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1
According to "The Declaration of Independence, 1776," a just government derives its power from:
A)military might.
B)taxation.
C)the consent of the governed.
D)the recognition of other nations.
2
As noted in "The Declaration of Independence, 1776," all of the following are stated in the Declaration as grievances against the "present King of Great Britain" except that he:
A)suspended the people's right to legislative representation.
B)swayed the system of justice in his favor.
C)interfered with free trade and immigration.
D)suspended recognized rights to property.
3
According to "The Declaration of Independence, 1776," the text of the Declaration uses the term "British brethren" to refer to all of the citizens of Great Britain.
A)True
B)False
4
As asserted in the commentary accompanying "The Constitution of the United States, 1787" the most important provision in the Constitution is for the:
A)doctrine of judicial review.
B)separation of powers.
C)division of authority between the federal government and the states.
D)presidential veto.
5
According to "The Constitution of the United States, 1787," the individual elected as president of the Constitutional Convention was:
A)James Madison.
B)George Washington.
C)Alexander Hamilton.
D)Benjamin Franklin.
6
According to "The Constitution of the United States, 1787," the foremost feature of the organizational plan for the new government was the separation of powers.
A)True
B)False
7
In "The Size and Variety of the Union as a Check on Faction," James Madison asserts that the form of government most able to control the effects of faction is the:
A)pure democracy.
B)small republic.
C)large republic.
D)oligarchy.
8
What does James Madison cite in "The Size and Variety of the Union as a Check on Faction" as the most common and durable source of factions?
A)government instability
B)diversity in the faculties of man
C)unequal distribution of property
D)lack of political representation
9
As explained in "The Size and Variety of the Union as a Check on Faction," human nature dictates a republican form of government because such a government guards against the cabals of the few and the confusion of the multitude.
A)True
B)False
10
In "Checks and Balances," James Madison cites which of the following as essential to the preservation of liberty:
A)maintaining cultural, religious, and political diversity within a single society
B)the separate and distinct exercise of the different powers of government
C)dividing power between two distinct governments, with separate authority extended to each
D)protection by the government of all parties, the weak as well as the powerful
11
In "Checks and Balances," Madison claims that the "fountain of authority" under a republican system of government is the:
A)legislature.
B)Constitution.
C)people.
D)judiciary.
12
According to "Checks and Balances," the executive branch can counter the legislature, because it holds an absolute negative on it.
A)True
B)False
13
According to the author of "Can America Fail?", a simple empirical test to see whether people are giving back more than they take from their own society is to ask whether citizens:
A)are more likely to volunteer than be drafted into military service.
B)are willing to make sacrifices in time of war.
C)pay back the interest on such government loans as student loans and small business loans.
D)pay more in taxes than they receive in government services.
14
As given in "Can America Fail?", the Doha Round of world trade talks might be successfully concluded if there were a willingness to sacrifice on the part of currently subsidized U.S.:
A)cattle ranchers.
B)citrus growers.
C)wheat farmers.
D)cotton farmers.
15
In the opinion of the author of "Can America Fail?", American thinkers and policymakers are engaged in an incestuous, self-referential, and self-congratulatory discourse that keeps them from seeing how many of the world’s problems have been created by American policy.
A)True
B)False
16
As put forth in "The Right Bite," Americans today have moved from skepticism about the federal government to:
A)outright cynicism.
B)guarded confidence.
C)extreme enthusiasm.
D)general indifference.
17
As profiled in "The Right Bite," one of the successes of the federal government in the last half-century has been the dramatic reduction of poverty among:
A)children.
B)the elderly.
C)immigrants.
D)inner-city residents.
18
As asserted in "The Right Bite," trust in the federal government dropped steadily from the mid-1960s until it rose during the prosperity of the Clinton years.
A)True
B)False
19
As characterized in "The Purposes of Political Combat: Why Obama Has Been Blindsided by the Strength and Vitality of His Opposition," the 2006 midterm election was notable in that:
A)Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time in 12 years.
B)Democrats gained control of Congress for the first time in 12 years.
C)while one party gained control of the White House, the opposing party gained control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress.
D)neither party won a majority of Senate seats.
20
As suggested in "The Purposes of Political Combat: Why Obama Has Been Blindsided by the Strength and Vitality of His Opposition," the United States became a center-right nation primarily because voters:
A)lean to the conservative side in foreign-policy matters.
B)often voted in their best interest.
C)were concerned about redistributionist economic policies.
D)responded primarily to cultural issues such as abortion.
21
As maintained in "The Purposes of Political Combat: Why Obama Has Been Blindsided by the Strength and Vitality of His Opposition," the political right suffered in the 2008 election due to the public’s poor perception of the Iraq war and the country’s economic situation.
A)True
B)False
22
As given in "These People Have No Shame," the author contends that today’s economic crisis is a result of:
A)spillover effects from the Great Depression.
