test 1 part 2 Flashcards
1
Q
Which of the following is a good formal definition of politics:
A
the process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on a course of common action even as they continue to disagree on the goals of the action
2
Q
Politics occurs whenever a solution to a problem requires cooperation even when that cooperation is, which of the following:
A
costly or difficult
3
Q
- Successful politics almost always requires which of the following:
A
d. bargaining and compromise
4
Q
The fear that a party to a political negotiation may renege on or fail to abide by any agreement may lead to which of the following
A
c. war as the preferred alternative
5
Q
Political institutions include which of the following
A
a. a set of rules prescribing a political process for reaching and enforcing collective agreements
6
Q
To say we regard preferences as “givens” means which of the following:
A
individuals and groups know what they want
7
Q
All organizations are governed by rules and procedures:
A
for making and enforcing decisions
8
Q
Constitutions, charters, and bylaws all serve which of the following purposes
A
guiding the organization’s members in making essentially political decisions
9
Q
Because of the large size of populations and the complexity of the issues to be resolved, the degree of success populations in nations have in politics depends largely on which of the following:
A
whether they have developed constitutions and governments that work
10
Q
Which of the following is true of the constitution of a nation:
A
it creates the governing institutions and the set of rules prescribing the political process these institutions must follow to reach and enforce collective agreements
11
Q
Which of the following is a formal definition of a government:
A
those institutions created by a constitution and the legally prescribed process for making and enforcing collective agreements
12
Q
Government institutions consist of which of the following:
A
offices that confer on their occupants specific authority and responsibilities
13
Q
The difference between authority and power is which of the following:
A
authority is the right to make a particular decision and power is the actual influence the institution has over that action
14
Q
Institutions tend to be
A
stable and resistant to change
15
Q
“Collective action” refers to which of the following
A
. the efforts of a group to reach and implement agreements
16
Q
. A “prisoner’s dilemma” arises in which of the following instances:
A
whenever individuals who ultimately would benefit from cooperating with each other also have a powerful and irresistable incentive to break the agreement and exploit the other side
17
Q
An example of a coordination problem is which of the following:
A
members of a string quartet playing their individual portions of a piece in order to create one coherent performance
18
Q
Hobbes’ argument in Leviathan can be restated as:
A
monarchs offer a cost-effective means to collective action
19
Q
A member’s withholding his or her contribution to a group’s undertaking is referred to as which of the following:
A
a free-rider problem
20
Q
The problem that arises from the costless consumption by a large number of individuals of a public good that results in its ruination is called
A
. a tragedy of the commons
21
Q
One solution to a tragedy of the commons collective action problem is
A
privatize the collective good
22
Q
What are transaction costs
A
the time, effort, and resources required to make collective decisions
23
Q
What are conformity costs
A
the difference between what a principal desires and what the agent for that principal actually does
24
Q
Command authority cuts through both coordination and prisoner’s dilemma problems by doing which of the following
A
by conferring the authority to impose a solution regardless of the preference of others
25
Like command authority, the veto is which of the following
unilateral
26
An increase in the number of veto-holders does which of the following
increases transaction costs
27
An example of agenda control is which of the following
the requirement that tax bills originate in the House of Representatives
28
Assigning authority to make and implement decisions to a smaller number of persons who are expected to act on behalf of the larger group’s interest is an example of which of the following
delegation
29
The discrepancy between what principals ideally desire and what agents actually do is called which of the following
the tragedy of the commons
30
Modern democracies blend delegation and majority rule together into what is known as which of the following
. representative government
31
Which of the following is true about direct democracy, where citizens participate directly in collective decision making
it typically is reserved for small communities and organizations
32
A coalition is a combination of unlike-minded interests who
nonetheless agree, for their own distinct reasons, to a common course of action
33
Which of the following are two features of public goods
their costs are borne collectively and no one can be excluded from their benefits
34
Thomas Hobbes used his 1651 work Leviathan in part to do which of the following
defend the English monarch as a cost-effective means to collective action
35
The history of fire protection in America can best be described as which of the following
the evolution of a private good to a governmental responsibility
