Political Science

Test 1

Spring 2008

Chapter 1

Question 01

• Definition: A system of rule by the people, defined by the existence of popular sovereignty, political equality and political liberty.

• democracy

Question 02

• Who was the African-American woman who refused to give up her seat to a passenger of European descent which resulted in the Montgomery bus boycott and a boost to civil rights?

• Rosa Parks

Question 03

• Definition: The abuse of power by a ruler or a government.

• tyranny

Question 04

• What was the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which ended legal separation of the races in the U.S.?

• Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

Question 05

• Definition: Representatives of the states who formally elected the president; the number of votes in this body held by each state is equal to the total number of its senators and congressional representatives.

• electoral college

Question 06

• What was the agreement which placed the first, albeit small, constraints on the rule of monarchs?

• The Magna Carta

Question 07

• Definition: A philosophical devise, used by Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, Rouseau, and Harrington, to suggest that governments are only legitimate if they are created by a voluntary compact among the people.

• social contract

Question 08

• Conflicts throughout the world such as Bosnia, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the genocide in Africa between Tutsi and Hutu are not reflections of racism but what?

• tribalism

Question 09

• Who was Robert Moses?

• a Civil Rights activist in Mississippi during the 1960s

Chapter 2

Question 10

• Definition: The power of the Supreme Court to declare actions of the other branches and levels of government unconstitutional.

• judicial review

Question 11

• What characteristic is said to be part of the genius of the American political system.

• compromise

Question 12

• Definition: The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, concerned with basic liberties.

• Bill of Rights

Question 13

• The Founders [Framers or Founding Fathers] chose to create a government that differed significantly from the parliamentary system which was employed in Great Britain. Which item of the following was a significant difference between the British system and the American system of government?

Answer 13

• In the parliamentary system there is no separation between the legislative and executive branches

Question 14

• Definition: The constitutional principle that the federal government power shall be divided and that the fragments should balance or check one another to prevent tyranny.

• checks & balances

Question 15

• Who presided over the Constitutional Convention of 1787?

• George Washington

Question 16

• What was the Three-fifths Compromise?

• It allowed the South to count slaves as 3/5ths of a citizen when

determining representation in the House.

Question 17

• Why was slavery permitted to continue once the Constitution was ratified and the United States created?

• The Southern colonies would have never joined the union had slavery

been prohibited.

Question 18• What was the name of the insurrection in

Massachusetts where Revolutionary War veterans turned to violence in protesting against foreclosures and other discriminatory practices against the poorer classes which resulted in the abandonment of this nation=s first constitution?

• Shays Rebellion

Chapter 3

Question 19

• Definition: An attempt by states to declare national laws or actions null and void.

• nullification

Question 20

• The principle of judicial review was established under what Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court?

• John Marshall

Question 21

• Definition: Federal grants to the states to be used for general activities.

• block grants

Question 22

• 22. What about the English Parliament=s geographic authority did the Founders find undesirable?

• One legislative body ruled the whole nation.

Question 23• When modern politicians talk about turning more

and more power over to local control, what problem arises to undermine the premise that this would produce a more democratic outcome?

• The percentage of the electorate who vote gets smaller and smaller the more local

the election is; this means that fewer and fewer people are making the decisions in

local government.

Question 24

• What 20th Century social conditions resulted in a dramatic increase in federal authority regarding states?

• racial segregation of the South

Question 25

• What Constitutional Amendment imposes national standards of due process?

• The 14th Amendment

Chapter 4

Question 26

• Definition: Anti-foreign (and anti-Catholic); applied to political movements of the nineteenth century.

• nativist

Question 27

• In defining America in 1776 as the land which will eventually comprise the nation, occupied by people, rather than merely the political entities which were descendants of the original thirteen British colonies existing in and expanding in an unpopulated vacuum, how does this change the historical perception?

Answer 27

• It shows that the land which will eventually comprise America was already ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse when the United States was created.

Question 28• Definition: The period of transition from

predominantly agricultural to predominantly industrial societies in the Western nations in the nineteenth century (from text). A exponential growth in the size and power of businesses unanticipated by the Founders (from lectures).

