Political Science

Political Science Test 1 Review Fall 2006

Chapter 1

Question 01 • 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 • Defintion: 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 • 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: The period of tense relations between the United States and the Soviet Union form the late 1940s to the late 1980s. • Cold War

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 • Though the men who met in Philadelphia believed in the need to repair the Articles of Confederation they could be said to believe which of the following principles. • They were not democrats, they did not believe the people could have direct power.

Question 14 • Definition: The constitutional principle that 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.

E) The Constitution does not permit much local control.

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?

Question 27-- Answer • 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 (Note: initial reading references are based on 3rd edition numbers)

Question 34 • Who wrote the classic analysis of America and American politics called Democracy in America? • Alexis De Tocqueville

Question 35 • In Reading #7 (Reading #6 in the 4th edition), who is quoted as saying “We have met the enemy and he is us.”? • A fictional cartoon character named Pogo.

Question 36 • In Reading #6 (Reading #5 in the 4th edition), Race Matters, by Cornel WestB What triggered Dr. West=s reflection about racism in America? • Cabs would not stop for him in New York City

Question 37 • In Reading #8 (Reading #7 in the 4th edition), Habits of the Heart by Robert Bellah and others, who does the author see as the epitome of the independent, self-reliant American? • the cowboy

Question 38 • From Reading # 9 (Reading #8 in the 4th edition): The American Political Tradition by Richard HofstaderB The Founders believed what about men (i.e. human beings)? • they were sinful & corruptible

Question 39 • From Reading #10 (Reading #9 in the 4th edition), who wrote Federalist Number 10? • James Madison

Question 40 • In Lanahan Reading #12, The Power Elite, by C. Wright Mills, what groups make up the power elite? • Corporate, political & military leaders

Question 41 • 41. From Reading # 21 (Reading #20 in the 4th edition): Laboratories of Democracy by David Osborne, what institutions the author see as the “laboratories”? • the states

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