36
A parliamentary system is different from a presidential system primarily for which of the following reasons
in a presidential system, the executive and legislative branches are separate
37
In his treatise The Wealth of Nations, Scottish economist Adam Smith declared that the exchange of goods and services among private parties in an open marketplace does which of the following:
generates a public good in the form of prosperity
38
Blame for the free riding and other forms of shirking that hampered the early American Revolutionary War effort should be placed on which of the following:
unfit commanders and unwilling troops
39
Which of the following is true about the slogan “no taxation without representation
it was actually closely tied to an assertion of home rule
40
The first American constitution created a confederation, which can best be described as which of the following
a highly decentralized governmental system in which the national government derives limited authority from the states rather than directly from the citizens
41
By declaring independence, the delegates to the Continental Congress thrust upon themselves the responsibility for supplying essential public goods, including which of the following
defense and commercial markets
42
Under the Articles of Confederation, the States faced a classic prisoner’s dilemma for which of the following reasons
with no enforcement mechanism in place, no state would contribute its share of the revenue so long as it suspected others might not contribute
43
Charles, Baron de Montesquieu inspired the Framers of the Constitution with which of the following
his discussion of the classification of governmental functions and forms as the legislative, executive, and judicial
44
James Madison attributed the failure of the confederation to which of the following
faulty institutions
45
The intent behind Madison's Virginia Plan was that representatives in the lower house of the bicameral system would control the selection of other officers of government. These representatives had special legitimacy in formulating national policy for which of the following reasons
. they were directly elected by the people
46
In order to solve the nation's collective action problems, the Virginia Plan gave the national government authority to do which of the following
. make whatever laws it deemed appropriate and veto any state laws it regarded as unfit
47
When Madison fashioned independent executive and judicial branches that could contain efforts by the states to subvert national policy, he was establishing which of the following
checks and balances
48
The checks and balances contained within the Constitution result in which of the following
some capacity of each of the three branches to limit the power of the other two
49
Modern presidents have asserted that the “take care clause” of Article II allows them to take whatever action the nation’s well-being requires provided that which of the following is true
the action is not expressly forbidden by the Constitution or public law
50
The Senate’s power to confirm appointments and to ratify treaties are examples of which of the following
. a legislative check on presidential duties
51
the veto
allows the executive to perform a checking function on the legislature
52
If a candidate fails to receive an absolute majority of votes in the Electoral College, the election is thrown into which of the following
the House of Representatives, where each state gets one vote
53
Which of the following is true of the Supreme Court’s authority to overturn federal laws and executive actions
judicial review
54
The supremecy clause of the Constitution declares which of the following
national laws take precedence over state laws
55
A “logroll” refers to which of the following
a standard bargaining strategy in which two sides swap support for dissimilar policies
56
. In order to keep the amendment of the Constitution from being too easy of an option for a popular majority to accomplish, the Framers did which of the following
they imposed heavy transaction costs on changing the Constitution
57
In Federalist No. 10, Madison defines a faction as “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest
adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community and in particular to the stability of government
58
The Madisonian view of democracy often is referred to as which of the following
pluralism
59
On October 17, 1781, the American collaboration with __________ finally paid off with a decisive victory over Great Britain at Yorktown, Virginia, which ended the war
france
60
In the early colonial era, Britain ceded to the Americans the responsibility for managing their own domestic affairs, including taxation. This is known as
home rule
61
Britain responded to the Boston Tea Party with the Restraining Acts and Coercive Acts, which did what
. in part closed the Boston Harbor to all commerce, dissolved the Massachusetts assembly, forced Americans to quarter or house British soldiers, and ordered Americans charged with protest crimes be sent to England for trial
62
At the First Continental Congress, called by Boston resistance leader Samuel Adams, the delegates from the colonies did which of the following
passed resolutions condemning British taxes and administrative decrees and adopted the Declaration of American Rights
63
