit clause and the privileges and immunities clause
The source of an implied power under the Constitution is the ______ clause.
necessary and proper
What is the main purpose behind the privileges and immunities clause of Article IV?
It prevents states from discriminating against nonresidents.
Which of the following statements best describes the discussion of local government found in the Constitution?
Local government has no status in the Constitution.
The Constitution says which of the following things about relationships between states?
No state shall enter into a contract or agreement with another state without the approval of Congress.
Which of the following statements about the structure of American federalism is true?
It has contributed to the longevity of the U.S. government by allowing many divisive policy decisions throughout American history to be made by states.
Who wrote the Supreme Court opinions in both McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden?
John Marshall
Which clause of the Constitution has been critical in allowing the growth of national power?
the commerce clause
Which of the following Supreme Court cases limited federal power?
United States v. Lopez and Printz v. United States
Block grants are designed to
give the states considerable say in how the money should be spent.
What is one of the biggest problems with federal block grants?
There is a need for greater accountability in how the funds are actually spent by the states.
During the era of dual federalism, what was the primary goal of the federal government's domestic policies?
to assist the development of commercial activity within and between the states
What was the overall importance of the Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland?
The Court interpreted the delegated powers of Congress broadly, creating the potential for increased national powers.
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) was important because
it established the supremacy of the national government in all matters affecting interstate commerce.
What was a major reason that the slogan "states' rights" became tarnished in the 1950s and 1960s?
It had been used by southern opponents of the civil rights movement to support racial segregation.
Which constitutional amendment has been used to restrict the scope of authority by the federal government over the states?
Tenth
Which of the following is a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?
Trial by jury
The federal census of population is taken every five years.
False
A U.S. senator elected at the general election in November takes office the following year on what date?
January 3
A President elected at the general election in November takes office the following year on what date?
January 20
A person appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court is appointed for a term of __________
life, given good behavior
When the Constitution was approved by the original colonies, how many states had to ratify it in order for it to be in effect?
9
To serve as President of the United States, a person must have attained:
35 years of age
What words are required by law to be on all coins and paper currency of the U.S.?
In God We Trust
The Supreme Court is the chief lawmaking body of the state.
False
If a vacancy occurs in the U.S. Senate, the state must hold an election, but meanwhile the place may be filled by a temporary appointment made by
The governor of the state
A U.S. senator is elected for a term of _____ years.
6
Who passes laws dealing with piracy?
Congress
The number of representatives which a state is entitled to have in the House of Representatives is based on
population
When a jury has heard and rendered a verdict in a case, and the judgment on the verdict has become final, the defendant cannot again be brought to trial for the same cause.
True
By a majority vote of the members of Congress, the Congress can change provisions of the Constitution of the U.S.
False
Capital punishment is the giving of a death sentence.
True
The Legislatures of the states decide how presidential electors may be chosen.
True
Communism was the type of government in:
Russia
If no candidate for President receives a majority of the electoral vote, who decides who will become President?
the United States House of Representatives
Of the original 13 states, the one with the largest representation in the first Congress was
Virginia
Of which branch of government is the Speaker of the House a part?
Legislative
The Vice President presides over
the United States Senate
How many votes must a person receive in order to become President if the election is decided by the U.S. House of Representatives?
270
Impeachments of U.S. officials are tried by
the United States Senate
Any power and rights not given to the U.S. or prohibited to the states by the U.S. Constitution are specified as belonging to whom?
the state or the people
When did civil rights become part of the U.S. Constitution?
Civil rights were incorporated with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment.
What goal did members of the abolitionist movement pursue?
the end of slavery
The term peculiar institution described
slavery.
The Seneca Falls Convention was significant because it
marked the starting point of the modern women's movement.
What is the key question behind civil rights protection?
What is the proper meaning of equal rights?
The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees
the right to vote for African American men.
The Reconstruction era in the South came to an end because
Northern Republicans agreed to remove federal troops from the South and give up on their support for civil liberties if Southern Democrats allowed Rutherford B. Hayes to become president.
What was the Supreme Court's response to the Civil Rights Act of 1875?
It declared the act unconstitutional because it protected against acts of private discrimination, not state discrimination.
The Supreme Court's ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson
It declared the act unconstitutional because it protected against acts of private discrimination, not state discrimination.
In 1890, ______ became the first state to allow women to vote.
Wyoming
The NAACP had the most success with which political strategies for combating racism?
lawsuits
"Strict scrutiny" is the level of judicial review the federal courts give to all cases that involve
racial classifications.
