civil liberties
individual rights protected by the Constitution against the powers of the government.
A(n) _____ is an order requiring that an official bring a specified prisoner into court and show the judge why the prisoner is being kept in jail.
writ of habeas corpus
A bill of attainder is a legislative act that
directly punishes a specifically named individual (or a group of individuals) without a trial
A(n) _____ punishes individuals for committing an act that was legal when it was committed but that has since become a crime.
ex post facto law
The Bill of RIghts became part of the Constitution in:
1791
The first 8 amendments to the Constitution
reserve certain rights and powers to the people and to the states
no society has existed without some form of
government
Resolving conflicts over what society's priorities should be is the essence of
politics
political scientist Harold Lasswell defined politics as the process of determinating
who gets what, when, and how" in society
Government can be best defined as
The individuals and institutions that make society's rules and that also prossess the power and authority to enforce those rules.
For a government to exercise authority, its power must be legitimate. In other words, its ower
is collectively recognized by society as legally and morally correct
In an ______, the power and authority of the government are in the hands of a single person
autocracy
the devine right theory
held that God gave those of royal birth the unlimited right to govern other men and women.
Most modern monarchies are constitutional monarchies, in which the monarch shares governmental power with
elected lawmakers
A dictatorship is a form of
autocracy
Kim Jong II in North Korea is an example of
a totalitarian dictator
The founders of the United States feared that a direct democracy
would deteriorate into mob rule
A representativ democracy is a system of government in which
The will of the majority is expressed through a smaller group of individuals elected by the people to act on their behalf
In a presidential democracy, the lawmaking and law-enforcing branches of government are
separate but equal
In a(n) _____, there is no separation of church and state. Rather, the government rules according to religious precepts.
theocracy
John Locke was an English philosopher who argued that people are born with natural rights to
life, liberty, and property
Which of the following is nota fundamental principle on which American democracy is based?
economic equality
For Americans, ____ and the pursuit of happiness are closely related
property
In the _____, the Pilgrims set up a government and promised to obey its laws.
Mayflower Compact
In 1765, the British Parliament passed the _____ Act, which imposed the first direct tax on the colonists.
Stamp
Thomas Paine's classic pamphlet, ____, presented one of the most rousing arguments in favor of independence.
Common Sense
The concepts expressed in the Declaration of Independence reflected European political philosophy. In particular, the theories of _____ provided philosophical underpinnings by which the American Revolution could be justified
John Locke
a confederation
is a voluntary association of independent states that are united only for the purpose of achieving common goals.
The Articles of Confederation, which served as the nation's first national constitution, established the ____ as teh central governing body.
congress of the confederation
Under the Articles of Confederation, each state had ___ the unicameral assembly of representatives
one vote in
Under the Articles of Confederation,
nine states had to approve any law before it was enacted, so most laws were difficult to enact.
Angry farmers in western Massachusetts seized country courthouses and disrupted debtors' trials in 1786. This uprising, known as ___, was an important catalyst for change because it helped to convince many Americans that a true national government had to
Shay's Rebellion
The Philadelphia meeting that became the Constitutional Convention was called the "sole and express purpose" of
revising the Articles of Confederation
Only ___ did not send any delegates to the Constitutional Convention
Rhode Island
The ___ Plan that was proposed at the Constitutional Convention favored LARGE states. It called for a legislature in which the number of representatives would be in proportion to each state's population.
Virginia
________ became known as the "Master builder of the Constitution.
James Madison
The _____ Plan that was proposed at the Constitutional Convention favored SMALL states. It called legislature in which each state would have only one vote
New Jersey
The ___ Compromise, also known as the Great Compromise, called for a bicameral legislature in which one chamber would be based on population and the other chamber would represent each state equally
Connecticut
In a compromise reached during the Constitutional Convention, it was agreed that ____ of all slaves were to be counted for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives
three-fifths
The battle over ratification of the Constitution was fought chiefly by two opposing groups, the
Federalists and the Anti-Federalists
John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison wrote a series of essays in defense of the Constitution, collectively known as
the Federalist Papers
In Federalist Paper No. 10, Madison argued that the nation's size was actually an advantage in controlling
factions
To gain the necessary support for ratification of the new Constitution, the Federalists finally promised to add
a bill of rights
The ninth state to ratify the Constitution, thus formally putting it into effect, was
New Hampshire
Implicityly, the principle of limited government rests on the concept of
popular sovereignty
____ is a system of shared sovereignty between two levels of government -- one national and one subnational--occupying the same geographic region
federalism
a system in which the national government can choose to delegate certain activities to subnational units and can also choose to take away powers that have been delegated is a
unitary system
in a unitarys system, any subnational government is a
creature of the national government
for the constitutional framers, the appeal of federalism was that it retained state powers and local traditions while establishing a strong national government capable of handling common problems, such as
national defense
one advantage of federalism in the United States is that state governments can
act as "laboratories" for public-policy experimentation
the most common type of governmental unit in the United States is the
special district
There are about _____ governments in the United States today
88,500
Which of the following is NOT a drawback to federalism?
