Intro to American Government
Professor Saldin
PSCI 210S Section 2
Fall 2014
FINAL EXAM
Part I: Multiple Choice (33.3%)
Directions: Record the best answer on your Scantron sheet with a #2 pencil. Please bubble in
your 790-number and all other pertinent identification information. Fill in “A” in the “Test
Form” area.
1. What is the “rule of four?”
a. a statement on behalf of the justices who voted in the minority
b. the official statement of the court
c. the theory that there are actually four branches of the U.S. government
d. the requirement that at least four Supreme Court justices must agree to hear a case before it
comes before the court
2. Richard Nixon’s ability to negotiate with both China and Russia would be an example of the
President’s role as
a. first legislator
b. top diplomat
c. Commander in Chief
d. party leader
3. _____ is the tendency of policy makers to follow established routines in thinking about or
acting on a specific topic.
a. path dependence
b. cost effectiveness
c. cost-benefit analysis
d. entitlement program
4. The single biggest historical event responsible for the large bureaucracy we have today was
a. World War I
b. passage of the Pendleton Act
c. World War II
d. the Spanish-American War
5. What is a concurrent opinion?
a. a statement on behalf of the justices who voted in the minority
b. the official statement of the court
c. a statement that agrees with the majority opinion
d. deciding cases on the basis of previous rulings
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6. The three legs of an “iron triangle” in government include all of the following except
a. interest groups
b. congressional committees
c. a bureaucratic agency
d. the President
7. What characterized America’s Cold War strategy of containment?
a. an effort to stop the spread of communism
b. an effort to stop the spread of Russian spies
c. an attempt to place all Russian immigrants living in the US in internment camps
d. an effort to stop the spread of Russian weapons into Europe and Asia
8. Which act of Congress laid the foundation for merit-based hiring?
a. the Civil Service Reform Act
b. the Fair Labor Standards Act
c. the Meritorious Civil Service Reform Act
d. the Pendleton Civil Service Act
9. In the context of the judicial branch, what is meant by precedent?
a. an ideological commitment that guides a justice in his/her decision
b. a case that was incorrectly decided in the past
c. previous decisions that offer a guide for the future
d. a significant piece of evidence that was not considered during trial
10. _____ is a major happening, often of crisis or disaster proportions, that attracts widespread
media attention to an issue
a. policy formation
b. focusing event
c. implementation
d. agenda setting
11. What is meant by a policy entrepreneur?
a. one who tries to “sell” a public policy to the public
b. one who finances the creation of public policies
c. one who creates public policies that are profitable to the US government
d. one who seeks to devise innovative solutions for public policies
12. Formation of the American bureaucracy was a response to what?
a. an influx of immigrants in the late 1800s
b. the Civil War
c. the spoils system
d. corruption and scandals during the Taft administration
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13. The principle of judicial review is traced back to the case of
a. McCullough v. Maryland
b. Roe v. Wade
c. Marbury v. Madison
d. Plessy v. Ferguson
14. In “Federalist no. 10,” James Madison expressed his fear of what?
a. strong centralized governments
b. factions
c. dictatorship
d. communistic government
15. The American policy of isolationism came to a formal end with
a. the 9/11 terror attacks
b. the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
c. the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor
d. the Vietnam conflict
16. What is meant by a street-level bureaucrat?
a. a public official who got his/her start on the streets
b. an individual who works at the lowest level of government
c. an employee who works in the department of motor vehicles
d. a public official who deals directly with the public
17. Federal courts differ from the executive and legislative branches of government because they
a. are above politics
b. serve unspecified terms
c. are all from one political party
d. do not have an electoral base
18. Post-9/11 foreign policy has been based on the concept of
a. a war on terror
b. multilateralism
c. free trade principles
d. détente
19. Which of the following was an effort to make bureaucracy more transparent?
a. the Paperwork Reduction Act
b. the Civil Service Reform Act
c. the People’s Government Bill
d. the Freedom of Information Act
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20. When the US Supreme Court accepts a case by writ of habeas corpus, they are determining
what?
a. whether or not the appellant has committed murder or acted in self-defense
b. whether or not a prisoner is lawfully detained
c. whether or not the president is justified in pardoning a criminal
d. whether or not the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear the case
21. Selling and buying goods from other countries without any tariffs, quotas, etc. is
a. protectionism
b. globalism
c. free trade
d. realism
22. Presidential power has _______since the founding of the country.
a. diminished
b. increased
c. stayed the same
d. usurped the role of the courts
23. If there was a breach of justice by a member of the military, that case would be heard by
a. a federal district court judge
b. a state judge
c. a state appeals court
d. a military court
24. Non-entitlement spending programs are known as _________ programs.
a. malleable
b. discretionary
c. wasteful
d. infrastructure
25. Which branch houses the bureaucracy?
a. the executive
b. the legislative
c. the bureaucratic
d. the judicial
26. Bill Clinton managed to persuade Congress to give him line-item budget power, and the
Supreme Court
a. upheld it
b. declined to rule on it
c. struck it down
d. remanded it to the lower courts
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27. The program often labeled the “third rail” of American politics for its sacrosanct status is
a. public broadcasting
b. Social Security
c. Medicaid
d. the Environmental Protection Agency
28. The Bill of Rights originally protected (
a. political parties / Congress
b. minorities / the state governments
c. minorities / the federal government
d. the American people / the British government
) from (
)
29. The program passed in 1944 to reward veterans of World War II with a heavily subsidized
college education was
a. the War Powers Act
b. the Financial Aid to Student Workers Act
c. the GI Bill
d. the Stafford Loan Act
30. Compared to other advanced democratic nations, US courts possess a great deal of influence
over politics and government. Which chief justice played the most important role in establishing
this influence?
a. John Marshall
b. John Roberts
c. William Rehnquist
d. Earl Warren
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Part II: Short Answer (33.3%)
Directions: In one paragraph per item, and in your Blue Book, identify and explain the
significance of THREE of the following terms.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“the paranoid style in American politics”
federalism
spoils system
judicial activism
agenda setting
Part III: Essays (33.3%)
Directions: In your Blue Book, answer ONE question from each group (TWO essays total).
Group 1: You must answer this question:
Identify and describe four of the essential ideas that shape American politics. What tensions
and controversies surround these ideas?
Group 2: You much choose ONE of the following questions to answer:
1. Max Weber identified the characteristics that, in theory, mark all modern bureaucracies,
including the American civil service. What are three of these defining characteristics of
bureaucracy? What pathologies tend to develop in bureaucratic systems?
2. What were three problems with the Articles of Confederation? How did the new
Constitution seek to address these concerns?
3. Our textbook discusses two potential reforms of the U.S. Supreme Court, term limits and
the allocation of more resources to the court. Discuss one of these potential reforms,
laying out the basic arguments for and against the proposed reform.
****RETURN THIS EXAM SHEET IN YOUR BLUE BOOK****
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