Unit 1 Flashcards by Megan Withers

Efficacy means…

citizens’ belief that they have the power to achieve something desirable, and that the government will listen to them.

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What matches this description? “A quality conferred on government by citizens who believe that its exercise of power is right and proper.”

legitimacy

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What is the foundation of the legal structure of the U.S?

the federal Constitution

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What rate of income tax is currently in place in the United States?

between 25% and 35% of each dollar earned

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Which of these types of government sees power held in the hands of an elite few?

oligarchy

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Which of these types of government places supreme power of governance in the hands of citizens?

democracy

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Which of these types of governmental structure essentially controls every aspect of citizens’ lives?

totalitarian

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Which of these types of governmental structure is limited, or restricted in its actions against citizens’ rights?

Constitutional

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What does the Greek term demokratia translate to mean?

people power

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A social contract can be defined as

an agreement between people and their leaders in which the people agree to give up some liberties in exchange for their protection of others.

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What is another name for indirect democracy, where citizens elect representatives who decide policies on their behalf?

Representative democracy

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How many foundational bodies are described by the United States Constitution?

three

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What repercussions followed the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773?

passage of Coercive Acts, closure of the port of Boston, and prohibition of the colonial assembly and town meetings

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Which of the following is a central principle of the Declaration of Independence?

All men are equal

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According to Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, what was the only option that would ensure American liberty and religious freedom?

war

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The Connecticut Compromise (or Great Compromise) produced?

a bicameral Congress

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What issues let to the Three-Fifths Compromise?

slavery

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Article 3 of the Constitution describes the powers and structure of which of the following?

judicial branch

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Marbury vs. Madison is a landmark Supreme Court decision because it

set the precedent for judicial review

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How many amendments have actually been ratified by the states since 1789?

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Which branch of government did the framers of the Constitution seek to restrict in power with the Bill of Rights?

national government

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Which means of political expression are guaranteed under the Constitution?

Speech, assembly, petition, and press

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Picketing, flag burning, or wearing an armband are all examples of

symbolic speech

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False written statements that harm the reputation of another person are known as

libel

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Spoken words that are known to be false and harmful to a person's reputation are an example of?

slander

In 1973 the Supreme Court developed a test by which a book, film, or other form of expression would be considered legally obscene. What was among the measures of the test?

The work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, a form of sexual conduct specifically prohibited by an antiobscenity law.

What do the religion clauses. of the First Amendment achieve?

Bar the government from establishing a national religion, from favoring one group over another, and from interfering with individuals religious practices.

Most Americans believe in what between religious organizations and the government?

some degree of separation

Which four amendments are known together as criminal due process?

4th, 5th, 6th, 8th

The Fifth amendment establishes

protection against compelled self-incrimination.

In 1878, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld what type of capital punishment method in Utah?

firing squad

Which inherent characteristics are currently protected from discrimination under the Constitution?

race, color, religion, sex, and national origin

Using the ordinary scrutiny test, courts have been willing to allow what type of differential treatment?

age-based

What year were women granted the right to vote in the United States?

1920

Laws passed immediately after the Civil War by southern states that limited the rights of "freedmen: or former slaves, were known as

Black Codes

Which of the following tactics were used in the southern states during the Jim Crow era to deny African Americans their voting rights?

white primaries, literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses

Which court ruling created the separate but equal doctrine, which upheld state laws that mandated racial separation in schools and all public accommodations?

Plessy vs. Ferguson

Which aspect of racial discrimination became the primary target of the NAACP in its first decades of existence?

separate but equal laws

Who was the first African American to sit on the U.S Supreme Court?

Thurgood Marshall

What outcomes resulted from most of the 370 treaties entered into between Native American tribes and the federal government between 1778 & 1870?

the federal gov reneged on its promises, and tribes received no land

Which is the largest minority group in the U.S?

Latinos

Which country of origin does the largest percentage of Asian Americans derive from?

China

Which minority group enjoys the highest median income?

Asian Americans

What year saw the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which enhances the federal prohibition of discrimination against people with disabilities?

1990

Which U.S president was the first to define and use the term affirmative action?

John F. Kennedy

Colleges and Universities use affirmative action policies to ensure a student body that is diverse in

race, color, economic status, and place of origin

Electoral politics in the U.S. was much the same in 1990 as it had been in 1890. The advent of which technologies transformed electoral politics?

personal computers, cell phones, and internet

In which presidential election was voter turnout by 18-24-year-olds the HIGHEST?

2008

Which age group has had the highest turnout rate in recent presidential elections?