B)war expenditures in Iraq.
C)the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street.
D)a Congress that has been rendered impotent by partisan squabbling.
23
As noted in "These People Have No Shame," the author cites President Teddy Roosevelt’s action to:
A)promote conservation of the environment.
B)call for an end to usurious interest rates.
C)create the Bull Moose Party.
D)break up monopolies in the business world.
24
As mentioned in "These People Have No Shame," when banks came to President George W. Bush asking for a bailout, he instead attempted to break them up.
A)True
B)False
25
As described in "The Crisis Comes Ashore: Why the Oil Spill Could Change Everything," so-called "mountaintop mining" is:
A)an efficient way to mine coal.
B)an efficient way to obtain oil.
C)the scene of an oil spill that gushes the equivalent of 60,000 barrels of oil per day into the environment.
D)polluting streams and drinking water throughout Appalachia.
26
As outlined in "The Crisis Comes Ashore: Why the Oil Spill Could Change Everything," burning oil and coal affects the oceans by:
A)turning the water a cloudy gray.
B)increasing acidification.
C)increasing the amount of zooplankton.
D)causing fish to have a kind of osteoporosis.
27
As portrayed in "The Crisis Comes Ashore: Why the Oil Spill Could Change Everything," while gushing oil presents a major environmental problem, an equally devastating problem is the spill of CO2 into the atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
28
As noted in "Over Time, a Gay Marriage Groundswell," California’s Proposition 8 was a ballot measure that:
A)legalized same-sex marriage.
B)banned same-sex marriage.
C)overturned a previous measure endorsing same-sex marriage.
D)endorsed civil unions for same-sex partners but not marriage.
29
As indicated in "Over Time, a Gay Marriage Groundswell," the states allowing same-sex marriage:
A)number 17.
B)all have majority support for gay marriage except Iowa.
C)opposed the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.
D)are all situated in the Northeast.
30
As presented in "Over Time, a Gay Marriage Groundswell," a majority of Americans over age 30 support gay marriage.
A)True
B)False
31
As claimed in "It Is Time," one of the major problems with the original U.S. Constitution, when viewed through the eyes of a citizen today, might be that the document does not:
A)reflect the true thinking of the time in which it was written.
B)provide for the basic rights that drive today's democratic form of government.
C)supply the language necessary to establish a desirable political order.
D)offer anything of value for those living in modern times.
32
As presented in "It Is Time," the current construction of Congress is unrepresentative of the U.S. population because:
A)every state has the same number of senators, regardless of population.
B)state representatives are appointed rather than elected by the people.
C)only one house of Congress needs to approve a bill for it to become law.
D)the president can veto any legislation passed by Congress.
33
As asserted in "It Is Time," it is impossible to correct the flaws in the original Constitution, and it must be abandoned entirely and started over again from scratch.
A)True
B)False
34
As explained in "Is Judicial Review Obsolete?", an "originalist" interpretation of the U.S. Constitution involves interpreting the Constitution according to:
A)biblical principles.
B)conservative ideology.
C)the original authors’ intent.
D)the changing times.
35
According to "Is Judicial Review Obsolete?", in interpreting the Constitution, the Supreme Court’s recent voting patterns on gun control and campaign-finance reform reveal a pattern driven by:
A)originalism.
B)the concept of a "living Constitution."
C)political-party affiliation.
D)policy preferences.
36
As noted in "Is Judicial Review Obsolete?", the ambiguous wording of the Second Amendment leaves it wide open to judicial interpretation.
A)True
B)False
37
As identified in "A Triumph for Political Speech," in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission the Court:
A)banned the film "Hilary: The Movie."
B)declared that hard money could not be used to promote one party over another.
C)declared that soft money could not be used to promote one party over another.
D)affirmed the right of private groups to use their own funds to engage in political speech.
38
As characterized in "A Triumph for Political Speech," the issue of campaign-finance law has had widespread attention since:
A)the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.
B)politicians began misusing private funds for campaign purposes.
C)the Iran-Contra scandal.
D)Watergate.
39
As hypothesized in "A Triumph for Political Speech," campaign-finance laws have been used to combat corruption.
A)True
B)False
40
As noted in "Corporations Aren’t Persons; Amend the Constitution," the McCain-Feingold Act is also known as:
A)Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
B)the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.
C)McConnell v. Federal Election Commission.
D)the Federal Election Campaign Act.
41
As defined in "Corporations Aren’t Persons; Amend the Constitution," Citizens United is a:
A)politically powerful grassroots group.
B)government agency with a mandate to protect the political rights of U.S. citizens.
C)rightwing nonprofit group partially funded by corporations.
D)loose affiliation of unions and left-wing grassroots organizations.
