Practice Quiz


1	Wilfred M. McClay, who believes that Americans should believe in a unique American "mission," insists that there should be a constant interplay between founding ideals and current realities, and for this to happen there must be a sense of connection to
	A)	other cultures.
	B)	the Founding Fathers.
	C)	established principles.
	D)	the past.



2	Howard Zinn, who does not believe that Americans should believe in a unique American "mission," maintains that wars will stop when men
	A)	rise above their own moral standards.
	B)	discard the myth of American exceptionalism.
	C)	refuse to fight.
	D)	give peace a chance.



3	Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe, who believe that the Tea Party represents a revival of America’s revolutionary ideals, identify the person who brought the modern Tea Party to the national stage as
	A)	news commentator Rick Santelli.
	B)	former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
	C)	radio personality Rush Limbaugh.
	D)	one-time presidential candidate Martin Glass.



4	Jill Lepore, who does not believe that the Tea Party represents a revival of America’s revolutionary ideals, explains that we cannot go back to the eighteenth century because chronology is
	A)	like gravity.
	B)	against us.
	C)	too fluid.
	D)	a fickle mistress.



5	Jeff Madrick, who believes that bigger government is better government, reminds us that President Eisenhower, a Republican, incurred the ire of the Republican right wing when he proposed
	A)	to expand Social Security coverage to another 10 million workers.
	B)	a federally subsidized school lunch program.
	C)	spending $4.2 billion on the “space race.”
	D)	cutting the military budget by more than 30 percent.



6	Jim DeMint, who does not believe that bigger government is better government, claims that almost everything our federal government attempts to do
	A)	is too little too late.
	B)	is over budget.
	C)	becomes a disaster.
	D)	is undermined by the American people.



7	Mark Green, who believes that America should adopt public financing of political campaigns, insists that candidates who accept public funds should be required to
	A)	debate.
	B)	purchase predetermined chunks of airtime.
	C)	provide precise accounting of all soft monies.
	D)	publish a voters' guide.



8	John Samples, who does not believe that America should adopt public financing of political campaigns, contends that "one person-one vote" applies to
	A)	the right to participate in the democratic process.
	B)	judicial elections.
	C)	voting only.
	D)	“equal and meaningful" participation in the democratic process.



9	The president was granted some authority to make war under the Constitution because James Madison successfully argued for the need to
	A)	negotiate secretly against potentially hostile activities.
	B)	repel sudden attacks.
	C)	give the commander-in-chief full authority in the field.
	D)	reinforce to the president that he is the commander-in-chief of the military.



10	Abraham Lincoln exercised unilateral war powers as commander-in-chief with all of the following actions except
	A)	jailing people without trial.
	B)	enlarging the size of the army and navy.
	C)	blockading Southern ports.
	D)	promoting large numbers of military officers.



11	Antonin Scalia, who believes that the courts should seek the "original meaning" of the Constitution, asserts that the Living Constitution does not bring
	A)	freedom.
	B)	equality.
	C)	flexibility.
	D)	rigidity.



12	Stephen Breyer, who does not believe that the courts should seek the "original meaning" of the Constitution, in persuading people that active liberty has an important role to play in constitutional and statutory interpretation, would recommend
	A)	ignoring the protection the Constitution grants fundamental liberties.
	B)	radical change in current interpretive methods.
	C)	taking Thomas Jefferson's statement, "[A]ll men are created equal," as a statement of goals that the Constitution now seeks to fulfill.
	D)	all of the above



13	Ezra Klein, who believes that Congress is a dysfunctional institution, points out that there was no way to shut down a filibuster in Congress until
	A)	1868.
	B)	1917.
	C)	1975.
	D)	2004.



14	Lee H. Hamilton, who does not believe that Congress is a dysfunctional institution, notes that when former congressman Wilbur Mills died, the story on the news focused primarily on
	A)	the congressman’s ties to influential lobbyists.
	B)	the problems in Mills’ career after he was found early one morning with a stripper.
	C)	Mills’ efforts to shape the Social Security system.
	D)	Mills’ charitable works after leaving Congress.



15	George Caram Steeh, who believes that Congress may require people to buy health insurance, points out that the uninsured benefit from the “guaranteed issue” provision in the Health Care Reform Act
	A)	unless they are already sick.
	B)	even if they are already sick.
	C)	only if they have certain preexisting conditions.
	D)	unless they have certain preexisting conditions.



16	Henry Hudson, who does not believe that Congress may require people to buy health insurance, mentions that a principal consideration in United States v. Lopez was the
	A)	Commodity Exchange Act.
	B)	Bland-Allison Act.
	C)	Gun-Free School Zones Act.
	D)	Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.



