Congress cannot summarily declare an American citizen guilty of a crime because of the Constitution's ban on___
Bills of attainder
Which of the following statements about the Bill of Rights is MOST accurate?
The authors of the Constitution rejected the inclusion of a Bill of Rights during the deliberation and drafting process.
When it was ratified, which of the following rights did the Constitution explicitly protect?
the right to demand a writ of habeas corpus
Federalist leader _______was the person who drafted the amendments that became known as the Bill of Rights.
James Madison
According to the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Barron v. Baltimore (1833), the Bill of Rights protected citizens' liberties
only from intrusion by the national government.
Which amendment is most responsible for protecting citizens' liberties from intrusion by state governments?
Fourteenth
The principle of selective incorporation has been used to guarantee all of the following rights from intrusion by state governments, EXCEPT
the right to a jury trial in civil cases.
Based on the Supreme Court's current understanding of the First Amendment, American citizens are free to
believe any religious doctrine they choose.
Which of the following statements about religious freedom in the United States today is LEAST accurate?
Congress can ban unpopular religious practices as long as it directs that ban against a specific religious group.
The Supreme Court uses the Lemon test primarily to decide on matters related to
the relationship between church and state.
Most of the founders of the American republic probably had accommodationist views regarding the relationship between church and state, meaning that they believed that
the government should be permitted to support religion generally but not a particular religion specifically
Most establishment clause controversies in recent times have dealt with the issue of religion in
schools
What decision was made by the Supreme Court in a landmark 2002 case on the issue of school vouchers?
Providing government vouchers to attend religious schools was ruled constitutional.
In the Supreme Court case involving Charles Schenck, which tested the constitutionality of the Espionage Act, the Supreme Court decided that
freedom of speech could be curtailed if the words produced a "clear and present danger."
Which of the following statements about campaign speech is most accurate?
In recent years, the Supreme Court has loosening the limits on campaign speech based on interpretations of the First Amendment
The Court applies the Miller test to determine if speech is?
obscene
In order for a work to be deemed obscene, an average person must reasonably conclude that the work
lacks any redeeming quality, is predominantly prurient, and is offensive
What differentiates slander from libel?
Slander is oral, whereas libel is written
Which of the following is one of the two conditions that satisfy the definition of malice under the Sullivan rule?
knowledge that the statements were false
In the case of New York Times v. Sullivan, the Supreme Court decided that
the press cannot be found guilty of slandering a public official unless it can be proven that the press published falsehoods maliciously
As a rule, the government can place the most restrictions over which form of media?
radio
Recent Supreme Court cases have protected freedom of the press in all of the following instances EXCEPT
allowing newspapers to preserve the anonymity of their confidential sources if the government can demonstrate a compelling reason to request them.
Which of the following special rights of the media is currently recognized by the courts?
the right to attend trials
Which of the following forms of protests receives the most protection from the Supreme Court?
the right to protest in front of a state capitol
Under what single circumstance or set of circumstances can government officials conduct searches without a warrant?
Warrant-less searches are permissible in all of these situations: searching the immediate area when arresting a suspect; when there is reasonable suspicion that an individual has committed or is about to commit a crime; and when pursuing a dangerous suspect who is likely to destroy evidence.
Of the following countries, which one has the highest incarceration rate?
United States
By informing suspects of their right against self-incrimination, the Miranda warning protects their ...
Fifth Amendment rights.
Courts use the exclusionary rule to
dismiss evidence that has been illegally obtained.
In a major death penalty case in April of 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
execution by lethal injection is constitutional.
Which of the following statements about abortion rights in the United States is LEAST accurate?
When the Court legalized abortion in 1973, the practice was already legal in all but thirteen states.
The 1967 Supreme Court decision that declared Virginia's anti-interracial marriage bill unconstitutional
was based on violation of the equal protection clause and the due process clause.
By 2011, public support for marriage between whites and blacks was about ___ percent.
85
In the Dred Scott decision of 1857, the Court decided all of the following EXCEPT that
Congress could ban slavery from a territory but not from a state
In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court ruled that
segregated facilities were not inherently unconstitutional, as long as they were equal.
The landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education was significant because it
overturned the doctrine of "separate but equal."
Rosa Parks most important contribution to the Civil Rights movement was
inspiring a bus boycott when she chose to be arrested rather than give up her seat.
The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were pushed through Congress by which president?
Lyndon Johnson
Which section of the Constitution provides the chief basis for Supreme Court rulings on equality?
Fourteenth Amendment
In deciding a case involving a law that allegedly discriminated against gay citizens, the Supreme Court would most likely apply the
rational basis test.
If an elderly woman sued a state government over a law requiring her to retire from a certain job at a certain age, the Supreme Court would most likely decide the case on the basis of the
rational basis test.
If lower-income citizens sued a state government over a voting registration law that required them to present a driver's license or pay for an alternative state identification card in order to vote, the Supreme Court would most likely decide the case on the basis of the
rational basis test
In the case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court ruled that
universities could consider race as a factor in student admissions, but racial quotas were unconstitutional.