Which of the following was the primary point of Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense
only in the creation of an independent republic would the people find contentment
64
Which of the following was one of the events that mobilized states behind reforming the Articles of Confederation
Shays' Rebellion
65
The centerpiece of the Virginia Plan was which of the following
a bicameral national legislature
66
A central feature of the Great Compromise was which of the following
a bicameral legislature with the upper chamber representation equal for all states and the lower chamber representation based on population
67
What did the Great Compromise do, in part
. it reserved to the House of Representatives alone the right to originate revenue legislation
68
The broad list of enumerated powers available to Congress in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution includes the power to do which of the following
declare war, maintain an army and navy, and borrow money
69
The “commerce clause” of the Constitution
gave Congress the authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states
70
The “necessary and proper clause” of the Constitution
provides Congress with the authority to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers enumerated by the Constitution
71
The Framers of the Constitution carved out a major role for the president in domestic legislation in part by enabling the executive to check congressional action through which of the following:
the presidential veto
72
Although a convoluted concept, as a device, the Electoral College is designed to do which of the following
mix state, congressional, and popular participation in the election process
73
The supremacy clause contained in Article IV of the Constitution declares which of the following
that national laws take precedence over state laws when both properly discharge their government's respective responsibilities
74
Which of the following is true of the issue of judicial review, or the Supreme Court’s authority to overturn federal laws and executive actions as unconstitutional
it was never quite resolved by the Constitutional Convention
75
Which of the following is true about the process for amending the Constitution
it does not require the unanimous consent of the states
76
In short, which of the following is true about Federalist No. 10
it conveys the theory of pluralism that guided Madison
77
. In short, which of the following is true about Federalist No. 51
it explores how and why the governmental system that emerged from the convention might actually work
78
Over the past century, determination of national civil liberties policy has shifted
from nearly the exclusive jurisdiction of states and communities to Washington, D.C.
79
Advances in national civil liberties policy have frequently involved
reigning majorities that assert their prerogatives over the objections of individuals and groups who did not wish to conform to prevailing social norms and rules
80
The first ten amendments to the Constitution were designed to do which of the following
limit the capacity of government to impose conformity costs on those individuals and minorities whose views differ from the majority
81
Which of the following best describes the language of the Bill of Rights
. it seems generally clear and unequivocal but sometimes is ambiguous
82
In Federalist No. 84 Alexander Hamilton poses the question, "Why declare that things shall not be done which there is no power to do?" He was expressing which of the following concerns:
that a list of rights in the Constitution might imply the federal government had the authority to restrict the freedoms not expressly protected
83
A unified national citizenship is provided for in the Constitution
by the Fourteenth Amendment
84
. In the 1873 Slaughterhouse Cases, the Supreme Court stated that ____________________ would "fetter and degrade the State governments by subjecting them to the control of Congress
the broad application of the Fourteenth Amendment to state policy
85
The Supreme Court first began selectively incorporating into the Fourteenth Amendment those provisions of the Bill of Rights dealing with
personal freedoms such as those protected in the First Amendment
86
The "criminal anarchy" for which Benjamin Gitlow was arrested and convicted was which of the following:
organizing labor strikes
87
Which of the following has been a problem for the Supreme Court and law enforcement when it comes to obscenity:
adequately defining obscenity and drafting objective standards that enable judges and police to distinguish the merely pornographic or sexually explicit from the truly obscene
88
The difficulty with the doctrine for obscenity policy as set forth by the Supreme Court in the 1957 case Roth v. United States is which of the following
every key word in the passage is ambiguous and subject to lenient or restrictive interpretations
89
An independent press plays an indispensable role in maintaining a representative democracy for which of the following reasons
without reliable information about the performance of officeholders, citizens would be
hard-pressed to monitor their agents, and politicians would find it difficult to communicate with their constituents
90
Which of the following is true about the religious freedom provision of the First Amendment
it prohibits Congress from passing any legislation “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”
