The following exam consists of 50 multiple choice questions. Choose the best answer for each
question and fill in the appropriate bubble on the answer sheet. Be sure to bubble in your name
on the back of the answer sheet.
1. Which Supreme Court case ruled that the Bill of Rights did not apply to the actions of
sub-national government, a ruling that would later have important consequences for civil
rights?
a. Marbury v. Madison
b. Scott v. Sandford
c. McCulloch v. Maryland
d. Barron v. Baltimore
2. Which Supreme Court case ruled that sub-national governments did not have the power
to tax national entities such as a federal bank, thus establishing the precedent of national
supremacy?
a. Marbury v. Madison
b. Scott v. Sandford
c. McCulloch v. Maryland
d. Barron v. Baltimore
3. Beginning in the late 1800s, the Supreme Court began to apply the standards of the
Constitution to sub-national governments. What is the name of this process?
a. Incorporation
b. Nullification
c. Interposition
d. Verification
4. Which constitutional clause was unsuccessfully invoked by the Congress in its defense of
the Guns-Free School Zones Act, the legislation that was challenged in U.S. v. Lopez
(1995)?
a. Equal Protection
b. Commerce
c. Necessary and Proper
d. Takings
5. In the case of U.S. v. Morrison (2000), the Supreme Court ruled that the commerce
clause was not appropriate justification for which piece of legislation?
a. Violence Against Women Act
b. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
c. North American Free Trade Agreement
d. Welfare Reform Act of 1996
6. Which landmark Supreme Court case ruled that slaves lacked citizenship rights and thus
lacked legal standing to sue in a federal court?
a. McCulloch v. Maryland
b. Scott v. Sandford
c. U.S. v. Amistad
d. Barron v. Baltimore
7. Which Supreme Court case ruled that slaves that had been illegally transported across the
Atlantic were not “property,” but rather free individuals that should be immediately
released?
a. Scott v. Sandford
b. U.S. v. Amistad
c. Wickard v. Filburn
d. Alexander v. Sandoval
8. Which of the following powers is not concurrent, meaning that it is not a shared
responsibility of the national and state governments?
a. Collecting of taxes
b. Build and maintain roads
c. Pass and enforce laws
d. Print money
9. Which form of government is most popular throughout the world?
a. Federal
b. Confederal
c. Unitary
10. Which presidential administration did the most to increase the size and reach of the
national government?
a. Thomas Jefferson
b. Franklin Roosevelt
c. Ronald Reagan
d. Bill Clinton
11. A system in which the national, centralized government holds ultimate authority is
known as
a. Federalism
b. Confederalism
c. Unitary Government
12. The passing of the Sedition Act prompted Jefferson to convince state governments to
pass resolutions that challenged the constitutionality of the legislation. This idea is
known as
a. Doctrine of interposition
b. Doctrine of incorporation
c. Doctrine of verification
d. Doctrine of sedition
13. The Literary Digest incorrectly predicted which presidential candidate would win in
1936?
a. Franklin D. Roosevelt
b. Alf Landon
c. Richard Nixon
d. John Garner
14. How was the poll conducted by the Literary Digest for the 1936 election flawed?
a. Too small of a sample
b. Too large of a sample
c. The sample was random
d. The sample was not random
15. To get a representative national sample, pollsters usually aim to get data from about how
many respondents?
a. 100
b. 500
c. 1000
d. 10,000
16. Which term refers to the full group of people whose opinion you intend to estimate when
using a survey?
a. Population
b. Sample
c. Response group
d. Panel
17. Which term refers to the segment of the full group that will be surveyed in order to
estimate the views of the full group?
a. Population
b. Sample
c. Response group
d. Panel
18. When writing an opinion survey, a research switched the wording of a question from
“Would you favor or oppose federal assistance to industries in economic trouble?” to
“Would you favor or oppose a federal bailout of industries in economic trouble?”
Shifting to a potentially contentious word such as “bailout” is likely to influence how
people will react. This tactic is referred to as
a. Leading
b. Probing
c. Framing
d. Double-barreled question
19. Which of the following is an example of a “pseudo-event?”
a. A politician attending the opening of a new hospital
b. A politician giving a speech about their goals for the election
c. The state of the union address
d. The president speaking in front of Congress
20. Which of the following terms refers to a style of newspaper popular in the late 1800s that
featured sensationalized stories, bold headlines, and illustrations to increase readership?
a. Muckraking
b. Yellow journalism
c. Carpetbagging
d. Priming
21. Which of the following statements is true about New York Times reporter Judith Miller’s
refusal to reveal the source of her information?
a. Miller was protected by reporter shield laws, and did not have to testify
b. Miller was protected by reporter shield laws, but still served a maximum two
weeks in jail
c. Miller was not protected by shield laws and served time in prison
d. Miller was not protected by shield laws, but served no time in prison
22. Which federal entity is responsible for regulating public airwaves?
a. FEC
b. SEC
c. CBO
d. FCC
23. Which of the following statements is true of 527 Organizations?
a. They endorse issues, not specific candidates
b. They face limitations in the amount of money they can spend on campaigns
c. They were outlawed with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision
d. All of the above
24. In the current political environment which of the following populations is most likely to
vote Republican?
