1) Which of the following pairs of first ladies are most similar in the way that they have interpreted their roles as public figures?
A. Eleanor Roosevelt and Laura Bush
B. Laura Bush and Michelle Obama
C. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama
D. Dolly Madison and Laura Bush
2) Cabinet secretaries:
A. serve two-year terms that correspond to the House of Representatives.
B. serve at the pleasure of the president.
C. are confirmed by the Senate for up to six years.
D. participate in all facets of the government.
3) Which of the following had the most influence on Republican losses in the 2006 midterm congressional elections?
A. Rapidly rising unemployment
B. The 1,000 point drop in the Dow Industrial Average
C. Public doubts about the course of the war in Iraq
D. Debates concerning banning gay marriage
4) If a state's population grows by 1 million since the last census, it is likely to get:
A. one new congressional seat.
B. three new congressional seats.
C. a new congressional seat if there was a loss of population in another state.
D. a new Senate seat.
5) Congressional Republicans were opposed to the Waxman-Markey bill because:
A. they believed it would amount to a large consumer tax increase.
B. they thought it did not go far enough to address climate change.
C. Waxman was the Speaker of the House.
D. environmental lobby groups had helped them in recent elections.
6) The president pro tempore of the Senate:
A. is the longest-serving member from the majority party.
B. also serves as the chamber's majority leader.
C. is the most powerful party leader.
D. appoints members of the Rules Committee.
7) In recent years, party loyalty in votes in both houses has:
A. increased among both Democrats and Republicans.
B. decreased among both Democrats and Republicans.
C. increased among Republicans and decreased among Democrats.
D. remained static.
8) The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 attempted to give Congress more control over government expenditures by:
A. enabling Congress to propose an alternative budget to the president's budget.
B. establishing the Ways and Means Committee in the House.
C. revoking the president's right to submit a budget to Congress.
D. establishing a new cabinet post to coordinate the budget.
9) Which of the following limits the president to two terms of office under most circumstances?
A. The custom of presidents only running for two terms
B. The Presidential Succession Act of 1949
C. Article II of the Constitution
D. The Twenty-second Amendment
10) The civil-service system arose in the late 19th century as a response to:
A. the problems created by a small bureaucracy.
B. the problem of states having too much public responsibility.
C. the challenge of managing a growing rural economy.
D. the corruption and abuses of the spoils system.
11) The Seventeenth Amendment provides that:
A. senators shall be elected directly by voters.
B. senators shall be elected indirectly by state legislators.
C. House terms are fixed at two years.
D. Senate terms are fixed at six years.
12) Which of the following bodies sets the terms for debate and voting on legislation in the House of Representatives?
A. The Democratic Caucus
B. The Republican Caucus
C. The Committee on Committees
D. The Rules Committee
13) Which of the following statements is NOT accurate?
A. The seniority system favors members from one-party regions.
B. The seniority system is often attacked as being undemocratic.
C. Seniority is an unwritten rule, which is generally followed when
appointing committee chairs.
D. Seniority allows members to develop policy expertise.
14) In which case did the U.S. Congress declare war?
A. The Vietnam War
B. The Kosovo conflict
C. The Persian Gulf War
D. World War II
15) Conference committees:
A. are temporary bodies comprised of "hand-picked" senators and representatives.
B. are comprised of all majority-party members.
C. meet to override a presidential veto.
D. meet to schedule annual party caucus events.
16) The basic working units of Congress are:
A. conference committees.
B. special committees.
C. standing committees.
D. caucus committees.
17) Franklin D. Roosevelt is called the first "modern" president because he:
A. ran for three terms.
B. attempted to pack the Supreme Court.
C. was the first president to involve the United States in a world war.
D. established strong leadership patterns in both domestic and foreign policy, and in creating the executive bureaucracy.
18) Which of the following were appointed to the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush?