Legally enforced segregation in public schools is a form of ______ discrimination.
de jure
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was
the fourth civil rights bill passed by Congress since Brown v. Board of Education.
In the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress vastly expanded the role of the executive branch and the credibility of court orders by
requiring that federal grants-in-aid to state and local government for education be withheld from any school system practicing racial segregation.
One step taken toward the desegregation of public schools was
busing children from poor urban school districts to wealthier suburban ones.
The Supreme Court's decisions on school desegregation policies since 1991 generally suggest that
the Court will be willing to end desegregation plans even when predominantly minority schools continue to lag significantly behind white suburban schools.
The right to vote was strengthened in 1975 when Congress
made literacy tests illegal and mandated bilingual ballots or other assistance for non-English-speaking Americans.
What forbade workplace discrimination based on race?
the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
was a valuable tool for the women's movement in the 1960s and 1970s because it prohibited gender discrimination.
Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail to pass?
It was not ratified by the necessary thirty-eight states.
The Supreme Court case Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992) is important because it
asserted that violations of Title IX of the 1972 Education Act could be remedied with monetary damages.
The 1947 federal court case Mendez v. Westminster was significant because
its decision to overturn school segregation of Mexican American students in California served as a precursor to Brown v. Board of Education.
What was the purpose of California's Proposition 187?
It barred unauthorized immigrants from receiving most public services.
To draw voting districts so that one group or party is unfairly advantaged is called
gerrymandering.
In general, Americans' trust in their government has ______ since the 1960s.
fallen sharply
The belief that you can influence how your government acts is called
political efficacy.
According to the text, democracy functions best when
citizens are informed.
According to the text, which of the following is not a necessary part of the knowledge a citizen must possess?
the economic interests of other citizens
Government can best be defined as the
institutions and procedures by which a territory and its people are ruled.
Which of the following is not an example of a public good?
a job
A government that is formally limited by laws and rules is called
constitutional.
John Locke and John Stuart Mill are important philosophers for which of the following ideologies?
liberty and political rights
According to the text, what is the goal of politics?
to have a say in a government's leadership, organization, and policies
Politics can be defined as
conflicts over the character, membership, and policies of any organization to which people belong.
The ______ is the most important concept for the theory of pluralism.
group
Throughout American history, the concept of liberty has been linked to the
idea of limited government.
The Bill of Rights was designed to protect
liberty.
In American political culture, economic freedom means
capitalism
Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education reveal two very different visions of what political value?
equality
"One person, one vote" reflects the principle of
political equality.
What is the most important check on majority rule in the United States?
the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights
Low voter turnout and political apathy endanger
democracy.
Why was the Declaration of Independence a remarkable philosophical statement for its time?
It asserted that there were "unalienable rights" that could not be abridged by governments.
Under the United States' first constitution
there was no president.
Under the Articles of Confederation, the relationship between the states and the federal government can best be compared to
the United Nations' relationship with member states.
Which statement about government under the Articles of Confederation is false?
Members of Congress had significant independence from their states.
Shays's Rebellion was significant because it
convinced many observers that the government of the Confederation had become dangerously inefficient and indecisive.
According to the text, the writing of the Constitution demonstrates the
marriage of interests and principles.
Which of the following statements best describes the motivations of the Founders in writing the Constitution?
The Founders' primary goal was to devise a system consistent with the dominant philosophical and moral principles of the day while also promoting commerce and protecting private property from radical state legislatures.
During the Philadelphia Convention, in order to win concessions from large states, representatives from smaller states like Delaware threatened to
form alliances with foreign nations.
James Madison believed that in the Constitutional Convention the greatest conflict of interests was between
northern states and southern states.
The Great Compromise led to the
creation of a bicameral Congress.
The framers employed the separation of powers and federalism in order to
prevent the new government from abusing its power.
The framers of the Constitution attempted to create a government that could do all of the following except
lead to the eventual inclusion of nonwhites in political life.
Which of the following statements about the House and the Senate is false?
The House has the power to overturn a president's veto while the Senate does not.
In order to signify that the enumerated powers were meant to be a source of strength to the national government and not a limitation on it, the Founders
included the elastic clause in the Constitution.
Judicial review is the power of
the courts to decide on the constitutionality of actions taken by the other branches of government.
The system of shared powers, divided between a central government and the states, is called
federalism.
The principle of giving each branch of government its own constituency is what Montesquieu calls a
mixed regime.