The lack of uniformity of state laws can complicate business transactions that cross state borders
Powers that are not delegated to the national government by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, are
enumerated powers
The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution
does not specify what powers are reserved to the states
The supremacy clause in the Article VI of the constitution
makes the Constitution and federal laws superior to all conflicting state and local laws
Most people acquire their political attitudes, opinions, beliefs, and knowledge through a complex learning process called political
socialization
political socialization usually begins during
early childhood
the family's influence in political socialization is important because
a child first sees the political world through the eyes of his or her family
which of the following media has the greatest influence on political socialization?
television
____ continue(s) to be a leading source of political and public affairs information for most people
television
the problem with straw polls is that
the opinions expressed usually represent only a small subgroup of the population, or a biased sample
A literary digest poll incorrectly predicted that Alfred Landon would win the presidential election in 1936 because teh
pollsters used an unrepresentative sample
a sample in which each person within the entire population being polled has an equal chance of being chosen is a ____ sample
random
a campaign tactic used to feed false or misleading information to potential voters, under the guise of taking an opinion poll, is a(n) ____ poll.
push
In the United States today, citizens who are at least ____ years of age have the right to vote.
eighteen
The twenty-fourth Amendment to the Constitution outlawed ____ in national elections
poll taxes
The ____ Amendment to teh Constitution guaranteed suffrage to the African American males.
fifteenth
Literacy tests
were used in many southern states to restrict African American participation in elections
Grandfather clauses in state laws had the effect of restricting the franchise to those
Whose ancestors had voted before the 1860s
The ___ banned the use of white primaries
Supreme Court's decision in Smith v. Allwright (1944)
In most states, voters are required to ______ before voting.
register with the appropriate state or local officials
Since 1888, all states in the United States have used the ___ ballot- a secret ballot that is prepared, distributed, and counted by government officials at public expense.
Australian
____ are representatives from each political party who are allowed to monitor polling places to makes sure the election is run fairly and to avoid fraud
poll watchers
the electors are selected during each presidential election year by the
states' political parties
Each state has as many electoral votes as it has
U.S. senators and representatives
The District of Columbia has
three electoral votes
The electoral college system is primarily a winner-take-all system, in which
the candidate who receives the largest popular vote in a state is credited with all that state's electoral votes
In December, after the general election, electors meet in ___ to case their votes for president and vice president
their state capitals
a candidate must win at least ___ electoral votes, cast by the electors, to become president through the electoral college system
270
The total number of electoral votes available is
538
If no presidential candidate receives the required number of electoral votes
the house of representatives votes on teh candidates, with each state delegation casting only a single vote
If not vice-presidential candidate receives the required number of electoral votes
the Senate chooses the vice president, with each senator casting one vote
Beginning in 1800, members of Congress who belonged to the two political parties held caucuses to
nominate candidates for president and vice president
a delegate is
a person selected to represent the people of one geographic area at a party convention
in a(n) ____ primary, only party members can vote to choose that party's candidates, and they may vote in the primary to their own party
close
The majority of the states hold presidential ____, beginning early in the election year.
primaries
In late summer of a presidential election year, delegates gather at each party's national convention to declare their support for the party's ticket. In addition to nominating the party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates, delegates
adopt the official party platform
The ____ Committee of each national political party evaluates teh claims of national party convention delegates to the legitimate representatives of their states
credentials
the ___ has been called the first "television war
Vietnam War
Of all the media, ____ the greatest impact
television has
In televised news reporting, a brief comment, lasting for only a few seconds, that captures a thought or a perspective and has an immediate impact on the viewers is referred to as a(n)
sound bite
Today, televised political advertising consumes at least ___ of the total budget for a major political campaign
half
according to an estimate by the research firm PQ Media, spending on political advertising for broadcast TV in 2008 reached
$2.3 billion
political advertising first appeared on television during the ___ presidential campaign
1952
A(n) ___ ad is a negative political advertisement that discredits the character of an opposing candidate
attack
In 1800, an article describing Thomas Jefferson as having a "weakness of nerves, want of fortitude, and total imbecility of character" appeared in the Federalist Gazette of the United states. this is an example of
an attack ad
a negative ___ ad focuses on flaws in an opposing candidate's position on a particular topic
issue
The "daisy girl" ad, which aired during the 1964 presidential race, is an example of a(n) ____ ad.