A. Samuel Alito and Ruth Bader Ginsberg
B. John Roberts and Samuel Alito
C. John Roberts and David Souter
D. David Souter and John Paul Stevens
19) The Supreme Court relies on support from:
A. its enormous prestige.
B. Democratic majorities in Congress.
C. the obedience of state courts.
D. Republican majorities in Congress.
20) A case challenging the rapidly growing public debt would likely NOT be considered by the Supreme Court because it is a:
A. question already settled in prior court decisions.
B. question that might cause Congress to limit judicial salaries.
C. case that should first be heard by a state supreme court.
D. political question.
21) Judicial review includes which of the following principles?
A. Senate confirmation of judicial appointees
B. Overturning segregation
C. The practice of hearing cases on appeal
D. Determining the constitutionality of federal and state law and the actions of Congress and the president
22) Baker v. Carr (1962) dealt with:
A. apportionment.
B. abortion rights.
C. segregation.
D. affirmative action.
23) Judicial activism:
A. is closely identified with the Warren Court.
B. involves judges with a strong background in elective office.
C. may result in conservative as well as liberal positions.
D. Both A and C are correct.
24) Which of the following can create political pressure on federal judges?
A. Judges can be impeached by Congress.
B. They are appointed for life.
C. The budget for the judiciary is controlled by Congress.
D. Both A and C are correct.
25) How many current justices on the U.S. Supreme Court were appointed by Democratic presidents?
A. Four
B. Three
C. Two
D. One
26) An example of the more conservative direction of the Rehnquist Court was:
A. upholding a federal law to keep guns out of public schools.
B. overturning a state court's decision in Bush v. Gore.
C. limiting presidential power by ruling against the line item veto.
D. narrowing the use of race in hiring for government programs.
27) Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) requires that:
A. enemy combatants be treated under the requirements of the Geneva Convention.
B. the Pentagon increase spending on protective gear for U.S. troops in Iraq.
C. detainees at Guantanamo be given legal rights to representation afforded other persons in the U.S.
D. prisons operated by the Department of Defense protect the religious rights of all detainees.
28) Between 1900 and the mid-1930s, the Supreme Court exercised judicial review primarily in:
A. economic-regulatory cases.
B. civil-liberties cases.
C. separation-of-powers cases.
D. racial-discrimination cases.
29) "Court packing" refers to:
A. the practice whereby presidents appoint only judges of their own party to the bench.
B. intimidating judges by filling the Court with rowdy observers.
C. the occasion when the judges rule on more cases than the norm.
D. adding seats to the Supreme Court to gain advantage through appointments.
30) Which federal court was established by the Constitution?
A. The U.S. Courts of Appeals
B. The U.S. District Courts
C. The U.S. Supreme Court
D. The U.S. Court of Claims
31) Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857):
A. invalidated the Missouri Compromise.
B. upheld the Wilmot Proviso.
C. declared the "one man, one vote" rule.
D. challenged the right to own slaves.
32) Which president appointed the first female Supreme Court justice?
A. Jimmy Carter
B. Ronald Reagan
C. George H. W. Bush
D. Bill Clinton
33) Which of the following statements about U.S. district courts is accurate?
A. District Court decisions are binding on the circuit region.
B. District Courts are the intermediate level between courts of appeal and the Supreme Court.
C. District Courts handle cases involving people's claims against government seizure of property.
D. Almost all cases involving federal law are first tried in District Courts.
34) Which of the following statements is accurate?
A. The Warren Court resisted Roosevelt's court-packing plan.
B. The Burger Court expanded the liberal activism of its predecessors.
C. The Roberts Court represents a turn toward liberal activism.
D. The Rehnquist Court's limiting federal authority over states is an example of conservative activists reversing liberal policies.
35) Senatorial courtesy:
A. gives a senator a role in appointing judges.
B. means that questioning judicial nominees follows committee seniority.
C. played a role in confirming judges in the nineteenth century but is no longer practiced.
D. refers to senators not criticizing one another during floor proceedings.