The procedural restraints found in the Bill of Rights
define how the government is supposed to act.
According to the text, what is the constitutional problem relating to the nationalization of the Bill of Rights?
Does the Bill of Rights put limits only on the national government, or does it limit state governments as well?
Which of the following is the best description of the Supreme Court's first ruling on the issue of the nationalization of the Bill of Rights in 1833?
The Bill of Rights limits the national government but not state governments.
The process by which the Supreme Court has expanded specific parts of the Bill of Rights to protect citizens against state and federal actions is called
selective incorporation.
In Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court ruled that government action toward religion is
permissible only if it is secular in purpose, neither promotes nor inhibits religion, and does not lead to excessive entanglement with religion.
The first modern free speech case in which the Supreme Court interpreted the full scope of the First Amendment was
in the years right after World War I.
The Supreme Court case Near v. Minnesota established the principle that
only under the most extraordinary circumstances should the government prevent the publication of newspapers and magazines.
"Due process of law" in the United States is generally defined by the
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth amendments.
The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth amendments are largely about
protections for those accused of committing a crime.
The ______ rule forbids the introduction in trial of any piece of evidence obtained illegally.
exclusionary
A recent controversy that has tested the constitutional definition of "search and seizure" has been
mandatory drug testing.
Miranda v. Arizona was important because it produced rules that must be used
by the police before questioning an arrested criminal suspect.
The term eminent domain describes
the power of the government to take private property for public use.
The Supreme Court formally articulated the right to privacy in a case involving
access to birth control.
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Roe v. Wade (1973) have been extremely important in the development of
a constitutional right to privacy.
Which of the following news sources reaches the most Americans?
television
Which statement is NOT correct?
National news reporters, as opposed to local reporters with less access, are generally more favorable toward politicians.
Which media source is most critical in setting news agendas?
newspapers
Cheap, tabloid-style papers produced in the nineteenth century were collectively referred to as
the penny press.
Approximately what percent of Americans are completely offline?
20
Niche journalism refers to
news reporting targeted for a demographic of readers based on content or ideological presentation.
The decentralization of news refers to
the decline of national media reporting and the revitalization of local news coverage.
The following are all concerns raised by the growing popularity of online news except
a reduction in the diversity of perspectives that can potentially be heard.
Approximately what percentage of daily newspapers is owned by large media conglomerates?
75 percent
What percentage of radio stations in the United States are devoted to talk, news, or public affairs?
20 percent
The development of media giants with access to a variety of media holdings raises the question of whether
there is enough competition among the media to produce a diverse set of views and opinions.
The power of the media to draw public attention to particular issues and problems is called
agenda setting.
Besides their ideological biases, journalists also exhibit selection biases in favor of news stories they view as
having a great deal of dramatic or entertainment value.
When the media focus on a candidate's relative standing in the polls instead of substantive issues, they are demonstrating ______ coverage.
horse race
The Pentagon Papers were released as a result of
a leak by a minor Defense Department staffer.
The Valerie Plame affair is important because it illustrates
how prominent political figures can manipulate news coverage and secure the publication of stories that serve their purposes through leaking information to journalists.
The press release was created
in the early twentieth century by a public relations firm working for a railroad.
Which of the following statements about adversarial journalism is false?
Adversarial journalism disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s.
Which statement about the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is false?
The FCC was established in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson.
Which governmental regulation provides candidates for the same political office equal opportunities to communicate their messages?
the equal time rule
The fairness doctrine required that
broadcasters who air controversial issues provide time for opposing viewpoints.
The proliferation of news sources in recent years has
encouraged polarization because many media outlets seek to position themselves within a discrete ideological or partisan niche rather than maintain a middle-of-the-road stance.
Which of the following is not an important national newspaper?
Newsweek
The______ regulates broadcast media.
Federal Communications Commission
One positive consequence of the decline in traditional newspapers and Washington, D.C. bureaus is
the revival of local news coverage.
The best description of the ideal of pluralism is that
interests should be free to compete with each other for governmental influence.
Which of the following is a main theoretical assumption of pluralism?
Competition among interests will produce balance, with all interests regulating each other.
The Teamsters and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) are examples of what kind of interest group?
a labor group
Interest groups are concerned with the ______ of government, while political parties are concerned with the ______ of government.
policies; personnel
The National League of Cities is a good example of a
public-sector interest group.
It is difficult for political scientists to categorize unrepresented interests because
there are no organizations that can present their identities and demands.