65+

Which of the following are actions practiced by individuals who engage in civic life and public experience?

active communication with representatives and policymakers, advocating for one's and others' self-interest, accumulation of knowledge about public issues

Why did Martin Luther's actions spark the Reformation?

He openly criticized harmful practices of the Catholic Church

Who of the following constructed the concept of natural law, which asserts that standard than govern human behavior are derived from human nature and can be universally applied?

Sir Isaac Newton

In the early years of the American republic, the right to vote was

available to white men only

Which ideology places the greatest emphasis on traditional values?

Conservatism

Which ideology places the greatest emphasis on equality?

Socialism

The key difference between modern liberals, conservatives, and libertarians is their view of

the role of governement

By 2015, the population of the U.S. is about

320 million

Which of the following are effects of changes in the U.S. population's ethnic makeup?

changes in national and local political culture, changes in people's political attitudes, changes in terms of who governs

The Sugar Act (1764) imposed tax increase on which of these commodities?

molasses coffee textile

Bicameral legislatures contain two separate parts, known as:

chambers

How could the Articles of Confederation be amended?

by approval of all 13 state delegations to Congress

Under the Articles of confederation, Congress did NOT have the power to:

levy taxes

This was the main reason why the Constitution was eventually ratified by the states:

the promise that a bill of rights would be added

The "dual sovereignty" of the Constitution refers to its:

sharing of power between the national government and state government

That national laws prevail over conflicting state laws is part of the Constitution'

supremacy clause

Which of the following is NOT a power of Congress?

appointing Supreme Court justices

The Federalist Papers were written by:

Hamilton, Jay, Madison

The freedoms contained in the Bill of Rights are:

broad principles

The Supreme Court has selectively incorporated some of the bill of Rights and applied them to state action through the

14th amendment

Stand Your Ground laws are MOST prevalent in the:

South

Which of the following protects an individual from being held in custody without the right to be heard in a court of law?

habeas corpus

Which legal case concerned the burning of the American flag and led to a series of legal challenges?

Texas vs. Johnson

Which of the following is permissible in public schools?

none of these: banning the teaching of evolution, requiring all students to say the Pledge of Allegiance, official graduation ceremony prayer

Which of the following religious affiliations has the greatest number of adherents in the U.S.?

Protestant

The right to privacy

is inherent in many of the other constitutional guarantees

The Supreme Court has ruled that the right to refuse further medical treatment that could prolong a life is:

is available to an individual competent to make such a decision

In which of the following places has the Court ruled that there is no expectation of privacy?

cars and one's trash, parks and stores

Miranda v. Arizona legally established which of the following personal liberties?

the right to counsel and information on charges against oneself

The practice of transferring custody of suspected terrorists to other nations for imprisonment and interrogation is known as:

rendition

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits businesses from making discriminatory hiring decisions based on which inherent characteristics?

race, color, sex, religion, and national origin

Attacks against individuals are considered hate crimes under most state law based on all the following biases EXCEPT

gender identity of sexual orientation

The active yet nonviolent refusal to comply with morally-objectionable laws, used by abolitionist organization like the American Anti-Slavery Society and civil rights activists like Martin Luther King, Jr., is known as what?

civil disobedience

This amendment was passed in 1865 and outlawed slavery

13th amendment

This amendment was passed is 1868 and provided for due process law, equal protection under the law, and respect for the privileges and immunities of all citizens:

14th amendment

Which civil rights legislation banned discriminatory voter registration practice, and mandated federal intervention in any county with less than 50% of those eligible registered to vote?

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Where did most of the initial battles for women's rights take place?

state level

In what year did 18-year-olds get the right to vote?

1971

Of the following groups, which the LOWEST participation rate in the 2012 presidential election?

Latinos

Critics of affirmative action argue that it:

discriminates against Caucasian Americans

In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Supreme Court ruled that in making admissions decision universities could consider race

as a factor, but not an overriding factor

Since September 11, 2001, the federal government's powers of surveillance and observance have:

grown significantly

The first ___ amendments to the Constitution explicitly limited the power of legislative, executive, and judicial branch of the national government.

Why were the new state constitutions revolutionary?

they were adopted whole at a specific moment in tim

Which of the following chronological sequences of events is correct?

Boston Tea Party; First Continental Congress; Declaration of Independence

In 1770, about how many British soldiers were quartered among the 16,000 civilians living in Boston?

4,000

The Seven Years' War was fought between

Britain and France

Which of these countries employs an unwritten constitution

Great Britain

Libertarianism advocates which of the following principles?

rights of property owners

Which of the following phrases best describes the form of government of the U.S.?

constitutional democracy