issue
The first televised presidential debate took place in
1960, between Kennedy and Nixon
Candidates' campaign managers and political consultants have shown increasing sophistication in creating newsworthy events for journalists to cover, an effort commonly referred to as
managed news coverage
a political candidate's press advisers try to convince reporters to give a story or event concerning the candidate a ___ (as it has come to be called), or interpretation, that is favorable to the candidate.
spin
Ever since ___ held his first "fireside chats" on radio, politicians have realized the power of radio.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert on politics and the media, suggests that media bias plays a role in shaping presidential campaigns and elections. It is a bias
against "losers
Which of the following statements is accurate?
No state can impose a residency requirement of more than thirty days as a qualification for voting
among the factors affecting voter turnout, ___ appears to be the most important
education
The framers of the Constitution designed the House of Representatives to represent the
people as a whole.
The framers of the Constitution designed the Senate to represent
the states
____ is the distribution of House seats among the states on the basis of their respective populations
apportionment
Each state is guaranteed at least ____ seat(s) in the House of Representatives, no matter what its population
one
The District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands all send ____ to the House of Representatives.
nonvoting delegates
a congressional district
is the geographic area that is served by one member in the House of Representatives.
Today, the House of Representatives has a fixed membership of ____ members.
435
a state has thirty-five congressional districts, it sends ____ representatives to the House.
thirty-five
The lines of the congressional districts are drawn by the authority of
state legislatures
The Supreme Court has ruled that congressional districts must contain, as nearly as possible, an equal number of
people
is a condition that results when, based on population and representation, the voting power of citizens in one district becomes greater than the voting power of citizens in another district.
Malapportionment
____ is the drawing of a legislative district's boundaries in such a way as to maximize the influence of a certain group or political party.
gerrymandering
A ____ district is a congressional district whose boundaries are drawn so as to maximize the voting power of minority groups
minority-majority
The ____ of representation requires representatives to mirror the views of their constituents.
instructed-delegate view
____ view of representation holds that representatives should serve the broad interests of the entire society, and not just the narrow interests of their constituents.
trustee
Which of the following is a constitutional requirement for becoming president of the United States?
must be a natural born citizen of the US
The most common previous occupation of the U.S. presidents has been
the legal profession
the youngest person elected president was
John F. Kennedy
the ___ is the head of the executive branch of the federal government
president
Which of the following statements is not accurate?
When the framers of the Constitution created the office of the president, they were following the model of a democratically elected chief executive that was characteristic of many countries in the world at that time.
As ____, the president can grant reprieves, pardons, and amnesty.
chief executive
the president
can grant a pardon for any federal offense except in cases of impeachment
congress can override a presidential veto with a
two-thirds vote by the members present in each chamber
the result of a veto override is that the bill
becomes law against the wishes of the president
the fifteen executive departments, which are directly accountable to ___, are the major service organizations of the federal government
the president
each executive department was created by ___ as the perceived need for it arose
congress
except for the Department of Justice, the head of each executive department is known as the
secretary
Each executive department head is appointed by the
president
after being appointed to the position, each executive department head is confirmed by the
senate
which of the following is not an executive department
arts and humanities
the oldest executive departments are
state and treasury
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Prisons are subagencies of the ___ Department
Justice
The Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Mint are subagencies of the ____ Department.
treasury
By law, the president is required to inform Congress within ____ of making any executive agreement.
sixty days
the U.S. constitution gives ___ the power to declare war
congress
congress has declared war
in only five different conflicts
____ law is the body of law developed from judicial decisions in English and U.S. courts.
common
A(n) ____ is a court decision that furnishes an example or authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts and legal issues.
precedent
Under the doctrine of ____, judges normally are obligated to follow the precedents established by prior court decisions.
stare decisis
The ___ is the basis of all law in the United States.
U.S. Constitution
____ law is the body of law enacted by legislature
statutory
federal states
are laws enacted by the U.S. congress
Government agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, create ____ law in the form of rules and regulations
administrative
The importance of ____ law is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the common law tradition
case
____ law spells out the duties that individuals in society owe to other persons or to their governments, excluding the duty not to commit crimes
civil
____ law has to do with wrongful actions committed against society for which society demands redress
criminal
___ is the authority of a court to hear and decide a particular case
Jurisdiction
the federal trial courts are called
district courts
Since 1945, the president, as ___, has been responsible for deciding if and when to use nuclear weapons.
commander in chief
Today, the president travels at all times with the "___," the briefcase containing the codes used to launch a nuclear attack
football