Questions 1 and 2 refer to the following information.
A number of federal and state laws, generally called "fair employment laws," make it illegal for employers and unions to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, age, disability, or national origin in their hiring, pay, promotion, and firing practices.
Questions 3 and 4 refer to the following chart.
Any part of the U.S. Constitution may be altered by an amendment. Amendments become a part of the Constitution in a two-step process.
Questions 5 and 6 refer to the following information.
The federal government is divided into three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Each branch has certain powers, but each branch is also limited by the others in a system of checks and balances.
Question 7 refers to the following political cartoon.
Michael Ramirez, Copley News Service. Reprinted with permission.
Questions 8 and 9 refer to the following information.
Each state elects two U.S. senators, but U.S. representatives are allotted on the basis of a state’s population. While senators are elected on a statewide basis, representatives are elected from districts. Before the Supreme Court case of Wesberry v. Sanders in 1964, the number of people who lived in different congressional districts varied considerably. Many large districts had twice the population of smaller districts. In effect, a vote in a large district was worth only half as much as a vote in a smaller district. The Wesberry case required all congressional districts to be approximately equal in population.
Question 10 is based on the following information.
Laws are called bills before they are voted on and enacted. Once a draft of a bill is written, it is introduced on the floor of either the Senate or the House of Representatives. "Revenue-raising" (tax) bills must begin in the House of Representatives. Most other bills may begin in either house. Once introduced, the bill is sent to the appropriate congressional committee, which conducts research, holds hearings, and hammers out the wording of the bill after listening to the views of concerned citizens, constituencies, and lobbying groups. It is in committees where most of the work of Congress takes place, and where, to a large extent, the future of a bill is determined.