The major organizational factors shared by most interest groups are
leadership, money, an agency or office, and members.
Successful interest groups quickly become
bureaucratized.
Members of interest groups in the United States are typically people
with higher levels of income and education.
If one enjoys the benefits of a group's collective efforts but did not contribute to those efforts, one is called a
free rider.
What are political parties more capable of doing than interest groups?
organizing people on a mass scale
The free-rider problem occurs because
the benefits of a group's actions are broadly available and cannot be denied to nonmembers.
A ______ is the best example of an informational benefit provided by many interest groups.
newsletter
One way that the AARP has been effective at overcoming the free-rider problem is by providing ______ benefits to its members.
selective
The increased number and importance of interest groups
is a response to an increase in the size and activity of government.
The New Politics movement gave rise to what type of interest group?
public interest
Which of the following groups would be considered part of the New Politics movement?
the Sierra Club
Lobbying is
an attempt by an individual or group to influence the passage of legislation by exerting direct pressure on members of Congress or a state legislature.
The practice of lobbying is protected by
the First Amendment.
In the world of lobbyists, to be "Microsofted" has come to mean a company has
become vulnerable to adverse legislation and investigation as a result of failing to lobby the federal government.
A loose, informal relationship of public officials, interest groups, and activists who are all concerned with the same policies is called a(n)
issue network.
Which of the following groups has had the greatest success with a strategy of litigation?
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Which of the following statements about PACs is most accurate?
The number of ideological/public interest PACs has increased dramatically since 1980, while the number of labor PACs has remained essentially the same.
When interest groups take out advertisements and hold marches, these are examples of
mobilizing public opinion.
In recent years, the religious right has had a great effect on American politics through
grassroots mobilization.
A political ideology is best defined as
a cohesive set of beliefs that form a general philosophy about the government.
The term public opinion is used to describe
beliefs and attitudes toward different issues, events, and people.
The belief that government is a wasteful and dangerous institution and should be limited to as few activities as possible is an example of a political
ideology.
The process by which underlying political values are formed is known as
political socialization.
The term gender gap refers to
differences in political opinions between men and women.
The fact that Democratic Party leaders have become more liberal and Republican Party leaders more conservative is important because
partisans in the public tend to rely on party leaders for cues on the appropriate positions to take on major political issues.
______ is the core political value most highly prized by American conservatives.
Liberty
Conservatives are more likely than liberals to support
school prayer.
Studies of political opinion show that
few individuals possess ideologies so cohesive that they will automatically shape all their opinions.
The concept of a marketplace of ideas refers to
the competition between varying opinions and ideas that are aired in public forums.
"Retail politics" refers to
campaigns where candidates meet citizens face-to-face to discuss politics.
A frequent cause of measurement error in polls is due to
poorly worded questions.
In 1936, pollsters at the Literary Digest were guilty of ______ when they mistakenly predicted a presidential victory for Alf Landon over Franklin Roosevelt by polling people whose names came from the telephone book and automobile registration records.
selection bias
The median voter theorem states that
the most reliable strategy for a politician to take in winning reelection is to adopt policies that are consistent with the preferences of centrist voters.
Research into public opinion and public policy has shown that
more affluent and more educated citizens have a disproportionate influence over politics and public-policy decisions.
The main problem with voting as a form of political participation is that
citizens cannot communicate very much information by only casting a ballot.
Political ______ is the process in which large numbers of people are organized for political action.
mobilization
Which of the following statements about the digital divide is not true?
All racial and ethnic groups in the United States are equally likely to have online access.
Approximately ______ of eligible voters turn out for midterm congressional elections.
one-third
Studies show that people are most likely to participate in politics when
someone asks them to get involved.
Which of the following is true about political participation?
African Americans and Latinos are less likely to participate in politics than whites.
The Supreme Court
has ruled that campaign spending is a form of free speech.
A political party is
an organization that tries to influence the government by getting its members elected to office.
One important cause of the United States' two-party system is
single-member electoral districts.
Third-party candidates are better off under what system of election?
proportional representation
Historically, realignments occur
when new issues combine with economic or political crises to mobilize new voters and persuade large numbers of voters to reexamine their traditional partisan loyalties.
Which of the following transpires when one party controls the presidency while another party controls one or both houses of Congress?
a divided government
A "safe district" is
a district where a majority of voters identify with their member of Congress's party.
Third parties in the United States typically represent
social and economic interests that are disregarded by the two major parties for certain reasons.
