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Political Science Final Exam
Study sheet for Political Science Final
100
Political Studies
Undergraduate 2
04/29/2011
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Term
A 2008 report showed _______ of younger people report getting campaign news from the internet.
 Definition
42 percent
Term
Which of the following is true?
 Definition
Young People are using the internet not only for entertainment, but also as a source for social and political information.
Term
Early newspapers usually __________.
 Definition
were sponsored by politicians.
Term
Two inventions that led to the development of mass-readership newspapers were ___________.
 Definition
The high-speed rotary press and the telegraph.
Term
In the United States, the mass media are dominated by ___________.
 Definition
television.
Term
A brief memorable comment that easily can be fit into news broadcasts is called ____________.
 Definition
A sound bite.
Term
A spin doctor is a(n) __________.
 Definition
political campaign adviser who tries to convince journalists of eh truth of a particular interpretation of events.
Term
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 __________.
 Definition
allows telephone companies to own media corporations.
Term
The Supreme court did not fully apply the first amendment to motion pictures until ________.
 Definition
1952
Term
Studies of bias in the media have reached ___________.
 Definition
different conclusions: some found a liberal bias while others found a conservative bias.
Term
Public response to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center reveals that most people perceive that the media
 Definition
are biased toward ratings and revenues.
Term
Sources of American law include all the following except ___________.
 Definition
the Charter of the United Nations.
Term
Using judicial review, the Supreme Court has rules state laws to be unconstitutional about __________ in its history.
 Definition
1,000 times
Term
Jurisdiction and standing to sue are _______.
 Definition
basic judicial requirements.
Term
A question that has to do with the U.S. Constitution, acts of Congress, or treaties is known as a __________ question.
 Definition
federal
Term
A class-action suit is a _________.
 Definition
lawsuit seeking damages for "all persons similarly situated".
Term
A court that hears a broad, non-restricted range of cases is known as a court of ___________.
 Definition
general jurisdiction.
Term
In the twenty-first century, Senate Republicans implemented a policy that ___________.
 Definition
members of the opposition party, the Democrats, would not be allowed to invoke senatorial courtesy.
Term
The philosophy that the Supreme Court should actively check the other branches of government when they exceed their authority is known as ________.
 Definition
Judicial activism
Term
Strict construction means _________.
 Definition
attempting to follow the "letter of the law".
Term
which member of the current Supreme court was quoted as saying, "The Constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document," which should be interpreted "as it was originally written and intended."
 Definition
Antonin Scalia
Term
The judicial philosophy that looks to the context and purpose of a law when making an interpretation is known as _________.
 Definition
broad construction.
Term
Public opinion can serve a check on the judiciary because _______________.
 Definition
The public may pressure elected officials not to enforce an unpopular ruling.
Term
An issue that the court believes should be decided by the executive or legislative branch is called ___________.
 Definition
a political question.
Term
Which of the following is true?
 Definition
Sharia law is drawn not only from the Koran, but also from the way the Prophet Muhammad lived his life.
Term
The Government Accountability Office, which audits and reviews executive branch agencies and is sometimes called "Congress's watchdog," is ___________.
 Definition
part of the Congress's effort through the Pendelton Act to promote a merit system.
Term
A large organization that is hierarchically structured and carries out specific functions is known as a(n) ___________.
 Definition
Bureaucracy.
Term
If all government employees are included, more than ______ of all civilian employment is accounted for by government.
 Definition
16 percent
Term
The two bodies that empl0y by far the largest number of federal civilian employees are
 Definition
The US Postal Service and the Department of Defense.
Term
Today, government spending accounts for about __________ of the U.S. gross domestic product.
 Definition
one-third (1/3)
Term
__________ were set up because Congress felt it was unable to handle the complexities and technicalities required to carry out specific laws in the public interest.
 Definition
Independent regulatory commissions
Term
When George W. Bush appionted people who shared his political views to independent regulatory commissions, it worked to the detriment of ____________.
 Definition
Howard Stern
Term
Amtrak, the U.S. Postal Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority are examples of ___________.