42
As disclosed in "Corporations Aren’t Persons; Amend the Constitution," the case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission challenged the constitutionality of the Federal Election Campaign Act.
A)True
B)False
43
As discussed in "A Title IX for Health Care," Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 specifically prohibits entities receiving any federal funds from discrimination based upon:
A)disability.
B)age.
C)race.
D)gender.
44
As stated in "A Title IX for Health Care," recision will be banned by the health-insurance reform package of 2010, which means that:
A)young people will be able to remain on their parents’ health insurance policy until age 26 if they are not otherwise covered.
B)pregnancy and Caesarian sections will no longer be considered pre-existing conditions.
C)employers will no longer be able to give lesser insurance plans to lower-paid workers.
D)lifetime caps on coverage will be eliminated.
45
As noted in "A Title IX for Health Care," the health-insurance reform package of 2010 will allow 32 million Americans to gain healthcare coverage.
A)True
B)False
46
As put forth in "Misremembering Reagan," conservatives have clung to Reagan’s memory more fiercely than ever because of Reagan’s death, the reevaluation of his presidency by historians, and, above all, the:
A)recent release of Reagan’s personal journals.
B)loss of the 2008 election.
C)surge of interest in Sarah Palin.
D)political failure of George W. Bush.
47
As revealed in "Misremembering Reagan," Reagan’s rhetoric featured, more than his four immediate predecessors combined, mention of the:
A)Founders of America.
B)Civil War.
C)military.
D)space race.
48
In the opinion of the author of "Misremembering Reagan," conservatives who invoke Reagan are prone to two characteristic vices: hero-worship and nostalgia.
A)True
B)False
49
According to "Small Ball after All?", there is a distinct possibility that George W. Bush will go down in history as:
A)the worst president ever.
B)one of the best presidents ever.
C)a game-changing president.
D)a mediocre and minor president.
50
As explained in "Small Ball after All?", Bush’s "third term" refers to:
A)an extension of the Bush presidency beyond the normal term limits.
B)his last two years in office, when he made major policy changes.
C)a continuation of his policies by the next president.
D)his second term in office, when he won both the electoral and popular votes.
51
As asserted in "Small Ball after All?", Al Qaeda and the Taliban were not a threat to the United States until Bush took office.
A)True
B)False
52
As stated in "The Founders’ Great Mistake," the most often amended feature of the Constitution is:
A)voting rights.
B)provisions relating to religion.
C)the presidency.
D)congressional elections.
53
According to "The Founders’ Great Mistake," the Constitutional Convention gave little attention to defining the powers of the presidency, in large part because the president of the convention was:
A)George Washington.
B)Benjamin Franklin.
C)James Madison.
D)Thomas Jefferson.
54
As asserted in "The Founders’ Great Mistake," Hamilton’s formulation of the theory of the "unitary executive" was merely the reflection of widely held opinions among those who framed the Constitution.
A)True
B)False
55
As defined in "Happy Together?", politics is the process of working through problems to build a consensus around mutually agreeable solutions—sometimes also known, the author writes, as:
A)deliberative democracy.
B)representative government.
C)the great compromise.
D)business as usual.
56
As mentioned in "Happy Together?", Woodrow Wilson had his New Freedom agenda, Franklin D. Roosevelt had the New Deal, and Lyndon B. Johnson had the:
A)New Equality.
B)Great Society.
C)Global Initiative.
D)Progressive Leap.
57
As noted in "Happy Together?", presidents from Harry S Truman to Ronald Reagan found that they could accomplish little when dealing with a divided Congress.
A)True
B)False
58
According to "Veto This!," with regard to the use of the veto, George W. Bush is only the second president in history to:
A)use the veto as a political tool.
B)go an entire term without using the veto at all.
C)utilize the veto in a "lame-duck" presidency.
D)disagree with congressional legislation.
59
As presented in "Veto This!," the first U.S. president to veto major legislation was:
A)George W. Bush.
B)John Quincy Adams.
C)Abraham Lincoln.
D)Andrew Jackson.
60
As claimed in "Veto This!," the Supreme Court has overturned far more legislation throughout history than the presidential veto has.
A)True
B)False
61
As described in "Dear Leader," press reviews of President Obama’s reaction to the BP oil spill:
A)were generally positive.
B)highlighted his business-like attitude to the problem.
C)spoke of his performance in highly emotional terms.
D)were generally negative.
62
As maintained in "Dear Leader," the Cato Institute’s Gene Healy is quoted as arguing that the:
A)president is merely a constitutional officer charged with faithful execution of the laws.
B)president’s personal opinion on national events is irrelevant.
C)office of the president has taken on an almost supernatural place in American life.
D)president’s main duty is to act as a hope-giver to the American people.
63
As addressed in "Dear Leader," the president’s powers were assumed to surmount the separation of powers during the BP oil spill.