• Industrial Revolution

Question 29

• What group of Americans believed they were royalty, anointed by God to be superior?

• industrialists

Question 30

• Definition: The federal government=s calculation of the amount of income families of various sizes need to stay out of poverty.

• poverty line

Question 31

• Social Darwinism is the application of Charles Darwin=s theories of evolution to the condition of human beings. What phrase would best describe the philosophy?

• Survival of the fittest

Question 32

• Definition: The belief that America should avoid foreign involvement of any form is called.

• isolationism

Question 33

• How did work change for most Americans during the nineteenth century (1800s)?

• The nature of work changed dramatically with the introduction of

repetitive industrial work.

Lanahan Readings

Question 34

• Who wrote Reading #1, from Democracy in America?

• Alexis De Tocqueville

Question 35

• In Reading #5, Race Matters, by Cornel WestB What triggered Dr. West=s reflection on racism in America?

• Cabs would not stop for him in New York City

Question 36

• In Reading #8, from The American Political Tradition, by Richard Hofstadter– According to Hofstadter what characteristics did the authors of the U.S. Constitution attribute to human beings? They were;

• selfish and untrustworthy

Question 37

• Who wrote Reading # 9, from The Federalist 10 and Reading #18, from The Federalist 39 and 46?

• James Madison

Question 38

• In Reading #12, The Power Elite, by C. Wright Mills, what groups make up the power elite?

• Corporate, political & military leaders

Question 39

• In Reading #20, from Laboratories of Democracy, by David Osborne– What are these laboratories?

• the individual states

Question 40

• In Reading #57, from Direct Democracy, by Thomas Cronin– According to Cronin the Framers [Founders] of the Constitution designed a republic, what does the author use as another term for “republic”?

• indirect democracy

Question 41

• In Reading #58, from Politicians Don’t Pander, by Lawrence Jacobs and Robert Shapiro– What political event of the past twenty years showed that politicians don’t let public opinion guide their actions in Congress?

• The impeachment of President Clinton

Question 42

In Reading #79, from Personal History, by Katherine Graham– What did the author do for a living?

• Publisher of The Washington Post

Question 43

• In Reading #79, from Personal History, by Katherine Graham– What happened on June 17, 1972 that warranted the telephone call to Ms. Graham?

• the burglary of Democratic headquarters by Republican operatives

Question 44

• In Reading #56, from Public Opinion and the American Democracy, by V.O. Key– What are opinion dikes?

• Public opinion creates boundaries, or dikes, that channel the actions and

policy of elected officials.

Question 45• From Reading #10, from A Machine That

Would Go by Itself, by Michael Kammen– What does he see as the primary ideological, and constitutional, argument facing American politics and government?

• What is the most appropriate division of authority: the federalism of states’

rights or national authority

Questions from Mr. Conservative

Question 46

• Who made this documentary about Senator Barry Goldwater?

• His granddaughter

Question 47

• What did President Kennedy and Senator Goldwater plan for the federal election of 1964?

• They planned to tour the country in one plane debating each other while they both campaigned for president.

Question 48

• What was Senator Goldwater’s ethnic background?

• Jewish and Episcopalian

Question 49

• What was the theme of the 1964 presidential campaign advertisement made by the Democrats regarding Senator Barry Goldwater’s candidacy for president?

• It showed a little girl picking flowers which implied Senator Goldwater

would start a nuclear war.

Question 50

• What role did Senator Goldwater play in the Watergate scandal and the resignation of Pres. Richard Nixon?

• He delivered the news to President Nixon that he must resign

Current Events Readings

Question 51

• From Newsweek, “Who’s Listening to Your Phone Call,” by Seth Colter Walls– What is the name of the law which the Bush administration believes grants them unlimited wiretapping authority without warrants?

• The Protect America Act

Question 52

• From the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman tells Syracuse University audience how to win the war on terrrorism” by Ngoc Huynh– What does Hoffman say needs to be done to win the war?

• Americans need greater cultural and linguistic understanding

Question 53• From Newsweek, “He Knew He Was

Right,” by Evan Thomas– what periodical did the late William F. Buckley publish?

• The National Review