Which of the following statements about Native Americans' struggle for civil rights is LEAST accurate?
Since the founding of the American republic, Native Americans have formed formal political and social movements to protest their mistreatment.
Currently, the largest ethnic minority group in the United States is
Hispanic Americans.
The civil rights leader César Chávez is best known for his efforts on behalf of
migrant farm workers.
In the case of Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court decided that
the summary internment of Japanese Americans was a constitutional measure.
Based on current understandings of the Americans with Disabilities Act, public schools would have to make special accommodations for all of the following students EXCEPT
a student with poor, but functional, eyesight.
Regarding attitudes towards gay and lesbian rights, there is the greatest public support for
equal rights for gays and lesbians in employment.
In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the Supreme Court decided that
consenting adults have the constitutional right to engage in homosexual acts in the privacy of their homes.
Women's struggle for equality differs from other civil rights struggles primarily because women
are not a minority.
From 1890 to 1920, the women's rights movement focused its energies primarily on
securing the right to vote
All of the following contributed to the modern feminist movement EXCEPT
the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
In recent years the Supreme Court has ruled that
statutory rape laws that apply only to female victims are constitutional.
Which of the following statements about women's participation in the military is LEAST accurate?
Women were not allowed to serve in the military before the Vietnam War.
Which of the following BEST characterizes Tea Party supporters?
older, white, lean Republican
Which of the following statements BEST captures the Framers' attitude towards public opinion?
Public opinion was potentially dangerous, but must not be ignored.
Straw polls from the turn of the twentieth century drew their information primarily from
lists of experts, journalists, or subscribers to particular newspapers or consumer services
The key polling innovation introduced by George Gallup beginning in the 1930s and absent from the straw polls conducted by the Literary Digest in the 1920s was?
marketing research techniques.
Over the course of the history of the American republic, political polling has grown more ...
scientific
Which of the following cases BEST exemplifies the political concept of a life cycle effect?
a married couple that, after purchasing a house and giving birth to a child, begins to develop a more economically conservative viewpoint from what it had previously espoused
Which of the following examples BEST illustrates the political concept of a "cohort"?
young adults whose political beliefs have more in common with those of other people their own age than with those of their parents
Among the various agents of political socialization, which one usually has the most significant and lasting impact on individual citizens?
families
When they become adults, children who were raised in politically-active households
are more likely to volunteer their time for political causes than are most other citizens.
Members of which of the following religious groups are most likely to vote for Republican candidates?
Mormons
Which of the following statements about religion and American politics is LEAST accurate?
With regard to race, churches are among the most highly integrated institutions in the country.
Which of the following is LEAST likely to vote Democrat?
a Mormon
Which of the following statements about the impact of education on American political beliefs is MOST accurate?
Generally speaking, the American education system is designed with the hope of enacting the nation's ideals of egalitarianism.
Which of the following religious groups is MOST likely to vote for the Democratic Party?
Jewish
Which of the following agents of political socialization generally have the least, or the least clear, influence on developing citizens' political views?
the media and voluntary organizations
Which of the following statements about the relationship between media and political beliefs is MOST accurate?
Television entertainment and television news both tend to portray government and political officials in a negative light.
The political views of which ethnic groups have received the LEAST attention from political scientists?
Native Americans and Asian Americans
The average African American voter would be LEAST likely to support which of the following measures?
a flat tax system
Generally speaking, female citizens...
back government-based social welfare programs more strongly than male citizens.
The most appropriate term for the political culture of a state that values established moral principles and accepts a limited role for government in protecting them is
traditionalistic.
Men are more likely than women to
favor the death penalty for murderers.
Women exhibit less interest in and engagement with politics than their male counterparts; the exception to this pattern occurs
in states having a female U.S. senator or a female governor.
The most appropriate term for the political culture of a state in which an active citizenry works together with the government in pursuit of the communal good is
moralistic.
The citizens of which of the following states would be most likely to express strong admiration for American military leaders?
Georgia
In studying the dimensions of public opinion, what does the term "direction" refer to?
an individual's preference with respect to a particular issue
Which of the following tools is less a means of gauging public opinion than a negative campaigning technique?
push polls
In the field of political polling, the relative importance that an individual ascribes to a particular issue is known as
salience
Which of the following statements about trust and confidence among Americans is most accurate?
Declines in trust and confidence in government seem to have contributed to a decline in volunteerism.
Which of the following is true of the American decline in trust in government or trust in general?
Declining trust in government cuts across all demographic groups and ages.
Overall, Americans...
have less confidence in Congress than they do in the presidency.
Conservative personalities are characterized by
a.) suspicion of out-groups (e.g.immigrants).
b.) a preference for strong leadership.
c.) a desire for clear moral and behavioral codes.
d.) support for swift & severe punishment for violation of moral & behavioral codes.
e.) All these answers are correct.
Liberal personalities are characterized by
an inherently optimistic view of human nature.
Ideologically, a person who stresses economic liberty and progressive social views is considered to be a
libertarian.