A)True
B)False
64
As discussed in "The Obama Enigma," the author cites as a part of the Obama strategy his:
A)glamor.
B)life story.
C)coolness and distance.
D)sophisticated style.
65
As noted in "The Obama Enigma," the author suggests that when dealing with moments of high national anxiety President Obama cannot find the right pitch because:
A)he does not have an instinctive feel for the country’s mood.
B)he is inexperienced in politics.
C)his staff is young and inexperienced in real-world politics.
D)it is not his job to assuage the fears of the American people.
66
As presented in "The Obama Enigma," President George W. Bush was extremely reassuring on the evening of September 11, 2001, as a president should be.
A)True
B)False
67
As claimed in "When Congress Stops Wars," the decisive factor in determining whether lawmakers will oppose or acquiesce in presidential calls for war is:
A)how strong a case for war the president is able to make.
B)whether or not members of Congress agree with going to war.
C)the partisan composition of Congress at the time.
D)how aggressive or intimidating that particular president is able to be.
68
As noted in "When Congress Stops Wars," the increase in Congressional oversight after the 2006 midterm elections was a result of the:
A)Democrats gaining control of Congress.
B)president acting without Congressional approval.
C)Republicans attempting to regain popularity with constituents.
D)administration making decisions in secrecy.
69
As stated in When Congress Stops Wars," overall, Congress has very little power when it comes to dictating the conduct of war.
A)True
B)False
70
As explained in "How to Get Our Democracy Back," the opportunity to reform Congress missed in the first year of President Obama’s term is attributed to the fact that:
A)a split Congress causes difficulty in passing important legislation.
B)President Obama is far too young and inexperienced.
C)his presidency is too liberal.
D)his presidency is too conventional.
71
As suggested in "How to Get Our Democracy Back," the movement inspired by candidate Obama was:
A)one that called for challenging the broken system in Washington and bringing about a fundamental change in the way government works.
B)criticized by many as being too conventional.
C)the most liberal movement since the 1930s.
D)one that called for reform in the U.S. Congress.
72
As discussed in "How to Get Our Democracy Back," the author predicts that when President Obama leaves office he will have boldly changed the way Washington and politics work.
A)True
B)False
73
Regarding the integrity of members of Congress, the author of "The Case for Congress" notes that:
A)the deterioration of congressional integrity mirrors that in society as a whole.
B)the ethical climate at the Capitol has not changed much in recent decades.
C)probity in Congress is the rule rather than the exception.
D)Americans have a largely accurate view of congressional behavior.
74
As reported in "The Case for Congress," criticisms of Congress that the author agrees with include that:
A)there are too many luxury perks provided to members of Congress.
B)the money chase has gotten out of hand.
C)Congress is totally dominated by special-interest groups.
D)obstructionism has caused Congress to slow its pace to the point of damaging the institution itself.
75
As stated in "The Case for Congress," public discussion of controversial issues increases the clout lobbyists have with legislators.
A)True
B)False
76
As reported in "The Case for Busting the Filibuster," the traditional filibuster was replaced in 1975 by what is known as the:
A)delaying filibuster.
B)procedural filibuster.
C)faux filibuster.
D)majority filibuster.
77
As put forth in "The Case for Busting the Filibuster," the members of the Senate use the threat of the filibuster to:
A)bring minority members into line.
B)keep the president from exercising the line-item veto.
C)influence members of the House of Representatives.
D)hit up constituents for money.
78
In the opinion of the author of "The Case for Busting the Filibuster," a "filibuster-proof" Senate will never exist until the Senate gets rid of the filibuster rule entirely.
A)True
B)False
79
As reported in "Roberts versus Roberts: Just How Radical Is the Chief Justice?", at the beginning of his tenure, Chief Justice John Roberts pledged to:
A)avoid controversial cases.
B)avoid divisive and unnecessarily sweeping Court opinions.
C)persuade the more liberal justices to come around to his side so as to avoid polarizing 5-4 decisions.
D)promote a more activist judicial tone on the Court.
80
As asserted in "Roberts versus Roberts: Just How Radical Is the Chief Justice?", Roberts has been accused of "faux judicial restraint" because he:
A)refuses to budge from rigid positions in divisive cases.
B)refuses to have the Court hear controversial cases.
C)attempts to persuade the justices to avoid polarizing and divisive decisions.
D)has only chipped away at restrictions on corporate political speech without overturning them once and for all.
81
As noted in "Roberts versus Roberts: Just How Radical Is the Chief Justice?", the chief justice cannot seem to achieve his goal of less divisive Court decisions in business cases.
A)True
B)False
82
As shown in "Court Under Roberts Is Most Conservative in Decades," an analysis of Supreme Court decisions since 1937 show the Roberts court to:
A)be a shift to the left of previous courts.