A party's platform is best understood as a
negotiated agreement between the party's various factions.
State and local party organizations do all of the following except
litigate against unfavorable policies.
An individual's psychological attachment to one party or another is called a party
identification.
A party activist is an individual who
not only votes, but also contributes time, energy, effort, and financial resources to party affairs.
Which of the following statements about partisan identification in the United States is most accurate?
Party identification varies significantly by income, race, and gender.
De-alignment refers to
the decline of partisan attachment within the electorate, the growth in the number of voters identifying themselves as independents, and the rise of "split-ticket" voting.
The Constitution
is almost completely silent on the rules regarding how political parties must go about selecting a candidate to run for any elective office.
Competition between political parties ______ voter turnout.
promotes
Strong parties may provide an important link between government and
democratic participation.
When a voter must be registered with a party prior to voting in that party's election, it is called a(n)
closed primary.
A runoff election is likely to occur when
there are more than two candidates running in the election.
Plurality and majority systems tend to
decrease the number of political parties.
Split-ticket voting
increases partisan divisions in government.
The principle of "one person, one vote" was established by the Supreme Court in the
1960s.
Early presidential primaries and caucuses are more important because
they can help a candidate secure media attention and financial support.
What is a referendum?
It is the practice of voting directly for proposed laws.
Who is the incumbent?
the current officeholder, running for re-election
A major factor in John Kennedy's 1960 presidential victory over Richard Nixon was
that Kennedy had a much stronger performance than Nixon during televised debates.
If a citizen votes for a candidate because he or she approves of the candidate's past record, it is called
retrospective voting.
The majority of PACs represent
business and professional groups.
The term soft money refers to
money donated to a party to sponsor party building and voter registration.
The attempt of bureaucracies to translate laws into specific rules and actions is called
implementation.
Bureaucracy, literally translated, means
rule by offices and desks.
Since the 1950s, compared with the entire workforce, the number of federal employees has
gradually declined.
Public bureaucracies are powerful because
legislatures, chief executives, and the people delegate vast power to them to make sure a particular job is done.
Which of the following was forced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission to recall several car models after identifying problems with their gas pedal accelerators?
Toyota
Which of the following statements about the merit system is not true?
Every member and official of a government agency has been appointed as part of the merit system.
Civil servants were given legal protection against being fired without a show of cause in order to
cleanse bureaucracy of political interference while upgrading performance.
The first regulatory agencies established by Congress were
independent regulatory commissions.
A bureau charged with putting restrictions and obligations on individuals or corporations in the private sector is called a ______ agency.
regulatory
The response to the Department of Homeland Security's color-coded terror-level warning system reveals
that bureaucratic agencies, like politicians, must pay attention to public opinion.
The USA PATRIOT Act
allows the attorney general to detain any foreigner suspected of posing a threat to internal security.
What has been one of the greatest difficulties in establishing the new Department of Homeland Security?
adjusting to the many different bureaucratic cultures now part of a single operation
The greatest number of federal government professionals working abroad are under the authority of the Department of
Defense
What was the chief bureaucratic flaw identified by the 9/11 Commission?
There was a lack of communication between the domestic and foreign security agencies.
Congress was attempting to strike a balance between the need for secrecy in national security and the right of individuals to know what their government is doing when it passed the ______ Act.
Freedom of Information
Which of the following statements best describes the trend in government secrecy since 2001?
The number of classified documents has increased substantially since 2001 while the pages of material that have been declassified has declined sharply.
______ policy concerns banks, credit, and currency.
Monetary
In order to change the level of national economic activity and defend the value of the dollar in international trade, the federal government
manipulates interest rates.
Which of the following is not a key strategy used to promote bureaucratic reform?
regulation
During the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, how many federal agencies or programs were terminated?
One drawback of devolution is that
the standards associated with particular programs become increasingly variable between states.
The "virtual fourth branch of government" refers to
government contracting.
Which president's approach to the managerial presidency featured a deep belief in the importance of scientific expertise in government service?
Barack Obama
Which of the following is not a way in which Congress can exercise oversight?
having members of Congress work part-time for a particular agency that is struggling to meet the demands Congress has placed on it
Individual members of Congress can discover questions of public responsibility when engaged in
constituent case work.
Congress is a ______ legislature with ______ members.
bicameral; 535
Constituency service is so important that
party leaders will not ask any member to vote in a way that conflicts with the interests or opinions of the member's district.
A senator or representative running for re-election is called the
incumbent.