a. Females
b. African Americans
c. Whites
d. Voters in their 20s
25. Republicans are most likely to support federal spending on which of the following?
a. The military
b. The environment
c. Healthcare
d. Welfare
26. Democrats are most likely to favor which policy?
a. Increased tax cuts
b. Increased military spending
c. Retaining or strengthening abortion rights
d. Reducing the size of the federal government
27. Which of the following populations is most likely to vote democrat?
a. Those with no college
b. Some college
c. College graduate
28. Which of the following is not a role of political parties?
a. Recruiting and nominating candidates
b. Campaign assistance
c. Developing agendas
d. Choosing presidential nominees
29. Which of the following systems is indicative of the U.S. electoral system?
a. Single-member districts
b. Proportional representation
c. Mixed-member districts
30. Which political party rose to prominence after the election 1856?
a. Democrat-Republicans
b. Republicans
c. Democrats
d. Whigs
31. Which political party rose to prominence after the election of 1932?
a. Democrat-Republicans
b. Republicans
c. Democrats
d. Whigs
32. Which of the following systems is most likely to see third parties gain seats in the
legislature?
a. Plurality
b. Proportional representation
33. Which third-party candidate arguably cost George H.W. Bush the 1992 presidential
election by helping Bill Clinton win traditionally Republican states such as Kentucky and
Tennessee?
a. Ron Paul
b. Ross Perot
c. Pat Buchanan
d. Ralph Nader
34. The last forty years has seen the national political scene dominated by
a. Democrats
b. Republicans
c. Neither
35. In Citizens United v. FEC (2010), the Supreme Court ruled that “electioneering
communications”
a. Are protected as free speech under the first amendment, but cannot be advertized
within a month of an election
b. Are protected as free speech, but can have limits placed on funding
c. Are protected as free speech under the first amendment and cannot face
constraints on timing or funding
d. Are not protected as free speech and can be regulated by Congress
36. Which of the following positions is currently chosen through a national popular vote?
a. Representatives
b. Senators
c. The President
d. None of the above
37. The president is
a. Directly elected through a national popular vote
b. Chosen by a group of electors that vote on behalf of the voters of the different
states
c. Chosen by the U.S. Congress
d. Chosen by state legislatures
38. Under the original constitution, how was the Vice President chosen?
a. They were handpicked by the presidential candidate as a running mate on a “party
ticket”
b. They were handpicked by the winning presidential candidate after the election
c. They were picked by party officials after the election
d. They “won” the office by being second in the presidential election
39. In the election of 1888, William Henry Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland by over 60
electoral votes despite losing the national popular vote. Some suggested that this was a
success for the electoral college, as it kept a candidate who was only popular in one
geographic region from winning the election. Which region did Cleveland have such
strong support that it allowed him to win the popular vote?
a. Northeast
b. Midwest
c. South
d. West Coast
40. When the recount was ended in the case of Bush v. Gore, about how many votes
separated the two leading candidates in the state of Florida for the 2000 presidential
election?
a. 50
b. 500
c. 1500
d. 5000
41. Which constitutional clause was invoked by the Supreme Court in its historic decision in
Bush v. Gore?
a. Equal Protection
b. Commerce
c. Necessary and Proper
d. Affirmation
42. In what type of counties was the Gore campaign attempting to pursue recounts?
a. Counties that were strongly democrat
b. Counties that were strongly republican
c. Counties that were “too close to call”
d. Counties that had the strongest evidence of “irregularities”
43. Which of the following is NOT required across all states to vote?
a. U.S. citizenship
b. 18 years or older
c. Valid photo ID
d. All of the above are required
44. Which Kentucky city saw its Mayoral election “stolen” in 1905?
a. Lexington
b. Louisville
c. Owensboro
d. Paducah
45. Which political party was most responsible for election fraud in the 1905 election?
a. Democrats
b. Republicans
c. Fusionists
d. Reformers
46. The 1905 election was rife with fraud despite the adoption of a secret ballot referred to as
the
a. Australian ballot
b. French ballot
c. Swiss ballot
d. Italian ballot
47. Which of the following is a potential solution to the “free-rider problem?”
a. Public goods
b. Solidary benefits
c. Purposive benefits
d. Selective incentives
48. Which of the following types of lobbying involves face-to-face interactions with
important politicians such as a U.S. Senator?
a. Outside strategies
b. Direct lobbying
c. Grassroots lobbying
d. Astroturf lobbying
49. Which university system faced criticism from its student body after invoking a 30%+
tuition increase shortly after donating over a million dollars to the 2008 presidential race?
a. University of California
b. University of Texas
c. University of Massachusetts
d. University of Maryland
50. In the prisoner’s dilemma, what creates the smallest jail sentence for you?
a. You cooperate, they cooperate
b. You cooperate, they defect
c. You defect, they cooperate
d. You defect, they defect