B)be more conservative than recent courts.
C)rule uniformly conservative, particularly on social issues.
D)rule uniformly liberal, particularly on business issues.
83
As described in "Court Under Roberts Is Most Conservative in Decades," one way that a chief justice can influence the ideological direction of the Court is to:
A)persuade other justices to join a majority opinion in the interest of unanimity on the court.
B)nominate like-minded candidates for the Supreme Court.
C)determine who writes the dissenting opinion.
D)determine who writes the opinion for the court when they are in the majority.
84
According to "Court Under Roberts Is Most Conservative in Decades," the Roberts court has expanded the use of the death penalty.
A)True
B)False
85
According to "Marking Time," when compared to the U.S. government, organizations like al-Qaeda are:
A)overly bureaucratic.
B)inherently nimbler.
C)structurally disorganized.
D)unable to make concrete plans and decisions.
86
As presented in "Marking Time," a hallmark of al-Qaeda attacks is that they:
A)are poorly planned and executed.
B)take an inordinate amount of time to carry out.
C)occur frequently on very small scales.
D)are technically and operationally sophisticated.
87
As claimed in "Marking Time," the disaster of September 11, 2001, can be attributed largely to simple delay and chronic slowness in the U.S. government.
A)True
B)False
88
As noted in "Legislation Is Just the Start," the Volker Rule:
A)places new restrictions on public accounting firms.
B)strengthens regulation of financial holding companies.
C)places new limits on the amount of money banks invest in hedge funds and private equity funds.
D)discourages excessive risk-taking.
89
As described in "Legislation Is Just the Start," the entity that benefits most from Congress’ financial reform legislation is the:
A)executive branch.
B)Congress itself.
C)judicial branch.
D)lobbying industry.
90
As mentioned in "Legislation Is Just the Start," the new financial-reform law creates a Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection as a standalone agency.
A)True
B)False
91
As put forth in "Teaching a Hippo to Dance," the problem with public institutions is that the consequence of failure means that there is no reward for:
A)risk taking and innovation.
B)time-saving changes to routine.
C)breaking the chain of command.
D)accepting personal hazard.
92
In one anecdote given in "Teaching a Hippo to Dance," a colleague of the author who distinguished himself while working for Colin Powell recently left the Foreign Service after his promotion was denied by human resources, which gave as its reason that:
A)approval for the increased funding to pay him at that grade would not be possible until the next session of Congress.
B)he had not yet spent enough years in the service.
C)his paperwork had been lost and the process would have to start from the beginning.
D)there were already qualified people at that grade level.
93
As mentioned in "Teaching a Hippo to Dance," although social entrepreneurs have begun attracting attention to causes from domestic violence to water pollution, very few of them have been able to bring about changes in national policy or law.
A)True
B)False
94
As explained in "The ‘Enduring Majority’—Again," the author’s main argument against liberals who believe the Democrats gained an enduring majority in 2008 is that liberal analysts are wrong to assume that:
A)subsequent elections will look like the previous one.
B)Obama’s personal charisma was not a deciding factor in the election.
C)so-called "undecided" voters are not mainly conservative in their values.
D)the Republicans will accept a continuing falling off of their numbers.
95
As maintained in "The ‘Enduring Majority’—Again," the term "de-arrangement" was invented to explain away:
A)Obama’s election.
B)the election of a president from one party but a majority of Congress from the other.
C)the years of GOP dominance.
D)seeming inconsistencies in McCain’s platform.
96
The author of "The ‘Enduring Majority’—Again" notes that young voters who voted for Obama will probably continue to vote Democratic no matter what else changes in their lives.
A)True
B)False
97
As noted in "Polarized Pols versus Moderate Voters?", a recent book by Morris Fiorina contends that:
A)the American public has become far more extreme in its political ideology over the past generation.
B)self-described conservative voters are far more conservative than their conservative representatives in Congress.
C)the public is no less moderate than in the past, but elected officials are more polarized.
D)liberal voters have become more extreme in general, shifting overall public opinion to the left.
98
As maintained in "Polarized Pols versus Moderate Voters?", when it comes to divisive issues:
A)the political class encourages polarization among the voting public.
B)voters are more ambivalent than members of the political class.
C)members of the political class are more ambivalent than the voting public.
D)the American public is clearly polarized between conservative and liberal ideology.
99
As cited in "Polarized Pols versus Moderate Voters?", although there is talk about a culture war in the United States, both Republicans and Democrats have become more accepting of homosexuality.
A)True
B)False
100
As profiled in "The Tea Party Paradox," while the country has become more conservative:
A)the Democratic Party has benefited.
B)formerly independent voters have joined the Republican Party.
C)former Tea Party voters have joined the Republican Party.
D)it has also grown less Republican.