17	Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which describes the role of the president in the government, has little to say about his actual duties apart from the power of
	A)	commanding the army.
	B)	raising taxes.
	C)	establishing the federal budget.
	D)	appointing non-elected officials.



18	The Supreme Court, in establishing some right to executive privilege, noted that it was important that presidential advisors be granted some rights to privacy in order to
	A)	protect them from prosecution.
	B)	ensure greater candor.
	C)	provide them personal protection.
	D)	protect them from media attacks.



19	Glenn C. Loury, who believes that affirmative action advances racial equality, states that to acknowledge that institutional legitimacy can turn on matters of racial representation is to
	A)	disregard a basic historical fact about the American community.
	B)	recognize a basic historical fact about the American community.
	C)	ignore the power of affirmative action to enhance American institutions.
	D)	make a moral error.



20	Walter E. Williams, who does not believe that affirmative action advances racial equality, notes that the problem with zero-sum games is that they
	A)	are unfair to whites in the long run.
	B)	are politically and socially unstable.
	C)	compromise the integrity of the institutions that utilize them.
	D)	fail to contribute to racial equality.



21	Robert P. George, who believes that abortion should be restricted, supports the pro-life position precisely because
	A)	he believes abortion is evil.
	B)	he is a Christian.
	C)	scientific evidence fully supports it.
	D)	all of the above



22	Mary Gordon, who does not believe that abortion should be restricted, would agree that
	A)	the choice to have an abortion is a clear choice of right or wrong.
	B)	the choice to have an abortion can be a morally responsible choice.
	C)	abortion is a viable form of birth control.
	D)	abortion is a choice that should be available only to unwed women and victims of rape or incest.



23	Yuval Levin, who believes that the welfare state is obsolete, points outs that the vision of the social-democratic welfare state has
	A)	a history that dates back to the birth of American independence.
	B)	dominated our political imagination for a century.
	C)	yet to crystallize into anything that approaches reality.
	D)	continuously evolved since its inception in the 1860s.



24	Irwin Garfinkel, Lee Rainwater, and Timothy Smeeding, who do not believe that the welfare state is obsolete, contend that their analyses have implications for
	A)	the welfare states of all rich nations.
	B)	the poorest corners of the undeveloped world.
	C)	just Americans, as the U.S. model is unlike that of any other democratic society.
	D)	at least the next two generations.



25	Curtis S. Dubay, who believes that Americans are overtaxed, has reckoned that historical trends and the recent tax policies in the stimulus likely mean that when the data for recent years is released, the bottom 50 percent of all taxpayers will have paid
	A)	over 86 percent of all income taxes.
	B)	50 percent of all income taxes.
	C)	a mere 15 percent of all income taxes.
	D)	no income taxes whatsoever.



26	Steve Brouwer, who does not believe that Americans are overtaxed, maintains that a class war, waged by the rich with very little opposition from the working class
	A)	has already taken place.
	B)	precedes all great revolutions.
	C)	will never happen.
	D)	is bound to happen.



27	Robert Greenstein, who believes that America is becoming more unequal, begins his testimony with, “This is not the type of thing which a democratic society—a capitalist democratic society—can really accept without addressing,” a quote he ascribes to
	A)	American socialist and union leader Eugene V. Debs.
	B)	American Enterprise Institute president Christopher C. DeMuth.
	C)	former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.
	D)	1856 presidential candidate John C. Fremont.



28	Christopher C. DeMuth, who does not believe that America is becoming more unequal, argues that the contention that there is growing inequality is in error because it places too much emphasis on
	A)	earnings inequality.
	B)	social rights.
	C)	differences in quality of life.
	D)	the source of wealth.



29	Theodore B. Olson, who believes that same-sex marriage should be a constitutional right, reminds us that “no State shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person the equal protection of the laws,” which is clearly stated in the
	A)	Fourteenth Amendment.
	B)	Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford.
	C)	Emancipation Proclamation.
	D)	Declaration of Independence.



30	Sam Shulman, who does not believe that same-sex marriage should be a constitutional right, argues that the essence of a marriage resides in
	A)	establishing a home.
	B)	tax breaks.
	C)	love and monogamous sex.
	D)	none of the above.



31	In Virginia, in the early decades of U.S. history, opposition to the established Anglican Church was the result of
	A)	strong commitment to religious tolerance.
	B)	increasing numbers of members of dissenting faiths.
	C)	a strong desire to protect unbelievers.
	D)	the desire to keep slaves from meeting in churches.