 Definition
Government corporations
Term
Government Corporations and private corporations are different in all of the following ways except _____________.
 Definition
Government corporations do not perform a particular economic function.
Term
A list of jobs for political appointees can be found in the __________.
 Definition
Plum Book.
Term
In recent years, more than ________ of the employees who turned to the independent agency that assists whistle blowers, the Office of Special Counsel, were no longer employed by the agencies on which they blew the whistle.
 Definition
40 percent
Term
The selection and promotion of government employees on the basis of examinations is a result of the ____________.
 Definition
merit system
Term
The Hatch Act __________.
 Definition
prohibits federal employees from active involvement in political campaigns.
Term
The main prohibition outlined in the Hatch Act was ___________.
 Definition
that civil service employees cannot take an active part in political campaigns.
Term
The "Government in the Sunshine Act" required that ______________.
 Definition
all federal agencies that are run by committees conduct their business regularly in public session.
Term
Supporters of privatization argue that _____________.
 Definition
Some services can be provided more efficiently by the private sector.
Term
The Iron Triangle is _____________.
 Definition
an alliance of related interest groups, Congressional committees, and bureaucracy.
Term
The following categories of materials are exempted from release to a requesting individual by the 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) except _______________.
 Definition
personal social security records.
Term
In a 2006 poll, a majority of residents of New Orleans said they they approved of the performance of _____________ during Hurricane Katrina.
 Definition
Mayor Ray Nagin
Term
Domestic policy ________________.
 Definition
can be defined as all the laws, government planing, and government actions that affect individuals' lives in the United States.
Term
Agenda building is ______________.
 Definition
the process of getting the government to be aware that an issue requires action.
Term
On which issue die George W. Bush attempt to "steal teh clothes of the other party" and demonstrate that his administration could endorse moderate policy proposals?
 Definition
Medicare reform.
Term
Policy implementation is _____________.
 Definition
concerned with the carrying out of policies by bureaucrats, the courts, police, and individual citizens.
Term
After the Medicare reform law went into effect _____________.
 Definition
the federal government refused to reimburse states that were covering the costs of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries who were confused by the new program.
Term
In 2001, the Supreme Court ruled ________________.
 Definition
against the "migratory bird rule"
Term
Global warming _____________.
 Definition
is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide.
Term
Which of the following is true?
 Definition
The Kyoto protocol called for a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases to 5.2 percent below 199 levels by 2012.
Term
In 2007, about _____________ petroleum consumed in the US each day was imported.
 Definition
65%
Term
The rapid increase in the price of crude oil since 2003 appears to have been caused by all the following except:
 Definition
decreased production of oil in the US
Term
The absolute number of people in poverty
 Definition
declined in the 1960's under president Kennedy and Johnson and then remained low through the 1970s.
Term
In 2007, about ____________ of Americans, or ___________ Americans, were classified as poor,
 Definition
12 %,     37 million
Term
Currently, adjustments to the poverty income threshold are based on
 Definition
the consumer price index
Term
The program that most people think of when they hear the word welfare is now called
 Definition
TemporaryAssistance to Needy Families
Term
The basic welfare program provides payments that average nationwide
 Definition
$700 per month per family
Term
Every year, more than ____________ people immigrate to the US
 Definition
2 million
Term
People who were born on foreign soil now constitute more than ______ of the US population
 Definition
10 percent
Term
______ have overtaken _______  as the nation's largest minority.
 Definition
Hispanics,    African Americans
Term
When congress addressed the issue of immigration in 2006,
 Definition
it prompted over one million demonstrators to take the streets across America in support of the rights of immigrants.
Term
Homicide rates in the US were at their peak in the period
 Definition
1975-1985
Term
Theft rates in the United States
 Definition
have declined substantially during the last two decades.
Term
The number of persons held in jail or prison for every 100,000 persons in a particular population group is (are) known as the
 Definition
incarceration rate.
Term
Part of the reason for the increased intensity of campaigns in the last decade is that they are now centered on the
 Definition
candidate, not the party
Term
A strikin feature of today's political campaigns is the
 Definition
importance of paid professionals rather than volunteers.