101
As recounted in "The Tea Party Paradox," one effect of the appearance of debranded Republicans has been that:
A)more voters have turned to the Democratic Party.
B)the Democratic Party has lost voters to the Tea Party.
C)the leanings of the independent electorate have shifted rightward.
D)the Republican Party has grown in numbers.
102
As defined in "The Tea Party Paradox," debranded Republicans are those voters who identify themselves as conservative but reject the Republican label.
A)True
B)False
103
As noted in "America Observed," most of America’s electoral problems would be solved by:
A)enforcing the Help America Vote Act.
B)requiring presentation of identification to vote.
C)allowing provisional ballots.
D)repairing the dysfunctional decentralization of voting methods.
104
As maintained in "America Observed," the responsibility for the administration of U.S. elections falls to:
A)the incumbent government.
B)a non-partisan election commission.
C)the Federal Election Commission.
D)an oversight group comprised of officials from each national party.
105
As identified in "America Observed," America registers 95 percent of its eligible voters while Canada only registers about 55 percent.
A)True
B)False
106
As presented in "Six Myths About Campaign Money," the vast majority of Americans believe that Congress is controlled by:
A)the Democratic party.
B)groups that help fund political campaigns.
C)the Republican party.
D)the will of the people.
107
As cited in "Six Myths About Campaign Money," an Office of Congressional Ethics investigation recently probed:
A)half a dozen political action committee officials who collected donations from Wall Street donors shortly after the House vote on financial services legislation.
B)several lawmakers who collected contributions from Wall Street donors shortly after a House vote on financial-services legislation.
C)six lawmakers who accepted illegal funds.
D)several U.S. Senators who collected funds from corporations in excess of the amount allowed by Senate rules.
108
As disclosed in "Six Myths About Campaign Money," there is little to no evidence that political action committee money affects roll-call votes.
A)True
B)False
109
As presented in "The Presidential Nomination Process," it can be said about the American presidential nomination process that it:
A)does not significantly involve the American people.
B)has not changed much since its beginnings.
C)involves only two political parties and two individuals.
D)allows for many individuals to have an equal chance to be president.
110
According to "The Presidential Nomination Process," a component of the first era of the presidential nomination process was the:
A)Congressional caucus.
B)mixed system.
C)national nominating convention.
D)direct primary.
111
As noted in "The Presidential Nomination Process," the McGovern-Fraser Commission was charged with making delegate selection more democratic.
A)True
B)False
112
As revealed in "Don’t Call Them Lobbyists," more and more lobbyists are deregistering and:
A)taking jobs with private industry.
B)setting up as arm’s-length strategists.
C)working as White House staffers.
D)joining the national committee of one of the two major political parties.
113
As identified in "Don’t Call Them Lobbyists," de rigueur tools of influence in today’s Washington include:
A)cell phones and iPods.
B)vegan restaurants and hybrid cars.
C)Twitter, Facebook, and sophisticated Web sites.
D)very deep pockets.
114
As quoted in "Don’t Call Them Lobbyists," one lobby-law specialist claims that registering as a lobbyist nowadays is like "walking around with a scarlet letter."
A)True
B)False
115
As profiled in "Born Fighting," MoveOn.org began when its creators:
A)established a campaign Web site for Barack Obama.
B)began an Internet protest site regarding the economic crisis.
C)posted an online petition opposing the drive to impeach Bill Clinton.
D)developed software for a popular screensaver.
116
According to "Born Fighting," MoveOn.org’s political impact can be measured on the two levels of:
A)causes and candidates.
B)advertising and marketing.
C)activism and organizing.
D)message and mechanics.
117
As noted in "Born Fighting," MoveOn.org is based on the concept that fighting makes the organization stronger.
A)True
B)False
118
According to "Why They Lobby," besides money, many lobbyists in controversial industries choose their profession because they:
A)enjoy the challenge.
B)get the opportunity to exercise their ethical beliefs.
C)have not been successful in other industries.
D)want to provide a valuable service for future generations.
119
As presented in "Why They Lobby," all the lobbyists interviewed cited their belief in the:
A)ethical principles inherent in lobbying.
B)value of their industry to the larger society.
C)First Amendment right to petition the government.
D)necessity of the products that their industry produces.
120
As noted in "Why They Lobby," all of the lobbyists profiled use and enjoy the products that their industry produces.
A)True
B)False
121
As claimed in "Tea Minus Zero," the tea partiers’ favorite politician is:
A)Sarah Palin.
B)George W. Bush.
C)Barack Obama.
D)John McCain.
122
As described in "Tea Minus Zero," the Tea Party movement is actually:
A)the super-conservative wing of the Republican party.
B)a Democratic splinter group.
C)not an organized single group but rather a network of local groups, media, and lobbying groups.
D)a tightly organized national group of disenchanted Republicans.