32	The deciding vote in both McCreary County and Van Orden was cast by Supreme Court Justice
	A)	Ginsberg.
	B)	Scalia.
	C)	Thomas.
	D)	Breyer.



33	Anthony Kennedy, who believes that corporations have the same free speech rights as persons, points out that federal law prohibits corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds to make independent expenditures for speech defined as
	A)	subliminal messaging.
	B)	a campaign masquerade.
	C)	an electioneering communication.
	D)	blatant partisanship.



34	John Paul Stevens, who does not believe that corporations have the same free speech rights as persons, maintains that the Framers had little trouble distinguishing
	A)	corporations from human beings.
	B)	content from intention.
	C)	the private sector from the public sector.
	D)	sentiment from reason.



35	Bryan Stevenson, who believes that “recreational” drugs should be legalized, points out that the highest rate of incarceration in the world occurs in
	A)	Mexico.
	B)	the United States.
	C)	Cuba.
	D)	Poland.



36	Theodore Dalrymple, who does not believe that “recreational” drugs should be legalized, observes that one of the most violent and squalid cities in Europe is a city of relatively unproblematic drug access—namely
	A)	Amsterdam.
	B)	Paris.
	C)	Rome.
	D)	Berlin.



37	Jack Goldsmith, who believes that indefinite detention of suspected terrorists is justified, contends that the principle that a nation at war can hold its enemy’s combatants until the cessation of hostilities
	A)	is a relatively new idea.
	B)	should be uncontroversial.
	C)	is uniquely Western.
	D)	has been debated since the days of ancient warfare.



38	Sarah H. Cleveland, who does not believe that indefinite detention of suspected terrorists is justified, notes that it was concluded that international law allows states to apprehend enemy troops in a traditional conflict and to hold them until the end of that conflict in the U.S. Supreme Court case
	A)	Rumsfeld v. CIA (2009).
	B)	Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri v. United States (2009).
	C)	Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006).
	D)	Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004).



39	Gregg Easterbrook, who believes we need to curb global warming, references a 1995 book about environmental issues, A Moment on Earth, in which the conclusion that rising temperatures “might be an omen or might mean nothing” is drawn by its author—namely
	A)	Professor Larry Bell.
	B)	himself.
	C)	Thomas Karl, director of the National Climatic Data Center.
	D)	former Vice President Al Gore.



40	Larry Bell, who does not believe we need to curb global warming, makes a number of references to the hacked and exposed e-mail communications among global warming researchers from the
	A)	Arctic Natural Wildlife Preserve in Alaska.
	B)	Climate Research Unit at Britain’s University of East Anglia.
	C)	Climate Analysis Section of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research.
	D)	International Climate Consortium in Greenland.



41	According to Andrew C. McCarthy, who believes that the president may wiretap without a warrant to protect national security, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) aims to do all of the following except
	A)	restrict the power to eavesdrop on all conversations.
	B)	allow eavesdropping on conversations that unintentionally capture "U.S. persons" outside the United States.
	C)	limit presidential authority.
	D)	prohibit national-security eavesdropping without involving a federal judge.



42	Al Gore, who does not believe that the president may wiretap without a warrant to protect national security, argues that in a properly functioning system, the "constitutional umpire" should be
	A)	Congress.
	B)	the Judicial Branch.
	C)	the House and Senate.
	D)	the president.



43	Nicholas Eberstadt, who believes that entitlement programs are creating a culture of dependency, notes that the notorious AFDC program was replaced in the mid-1990s with:
	A)	TANF, or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
	B)	welfare.
	C)	Section 8, or housing vouchers.
	D)	SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.



44	William A. Galston, who does not believe that entitlement programs are creating a culture of dependency, asserts that much contemporary public policy rests on temporally extended interdependence, or, in other terms, on:
	A)	families helping families.
	B)	an intergenerational compact.
	C)	short-term assistance.
	D)	aid depending on special circumstances.



45	Matthew Kroenig, who believes that the United States should use military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, outlines the forms of retaliation Iran might consider in response to an attack by the United States on its nuclear facilities that would then provoke an escalation of hostilities; Kroenig dubs these particular forms of retaliation:
	A)	excessive force.
	B)	lines in the sand.
	C)	aggressive signals.
	D)	redlines.



46	Colin H. Kahl, who does not believe that the United States should use military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, compares attacking Iran to the preventive action taken by the United States against:
	A)	North Korea.
	B)	Iraq.
	C)	Afghanistan.
	D)	Libya.

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