Term
Tracking polls are used
 Definition
on a daily basis to determine last-minute changes in the mood of the electorate.
Term
A small group of individuals which is gathered to identify
in-depth feelings about candidates and issues is called
 Definition
a focus group
Term
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 did not
 Definition
provide public funding for Congressional elections
Term
For a federal political action committee (PAC) to be ligitimate, it must
 Definition
raise money from at least fifty volunteer donors.
Term
Soft money
 Definition
was no longer available to the nation political parties after 2002.
Term
When only declared party members can vote in a primary election, it is called
 Definition
a closed primary.
Term
When the top two candidates in a primary compete in a second primary for the majority of votes, it is called
 Definition
a run-off primary
Term
President Bush's Executive Order (E.O. 13233) regarding the release of presidential documents significantly altered the Presidential Records Act by
 Definition
shifting the burden of gaining the release of the documents to the public.
Term
Who was the youngest person to be elected President of the United States?
 Definition
John F. Kennedy
Term
When President Carter extended amnesty to more than 50,000 people who avoided the Vietnam War draft by fleeing to Canada, he demonstrated that the
 Definition
power to pardon can also be applied to large groups of individuals
Term
Which of the following is true?
 Definition
Bill Clinton was able to raise more than half a billion for the Democratic Party during his two terms
Term
Presidential approval ratings tend to be
 Definition
very high when a new president takes office with a decline in the last two years of the second term
Term
In the history of the United States, no president has ever
 Definition
been impeached and convicted.
Term
The members of the Cabinet
 Definition
include the heads of the fifteen executive departments plus other top officials chosen by the president.
Term
In Great Britain, the prime minister
 Definition
serves as the head of government.
Term
The people that a legislator spends considerable time and effort serving are called
 Definition
constituents.
Term
A representative who acts on sonscience or to represent the broad interests of the entire society is anctin as a (an)
 Definition
trustee.
Term
One major problem with the role of the instructed delegate is that
 Definition
the sonstituents may not actually have well-formed views on many issues.
Term
Casework is
 Definition
constituent service.
Term
After the Supreme Court underwent extraordinary change in 2005, George W. Bush nominated, and the Senate confirmed, the nominations of ___________ to become the newest members of the Court.
 Definition
John Roberts and Samuel Alito
Term
The concept of cloture refers to
 Definition
a process that attempts to limit debate on a bill in the Senate.
Term
When Senate Democrats made use of the filibuster to block some of President Bush's nominees to the federal bench in 2005, Senate Republicans responded by threatening "the nuclear option," in which
 Definition
the Senate rules would be revised to disallow filibusters against judicial nominees.
Term
Which of the following is true about the Congress of 2006?
 Definition
The median age of members of Congress is higher than the median age of the US population
Term
Gerrymandering is
 Definition
the drawing of legislative district boundries for the purpose of gaining partisan advantage
Term
Which of the following is true?
 Definition
Although the Supreme Court has been willing to review the constitutionality of redistricting plans, its most recent decisions have upheld redistricting plans in Pennsylvania and Texas
Term
The "speech or debate" clause in Article I, Section 6, of the Constitution means that a member of Congress
 Definition
is normally immune from libel or slander charges when conduction official duties.
Term
Logrolling is when a
 Definition
member "trades" his or her vote on a particular bill with another member in exchange for their votes on other legislation
Term
A member's request for special appropriation for projects back home that are attached to a bill to gain votes in known as a (an)
 Definition
earmark
Term
After being reported by a committee but before being sent to the House floor, bills are given to the ______ Committee, which defines the conditions under which the bills are to be considered by the House.
 Definition
Rules
Term
The job of a conference committee is to
 Definition
reconcile House and Senate versions of a bill
Term
The US Congress differs from most other world legislatures except in the following way:
 Definition
it is hopelessly deadlocked
Term
When a political party wins a majority of seats in a parliamentary system, that party
 Definition
selects the Prime Minister, who is also the party leader
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