123
As reported in "Tea Minus Zero," a recent poll found that the Tea Party is actively supported by about 13 percent to 15 percent of voters.
A)True
B)False
124
As stated in "The Revolution Will Not Be Published," the most salient fact to explain why newspapers are in such trouble is that:
A)the integrity of journalism has been tainted by too many scandals.
B)they take too long to read for content in the age of Twitter and texting.
C)printing presses are terrifically expensive to set up and run.
D)subscribers do not understand why they should pay for a newspaper to get the same information that they perceive as being free on the Internet.
125
According to "The Revolution Will Not Be Published," in the last couple of decades, pragmatists in newspaper offices who saw what was happening in the world of technology were treated as:
A)saviors.
B)if they were barking mad.
C)comedians.
D)eccentric geeks.
126
As pointed out in "The Revolution Will Not Be Published," one scenario that the newspaper publishers never considered in the early 1990s was that the ability to share content would not shrink, it would grow.
A)True
B)False
127
According to "Build the Wall," what matters most in regard to newspaper publishing is:
A)advertising.
B)content.
C)experience.
D)speed.
128
The author of "Build the Wall," makes an analogy with another medium that used to be free and then moved to a paying basis; that medium is:
A)books.
B)movies.
C)television.
D)theater.
129
As postulated in "Build the Wall," one mistake newspapers have made was to send all their profits to Wall Street instead of reinvesting and improving the product.
A)True
B)False
130
As summarized in "A See-Through Society," in the end, transparency regarding our government leaders breeds:
A)trust.
B)duplicity.
C)creativity.
D)complexity.
131
As mentioned in "A See-Through Society," the U.S. House of Representatives’ website, www.house.gov, was crashed in September 2008 by enormous public interest in the:
A)impending surge in Iraq.
B)presidential election.
C)financial bailout legislation.
D)Obama’s new dog, Bo.
132
As recounted in "A See-Through Society," the Twitter Vote Report allowed citizens to report on their voting experience during the 2008 election, providing a real-time picture of wait times and complications that the news media picked up on and reported.
A)True
B)False
133
As profiled in "Governing in the Age of Fox News," in recent years the news media has become:
A)dominated by independent, non-partisan forces.
B)dominated by partisan media.
C)increasingly right-leaning.
D)increasingly left-leaning.
134
When it came to the news media, as described in "Governing in the Age of Fox News," the Founding Fathers believed:
A)the news should be controlled by the state.
B)popular newspapers were a political threat.
C)news media should be taxed.
D)the circulation of news and political debate could preserve their fragile republic.
135
As noted in "Governing in the Age of Fox News," by 1835 the United States probably had the highest per-capita newspaper circulation in the world.
A)True
B)False
136
According to "The Realities of Immigration," the modern immigration era commenced:
A)with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
B)with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
C)during the Great Depression.
D)at the conclusion of World War I.
137
As reported in "The Realities of Immigration," in comparing illegal immigrants without a high school education to their native- born peers, the author finds that:
A)the immigrants are employed at lower percentages.
B)native-borns have more incentive to work.
C)immigrants workers are more likely to lack initiative.
D)wages of native-borns have been adversely affected by the presence of immigrants.
138
As observed in "The Realities of Immigration," the Immigration and Control Act of 1986 was a monumental failure.
A)True
B)False
139
According to "The Real Infrastructure Crisis," the most serious current problem with the U.S. transportation system is that:
A)the condition of bridges and interstate highways is rapidly deteriorating.
B)lack of roads and an increase in road and air traffic is creating chronic congestion.
C)airplanes and airports are in serious disrepair.
D)spending on the nation’s transportation infrastructure is decreasing.
140
As claimed in "The Real Infrastructure Crisis," the true U.S. infrastructure crisis is whether or not:
A)American taxpayers are willing to pay for upkeep and improvements for the future.
B)the government will recognize the seriousness of the infrastructure problem.
C)the American economy can survive the massive costs brought on by congestion.
D)America has the technology to properly repair its infrastructure.
141
As defined in "The Real Infrastructure Crisis," the label of "structurally deficient," which has been given to 12 percent of American bridges, refers to a serious condition of disrepair that holds the potential for catastrophe.
A)True
B)False
142
As maintained in "The Other National Debt," a great deal of state and local debt arises from:
A)wasteful spending.
B)tax cuts.
C)overstaffed and inefficient local government.
D)the issuance of tax-free municipal bonds.
143
As profiled in "The Other National Debt," many state pension funds:
A)make up only six percent of a state’s budget.
B)are the only solvent entitlement programs in state government.
C)are woefully underfunded and projected to run out of money in coming decades.
D)provide much-needed investment capital for states.
144
As noted in "The Other National Debt," the amount of state and local debt in the United States adds up to about $14 trillion.
