American Government: Chapter 10: Public Policy and Services
Study Guide
Past Chapter Questions:
1. We have a --- system since we have a strong central government and the states have power too.
2. One American value is rule of law, which means…
3. What makes the U.S. a republic?
4. What makes the U.S. a mixed economy?
5. What means fairness? …freedom? …same opportunity and same treatment under the law?
6. Why is government necessary?
7. What are the 3 branches of government?
8. What are the 3 levels of government?
9. What document broke the colonies away from Britain?
10. Who wrote it?
11. Which holiday today recognizes this time period?
12. Which freedom to Penn set up in PA in his Charter of Privileges?
13. Why were the colonists upset with British rule? T______ without r____________
14. Which document set up our first system of government?
15. What was a major characteristic of the states under this form of government?
16. What was a problem or weakness under this system?
17. Where was the convention held to fix these problems?
18. Which document created our current system of government?
19. Articles written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay to gain support for the Constitution were the…
20. Who was elected first President and first Vice President under the Constitution?
21. Which principle is the division between who makes, enforces, and interprets laws?
22. Which principle allows each branch makes sure others aren’t too powerful or abuse power?
23. What were the first 10 amendments to the Constitution called?
24. What is the main job of the Legislative Branch?
25. What position is in charge of the House of Representatives and who holds this position now?
26. When does a bill officially become a law?
27. Who are the 2 U.S. Senators from PA? Who is your representative in the U.S. House?
28. Who is your state senator? Who is your state representative?
29. The Great Compromise formed the ______ of ______________ and the ________.
30. Other than making laws, what are 3 powers of Congress?
31. What is the main job of the executive branch?
32. How is the President elected?
33. The President is _______________________ of the armed forces.
34. The ___________ are the President’s advisors.
35. The ________________ are the agencies that help enforce the laws.
36. Name a cabinet department, its job, and an agency within the department.
37. The S______ C_____ is the highest court in the land headed by the C____ J_______.
38. Who was the first Chief Justice? …current Chief Justice?
39. A p________ is a model to base past decisions.
40. The right to appeal is the right to ___________.
41. J______ R_____ is the power of the Court to declare a law unconstitutional.
42. What are the first 10 amendments to the Constitution? B___ of R_____
43. The 5 freedoms in the first amendment are r_____, s_____, p____, a_____, and p______
44. How is a fair trial protected?
45. How are people protected against police searches?
46. What other ways are you protected by the Bill of Rights?
47. Laws against d_______ keep someone from being treated as inferior and s________ laws keep
from separation.
48. The Freedom of Information Act allows citizens access to p_____ r______
49. N__________ is the process of an alien becoming a citizen.
50. Cite 3 women who pushed for the right to vote.
51. The L______ f___ a B______ J____ was King’s best statement of the Civil Rights Movement.
52. I_____ g___ try to i______ policy and hire l______ to do so.
53. P_____ p___ try to win elections, operate government and determine policy.
54. List 3 Republican positions and 3 Democrat positions:
55. There is often media b____ specifically l______ bias in the mainstream TV media.
56. What are the 3 requirements to vote?
American Free Enterprise and Economic Policy:
1. How does the free enterprise system encourage entrepreneurship? Hard w____ brings f______
rewards.
2. The average price of goods and services is the C_________ P____ I____.
3. High unemployment is a characteristic of a r________.
4. How can international events impact the price of gas?
5. How can government action affect the price of gas?
6. How can weather conditions impact prices?
7. Some of what you pay for gas goes to the government in an excise tax, which is a tax on
c________.
8. Customs duties are on i______.
9. What is the biggest source of government revenue? I_____ tax
10. Workers who have children as dependents get tax c______.
11. F_____ policy is what the government takes in a s_____ while m_______ policy deal with U.S.
credit.
12. Which agency evaluates the spending the Congress passes? C__________ B______ O______
13. When government spends more than it brings in, that is called d______ spending.
14. Entitlements are seen on your pay stub listed as _ _ _ _
15. The Federal Reserve impacts the economy by setting i______ r____.
16. The largest % of federal spending is on h____.
17. Income tax is a type of tax called a p_______ tax since the % paid increases as income
increases.
18. The _ _ _ is the agency that failed to prevent the financial crisis that led to the recession of 2008
through 2011.
19. Which federal agency enforces tax policy?
20. Money that has value because government says so is f____ money (from video clip guide).
Domestic Policy:
1. Benefits that Congress has provided by law are called e________.
2. Public assistance programs include M______ (health care for low income), _ _ _, and f___
s_____.
3. Medicare is not a public assistance programs because it doesn’t go to the p___, it goes to the
e_____.
4. Domestic policy is largely impacted by the m____ as well as p_____ o_____.
5. What is ANWR? Where is it? What’s the controversy with it?
6. Which federal agency enforces environmental policy?
7. What does the Food and Drug Administration do?
8. _________ is health care for the elderly and __________ is health care for those with low
income.
9. _____________ is retirement pensions for the elderly, while _____ _____ allows low income
families to purchase food.
10. What do conservatives favor in public policy vs. liberals?
Foreign Policy:
1. NATO, ANZUS, and OAS are all d_______ a_______
2. What do these letters stand for?
3. Recent foreign policy as been impacted by the war on t_______.
4. The president is assisted in foreign policy by the S___ and D_____ departments, the N____
S____ C____, and the _ _ _
5. Nations who meet at the G-20 Summit discuss e________ in the world.
6. What is NAFTA?
7. Who advises the president on foreign policy? S_____ of S____ Who advises on national
security? S_____ of D_____
8. What would have to purchase from the State Department to travel to another nation?
9. A________ represent the U.S. in foreign nations and are appointed by the President.
10. What did George Washington say about foreign affairs in his Farewell Address?
11. D_________ is the art of conducting negotiations with other nations.
12. What are the 5 goals of foreign policy?