91
Madison and Jefferson both subscribed to the view that the First Amendment erects a "wall of separation between church and state
but this is only one interpretation, as separation is not mentioned in the Constitution itself
92
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Fourth Amendment to allow for police searches and seizures of evidence without a warrant under all of the following circumstances, except for which of the following
when using a thermal imaging device to conduct a blanket sweep of neighborhoods to search for basement marijuana fields
93
The constitutional right to privacy is to be found in the Constitution's penumbras, which are best defined as
implicit zones of protected rights on which the existence of the explicit rights depend
94
Which of the following is true about the Supreme Court's 1973 opinion in Roe v. Wade:
it ended abortion's varying legality across the states
95
The nationalization of civil liberties in the Bill of Rights
was not a popular idea and Madison’s proposal to amend the Constitution to apply them directly to the states was defeated in Congress
96
Which of the following statements is true about the Constitution, as it emerged from the Philadelphia convention in 1787
it did not seriously address civil liberties
97
The process of "incorporation" by the Supreme Court refers to which of the following
bringing state laws and practices under Bill of Rights protections by applying the Fourteenth Amendment to the states
98
Although the Antifederalists lost their battle against ratification of the Constitution, which of the following is true
they salvaged a major political concession in the Bill of Rights, which is their chief legacy to future generations of Americans
99
In 1833, in the case of Barron v. Baltimore, the Supreme Court reasoned that the whole thrust of the Bill of Rights was
directed exclusively at restraining federal power
100
The second sentence of the Fourteenth Amendment, which includes both the "equal protection clause" and the "due process clause," means in part
. all persons enjoy the same civil liberties and rights, which the states cannot deny without following reasonable, legally established procedures applied equally to everyone
101
The first provision of the Bill of Rights to be incorporated by the Supreme Court into the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause was
. the Fifth Amendment's ban on taking private property without just compensation
102
From the 1920s through the 1940s, the Supreme Court incorporated into the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment the First Amendment freedoms, which include:
speech, press, and religion
103
. In part, the incorporation decisions handed down by the Supreme Court since 1925 have done which of the following
offered new opportunities for litigation and have generated the dramatic growth in the civil liberties docket of the Supreme Court
104
madisons view has been
largely realized
105
Incorporation of provisions of the Bill of Rights into the Fourteenth Amendment occurred through which of the following:
. judicial interpretation
106
In 1919, Charles Schenk's advocacy of resistance to the draft led to the Supreme Court's creation of which of the following
. the clear and present danger test
107
Although in Gitlow v. New York the Supreme Court established the Fourteenth Amendment's jurisdiction over the states when it came to free speech, which of the following was also true
defendant Gitlow still had his state-level conviction upheld and went to prison
108
The Supreme Court has held all of the following to be expression protected by the First Amendment except which of the following
obscenity
109
The case of Miller v. California reformulated the standard for obscenity and did which of the following:
it shifted primary authority for obscenity policy back to the states and, implicitly, local governments
110
The history of the concept of a public trial
has less to do with prosecuting criminals than with preventing law enforcement officers from meting out arbitrary justice
111
Although the First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, before independence which of the following was true:
many of the early colonies designated official churches which believers and non-believers alike were forced to attend and support with taxes
112
Which of the following is true about the religious freedom provision of the First Amendment, which prohibits any legislation respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof
it at first only applied to actions of the federal government
113
The free exercise clause of the First Amendment has been interpreted to allow which of the following
door-to-door solicitations but not animal sacrifice
114
Despite the Fifth Amendment’s ban on self-incrimination, a witness can be compelled to testify against himself under which of the following circumstances
if granted immunity from prosecution
115
The Supreme Court has held the death penalty to be which of the following
cruel and unusual as applied but, since 1976, allowed because the defects in state sentencing procedures were remedied
116
In 2004, the Court’s first ruling concerning detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay held that:
despite the prison’s location on foreign soil, federal courts have jursidiction to hear habeas corpus petitions brought by the prisoners held there