A)True
B)False
145
As claimed in "In Defense of Deficits," a big deficit-reduction program would:
A)provide much-needed solvency for programs like Social Security.
B)destroy the U.S. economy.
C)enable the United States to invest in its future.
D)reduce the national debt.
146
As mentioned in "In Defense of Deficits," public debt:
A)is more onerous than private debt.
B)does not have to be repaid.
C)is a burden on future generations.
D)does not have to be serviced as private debt does.
147
As presented in "In Defense of Deficits," public debt is the foundation of economic growth.
A)True
B)False
148
As identified in "Meet the Real Death Panels," in the United States healthcare is viewed as:
A)a commodity that is purchased by those who can afford it.
B)a human right whose costs and benefits are shared by the entire population.
C)unnecessary for most young and healthy Americans.
D)a responsibility of the state.
149
As stated in "Meet the Real Death Panels," end-of-life expenditures:
A)are viewed as unnecessary by most Americans.
B)make up the majority of healthcare dollars spent.
C)can be decreased with the advent of advance directives.
D)are not an onerous burden on the healthcare system.
150
As noted in "Meet the Real Death Panels," the United States spends more per capita on healthcare than most other developed nations.
A)True
B)False
151
As detailed in "Clean, Green, Safe and Smart," enhanced oversight and stiffened regulations cannot help avert future ecological energy disasters because:
A)the U.S. government has no control over private energy producers.
B)energy production does not affect the environment.
C)the United States relies too much on fuels acquired from ecologically and politically hazardous locations.
D)fuel procurement is a necessary evil and risks must be taken to acquire it.
152
As described in "Clean, Green, Safe and Smart," the National Energy Policy of May 17, 2001, reflected the Bush Administration’s outlook that:
A)the need for cheap energy sources outweighs ecological concerns.
B)energy should be procured only in a way that preserves the environment.
C)energy is a commodity that can be purchased by those who can afford it.
D)cheap and abundant energy is essential for economic growth.
153
As stated in "Clean, Green, Safe and Smart," hydraulic fracturing is an environmentally risky method by which natural gas is derived from shale rock.
A)True
B)False
154
As described in "A Flimsy Trust," the author believes that Social Security is a bailout lurking beneath the surface that may soon emerge like:
A)a Jack in the box.
B)the iceberg that hit the Titanic.
C)a plant growing in the springtime.
D)the great white shark in Jaws.
155
As mentioned in "A Flimsy Trust," the Social Security system is required by law to show:
A)transparent accounting of all taxes paid in and benefits paid out.
B)75 years of "solvency."
C)a positive balance in the "trust fund."
D)surplus funds to cover the next 20 years.
156
The author of "A Flimsy Trust" makes that point that he and his wife will receive more in Social Security benefits than they and their employers have paid into the system during their careers.
A)True
B)False
157
As claimed in "How Globalization Went Bad," with globalization, the goal of the United States is to:
A)unite diverse nations around the world.
B)coordinate the entire globalized world.
C)share responsibility for the world market with other powerful nations.
D)end unilateral globalization strategies.
158
As defined in "How Globalization Went Bad," the concept of "distributed government" refers to:
A)U.S. global power.
B)several great powers in the global system.
C)equal power among all nations.
D)the law of diminishing returns.
159
As asserted in "How Globalization Went Bad," monopolies are rarely problematic as long as those in power are alert to problems and consequences.
A)True
B)False
160
As assessed in "Worth Fighting—Or Not," historians say that the war from which the fewest benefits have been gained by the United States is the:
A)Vietnam War.
B)Mexican War.
C)Iraq War.
D)World War I.
161
As estimated in "Worth Fighting—Or Not," the American Revolution was supported by:
A)about 10 percent of the colonists.
B)about a third of the colonists.
C)nearly 75 percent of the colonists.
D)virtually all of the colonists, with only about 5 percent remaining loyal to the crown.
162
As revealed in "Worth Fighting—Or Not," Texas Governor Rick Perry, a Republican, raised the possibility that his state might want to secede from the United States.
A)True
B)False
163
As noted in "The Carbon Footprint of War," by 2007 the Iraq war had:
A)added more greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere than 60 percent of the world’s nations.
B)added more greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere than all of the world’s nations combined.
C)started decreasing its carbon footprint by using domestically- produced oil.
D)decreased its carbon footprint by 60 percent.
164
As described in "The Carbon Footprint of War," one way the Pentagon has decreased its energy expenditure in the Iraq war has been to:
A)increase fuel efficiency of Humvees.
B)increase fuel efficiency of Apache helicopters.
C)replace 4,200 fluorescent lights with LED lights.
D)reduce the amount of bottled water supplied to soldiers in the field.
165
As stated in "The Carbon Footprint of War," the U.S. military in Iraq is using no more energy per soldier than used in World War II.
A)True
B)False





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