Gerrymandering refers to
the manipulation of electoral districts to serve the interests of a particular group.
One reason why redistricting is controversial is that
computer technologies allow legislatures to know statistically what kinds of people live where and this can be used to give one party an advantage over the other.
Who has the most real power in the Senate?
the majority and minority leaders
The jurisdiction of standing committees
is defined by the subject matter of legislation, which often parallels the major cabinet departments or agencies.
"Closed rule" and "open rule" refer to congressional provisions regarding
floor debate on a bill.
Cloture is
the process by which three-fifths of the Senate can end a filibuster.
A filibuster allows members of the Senate to
prevent a vote on a bill by speaking continuously on the floor.
The filibuster is likely to remain a feature of legislative politics in the United States because
it is universally regarded as an essential part of every legislative assembly.
Conference committees are
temporary, involve members from both houses of Congress, and are charged with reaching a compromise on legislation once it has been passed by both the House and the Senate.
How can a president's veto be overridden by Congress?
by a two-thirds vote in both houses
According to the text, which of the following is not an important influence on the legislative agenda of Congress?
the federal courts
Oversight can best be described as
the efforts of Congress to supervise the manner in which its laws are implemented by the executive branch.
What are the greatest dangers associated with a trustee model of representation?
Representatives may become inattentive to the wishes and opinions of their constituents.
One problem with the delegate model of representation is that
few people are well informed about all political issues.
What did the framers mean to accomplish by indirect election of the president?
to make the president responsible to state and national legislatures
______ powers are specifically established by the language of the Constitution.
Expressed
When Congress delegates power to the executive branch, it
substantially enhances the importance of the presidency.
When the president infers powers from the "rights, duties, and obligations" of the presidency, these are called
inherent powers.
The president must share foreign policy powers with the
Congress.
The goal of the War Powers Resolution was to
limit the power of the president to commit American troops to military action without authorization from Congress.
Why is the president's State of the Union address important?
It is an opportunity for the president to set the legislative agenda by initiating proposals and directing public attention to the executive's goals.
The State of the Union address is
mandated by the Constitution.
Which of the following has caused an increase in the president's delegated powers?
the increasing scope and complexity of legislation
The Office of Management and Budget is important because
its personnel are an integral part of virtually every conceivable presidential responsibility, such as overseeing regulatory proposals, reporting on agency activities, and preparing the national budget.
After the president and vice president, which office is next in the line of succession?
Speaker of the House
According to the text, what are the three most common ways for a president to expand his base of power?
party support, popular mobilization, and administrative control
What is the general tendency of a president's popularity?
Presidents usually start out popular and decline over the next four years.
The decline of voting and political participation by Americans has which of the following effects?
It enhances the power of the president while weakening Congress.
Which of the following is the essence of the rule of law?
Every state must judge government officials by the same laws as its citizens are judged.
Prior cases whose principles are used by judges to decide current cases are called
precedents.
The jurisdiction of each federal court is derived from
the Constitution and federal law.
A writ of habeas corpus declares that
the government must show a legal cause for holding someone in detention.
Original jurisdiction refers to
the court with the authority to hear a case first.
Which of the following statements best describes the Supreme Court?
The Court has no discretion whatsoever to decide which cases it will hear because its jurisdiction is defined entirely by the Constitution.
Why is the Supreme Court case of Marbury v. Madison important?
In this case, the Court authorized itself to exercise judicial review over laws passed by Congress.
The Court's power to review acts of Congress has not been seriously questioned because
the Court has been reluctant to strike down congressional laws and has overturned only a small number over the last 200 years.
The requirement of standing means that parties in a case must
have a concrete injury or interest at stake.
The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court has
increased dramatically since 1940.
The phrase stare decisis means
"let the decision stand."
Senatorial courtesy describes the practice of
senators from a president's party approving of a judicial nominee from their home state.
The power of the Supreme Court to review state actions and legislation comes from
Marbury v. Madison.
What is common law?
law made by judges through their decisions, not through specific statutes
When Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops into Little Rock High School in 1957, it demonstrated that
the president may make unilateral use of the emergency powers to protect states against domestic disorder.
An executive order is
a rule or regulation issued unilaterally by the president, with the status of a law.
The main political value of the vice president is to
bring the president votes in the election from a group or region that would not otherwise be a likely source of support.
When are the president's partisan ties most important?
in dealing with Congress on legislative matters
A bicameral legislature is one that has
two chambers or houses.
